Beneath chp ||14
You shouldn't have come here." I stepped backward.
then everything went black.
Song for this chapter -mystery girl -Johnny Drillie .
Kainene
For a few seconds I couldn't move, I couldn't even breathe, my fingers remained wrapped around the doorframe as I stared into the room, trying to convince myself that whatever I was seeing wasn't real.
It was too quiet, that was the first thing I noticed, not the machines, not the lights, not the strange metallic structures standing in neat rows, the silence, it was the kind of silence that made every tiny sound feel amplified, the faint hum of electricity, the soft ticking of something somewhere behind me, even my own breathing, followed by the lights that kept on blinking. I swallowed. "What the hell..." my voice barely came out.
The room stretched farther than I had expected, it wasn't simply a laboratory, it looked like someone had poured an insane amount of money into building a private research facility and then decided to hide it inside a house. Glass screens covered one wall, some displayed lines of code, others showed diagrams I couldn't understand, there were mechanical arms suspended from the ceiling, tiny lights blinking on their joints, several metallic bodies stood beneath the dim white lights.
Robots. Actual robots.
I took one hesitant step inside, then another, my eyes moved from one machine to another, some were small enough to fit on a table, others were almost human-sized, one had a metallic spine exposed through a transparent panel, another had what looked like a human face, except it wasn't quite human enough. I wrapped my arms around myself. "Keside..." the name left my lips instinctively, I didn't know whether I wanted him to appear or stay as far away from me as possible.
I moved deeper into the room, there were photographs, I stopped, my eyes narrowed. The first photograph showed Keside standing beside a younger-looking woman, Sophie, I knew her face immediately, I'd seen her photograph before, she was beautiful, not just beautiful in the way people said someone was beautiful when they wanted to be polite, she had the kind of face that made you understand why someone could remember her years after she was gone. I looked away.
Another photograph, Sophie sitting on the floor beside a machine, laughing, while Keside appeared to be explaining something to her. Another, the two of them standing in front of what looked like an unfinished robot. Another, Sophie holding a tiny metallic component between two fingers, her face scrunched in concentration.
I walked closer, my stomach twisted, why were there so many pictures of her, this wasn't an ordinary collection of memories, this was an entire life, preserved, frozen, waiting.
My gaze dropped to a worktable, there were notebooks stacked across it, some were old, some looked newer, I reached toward one. Before my fingers could touch it, something behind me made a soft mechanical sound, I froze, slowly I turned, one of the robots had moved, my heart jumped into my throat, it was standing several feet away from me, its face was almost disturbingly realistic, the eyes were dark glass, its head tilted slightly.
I took a step backward. "Okay..." I laughed nervously, "okay, this is officially creepy." The robot remained still, then its eyes illuminated, a small blue light appeared across its pupils, I stopped smiling, it scanned me, a soft electronic sound filled the room, I didn't move. "Can you... talk?" The robot's head tilted again, then a calm female voice came from somewhere inside it. "Good evening."
I nearly screamed. "Jesus!" I stumbled backward, knocking into the table, a few metal components rattled, the robot remained perfectly still. "Who are you?" No answer. I glanced toward the door, I could leave, that was the sensible thing, I should leave, instead I looked back at it. "What are you doing here?" The robot's eyes moved, it wasn't looking at me anymore, it was looking beyond me, I turned, nothing, when I looked back its gaze had returned to me. "Unknown individual." I blinked. "Well, yes, obviously." The robot said nothing, I stared at it, it stared back. "This is insane."
I turned away, suddenly desperate to get out, my eyes landed on something on the opposite wall, a large screen, there were hundreds of files, names, dates, photographs, technical diagrams, I couldn't understand most of them, but one word appeared repeatedly, SOPHIE. My chest tightened, I stepped closer, there were files with her name, videos, blueprints, medical-looking diagrams, photographs. I immediately stepped away. "No," I shook my head, "no, no, no." This wasn't my business, whatever Keside had built here, whatever history he had with Sophie, whatever happened between them, it wasn't mine.
I turned toward the door, then I heard footsteps, my entire body went rigid, footsteps were approaching, I looked around frantically.
The door opened. Akunna stood there, she stared at me, then at the room, then back at me, for the first time since I had met her, the calm expression on her face disappeared. "You." I swallowed. "I can explain." "No," her voice was low, "you were not supposed to be here." I glanced behind me. "Why?" She stepped into the room and closed the door, her eyes narrowed. "I heard something." "What?" "Voices." She said nothing. "I followed them." "You should have turned around." "I didn't know where I was going." "You knew enough to open the door."
I stared at her. "Why is there a room full of robots hidden upstairs?" She didn't answer. "And why are there pictures of Sophie everywhere?" Still nothing, my frustration rose. "Akunna." She looked at me. "Why does Keside have this?" Her expression changed, barely, but I saw it, fear, or maybe concern, I couldn't tell.
She moved toward me. "You shouldn't have come here." I stepped backward. "No." "Kainene." "Where are you taking me?" "Downstairs." "Why?" "Because you shouldn't be here." I shook my head. "You keep saying that." "Because you keep refusing to listen." She reached for my arm, I pulled away. "Don't touch me." She stopped, for a moment neither of us spoke.
Then something behind me moved, I turned, the robot had taken one step forward, Akunna's face drained. "Don't," the word came out sharply. I looked at her. "What?" She wasn't looking at me, she was looking at the robot, then she looked back at me. "Stay away from it." My heart started pounding again. "Why?" She didn't answer, the robot's head turned toward me, a faint mechanical hum filled the room.
Then Akunna moved quickly, too quickly, something struck the side of my head, the room tilted, I reached for the table, missed, the last thing I felt was a force at the back of my neck, then everything went black.
Keside
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the house was the silence, Oby was standing near the staircase, I stopped. "Where's Kai?" The robot didn't answer immediately, I frowned. "Oby." "Mrs. Kainene is upstairs." My jaw tightened. "Which floor?" There was a pause. "Upper floor." I looked toward the staircase, my stomach dropped, I didn't run, I walked, fast.
The door to the upper corridor was open, that was enough, I pushed it open, nothing. Then I saw Akunna, she was standing outside the robotics room, her expression told me everything. "What happened?" She looked at me. "She came inside." My blood ran cold. "Kainene?" She nodded.
I walked past her, the room was exactly as I had left it, except for one thing, Kai was lying unconscious on the floor, my heart stopped. "Kai." I crossed the room and dropped beside her, I touched her cheek, cold. "Kainene." Nothing. I lifted her carefully. "Get the doctor." Akunna nodded.
I looked toward the machines, then toward the photographs, my eyes landed on the robot, its lights were still on, watching, I narrowed my eyes. "Shut everything down." The room went dark, and for the first time in years, I wished I had never built any of it.
---
Barbie as narrator
Barbie is now clutching a blanket!
Omg I can't believe this, wow, the man has a freaking research facility full of Sophie things, it was her whole life in there.
Is this a kink of Kes? Because darling, I genuinely don't know whether I'm supposed to be scared, impressed, or calling an exorcist.
What the actual hell is going on??