Unfinished (Prequel, Unstrung Series)

Unfinished, Epilogue

Today

 

“Now, Quinn,” Maren drawls. “Dr. Martine tells me you didn’t enjoy the sorting activities.”

Deciding who to fire and who to keep at Precipice? No, that hadn’t been any fun. I swallow down my loathing, though, and say, “It just wasn’t much of a challenge, ma’am. The criteria and patterns were too easy to identify.”

“Hmm.” She gets up from her desk, already in her robe so she can retire for the evening. “I’m pleased to hear that, actually. I’ll come up with something more stimulating in a few days. In the meantime, you’re excused.”

I nod respectfully and let myself out of her office. I no longer fear walking these halls, not since Piers was promoted to Chief of Security at Precipice and moved out of the house. Most people ignore me now, and that’s how I like it. It’s been so lonely since Doc got fired, though. The K600s are kind, but it’s just not the same. My attempt at family was disastrous, too, fraught with mistakes and betrayals I will never repeat. As a result, I fear I’m destined to be alone the rest of my life.

Depressing, even for a fake human.

I wander upstairs, thinking I’ll go for a run on the treadmill before bed, but something is going on. Guards race down the hall—some artificial, some human. They tear through the second floor in a cacophony of boots and barked orders.

Port, the human security captain, sees me standing at the head of the staircase and shouts, “Quinn! Intruder! Check the bedrooms.”

I hold in a sigh and nod. Seven years of this crap, and they still see me as a utility player. Good enough, since I don’t want to draw attention to just how powerful I’m becoming. Maren’s idea of a “more stimulating” project won’t even come close to stressing my capabilities, although I’ll make her think it does.

Besides, I hardly care that someone is running amok in the house—asking me to help find the intruder is such a pointless exercise—but compliant is my middle name, so I trot to the first door. It’s locked. Then again, it’s always locked. My K600 friends speculate that it holds Maren’s sex toys. I find that funny, because she’s such a ball of frustration, I can’t see her being uninhibited about anything, least of all a secret sex chamber.

I open the second door and step inside. The room’s completely dark once I shut the door behind me. Or at least it would seem that way to a normal person, but I’m far from normal. I see well outside the human range, and I detect a faint glow coming from under the bed. A rogue K600?

So that’s what they’re after—an escapee. Well, I’ll help this one get away and tell Port the rooms are empty.

Whistling, I go to check the bathroom and feel the air behind me stir. The artificial is on the move. “The windows are rigged with an alarm,” I say. “And the lights in the garden would turn on the second you hit ground, anyway.”

“Who are you?” a girl asks.

That voice… It’s older, harder, but I know that voice. It’s the voice of all my dreams.

I start trembling and slowly turn. The glow she emits isn’t quite enough to be sure, so I flip on the light switch and nearly fall to my knees.

She’s seven years older—well past seventeen now—and beautiful, but I’d know her anywhere. “Lexa?”

She’s wearing tight fitting black clothes that make me feel both hot and cold, and her hair is tucked inside a cap, but it’s her. She even still smells faintly like cookies.

Lexa brandishes some kind of tool at me. “Who are you?”

I can’t believe it. She found me. She has no idea who I am, which explains a lot about her disappearance, about why she never made contact with me. My Lexa never would’ve left me behind. But I’m not bitter—there was a reason. She would’ve come back if she’d been able to remember, and her memories can be restored over time. Doc will know what to do, if I can make contact. All that matters is that she’s here, and that we leave the compound together. I just have to make her trust me. That’s my gift, right? I’ll help her escape and convince her to take me with her.

Then I’ll help her remember why she trusted me all those years ago.

Our time has come. At last.

Read on for a sneak peek of UNSTRUNG (Unstrung series, Book 1)