Freak of Nature

Chapter Thirteen

Lucas walked out of the lab, passing Adams, who was on his way in. The professor greeted him, but Lucas didn’t respond. 

Odd, Kaitlyn thought as the door clicked shut behind Lucas.

She didn’t feel any different, but that wasn’t a surprise. She could rarely tell when they made changes these days. The little tweaks were not as jarring as the big upgrades had been in the beginning. Everything they did now was to make her more efficient, more of a machine.

“Kaitlyn, I do believe you’ve received your last upgrade,” Adams said with a smile. He scribbled something unintelligible on the white board as he spoke.

“The last?”

“Yes, unless something else comes up. You should be ready for delivery.”

“Delivery?”

The professor continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “As long as they want you, of course. There is the slight chance that they might not be interested, but that would be shocking to all of us. You are the most advanced human on the planet.”

Human? Yeah, right. 

“Where will I be sent?” 

The professor turned to stare at her. “Well, I guess there is no sense in keeping it a secret, since you are the one that will be going. I’ve heard rumors of a top secret facility for special projects such as yourself.”

“There are others?” Kaitlyn kept her voice neutral. This was the longest conversation she had ever had with the professor. 

He laughed. “No, not like you. Not yet anyway. Mostly drones and other robotic equipment that they use on the black side.”

“Black side?”

“Yes, secret. No budget. No paper trail. Things that exist in a void.”

Being in a void didn’t sound too appealing, but like usual she kept her thoughts to herself. 

Suddenly, Kaitlyn’s body went into alert mode, and a giant yellow ‘caution’ flashed in her vision. Someone was approaching the lab from the hallway. Her every muscle tensed, preparing for action. Moments later, the door swung open.

The man who entered was easily categorized by Kaitlyn’s machinery: six foot two, two hundred fifteen pounds, jet black hair greying at the temples, and sharp blue-grey eyes. His face was weathered, but he aged well. Current age: sixty-three. 

With mechanical precision, Kaitlyn locked gazes with the man. She had to fight the urge to jump up and wrap her hands around Dr. Harrington’s throat. She was programmed to observe any subjects with a ‘caution’ categorization, but not act until it elevated to a ‘warning’. Her body felt odd, and she quickly analyzed the feeling as rage. 

That’s new. 

Her analyzers began listing the many ways she could kill Harrington, but then logic took over. If she killed him, it wouldn’t do her any good; they would probably deactivate and disassemble her. Disassembly didn’t sound good. Her body would die. There was not enough human to survive without the help from the computers. As much as she disliked her new life, she wasn’t ready to cease to exist. 

It had been sixty-four days since she had last seen her creator, Matthew Harrington, owner and founder of IFICS. He carried his large body with athletic grace, and he looked the same, except his skin was a shade or two darker. She should warn him that too much sun exposure was dangerous, but she kept her mouth closed. 

“Professor. Is the subject ready?” the man asked in a smooth, deep voice, not taking his eyes off Kaitlyn.

“Dr. Harrington.” The professor held out his hand and clasped Harrington’s hand in his own. “So nice of you to drop by. Yes, the subject is more than ready. Magnificent piece of work, if I do say so myself. She is going to stun on her unveiling.”

“As she should. We only have four days until we meet with the committee.”

“I’m sure they will be pleased. Quite pleased indeed.” Professor Adams shifted uneasily. Kaitlyn zoomed in on his face and the word ‘nervous’ flashed across her field of vision. Recalling his behavior sixty-four days ago, she concluded that he always looked that way when Harrington was onsite. Kaitlyn didn’t understand why. Adams was the brains behind the operation, Harrington just supplied the cash and took the credit. At least, that was what she had been able to gather during the time she had been awake and alert, after her body healed from the accident and the upgrades.

“They better be pleased,” Harrington said sharply, and turned his attention back to Kaitlyn. “We have everything riding on this.”

Dr. Harrington was clearly a man used to getting his way. ‘Arrogant prick’ ran through her head. She had to analyze it for a moment to realize it was part of her upgrade. Interesting. So prick had two completely different meanings … 

Harrington crossed the room until he was standing only inches from her. Armani suit, bronze Panerai dive watch, Clive Christian cologne—$375 a bottle—and Barker Black shoes. Nothing but the best. 

He ran his hand over her cheek, trailing it all the way down the side of her arm. His skin was warm against hers. “It’s going to be so hard to give you away. You are my life’s work. I’ve dreamed of creating you since I was a little boy.” Her sensors informed her that his expression was sincere, as if he indeed was making a great sacrifice. If that was true, then why did he have to give her away? 

Not a threat. 

Her body relaxed. 

She said nothing. She only answered him if he asked a question, which he rarely did. 

Harrington’s blue-grey eyes stared into her own. “It has to be done. You are the future of mankind. It still pisses me off that I’m going to have to hand you over to someone else. It’s like giving away my first born.”

She had no idea what that meant. The thought of leaving what had become her home sent her reeling. She shouldn’t have cared where they put her, but leaving one owner for another was frightening. Not to mention never seeing Lucas or Quess again. Her body revved up, but cooled down just as quickly. No one was the wiser.

Just then, Lucas returned through the double doors. His blue eyes searched her face as if looking for something. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes appeared weary. “Dr. Harrington, hello,” Lucas said, shifting his attention to where it belonged.

Harrington crossed the room to meet him, and threw his arm around Lucas’s shoulder. “My dear boy, we did it.” The old man’s face broke into a huge grin, and Harrington stared at Kaitlyn, full of pride. Standing side by side, the two men looked as if they could be related. 

“Fill me in on her upgrades,” Harrington said to Lucas as they walked out the door without another word to Kaitlyn or Professor Adams.

She could hear them talking until they made it down the hallway and out the exit door. Lucas did not mention their conversation from the night before to Dr. Harrington. At least, not yet. He had promised he would keep it to himself. 

She hoped he was a man of his word. Something in her told her he could be trusted, much like Quess and her pinky promise.