TOUCHED

TOUCHED Part 9 of 10

"You killed Alex?" Neil asked in a whisper.

"This is bigger than one life. He was not committed to the cause. He only cared about his temporary existence in his physical body. Besides, I only need one of you." The voice answered. "Now, are you going to help me?"

"What exactly do we have to do?" I asked, attempting to figure a way out of Doctor Lee's death room.

"There is a drive. A computer hard drive. I will show you exactly where. You will pick it up and move it to the center of the room and place it in another slot. That's all. The drive is not heavy and there is no reason for you not to assist me."

"The drive contains you, I assume. This data you?" I asked.

"It's not that simple, Corsair." The voice replied. "But yes. I am having you move my drive from this room into a more portable unit."

"What unit?" Neil asked, recovering from the shock of Alex being murdered in front of him by a computer claiming to be alive.

Immediately after asking, several panels from the machine in the center of the room fell away, revealing the object inside.

You're joking.

The robot, for lack of a better word, stood menacingly in the center of the room, a panel open on its chest with an empty slot in the center. The robot, shaped as a human, somehow appeared comical and blasphemous at the same time. Although I could see the wires and electronics inside the robot, the silver shell appeared bulletproof. Overall, the thing revolted me.

Before Neil and I could ask any further questions, the image of Esmerelda appeared.

"The ghost!" Neil exclaimed.

Esmerelda, transparent and solid at the same time, floated from one side of the room to the other before vanishing into a blank space on the far wall.

"That is not a ghost." The voice answered Neil. "That is my mobile unit. With my consciousness transferred into that, I can move freely."

Lee didn't see Esmerelda.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

"What are you talking about, Corsair?" The voice questioned back. I have seen everything you've done since entering this manor."

"Why do you want my real name?" I continued asking questions of the voice, continually changing the subject to keep it off-balanced.

"To reward you financially."

Yeah, right.

"So you didn't see the ghost of your dead wife just walk through the room?" Neil asked.

Idiot!

"Your attempts to trick me are going to fail." The voice warned. "My beloved wife is long dead."

"Then why is she haunting this house?" Neil asked. When the voice didn't answer, the paranormal investigator continued before I could shut him up. "Of course, the ghost of Esmerelda didn't appear on my video recordings and you can't see it, only we can. You don't know about her."

"What are you talking about? If you are attempting to trick me, I will kill you both." The voice warned.

"Upstairs and then just now, we saw the ghost of your dead wife walking the halls." Neil explained.

"Why would you say that?" The voice asked.

"Um, because it looked exactly like her." Neil explained.

"What's behind that wall?" I asked, pointing to the place Esmerelda passed through and not wanting to provide the voice with any more information.