E.R.I.C. (The Almost Series Book 2) Read Free

said.
    The diver obeyed, clicking the cuffs tight around my ankles. He hoisted me up and leaned me against the side of the chopper door. “Welcome to phase two: experimental.”
    I couldn’t swallow.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Liquid Metal
     
    The helicopter hovered above the landing pad of the Pigeon Key Research facility. I glanced down at what was once the place I called home. I frowned. What happened to the days when I longed to awaken to the sound of Pop’s electronic beeps and Darla’s shrilly morning voice? I wished to sit in my sensory chair and feel Pop kiss my forehead with his holographic lips. I’d give anything to be able to run back into Darla’s arms just once more and tell her that she was a great mother and that I loved her.
    Would Pop be terminated? Had his chair been replaced? Maybe the next P.O.P. had already been installed, waiting on the next S.H.A.Y.
    I tried to wipe my tears but then remembered my arms were cuffed behind me. The chopper lowered, aiming for the center of the landing pad. I closed my eyes, imagining I was back in my room laughing at my Pop.
    “Release her. She’s nowhere to go now,” Dr. Cole said. The diver took out a small key, placing it between his teeth.
    If I didn’t need him to unlock my arms and legs—
    “Shay!” Amie exclaimed. She floated above us. “Don’t give them too much or too little resistance. None would make Dr. Cole question your motives and too much will only mean total lockdown.”
    I glared at the diver. He was slender with extremely long limbs. He grinned, taking the key from his teeth. “We’ve installed one of your invisible shielding devices; now you can never escape like you did last time.”
    I groaned. “Really? Another one of my ‘failures’ has become useful?”
    Dr. Cole stepped out of the helicopter. “We haven’t all day. I need to examine the damage the S.H.A.Y. has incurred since her little rendezvous outside the safety of our facility.”
    “I’m not going anywhere with you until you promise to let Darla go.” I jerked back from the diver. He grabbed at my feet, dragging me out of the chopper, and dropped me onto the landing pad. The propellers spun just as loudly as my heart pounded.
    “Take off her cuffs. I need her to walk through the halls like the scientists she’s been raised to represent. I won’t have an unruly child disrupting the work of truly great minds that wish to save lives.”
    “You’re the only fake here.” I spat. “I won’t cooperate, I’ll resist.”
    “Then you and your precious Darla shall die—just like all the others.” Dr. Cole turned about, taking quick steps away from the launching pad and into the elevator.
    The diver struggled to unlock my ankles. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled underneath the force of the propeller blades. I fell into the elevator doors.
    Dr. Cole pressed a button, re-opening them. “Are you ready to cooperate now?”
    “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with my body and why you kill every S.H.A.Y.?”
    “I do not kill the S.H.A.Y. programs. They self-destruct by not listening to me.”
    “You’re a liar.”
    She grabbed my arm, her face, inches from mine. “If I wanted you dead then you’d be at the bottom of the ocean right now.” Dr. Cole shoved me into the elevator wall. The force shook the container.
    “What about my P.O.P.?”
    “What about him?”
    “Is he still active?”
    She glanced up. “Why do you care about that outdated program? He’s an artificial father—designed to assist you in fundamental learning that a human cannot give to you. That’s his only function.”
    I wiped my eyes. “He’s my father.”
    “He’s a machine!”
    “I love him!”
    “Well, he doesn’t love you.”
    My lips trembled. Amie flashed images of Pop and me. She showed my look of joy as I watched Pop’s electronic lights race into my room in the morning. His holographic image tried to smile. My Pop tried to make me