Conduit

Ch. 6

"Wait! Elijah! No!"

I was stuck, pinned under the android's weight. My knees buckled and slammed onto the tiled floor. Hissing, I looked up at the android's face, but I fought to keep from screaming. This shit hurt, androids were heavy if they let down their guard. Some weighed tons.

I hoped it wouldn't let up. I wasn't in the mood to die here. Or anywhere. I knew death would come for me one day; I had some years, so I'd just fall with the planet.

"Hey," my voice trembled as I held the android's gaze, "listen to me. You don't have to do this."

"Elijah! Shit!" Outside the cubicle, Frank frantically called to me. To anyone. "Come on, get some overrides here! We need to shut this bot down!"

"No!" I hissed at him before looking back at the android as it pushed back at it. "No overrides. No deletions. No control." I licked my lip as pain shot down my leg. "They're... not... going to... toss you. You're going to be fine."

Its eyes didn't change. If there was a moment I wished I had Victoria at my side, this was it. She would've been able to connect to the android, telling him, that these humans were wrong—that I meant no harm. And I planned to do what I could to help them, fix the issue, and create a bridge of understanding. How would I do that? Neither the androids nor Lyons knew what I'd do. Shit, I didn't know either.

It pushed again. The pain in my leg shot up to my back. I yelped, squeezing my eyes shut. "Believe me," I panted, struggling to open my eyes to look at it again. "Trust... me. I'm on your side..."

"What, his 100 is coming? No, yeah! Let her in! We need her!" Frank shrieked. "Elijah's going to die in there. We can't lose another worker!"

Shit, it was like that. Androids killing humans. They'd been dealing with this for a while, hadn't they? With what I saw, I wouldn't expect anything else. Hadn't we learned, from history, what happens when we lack compassion? Androids weren't any different.

A small laugh left me. As the criminal worker moved, scurrying around the cubicle, I realized I couldn't feel my leg. I kneeled on it, yeah, but the pain wasn't there. Was it breaking? I didn't know. Adrenaline had to be the only thing keeping me upright. And with the strength of this construction bot, I needed all the adrenaline I could get.

"What's... your name?" Make conversation. Treat it like a person. Let it know you care.

The android, still unwavering, blinked. "I don't have one," it said. "Prototypes are not named."

Oh, fuck. I can do this. "Okay." I gulped and nodded. "When will you be given one?"

The android's red eyes scanned mine. It reminded me of Victoria; when she thoroughly scanned me to get the emotions I refused to tell her outright. It was impossible to lie to an android. I learned that long ago. It looked like Lyons was behind on that simple fact.

Tilting his head, the android scanned my face once more. "Never," it said.

"Never?" I pinched my brow together.

"No," it said.

"No, he's still in there!" Frank again, shouting at whoever was close by. "We need to get him out. Get her!"

I need more time. I need this android to see some reason. "Well, that's awful. How about I give you one?"

Something flickered on the android's face. Progress? I needed it to be.

I grunted, still trying to mask my pain. "Everyone... everyone needs one."

It blinked again. "Do they?" it whispered.