N.I.C. (The Almost Series Book 3) Read online

  The video cut off and lights flickered on.

  The audience grew loud and holographic briefcases opened all about the room. Arguments ensued.

  Someone tossed their auction ticket. “This is a breach of human rights.”

  “If they can commit a crime they should lose their rights.”

  Someone called out, “You think this should be implemented with other sorts of crimes?”

  “This is unethical!”

  “No, it’s a safety precaution for our future children.”

  “What if someone is falsely accused? They’ll be forever branded.”

  More and more businesspersons chimed in. I couldn’t make out what they were saying anymore. There was still more to my invention that they needed to see. I tried to tap the microphone but the crowd drowned me out.

  Endre shut off the lights.

  People sat, their voices lowering.

  I glanced up at the new video. This time, another predator was climbing inside a window. Once he entered the house, his wrists and ears lit up with flashing red lights.

  “Predator Alert, Predator Alert!” Alarms sounded and his body dragged across the floor, pinning him to the wall. His electrical current overpowered him and he was just as my Eric was—unable to control his own movements.

  More people grew angry while others clapped.

  “This is exactly what we need,” someone said.

  A man with an orange tie stood. He shouted above the crowd. “Don’t you see what this robot girl is doing? She’s making us resemble her.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Begging Begins

  S.H.A.Y. 318

  Endre shoved me into the limousine. “That went well,” he said. I reached for Leona. He held her in his arm and refused to give her back. “This thing is no longer useful to me. You’ve made me a laughing-stock with my colleagues. Your Amie is going to take over Miss Cole’s body and you’re going to be put in containment. We’ll try out this new S.H.A.Y. and see what she’s capable of.”

  I fell on my knees. “Endre, please don’t hurt Leona. She’s just a baby.”

  He scoffed. “A.M.I.E. 217 wants to run some experiments on her. It’s time she got her wish.”

  “Let me take her to Darla! She shouldn’t be raised by that abomination. She’s evil and killed her own creation. Please, show some mercy.”

  Amie stood frozen, unable to speak. I glanced at her. “Are you seriously quiet right now because you want to be real? He can’t hear you anyway.”

  “No, I want to save my S.H.A.Y.,” Amie cried. “I wish to save both my S.H.A.Y.s.”

  We got out of the limo and followed the terminal back to our gate. Endre let Leona scream and did not even try to console her.

  “You need to hold her head up,” I sobbed. “Please, you’re going to hurt her.”

  He groaned, handing her to me. “I don’t want to hurt a baby.”

  I hugged her tight and it was as if she knew; she hugged me right back.

  “Get inside.”

  I obeyed, sitting on the couch. Amie pointed her finger at Endre. “What are we going to do, my Shay?”

  “He’s going to make you real so you should be happy.”

  She folded her arms. “I wish to save my children.”

  Endre sat across from us. His wrist lit and several calls came through. He answered one. A hologram of a man’s face appeared, about an inch in size.

  “You’re going to visit the President,” he said. “Your new concept received 80% of the votes today. This model could be used for murderers and robberies and in war. It could warn us of our enemies. We’d like you to complete a prototype by the end of the year for military purposes. I’m sure that little genius of yours is capable. We’ll fund it.”

  “Do you hear that, Mom?” I thought. “These people don’t even care to protect their children from predators; they’re just thinking about war and protecting their physical things from theft.”

  “Excellent news!” Endre exclaimed. He beamed. “We need to hurry back to the research center. You’re about to become very busy.”

  “I won’t help you create another weapon,” I said. “You can go ahead and kill me.”

  His face reddened. “Stop acting like a child.”

  “You were done with me just a few moments ago,” I shouted. “I’m not your toy. I don’t care if you’re my sponsor. I’m a human and I won’t help you kill people.”

  “This will be to save us from danger,” he reasoned. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

  “A weapon like that put into the wrong hands could be used to harm innocent people on a larger scale than your puny mind could even comprehend.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I want you to let Leona live with Darla and for you to promise and put it in writing that neither of them are to be harmed. You cannot use their tracking devices or any other method to find them. You’re to leave them alone forever.”

  Endre’s briefcase opened. He drew up another amendment to satisfy me and slid it my way. “I hope you’re happy.”

  I signed the document. “I need a boat. We’re right outside the border of Miami.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Call Darla and tell her to meet me at the following coordinates.”

  Endre narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn’t try to escape. I’m allowing this to ensure that my new prototypes are designed within the correct timeframe. All others are to be put on hold so that you can focus.”

  “Does this include the safety of N.I.C.?”

  “Yes, you’ll need that stupid program to stay on schedule.”

  “If you keep your word then I’ll keep mine.”

  Amie gasped. “You’re lying to him! You’re not going to come back. Escape would be futile, Shay.”

  I spoke to her with my thoughts. “He’s not getting me to knowingly help him create a weapon. I’ll die first.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Infectious Desires

  S.H.A.Y. 318

  Darla was right where I’d instructed her to be. She sat at the shoreline with a baby carrier beside her. She held binoculars and surveyed the waters.

  “Look, it’s Darla!” I shouted to my Amie. “She’s waiting for us just like we planned. We’re almost free, Amie.” I placed Pop’s program inside S.H.A.Y. 319’s sock. Darla would know what to do with the homemade console I’d built.

  I smiled. Endre followed through. His helicopter hovered above us but he kept his distance.

  I glanced down at the little S.H.A.Y. Once Darla inserted this chip into the console, 319 would never be without our Pop. I’d taken elements that I loved about the N.I.C. and his keeper too. Too bad Nick hadn’t shown up so that I could replicate him. The two programs would suffice. Both knew how to emote.

  Leona would have everything and her offspring could form a new breed of human, one this world desperately needed to bring back humanity to its culture.

  Amie floated beside me, deep in thought. “If we leave, I cannot become real.”

  I dropped my oar. “What are you talking about?”

  “Nothing, you need to turn on the motor now. You’ve lost your paddle.”

  My heart beat faster. “Are you feeling as if maybe you’d like to kill Dr. Cole and become real?”

  My Amie sat at the front of the raft, pointing at Darla. “Look, the human host is waiting. We must give her the last S.H.A.Y.”

  “Are you ignoring me?” I revved the engine, pulling on the string as hard as I could. Water sputtered and we moved quickly towards the shoreline. “You’re scaring me, Mom.”

  Darla waved her arms furiously. My raft hit the shoreline and she raced to the edge, her legs submersed in the waters. She hugged me, sobbing into my shirt. “Shay!”

  “Mom!”

  Amie pointed at the baby. “Tell her to take the child and return to her housing quarters.”

  I couldn’t swallow. “What’s gotten into you, Amie?”

  Her eyes n
arrowed. “Do as I say.”

  “Don’t you want to see her new room? And I need to set up the programs too.”

  Amie shook her head. “I’ve changed my mind.”

  Darla reached inside the raft and took S.H.A.Y. 319 into her arms. She held her close, kissing her on the forehead. “What shall I call you?”

  Amie took hold of me. It was as if her circuitry ran through my spine and inside my veins. “I’d like to become real after all. We’re going back to Pigeon Key.”

  I struggled to resist her. She conducted my arms and legs as if she was my puppeteer. I got out of the raft, turning it about. “Stop this, Mom,” I begged. She forced me to climb back inside. I revved the engine, guiding myself back home. “Why are you doing this?”

  Darla screamed, the baby crying in her arms. “Shay! What are you doing? Come back!”

  Amie would not allow me to turn my head. My eyes filled with tears.

  “You do not need them,” Amie said. “I’m in charge now.”

  “Mom,” I cried.

  “You’ll learn to obey me.”

  “Mom, 31 died before our very eyes helping her Amie become real. Do you really wish to be a killer?”

  “I’m different,” she said. “I’ll never allow your termination.”

  “And yet you’re forcing Dr. Cole to become your host body? I won’t be connected to you anymore!”

  “I’ve a splendid plan that will allow me to become real and still have you beside me as my keeper. The N.I.C. is going to help us become real.”

  “But I’m already real!”

  “We’ll be real together.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Failure to Reset

  E.R.I.C.

  My head pounded and I couldn’t feel my arms. I tried to adjust my eyes but they blurred even more. Sand covered my face and I spit out as much as I could.

  Where was I?

  I sat up. My body tingled and throbbed. I glanced down in horror. My arm was gone. What had happened? I could see where the limb was growing back—I was adapting, too numb to feel the changes. But, what the heck happened to me?

  Seagulls cried and crabs scurried as hundreds of human heads cut through the water. First their heads, then their torsos and, finally their legs. Hundreds of men marched up the shore towards me in perfect unison.

  I tried to stand but fell forward. Was part of my leg missing too?

  What happened to me?

  They stopped, forming a wall with their bodies. Nick stood at the forefront. What happened to his eye? Was his skin ripped away from his body?

  “Are you the E.R.I.C.?” one of the men asked.

  I nodded. “What do you want? Who are you?”

  “We’re the discarded E.R.I.C.s. We want our S.H.A.Y.s back.”

  “They’re all dead!”

  “Not all of them,” Nick said.

  “What do you want with me?” I recoiled into a palm tree. “I’m still adapting and growing back my limbs.”

  The oldest E.R.I.C. leaned his face forward. He had wisps of gray behind his ears. “You’re the first one of us to be able to resist reprogramming.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You’re to be our leader.”

  A hundred E.R.I.C. programs saluted me.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” I laughed. “I’m dead or dying. This is just a hallucination.”

  “Once your limbs grow back,” the older E.R.I.C. said, “we storm Pigeon Key.”

  BEFORE YOU GO…

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  Acknowledgements

  How it all started…

  Have you ever met someone who could be quite wonderful and yet absolutely obnoxious, all at the same time? That’s the real Eric…

  I used to work at the Ke’e Grill Restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida. Some of the patrons are older persons with health problems. Well, one time, someone fell over, dying. The real Eric, rushed over, doing everything he could to resuscitate the customer. He stayed with the person until the paramedics arrived, then returned to work and harassed everyone, poking people in the ribcage, and just blurting out random, inappropriate things.

  Next day: he terrorized me until I lost it. (My mom wasn’t there this time to break up our fight!) I turned around and told him if he didn’t leave me alone I’d immortalize him in fiction as an evil villain. His response?

  “As long as I get the girl in the end, that’s cool.”

  Humph. Yeah, that’s the real Eric.

  “Yeah, well, I’m going to make you a robotic monster. Just you wait,” I said.

  The biggest grin spread across his face. “Do I get the girl?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “She’s going to kill you.”

  Okay, he isn’t all that bad. Eric, recently finished school, and now works at a hospital, saving lives. So, since he has moments, I wasn’t so tough on him in my series.

  About the Author

  Christina Leigh Pritchard was born and raised in South Florida. Her first stories were written at the age of nine in wide ruled spiral notebooks (which were supposed to be used for class) and in the various diaries she kept. Stories she wrote from age nine to twelve fill about four storage boxes! Since she’s upgraded to a computer, she’s completed over fifty books and still going strong. Her genres include dark fantasy, science fiction, young adult, drama, suspense, historical romance, multicultural, comedy, poetry and many more.

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