《Future Shock - Soul of Steel》


 01 - Damaged Appliance

    Present day, present time...


    It is evening; there is a knock at the door.  Rye calmly pulls himself up from his chair and turns off the television with a remote.  He gives a sharp look to his holographic assistant and the hologram turns itself off.  Rye has been waiting the better for of the date for this ''fateful'' meeting that is supposedly urgent.  When he opens the door, the same woman from the hospital is there.  Rye''s eyes dart up and then down eyeing her over once.  She looks worse for wear and lookes dirty; probably from the ordeal she has been through the last week.  Her head sinks as she shrugs her shoulders slightly and gives gives a wry smile.  Rye''s hand shoots to the door frame when she attempts to come in; his eyes dart to her and his head moves to her direction.  "I can come in right?"  She was trembling now.  "You will let me in right?"  He could see it, her eyes were getting watery.  His head shifts to towards the direction of voices approaching at the end of the hall.  He looks down again at her.  He was weighing the decision; she was rapidly shaking her head not to do it.  His hand finally breaks free from the doorframe, "In now."  She lets a sigh of relief from her chest as the tension breaks and she pushes herself in.  Rye resists the urge to slam the door as he closes it behind him; he turns around and she is facing him from six feet away.


    "May I..."


    "No, you may not.  I''ve lost three days of plans waiting around for you."


    "Well, I mean..."


    "I don''t want to hear it.  I am ''not'' happy right now, so I will be direct and to the point.  This had better be good, and I mean it; no games, no bullshit.  You had better have a good reason for being here, or you are out.  Now sit."  Rye points to one of the two couches.  She walks over slowly, her back to him; then sits with her arms in her lap.  She doesn''t seem phased by his display of temper; Rye was having trouble discerning if she wastelling if she was faking the mood or not.  Not like it matters, he was contemplating turning her over to the police.  Rye was on the other couch adjucent from her.  His posture didn''t tell anything about his mood; he seems otherwise relaxed.


    "Now, I''m current as far as the hospital," his mood was less angry, more serious, but definitely relaxed, "What happened after I left and why did you run?"


    "The doctor''s wanted to x-ray my body after they saw me walking around the hospital."


    One of Rye''s eyes squint.  "I don''t understand."


    "I had a cast on my left leg and right arm if you remember."  She raises her right arm as if to prove a point, but there was nothing on it.  "Ah.  That''s right.  However..."  his mood finally relaxes and his right leg crosses over his left and his right arm rests on the back of the couch, his left hand motions to with his index finger and palm up, "...that doesn''t explain why you would would try to ''escape''."


    "When I tried to resist, they had bodyguards, security or whatever, hold and sedate me.  I just remember getting really tired and passing out."


    "...and then?"  He was waiting, her head turns away.  His ears shoot back and his eyes narrow.  "I humored you on the phone because it might actually be important.  I''m not going to put up with your games.  The door is over there..."  he motions his head towards the door behind him.  "I suggest you leave before I call the cops."  He was getting ready to stand when she interrupts him, "Wait!  I''m sorry!  They found out I was a cryborg!"


    Rye sinks into the couch, his left elbow goes to the armrest and his head collapses into his hand.  He mouths a curse under his breath without actually saying it.  She sees him wince and then let out a sigh.  "Alright!" his hands go up in frustration, "Alright!  You can stay."  Her head looks up and her eyes closes as she lets out a sigh of relief.


    "However, any games on your part and you''ll be out on the curb; do I make myself clear?!"


    She nods, quickly, several times.


    His head was resting on his right hand, "I assume they x-rayed you and saw that you weren''t human?"


    "Right."


    "And then what happened...?"


    "When I finally came to, they had me in a bed and restrained.  There were several bodyguards and a doctor waiting for me.  The doctor asked me some questions.  He told me as a cryborg I have no autonomy, they have been outlawed for centuries."


    "Are they legal on Hayduria?"


    "Yes."


    "I see.  How did you escape?"  He was puzzled, and his curiosity was starting to get the better of him.


    "I triggered my body''s danger reflexes and broke the restraints.  When they turned around to see what happened, I lunged at one of the bodyguards.  The other tried to restrain me so I headbutted him."


    "You''re so violent."  He said it as if it was a good thing; one of her eyes closes halfway and she gives a sneer in disbelief.  "What did you do about the doctor?"


    "He was blocking the door, so I told him to move.  He moved.  He was weak."  She gives herself a self respecting smile as if it was the first good thing she''d seen in awhile.  "When I was trying to find the exit, I heard an alarm go off.  I had bodyguards following me or trying to block off my route, so I started throwing things at them or would knock them out if they blocked the way.  I did find the exit."


    "And that''s when you ran."


    "Like I''ve never run before.  You already know the rest."


    "Wait, back up a second.  You were in a cast before.  If you are a machine, why did you need one?", Rye is getting curious now.  If she had a injury after the accident, it would have made sense to x-ray her -before- getting any medical work.


    "Well, I lied in the report and told them I had a fractured left arm.  I was limping after the accident, so it only made sense."


    "I don''t recall you limping."  Rye is skeptical at this point, not sure if he believes this woman, robot or whatever she was.  If she can lie to others, it also means she can lie to him.


    "Nevermind that.  We were too busy trying to get out of the ship if you recall."


    "I do actually.  Go on."


    "They bandaged me up and threw my limbs into a cast."


    "Were you actually injured?"


    "Yes, I was.  My left arm did have a fracture and my left knee and foot had been damaged."


    Rye rubs the left side of his head with his left hand.  This makes sense to him, but it was also still a stretch.  He had never seen a Cryborg, only heard about them.  "You''re body should still have those injuries?"


    "It does.  It''ll be another week or two before it fully heals."


    "Heals?  You mean repairs right?"


    "Both.  I''m not just synthetic.  I''m also biological."


    Rye winces.


    "Sitting in that room being immobile wasn''t fun."


    "How did they sedate you?  If you are a machine that shouldn''t be an issue."


    She flicks her hand through her hair and shakes her head, "As I said.  My body is also biological."  She smiles with enjoyment as Rye''s face winces again and expresses a non-verbal groan.  She was enjoying this too much, Rye couldn''t decide if it was her ego or if she just likes attention.


    "Assuming you are telling the truth, what happens after the hospital?"


    "I figured they''d be looking for me or they would have given my description to the police and -they- would be looking for me.  I decided to make a hasty retreat and then lay low."


    "Were you running all over the island avoiding authorities?"


    "No, I spent the entirety of it at a shelter for the homeless and abused.  When they asked about my hospital clothing I told them I had an abusive husband and his last temper sent me to the hospital.  They didn''t ask any questions after that.  They gave me some donated clothing and let me stay in a small room in the basement.  My roomate was this very nice older woman; she was very friendly."  The woman''s eyes shift up in thought as if remembering a pleasant memory, "They also had this really nice soup kitchen."


    Rye''s face changes to disbelief, "You didn''t actually eat in the soup kitchen or serve on the line did you?"


    "No, they wouldn''t let me.  They said it was in my better interest not to be seen at the shelter if my husband was abusive."


    "Liar and a scoundrel."


    "I placed a few calls to you from the shelter."


    "How did you get them to be off island?"


    "You can call the operator and get a forwarding service from an off-island account.  It''s harder to track."


    "Ah.  Clever girl."  Rye gets a weak smile from the woman, but one that signifies her pride.


    "I left towards the weekend.  I chose to spend it in the park.  However, the police stopped by and told me I couldn''t loiter after hours.  when they turned me away, I came back after about three hours.  They caught me sleeping on a bench and woke me up and wanted my ID.  Obviously I don''t have one, and when I wouldn''t give them one, they tried to detain me.  That''s when I ran.  I went back to the shelter a few hours later and got a haircut and new change of clothing.  I was hoping if the police were looking for me, they wouldn''t notice my appearance had changed."


    Rye noted her hair was shorter.


    "I tried calling again and had a brief conversation with your assistant; he told me where you lived.  He said you weren''t available and would be available three days after the fact.  I waited at the shelter over the weekend before leaving for the final time and coming over here.  The rest you know."


    "Right.  You can stay."


    Her mood perks up.  Rye stands, "I don''t know if I believe your whole story, but you can stay.  Do you have a name?"


    "GMA-02-Gamma-2065."


    "What?


    "General Manufactured Android Zero Two Gamma Unit Two Thousand Sixt-Five."


    Rye lets out a sigh as he winces again.


    "I am a mass produced android for general labor.  Zero one indicates male, zero two indicates female.  Gamma indicates I am the third update to the product line.  My unit number is two thousand sixty-five."


    Rye gives a fake, albeit weak smile in disbelief.  He couldn''t believe what is happening before him, let alone what he is listening to.  "Do you have an actual name?"


    "I have a personal name if that is what you mean.  I''d rather not give it out at this time.  Just call me Gamma.  That is what everyone else called me on the ship."


    "Speaking of which, ''Gamma'', can you tell me what you were doing on that ship?"


    "I was originally signed on as a secretary.  I was to be transferred to a military base and serve as a secretary and data analyst.  Completing five years would grand me citizen status.  After I wanted to be a diplomat to Eva."


    "I see.  Well then, now that you have my trust...", Rye starts walking away, "...make sure you don''t lose it."


    "Wait, where are you going?!"  She is standing now.


    "I need to switch to a day schedule.  I''m going to bed."


    "Ah."


    "If you need to sleep feel free to use the couch.  If you need assistance, just call out for James; he''ll appear when you need him."


    "Alright then.  Thank you.  Actually, what was your name?  You never mentioned your name"  Her head is ever so slightly cocked to the side.


    "Ryanov Gristoz."


    "Okay, thank you Ryanov for your assistance and hopsitality through this difficult time."


    "Rye."


    "What?"


    "Just call me Rye."


    "Okay.  Thanks again Rye."


    "You are welcome...  I think.  We can talk more in the morning."


    She nods as he turns around and heads once again towards the bedroom.  Once inside, Rye shuts the door behind him and winces one last time.  He turns around in front of the bed with his back facing it.  He let''s himself crash backwards onto the mattress.  He lets out one last sigh as he recounts events leading up to this point.  The situation gave him a headache and it was only getting worse.  What he hadn''t told her was that he was switching to a day schedule to help with his studies.  In the near future, once his studies are complete, he is going to chase his dream job of being a cop.  This complicates matters as he is now providing room and board for an outlaw. Indeed, things will get much more interesting in the near future for Ryanov Gristoz.


    ---


    Three days earlier...


    Rye had just gotten back from shopping.  His holographic assistant, ''James'' (black hair, short, asian, roughly seventeen) was there to greet him.  "Master, welcome home."  The hologram greeted him.  It had been roughly six months since Rye had left for the rig.  James would have been there at his side, but there was a strict ''no outside storage mediums'' policy enforced on the rig.  Rye threw his jacket and shoes to the floor next to the door.  "James, any mail or calls while I was away?"  Rye faced the hologram in curiosity as he kicked the door behind him closed with his foot.  The hologram turned his head slightly, "One moment..."; his form dulled and small random numbers and letters whizzed throughout his form.  "113 telemarketer calls...", The hologram paused when he heard a distinct, "Block that shit." from his master.  He nodded and continued, "23 items of junk mail...".  Rye gave him a sharp look, the hologram jolted to attention, "314 items of junk mail, telemarketer calls and non-essentials have been deleted.  Rye let out a sigh of happiness.  "What about the rest?"  The hologram''s form faded again.  "There has been 27 items in regards to bills - none late.  I''ll archive them for you if you..."  The hologram was interrupted again by Rye, "Go ahead."  "Yes, the items have been archived.  You are still at 7% capacity for storage.  You have one message from your mother and five messages from an unknown number.  Would you like to hear them?"  The hologram was awaiting his orders.  Rye gave the go ahead.


    "Rye, it''s your mother.  You missed the reunion again.  But work first right?  There was a turnout of ten families this year.  Your father made a fool of himself again.  Your sisters give their regards.  I wish you well."  The message was brief and to the point.  These exchanges had been going on for several years due to Rye''s job at the Milford Bio Oil Rig.


    Rye was in the living room section of his apartment to grab the television remote.  He shook his head at the message from his mother as he walked back to the kitchen.  His father did it -again-.  Rye flicked the television on before he went to put the groceries away into the cupboards and the refridgerator.  Rye hadn''t been paying attention to James at that point, but the hologram continued with his message deliveries.


    "Rye, it''s Mark.  The head honchoes at Milford want rescuers involved with the Haydurian incident to..."


    "James, delete that one."


    "Got it."


    Rye was grabbing milk from his back.  He hadn''t had real milk for almost six months; it had to be processed or powdered due to ''Milford Bio Policy''.  Rye winced at the thought.  He didn''t have to deal with the Milford Bio company until his next rotation six months ahead and didn''t want to think about it.


    "Hello, to whom it concerns.  I need your help.  We..."


    Rye''s head pops up above the fridge door, "James, has your database been updated?"  James gave a nod, "No junk filters picked up on it."  "Odd.  Sounds like junk.  Go ahead and continue."  James''s hologram froze and faded as the message continued, "We met aboard the ship..."  Rye''s head smashes the top of the fridge and he gives out a distinct, ''ow''.  The message continued.  "I have something I need to discuss with you.  I will call you again.  Please be ready for it."  Rye was wide eyed at the message.  He heard the hum of the fridge behind him.  "James, how long ago was that first message?"  James looked up as if in though, "Four days ago."  Rye shut the door behind him.  His thoughts started to race.  That voice sounded distinctly like the woman from the ship and later the hospital.  He tried to gather his thoughts on how she could have found his number.  He had no idea.  "James, are the next messages from the same woman and number?"  The hologram looked at him and shook his head, "Negatory.  The numbers do not match and are all random and off island."  Rye was standing next to the hologram now, "That can''t be right."  The hologram continues, "The voice pitch and frequency matches the same person in the remaining messages."  Rye''s mouth was pursed, "Go ahead and continue the messages."


    "Hello again.  I see you are not home.  I will try later in the day."


    "James, how long ago was the message?"  Rye''s arms were crossed and he was slowly tapping his foot.  Again the hologram''s form faded, "Four days ago."  "This is starting to sound like a mystery novel."  "If you would like sir, I can begin transcribing a novel."  James was at the ready.  "That''s not what I meant.  Continue the messages, I want to know how this ends."  Rye was leaning against the kitchen counter now.  "Right." answered the hologram, "Continuing messages."


    "Hello, I contacted you several days ago; we met on the ship.  I''ve escaped from the hospital..."


    "Escaped?!  Why would you...?"  Rye''s hands were half up in the air, half shrugging; his eyes were winced and his head was shaking as he was mouthing several things to himself, "...doesn''t she know if she isn''t discharged they''ll forward it to the police?"  The hologram didn''t know if Rye was talking to himself or not, but he answered with, "I don''t know."  Rye realized that his groceries were still sitting out and he hurries back behind the counter to put them away, "James, continue the message."


    "...I really need to speak with you.  Please be ready next time."


    James already knew what his master was going to ask, "Date was mid-afternoon two days ago."  There was no answer from Rye.  He just gave a look and was hurrying with putting canned goods away.


    "Hello.  Your voice mail picked up again.  I wanted to speak with you.  We met on the ship if you remember.  The police told me I couldn''t loiter in the park after hours and had to go home.  They came back a second time; I wouldn''t give them an ID and they tried to detain me.  I''m possession of some new clothing and a haircut; I won''t look the same when we meet."


    Rye''s thoughts were racing again.  Did she imply she was now eluding authorities?  James shook him back to reality, "Next message."


    "Hello."  The woman''s voice played again.  "Hello."  James''s voice answered.  Rye''s eyebrow cocked up at James.  "We met on the ship.  You gave me your number to contact you if I needed help."  It was the woman again.  "I am the master''s assistant hologram.  He will be back in three days towards evening.  If you would like to..."  "JAMES!"  Rye''s interruption jolted the hologram back to his full color.  "Yes, sir!"  "How many times have I told you not to answer the phone!"  "Since activation three years ago you have told me at least 17 times.  What... stop looking at me like that."  Rye was walking over to the door.  "Sir, I didn''t buy anything!"  The hologram ducked as Rye''s boot flew over his head.  "And what was your excuse this time?"  Rye was not impressed, nor amused.  "I was active as per instructions from my master to begin house keeping."  "And you answered my phone?"  "Yes sir."  "Are you defective?"  "Yes sir."  Rye gave James the eye.  "I mean no sir."  "I should have never given you that personality update."  "Yes sir.  Permission to continue the message.  It is important."  Rye crosses his arms as he leans against the counter again, "Continue the message."


    "...towards evening.  If you would like to leave a message, I can..."  "No, I need to speak with him.  It''s urgent."  "He will not be back for three days.  You will need to leave a message."  "I can''t say it over the phone.  Can you tell me where he lives?"  "I can''t give out that information."  "Are you sentient?"  "Yes I am."  "I need your help."  "How may I be of help?"  "I need to speak with your master, it is an emergency and I''m in danger."  "He will not be back for three days."  "If you tell me where he lives I can swing by then."  "He lives at Malteza Apartments, building four, first floor, east wing, 406."  "Can you give the street location?"  "47325 Parkers Plaza."  "Thanks."  The end message tone played and the call was over.  Rye''s arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowed at James.  "You had better hope it is an emergency."  James knew he had messed up.  "Hey James."  "Yes sir?"  "Before you deactive yourself, I want you to know I am very disappointed with you."  "Yessir!  I am very disappointing."  The hologram fizzled out.  Rye shook his head and rushed back to the kitchen.  His yogurt was the last thing sitting out and he had forgotten about it.  He cracked it open and took a spoonful.  He then chucked it into the garbage and went towards the bedroom.  The last few days had been exhausting and he came home sooner than the original intended date for one very important thing - sleep and lots of it.


    ---


    One week earlier...


    It began in a hospital room; specifically the ICU (intensive care unit).  This style of ICU is what you would expect if you have ever been in one - white walls, equipment, and one of ''those'' types of beds.  Waiting patiently was a man, late twenties in a security uniform.  Short black hair pulled back and aviator sunglasses were the only distinguishing features; he is sitting in a chair reading a book ("the antihacker") with his back to the sunlight and drawn curtain.  His charge and vigilant bedside manner was directed towards the woman in the ICU bed.  Long red hair is her distinguishing feature, the rest of her either covered or unremarkable.  By ''covered'', I mean her left arm and leg are in a cast and her left leg is suspended in the air with cable; her arm is more free, but it is slightly bound by another restraint.  Her head is shifted to her right side and her eyes are closed, sleeping.  There is a slight raspy breath escaping her vicinity.  This woman has been in an accident, and the security guard is waiting, patiently.  Unusual to this medical recovery is the fact she has been out for nearly two weeks.


    He looks up as he has many times up until now and sees the foot wiggle, if ever so slightly.  His book closes and his aviators come off as movement in the bed starts with a rustle and then the restraints in the bed pull tight as the occupant resists them in some invisible fight.  They slack again and there is a deep breath and exhale as the woman''s eyes open, first the left and then the right.  There is a silence in the room as her head shifts around to survey her surroundings.  Her eyes were on the foot cast and then her left arm resists the arm cast, the first time unexpected and then the second time to test it.  Her mouth drops when she sees the security guard sitting in a chair.


    "You''ve been out for two weeks."  He tries to be friendly, but the lack of response from her made his warm disposition that much harder to put on.  He tries switching to serious, "Are you alright ma''am?"  Again no response.  He is up from the chair and sets his book down, more urgently now "I''ll go get a nurse."  Her head follows him as he walks past the bed and towards the door.  The woman stops to consider it and as he opens the door he hears her voice, "Wait...!  That won''t be necessary!"  The door clicks closed as he joins her by her bedside.


    "I don''t know if you remember me."  He tries to be friendly again, but there was just a stare back as he continued, "I was the person that helped you away from the explosion."  Still no response.  "If it makes you feel better I can get a nurse for you."  Her face tightens and she gives him a sharp "NO!"  The door to the ICU opens and a nurse''s head peaks in, "Is everything alright in here?"  The man''s head looks up at the nurse and then the girl in the bed, whom says, "Fine, everything is fine.  Please leave us."  The nurse gives a cheerful smile, "Okay!" and closes the door.  When the door closes, the woman''s head shifts back to the security guard.  "Please leave."  His hands were on the right bed rail and he tries to make light of the situation, "You don''t like nurses, do you?"  His humor was lost on her and her only response was "Leave."


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    He walks over his chair near the window and pulls it along side her cast-stricken arm and leg; he sits down and begins.  "You''re not going to like this then."  Her eyes widen, before she can open her mouth he continues.  "I can''t leave just yet.  I''m currently on the clock; my company wanted me to watch over you as an act of good faith.  They asked me to step in instead of the doctors due to your relationship with them."  He hears a breath come out of her (not a happy one), he continues his spiel, "They wanted me to ask you some questions.  The reasoning was that since I was the one that helped you, then you would be more cooperative."  Her eyes narrow, "I''m not answering any questions."  He lets out a sigh, in the back of his mind he knew this was going to happen.  "Look, I''m really trying here.  I want to help you, but your not making this easy for me."  Her mouth opens and she pleads with him one last time, "Just leave, please!"  There was an emphasis on on the ''please!''.


    "Alright then."  He stands up and picks up his book and aviators up.  He walks over to the desk and picks up a pen and starts scribbling on a notepad, "If you should change your mind or something happens and you want someone that isn''t a doctor or a nurse, here''s my number."  Near the door he turns around at her, her head now facing away from him and looking out the window, "Goodbye."  He closes the door behind him, harder than he would have normally.


    "Oh god."  He looks up at the hallway.  "Not this shit again..."  He sees the sign "E1-L4" as the location that he was in.  "I hate hospitals."  He had to find his way back to the front desk.  Being one of the larger hospitals, this was no easy feat.  He had gotten lost each time he had visited the mysterious "Jane Doe".  After about fifteen minutes he makes it to the front desk.  "No luck with Jane Doe in the eastwing L4 block.  She doesn''t seem to want to cooperate with me and was quite adamant about any nurses, I''m assuming the same with doctors."  The receptionist starts typing away at her computer, "We''ll let the doctor''s know.  She''s probably still in shock."  He nods, "Right then.  If that will be everything, I''ll be going."  The nurse smiles, "Have a nice day."  The security guard curses under his breath as he approaches the desk.  "I hate hospitals."


    Once he gets home and after he opens the door, his holographic assistant was waiting for him, "Boss, you''re home."  He takes one look at it and says, "Not now."  The hologram shuts itself off.  The security guard puts his keys on the key holder and throws his coat on the floor and kicks his shoes off.  He drags himself to the couch and crashes hard.  This had been a long two weeks - simply going to the hospital, and intensively reading and alleviating boredom, waiting for any sign of the woman''s recovery, eight hours had already gotten to him; her responses weren''t much better.


    A few hours later he jolts up to the sound of his apartment''s phone ringing and the sound of a hauler driving outside.  He was hoping it was the hospital, it wasn''t.  It was his company, Milford Bio.  He knew this was going to turn into an even longer day.  Several phone calls about the patient, mostly with the same responses, ''he didn''t know'', ''she wouldn''t answer'', ''she''s stable''.  This of course was no ordinary circumstance, so the company was very interested for insurance and liability reasons.  The woman in question wasn''t from this planet, she was from one of the orbiting moons.


    ---


    Three weeks earlier...


    It was sometime near high noon.  The security guard in question was out on recon performing his duties.  He had found his normal lineup of suspects.  The sun beat down on him and the waves of the ocean could be heard all around.  He was to make the exchange easily enough, he had the money they wanted and they had what he needed.  Except something was wrong.


    "God damn it!  Not again!"


    He pulls his hand from his coat and points it at the vending machines and cocks back his thumb.  He fires and nothing happens.  The vending machines won this day, as they did anytime they at his change.  He makes a face at the machines and walks off muttering to himself.


    His name was Rye Gristoz.  He was the security guard for this particular oil rig.  His duties were to patrol the rig looking for any suspicious activity.  This normally involved noting how understaffed the place was and how much Milford Bio (the company in question) underpaid him for six months of otherwise acting as an observer.  As with all major corporations, if it wasn''t by lawful mandate, it wasn''t observed and corners were cut.  This rig was old, underpowered and undermaintained.  It''s sole purpose was to pump crude oil from the ocean floor and hold it in massive tanks awaiting next transport.  His real job as he''d come to understand it was to note any discrepencies and safety issues with anything along his normal jaunt.  This was frequent due to the condition of the rig; he would normally have to radio in anything immediate and anything not pressing would be filled out as occasional paperwork from his own office.  He did get his own small office - closet as he liked to call it - on one of the higher levels of the platform.  There was nothing to be seen from the two lone windows however, only sea for miles around.


    As he made his way past rusty walkways and metal walls, Rye remained focused on the task at hand.  He had to get to his office for something very pressing.  When he got to it, he crossed his arms as he looked at several computer monitors on his desk.  They would flip through cameras every ten seconds.  Nothing of import from the last time he had looked at it.  He looked over towards the windows, then to the desk, pulled open a drawer, pushed it shut, and continued to rummage through different areas of the office while he repeatedly looked around.  He was looking for something specific, but couldn''t find it.  He took one last look up at the monitors and then left the office.


    Outside of his office, he crossed more rusty walkways and at one point stopping to rest his hand on a metal railing, the railing broke free of its mount.  Rye shook his head and hurried on his way, it was the end of the week and he had enough paperwork.  After crossing half of the oil platform, he finally found one of the workers.  The conversation was brief, general small talk and then a wrench was procurred.  This was a big wrench, the kind that were found in heavy industrial application.  It was so big in fact, Rye had to hold it with both hands and lug it around his shoulder.  He backtracked to his original location with the vending machines.  He lowered the wrench with both hands from his shoulder to the ground, "Showtime." was all he said as he winds it back and smacks the metal side of the vending machine to his right.  The mechanism kicked in and a sandwhich dropped down.  Delighted at it and the dent left in the machine, he looked over at the machine immediatly to his left.  It had the coffee he needed.  He gave it a stearn look, but nothing happened.  "Suite yourself." he said and he picks up the wrench again and smacked the side of the machine.  Nothing happened.  He took a few more swings with the wrench, but nothing.  His eyes narrow and after refraining from kicking the machine, he looked behind it and noticed the cord was under one of the machine''s legs and was frayed.  "Of course."  He muttered to himself.  Other people had been having the same issue.  Rather than break the glass and suffer the wrath of management, he opted to take some loose change into a vending machine opposite of the wall and grabbed a soda.


    Although Rye didn''t care much for soda, lunch was finally ready.  He returned the wrench and went back to his office.  His legs were crossed up on the desk and a movie was going.  Mystery, Rye liked mystery.  He didn''t like the lemon-lime soda; egg salad sandwiches were okay.  One of the perks of having his own office was the fact boring and monotanous office hours could be crossed off by filling his time with movies, books, or watching the Internet.  Due to the fact the oil platform was several hundred miles from the coast, it also meant Internet and radio communications were received by satellite.  About thirty minutes into his movie, and it was interrupted by the intercom overhead cackled to life.


    "All hands, the N.W.S. (Naval Weather Service) has issued a weather warning for this evening.  Be advised, there will be an electrical storm with heavy winds.  Shift rotation will end three hours early and the main pumps will be shutdown.  In addition..."


    Rye hit a switch behind him and the intercom turned itself off dead.  Rye did not want to hear more bad news, he had been waiting for an annual meteor shower that would be starting that night of that week.  The storm meant he might miss it.  He looked out a window and noted there were dark clouds off in the distance.  He went back to his movie.


    Two movies later and the shift bell could be heard from below.  Rye jumped up from his chair and walked out the door.  He hurried back in to grab his soda can and sandwich wrapper and drop them in the garbage - heaven help him if his boss performed an audit and something was out of place.  As he made his way through the corridors of steel, he noted there were more dark clouds overhead.  He''d have to cancel the meteor shower most likely.  He cursed his luck and made his way to his quarters.


    He hung up his uniform - a hat and padded jacket that said ''Milford Bio'' with the company''s logo on both.  After a shower and change of cloths he dropped into his bed.  He had to work long twelve hour shifts and while they weren''t as strenuous as some of the other ''roughneck'' positions on the platform, the days did drag on and they took their toll mentally.  He had considered the three hours reprieve from his shift and opted to use that time to sleep in.  The meteor shower was supposed to continue all week, and he wanted to be rested for the earliest convenience of watching it.


    A few hours later...


    Rye was jolted awake by the door to his room.  One of the other security guards he knew as Mark, was standing there and seemed quit panicked.  "Wha..." half groggy, Rye was interrupted before he could finish, "Rye, get into uniform, we need you down by the docks."  Mark sounded half urgent as he waited for Rye, "Rye, this is serious."  Rye was sitting up in bed now, "Why, what hap..."  Rye was interrupted again while Mark grabbed Rye''s hat and jacket and threw it at him.  "It''s urgent.  There is a Haydurian ship that crashed oceanside about twenty miles from the platform."  The two were staring at each other dead serious now.  "We had to use a tug to pull it in."  Rye was on his feet and had already forced one arm through his jacket.  "How long ago..."  Mark interrupted him again, "We''ll walk and talk."  Rye nodded and was in his uniform within one minute.  After he forced his feet into his shoes he was out the door at a brisk pace with Mark.  "How long?"  "The tug pulled it in about ten minutes ago."  "No, I mean, how long ago did the ship crash?"  "I think forty-five minutes."  "Shit.  Let''s go."  "Rye, don''t get your hopes up."  "What?"  "It''s been damaged and there are signs of an explosion.  They think it hit a large meteor."  "Shit!"


    They were speechless as they hurried to the docks.  Rye hadn''t bothered to notice it was windy out until he heard thunder in the distance.  As he looked over he saw the telltale signs of a thunderstorm that was being pushed in their direction.  "Come on." was all Mark said to him


    At the docks Rye got a good look at it.  Roughly a mile in length, tappered at the front, square at the rear with large thrusters.  It had forward swept wings, but the one on the left (facing the platform) had also been torn off by some force.  It looked like it had been painted dark blue, but there were patches of black all over.  It had been pitted by meteors.  Having looked at the back of it, Rye had noted the two large dorsal fins had also been damaged.  He looked down at the base of the ship, it was half lopsided and submerged under water.  To the rear of the ship were tow lines attached to the platform''s tug.  The ship had been secured with chains via cranes to the port.  Rye stopped to think about it for a minute.  "Is that thing taking on water?"  Mark looked from the ship to him, "Yes.  It''s sinking.  We don''t know how long it will stay above water and the chains aren''t looking that sturdy against that thing."


    There was a gathering of all available personel at the main dock.  The main supervisor was there to explain the situation.  "If you haven''t been filled in, the ship has taken heavy damage from the Midian Meteor Shower.  It is taking on water and sinking.  Rough estimates are that it will be stay afloat for about five hours.  You are all to pair off into teams of two and search for any survivors.  The situation is critical; maintain radio contact at all times.  Most importantly, pay attention to your surroundings.  We have no idea what is in that ship."  He looked around at all of them.  "Dismissed."


    They divided ito teams of two with radios and flashlight handed among them accordingly; Mark and Rye paired up due to the familiarity between them.  The sight before Mark and Rye was a weird one.  A torch cutter had been used to cut through the hull of the ship.  Hooked onto it was the same ramp assembly they used to dock with larger ships.  However, there were several chain lines suspended from it and overhead cranes.  "That doesn''t look stable.", Rye commented to Mark.  Mark looks him dead in the eye, "It''s going to get a whole lot worse once we get in that ship."  "Right.", was all Rye said.


    On the ramp as they approached the ship, it began to look more and more alien compared to what Rye was used to.  It was a ship, definitely a ship, but it didn''t look right.  "Having last minute thoughts?"  Rye looked around and realized he had stopped.  Mark shooed him forwared and they continued on their way.


    Once inside they found themselves inside a large dark room.  There were murmurs amongst the rig workers; Rye could hear the distinct sound of thunder in the distance.  The many of them were gathered in this larg dark room with their flashlights darting all over to make sense of things.  From what Rye could see, it was some kind of hold easily three hundred by seventy feet wide; despite the white hue from their flashlights, the walls were easily seen as a grey-blue.  Barrels, crates, tools, cannisters and shelves were all over, none of it was in the way to a large door that was on the other side of the hold.  The door was wide open.  "Mark, that door on the far end.."  Rye''s comment went unnoticed as a flashlight was shown on the whole group and they heard a megaphone.  It was the main supervisor.  "As mentioned we will split off into teams of two.  We don''t know what we''re dealing with and we don''t know the layout of this ship, so each group of two is going to pick a direction different from the previous team.  That is all, dismissed."  There was a huge line as they walked through the door.  It was a corridor and only went in two directions.  Every other group of two went right, the other left.  Rye and Mark went left.  "These corridors are a bit wide for a ship." was the comment that Mark made to Rye.  "I wonder why?"  Rye had no comment to make, he only noted that they were roughly twenty feet by twenty feet wide.  As they made their way down the ship, a new direction would open on occasion and they would be one group less.  Metal ladder rungs finally appeared.  Rye''s radio cracked with static and the voice of one of the workers filled with static filled the air.  "We have ladders leading to the upper decks."  The whole group of workers stopped waiting for a response.  "Split off in groups as before.  Radio if their is any trouble."  The main supervisor''s voice died out again.  "We''ll go to the upper levels."  Mark had already volunteered them.  Rye shook his head.


    The ladders were many rungs close together, making for an easy climb.  Mark''s boots also send dirt down to Rye''s face as they clattered to each rung.  Rye coughed and spit.  "Mark, you''re out of uniform."  "Shut it Gristoz."  Rye said nothing the rest of the way up.  It wasn''t a long climb, roughly thirty feet.  Mark gave Rye a hand in orienting himself from the ladder.  "Rye, do you mind turning your flashlight on?"  Rye looked down and noticed his wasn''t on, he had been relying on the lights of everyone else.  Rye pulled it out and flicked it on, but nothing.  He tried banging it on his hand a few times and finally twisted the top and it came on.  "They really need to quit using outdated equipment."  "Good luck with that." was all Mark said.  On this level the corridor was much narrower.  Doors were frequent.  Most of them were closed.  As they walked forward, their lights darted here and there looking for an open door.  All were closed.  At one point there was a double door they crossed.  It was partially opened.  Mark poked his head and light inside.  "Mark, what the hell, don''t just..."  Rye''s warning was again cut off.  Mark walked inside.  Rye just stood there.  A hand popped out and beckoned for him to come in.  "Mark, this isn''t the time to be goofing around."  Rye''s body jolted slightly when Mark turned around and his flashlight croaked up on his face.  "Where is your sense of adventure Gristoz?"  "Mark, we''re in the middle of the ocean on a sinking ship looking for survivors, I really don''t want this to turn into an adventure."  Disappointed, Mark turns around without saying anything.  They were a few feet from the entrance to the two door system as their lights slowly scanned the area in front of them.  It was a mess hall.  To the far end on the left was a small kitchen with an open door and large open window.  Along the wall were compartments (booths) with seats, tables and windows looking outside.  A flash of lightning caught Rye''s eye in the distance.  In the middle of the room were long tables that had been bolted down.  The chairs in the room were not so fortunate, they along with plates, dishes and what Rye could only describe as food, had been scattered all over.  Both of their radios cracked with the voice of a random worker.  "We have survivors."  The main supervisor did not answer.  "The radio''s must not be able to penetrate the metal."  was all Mark said.  "Right."  Rye said in acknowledgement.  Another random worker cracked on the radio, "Confirmed, survivors towards the aft of the ship."  "10-4.  Brief them on the situation and help escort them back to the docking port."  The main supervisor had heard that one.  "I guess we''re not so lu..."  Mark was interrupted by Rye tapping him on the shoulder.  Rye made a shush motion as his head and then his right hand motioned to his side towards the window in the kitchen.  Mark didn''t change his body direction, but out of the corner of his eyes he could see a figure watching them.  Rye was the first to respond, "We''re here to help.  Are you alright?"  They turned towards the kitchen and Rye''s flashlight flung up towards the window.  They didn''t get a good look at it, but it was a shadow and it ducked down.  "We''re here to help, we''re no threat to you."  Rye''s answer to the shadow didn''t accomplish anything.  Mark pulled his radio out, "We have at least one confirmed survivor."  There was no answer.  "We''re no threat to you, please come out."  Mark''s voice also did not get a response.  Unlike Mark''s answer, Rye was holding his hand on his flashlight to use it as a makeshift weapon if necessary.  As they approached the kitchen, they heard a movement and a bang as something metal hit the ground; they then heard a click and a clunk.  "The hell?"  Rye stopped in his tracks.  "Mark, I don''t like this."  "Quit being a coward and go.  It''s your ghost, so you get to make first contact."  Mark pushed Rye forward into the kitchen.  There was nothing there, just pots and pans on the ground, along with broken dishes.  Food was everywhere.  Glass crunched under Rye''s boots.  His flashlight darted to the far end of the kitchen and there was a stainless steel door.  A random worker cracked on the radio again about several survivors being found.  Rye went forward and reached his hand to the door and pulled it open.  About half way open he heard a voice.


    "Stay away!"  The voice was female.


    "We''re from the nearby oil rig.  We''re here to help."  Rye tried to assume as reassuring a voice as he could.  His flashlight scanned the room, but he didn''t see anyone.  As Rye and Mark walked towards the back of the freezer, an object flew in the air towards them.  Rye''s head turned towards it as it flew passed and Mark jumped to the side.  "Ma''am, we don''t have time for this.  Your ship is sinking."  As he and Mark turned past a storage rack, his flashlight aimed at the far corner and he saw the woman.  Red hair, pale skin, white jacket, black pants.  There was someone behind her, male in appearance.  She was holding a ladle in front of her in a defensive position, she was also shaking.  "Don''t come any closer."  was what she said, fear was in her voice.  They were about ten feet apart.  Mark didn''t give Rye a chance to speak.  "Your ship is sinking.  We''re part of the rescue mission.  You need to come with us."  "Ma''am, please, you need to listen.  The ship is sinking and..."  Rye was cutoff by her.  "We''re not going anywhere." was all she said.  "Ma''am, we don''t have time for this."  Rye was trying to be more assertive in his speaking.  "Leave!" was all she said.


    "We don''t have time for this shit."  Mark had finally lost his patience.  He started walking towards her, quickly.  She took a swing with the ladle.  His hand grabbed hers and then his other hand grabbed her arm.  "Let me go, let me go!"  "Rye, get over here and help me!"  Mark''s plea was answered with Rye hurrying over.  The woman moved to the side as he tried to pull the ladle from her arm.  He turned around behind her and put his arms around her waist and pulled hard.  He got an elbow in the arm and lots of fidgeting for his trouble.  He felt her shoe slide down against his pant leg and into his boot toe.  Rye only had a quick image of steel toed boots in his mind.  He tightened his grip and she fidgeted less.  Mark ripped the ladle from her hand and boomed his voice at her, "If you keep acting up, I''ll knock you out and we''ll drag you to the dock if necessary."  He threw the ladle over his his shoulder and boomed his voice again.  "Is that clear MISS?"  She started shaking as she nodded her head.  Mark spoke again.  "Rye is going to let you go now, and you are going to give us your full cooperation."  She nodded.  Rye let her go.  "Now, we need your help in finding any possible survivors.  Do you understand?"  Mark was already walking over to her companion as he talked to her.  He crouched down to get a good look at him.  Black hair, same color skin as the woman, same white jacket and black pants.  "Is this your friend?"  Mark''s flashlight went up to the man''s eye and he used his thumb to pull open his eyelid; his eye was rolled back into his head.  "I don''t know him, we work opposite shifts."  She was still shaking slightly as Mark stood up again and looked at her.  Rye''s flashlight was on her, this close Mark could see that there were several cuts on her hands and face, there was a bruise on her face.  "Are you injured and do you need assistance?"  Mark''s question was met with her shaking her head.  "Okay, we need to leave this area and look for any other survivors.  Do you know where they might be?"  Rye stood back and the only thought on his mind as he couldn''t get a word in was, ''there he goes again, taking charge of everything.''  Her shaking finally stopped.  "They''ll probably be near the shelter rooms."  Rye liked her voice, but he had to remind himself why he was here.  Mark continued, "Why weren''t you there with them?"


    "There wasn''t enough time."


    "What do you mean that..."  Mark was interrupted by Rye, "Mark, quit being an ass."  Rye felt a certain satisfaction in his friend''s demeanor changing; he also had to hold back a chuckle, this was neither the time nor the place.


    "My shift was just starting; his had just ended."  She motioned towards her companion slumped over, "We had an alert on the radio about getting to the shelters, and the ship started rocking.  We were the only ones here and trying to enjoy ourselves."


    "You''re ship might have been hammered by the Midian Meteor Shower, at least that''s what we think."  Rye was trying to speak finally.  Her demeanor finally calmed down as she spoke, "That''s not possible, we were supposed to be on the other side of the...".  She was cutoff as Rye''s and Mark''s radios cracked, "Status report:  main entrance deck has been secured of survivors.  We''ve searching the next deck up and down."  It was the main supervisor again.


    "Ma''am, we''re going to get you and your friend here off the ship and to the dock before we continue.  Any objections?"  Rye picked up her friend and lumped him over his shoulder; the woman just shook her head.  They were off; it took about thirty minutes to get back out of the ship.  It was no easy feat between two people to move an unconscious body down a ladder.  Radio chatter had picked up about more survivors being found.  Including the main deck, the deck immediately above and below had been completed swept.  So far the rescue attempt had found thirty five survivors; seven on the main deck, thirteen on the deck above, and fifteen on the deck below.  Chatter occasionally picked up about injured people - fourteen of the survivors had some kind of minor injury, in five cases it was a broken bone.  On a more grim note at least twenty seven had been found dead.


    "How many of you were on this ship in total ma''am?", Rye hadn''t wanted to interrogate her like Mark had done, but to improve their efforts it was necessary.  She was immediately in front of him, but stopped and turned around like he had asked an intrusive question, however, to his surprise, "Roughly one hundred and seventy....six I think.", she did answer.  Rye inquired further, "That accounts for only fifty-four of your people.  Would the others be on the upper and lowermost decks?".  She seemed optimistic, "If they had time to make it to the life-boats, they would either be on the lower level or would have ejected when we hit atmosphere."  Rye tried to share her optimism, "Hopefully they ejected."


    "If they were on the lower levels when the ship made surface contact, they were probably knocked out.  That area has been taking on water also.  They''re probably dead if they didn''t eject."


    "MARK!"


    Mark flinched at Rye''s rebuke.  They had been moved again without realizing it, the woman had been trailing behind to speak with Rye.  Mark was moving his flashlight here and there, but there were no others around them.  All three of them stopped and started looking around when the lights to the ship powered on.


    "The power is back on.  Is it possible to get this ship airborn?"  Mark seemed eager.  She shook her head.  "I don''t know.", "What do you mean you don''t know?  How can you..."


    "MARK!"


    Mark flinched again and this time he was quiet, minded his business and proceeded to walk ten feet in front of them.  "I hope they are all right."  Rye tried to lighten the situation, she agreed, "So do I."  He had been trying to build rapport with her the entire time, but Mark''s interjections and interogation style left much to be desired.


    They were finally at the entrance.  It had started to drizzle outside and there was lightning cracking in the distance.  The ramp they had taken to enter the ship the first time around was on an inclination and pointing up, now it was definitely pointed down.  The ship had sank at least ten feet under the waves in the hour they had been in the ship.  Rye looked over towards the main mast of the rig; right under it next to the office was a assembled a large group of worker personel and several crew members from the Haydurian ship.  The main supervisor was next to the group, talking with several other worker leads and worker personel.  They couldn''t hear anything at that distance, and it was several minutes before the three were actually in ear shot.


    "...much longer.  It will probably be another hour or two...", it was the main supervisor speaking.  Rye was having a hard time making out what he was saying.  Mark interrupted his concentration.  "Rye."  "Not now."  Rye gave a have passing look back to Mark and waved his hand in dismissal.  With a deathly tired shoulder, Rye set the woman''s friend down and he put his hand up to his shoulder to massage it.  He walked closer to the group.  He could hear it now.


    "It won''t fly."  There was a Haydurian speaking.  "At all?  We have the power back on."  It was the main supervisor speaking to him.  The Rye presumed the Haydurian speaking was up in the chain of command; he was decorated more than the others and in a blue military outfit.  "That''s good.  It''ll make this easier."  The Haydurian pulled out a strange looking handset and started to talk to it.  "How many people are left on the ship?"  A voice chimed back, "One hundred and three."  "That''s no good."  The Haydurian looked up at the sky and then the ship again.  "How many people have active vitals?"  It chimed back again, "Sixty-six".  The Haydurian frowned.  "How many are Haydurian?"  He cursed when he heard the response "Twenty-one."  He was already heading back to the ship.  Rye heard him make a shout to the group of workers and ship''s crew members and several of the Haydurians followed him.  They were headed back to the ship.


    The main supervisor and several other workers followed them, he held up his radio, "All available workers, we''re going back in; proceed with caution.  ETA until the vessel sinks is about two hours."  Rye winced as he watched them walk past and back towards the ship.  His shoulder hurt, he really wanted out of this, but lives were also on the line.  He had to remind himself, including his.  He started running towards the group as they went back in.  Mark was soon back at his side.  As he was splitting up with the other workers, he saw the occasional Haydurian walking briskly past him.  A few of them were carrying what he could only assume was an unconscious or dead body; many of them though were carrying gear in lockers, a few of them weapons.  Rye didn''t like the looks of this.  After navigating for what seemed like an eternity, they found themselves on the second deck from the main; there was another ladder leading to the deck above them.  So far they hadn''t found any survivors.  Several other oil rig workers had walked by them, they didn''t seem to be having much luck either.  Rye figured knowing the layout of the ship, they would be able to navigate it quicker.  About thirty minutes had elapsed and their radios cackled to life again.  "All Milford hands, we''re leaving the ship.  All survivors have been accounted for and are being routed to the rig.  The Haydurians are going to stay behind to pull any essentials they can from the ship."


    "Let''s get the hoohah outta here."  Rye grabbed Mark by the shoulder and pointed back towards the direction they came.  Mark nodded in agreement.  It was another twenty minutes before they got back to the dock.  Rye looked down at the ocean below them, the ramp had sunk again.  He looked up at the cranes and noted they had been lowered.  "Not too soon."  He muttered to himself.  "What?"  Mark inquired.  "Nevermind.", was all Rye said.  Back at the dock Rye and Mark watched the commotion as Haydurians were entering and exiting the vessel.  There was more of them gathered at the rig, along with a large number of crates, lockers and barrels inbetween them.  "I wonder what''s in them."  Mark''s curiosity would have been an interrogation if it was a Haydurian.  "Not interested."  Rye retorted.  He was scanning the group for the woman and man from earlier, but he couldn''t see them.  He spent several more minutes looking for them but couldn''t find them.  He heard a whirring noise behind him and shouting.  He turned around to see a Haydurian running across the ramp to the dock.  His the rig supervisor cackled on the radio again, "That''s it, raise the cranes."  The ramp was pulled from the door of the vessel.  Rye felt himself wince at the fact it hadn''t been properly secured to the spacecraft.  He figured it wasn''t enough time.  He heard more shouting.  It was the higher ranking Haydurian from earlier.  He was talking to the handset he was holding again.  There were several other Haydurians around him, also holding handsets and talking on them.  There was a hum from the craft and it started moving.


    Rye gasped.  Mark was in horror.  They could feel the rig moving as the engines on the beast roared to life.  "They''re fucking crazy!"  Mark was beyond terrified at what the Haydurian crew were doing.  The ship barely moved at first, but a few seconds later it started moving, faster and faster.  Both Rye and Mark watched for what felt like an eternity.  The craft had jumped out of the water and it was apparent from them skimming the water that there were two tail fins under the craft; they were strangely intact.  It flew several feet above the water and went airborn.  It flew off into the distance.  Just when anyone couldn''t see it, there was a flash of light and the sound of an explosion several seconds later.  It was raining hard now and Rye could feel his face getting drenched; his hair was also hanging on his face.  He was still in shock at what he had just saw.  He couldn''t figure out why the craft went airborn when the Haydurians said it couldn''t, and then it inexplicably exploded.  It didn''t make sense.  He didn''t have much more time to think about it.  His radio cracked again and the rig supervisor was on once again.


    "The Haydurian ship''s commander has chosen to remote detonate their ship as a matter of asset protection and security.  No casualties have been reported due to the detonation.  The Haydurians have pulled any essential equipment and assets to the rig; they will be our guests until the government can dispatch a ship.  ETA is one week.  Make them feel welcome.  Meeting tomorrow.  That is all.  Main supervisor out."


    Rye''s eye twitched in disbelief as he set out a sigh.  He put his hand on Mark''s shoulder and gave a nod.  "I''m checking out for the night.  I''m sure your shift is going to be interesting."


    "Hey wait..."  Mark''s voice fell on deaf ears as Rye held up his hand and slowly walked back to his quarters.  This was one night he wasn''t going to soon forget.


    ---


    ---Author''s Notes---


    Alternative Chapter Name:  Getting to Know Your Damaged Goods / Damaged Goods


    Milford Bio was the first to make contact with Rye about visiting the woman as an act of good will.  Mark''s message however, was sent first.  Not needing to hear it, Rye had it deleted.


    Gamma''s casts were removed after she had been sedated, but before she was restrained.


    This story takes place on planet Eva.  Eva is short for ''Evergea'', but no one ever calls it by its official name.  Planet Eva is the fourth planet in the Salmare System; sometimes referred to as Sal-IV.  Eva has four moons; Hayduria is one of them.  Hayduria''s designation is Sal-IVb (second moon of the fourth planet).

 02 - Its Delicious

    Evening...


    "So tell me Rye..."  The slurp of a shake again as the straw enters her mouth.


    Both are sitting in a booth; one of them clearly more comfortable than the other.  Rye is not happy about all of the money he has spent today.  His body posture shows slight fatigue and agitation.  However, much his mind is on his wallet, his focus is more on the future at this point.


    "No Gamma.  We''ve spent all day running around doing what -you- wanted.  I''m going to ask you again.  I leave at the end of the month.  I need to know if you are going to stay behind or if you are coming with."


    Gamma''s hand sets the shake down and her amusement for the day wears off as her face now wears a serious tone.


    "You really have to ruin a good thing don''t you?"


    "It''ll get worse if you dillydally around and are back on the street again when I finally leave."


    "Fine."


    "Fine, what?  You want to be back on the street?"


    "No, that''s not what I meant."


    "Then what?"


    Her face changes to melancholic and her mood becomes quite solemn.


    "Look, I don''t know what to do just now."


    "Well, that''s what we''re going to figure out."


    The two are on opposite sides of the booth; Rye''s body language shows more confidence as his hand extends to the back of the booth seat.


    "Can''t we do this later?"


    "No."


    Her face half pouts into a frown.


    "Don''t you even try it Gamma.  The only reason I let you go on that shopping spree because it was stuff you arguably need."


    Her face shoots up slightly and over at him at the word ''arguably''.


    "I don''t know about my wallet, but if you come with me it''ll make things alot easier.  Regardless, we need to get you registered with citizen status."


    Her mood hasn''t changed.  Rye wastes no time.  "I did some reading on my phone inbetween shopping.  You might qualify as a self sufficient K-Class android; sentience and freedom of will and all.  The nearby continent has less restrictions on those types as they fall under a worker class.  On this island you would be be able to get a secretary, clerk or attendant position due to laws or something to that effect."


    The straw goes up to her mouth again and there is a large slurp from it before it gets set down again.  "I was a secretary back on Hayduria."


    "Is that the job you want?"


    "No.  I was transferring to the military for a reason.  I would have been granted citizenship."


    Rye''s face turns to disbelief as his hand is removed from the back of the booth; his head also cocks in puzzlement.  "You already had something planned, and you don''t want that same thing?"


    "I''d rather not worry about this right now."


    Rye''s hands come down to the table and his head darts forward.  "We have the time, we worry about this now.  I will not have the free time at the end of the month."


    "New job?"


    "There is a reason I''m moving Gamma, although I don''t think you will like the reason."


    Her head is hanging slightly as she looks up.


    "What job?"


    "I''m going to be a police officer."


    Her mouth and face purse into a mixed reaction of smile, somber, frown and submission.  Her will and mood are finally broken.  There is no response from her as the reality of her situation now sets in.


    "I''m glad you are looking at this more seriously now."


    "Sure."


    "You will need to stay behind if you don''t know by the end of the month.  You will be found out if you aren''t registered.  I don''t know what happens to you then; but I''d rather not think about it.  You''re also going to want to think about getting a job."


    She looks up with a weak smile again at the word ''job''.  "I''ll come with you."


    "That''ll make things easier.  I''ll see about the arrangements on your registration."


    "Can we go home now Rye?  I don''t want to be here anymore."


    "Gamma, I''m glad you have a sense of focus on your situation."


    "Sure."


    "Gamma, I mean it.  It''s necessary."


    She nods and says nothing as Rye gets up.  Her shake goes into the garbage as both of them head for the door.  Today has suddenly become not as delicious as she had hoped.


    The ride home on the subway is spent in silence.  With a lack of people, Rye finally has a seat to himself, but at a price.  Gamma was asleep with her body leaning against the subway seat and her head against the glass window; but momentarily her body switches and slumps onto his shoulder.  Rye stares straight ahead and says nothing.


    ---


    Still Mid Afternoon...


    They are at "Waregood Central Mall".  Rye starts to pull out his phone to find where they need to go, but Gamma''s hand comes up and waves her finger in a ''dont do that'' gesture.  "Rye, half the fun of shopping is browsing."


    "In other words," Rye puts his phone back in his pocket, "You don''t know what you want."


    "Rye, it will be just fine."  She stops in front of a clothing store window eyeing a mannequin in a dress up and down.


    "Gamma, are you..."  Rye''s arms cross when she looks over at him once and then goes back to eying the mannequin.  "Gamma, we don''t have all day."  She looks over at him again.  "Gamma, I mean it."  She looks back at the window lost in thought.  "Gamma?  Gamma.  GAMMA!"  She finally snaps too.  However, a security guard is also next to them, "Please refrain from yelling." he says before he walks off.  Gamma gives Rye a grin and looks back to the window; Rye looks away as his arms cross.


    The next few hours are spent moving here and there as Gamma peruses the different shops windows and Rye follows behind through different shops.  Once they are through about three floors and two hours of the mall, Gamma stops abrubtly near an escalator.


    "Rye, I''ve figured out what I want!"


    "Oh really?"


    "Yes dear, let''s go."


    "Please don''t call me dear."


    Gamma takes off leaving Rye behind.


    "Hey c''mon, wait up!"  Rye darts after her.


    It isn''t the new skirt that makes Rye groan.  In his hands he holds the spoils of Gamma''s war with fashion.  A set of white shoes, black work boots, what Rye could only describe as expensive fashion boots (Gamma really likes those).  The boots were enough, but it is the flannel skirt, two sets of jeans, white pants, and four different shirts she somehow managed to push into a backpack beyond disbelief that makes him groan.  Worse is the price tag:  five hundred and seventy-six dollars.


    They are walking on their towards an escalator leading to the top floor when Gamma''s head turns back to Rye.


    "Thanks Rye.  I really appreciate it."


    "You''re an absolute monster, do you know that."


    Her whole body turns around and her shoulders and head crouch slightly while standing a food from his face.  Her left and reaches up to his shoulder and she waves her finger in front of his face.  "I -really- appreciate it darling."  Extremely loving emphasis on "really".  Rye''s eyes finally roll when she calls him darling.


    "Gamma, if we are done here, why are we going to the top floor?"


    "There is something I need."


    When they reach their destination, it is an electronics shop, not a small one either.  Gamma pulls aside one of the workers.  Rye can''t make out what they are saying.  However, there is some head nodding, and Gamma''s hands and fingers wave a bit as she points to the ceiling.  The worker nods again and they walk off.  Rye is left to stand in place as he waits for them.  He sees a chair and takes a seat.  The shoes aren''t heavy, but they are cumbersome to carry.  Gamma comes back about fifteen minutes later.  Incidentally Rye has fallen alseep.  He feels a tap on his shoulder.  He knows the drill by now and just hands her his resource card; he is more content just to sit down at this point and rest from all of the walking.  She comes back over holding a box with what looks like a large radio on it.  What stands out prominently is the antenna attached to the radio.


    "A satellite phone...?"


    "Yes Rye, but not quite.  It is a multi-purpose transceiver radio built into a phone."


    Rye knows what that means, "How much Gamma?"


    She ignores his stern tone and wrinkles her knows at hime while waving her hand in dismissal.


    "It can communicate to Hayduria via satellite."


    "Gamma, you do know you will pay me back for all of this right?"


    "Yes darling."


    "Gamma, please don''t call me that.  I''m not your -darling-."


    "Yes Rye.  Let''s go.  It''s getting late."


    Rye looks down at his watch.  It was already approaching six.


    "You are taking me out to eat, right Rye?"


    Rye''s head turns around back at her in confusion, "You already had all that oil.  I thought robots couldn''t eat human food."


    "It''s a special occasion dear.  My body can handle it in small amounts."


    Rye shakes his head one last time.  This was clearly a delicious day for someone, just not him.


    ---


    Mid Afternoon...


    Rye is on the couch watching television, one hand on the armrest.  He hears Gamma come out of the bathroom and turns around.  Her hair is violet, and her face looks different.


    "That is surprisingly a good look for you."


    "Thanks.  Did James tell you about the other stuff I needed?"


    "I told him to forget it; whatever it is I don''t want to know about it until I''m shelling out money for it.  Anyway let''s go."


    She follows him outside of the apartment.  As they are walking outside of the apartment down the sidewalk, Rye pipes up, "Gamma, has James told you I''m leaving at the end of the month?"


    "No he hasn''t."  She has a quizzical look on her face.  "We need to figure out what to do about you."  He looks at her while walking and nearly dodges tripping into a bench, "We have to decide if you are staying behind or not.  She was silent for awhile.  "Gamma?"  He looks at her again as they walk.  He stops, she stops with him, but continues staring straight ahead, "I haven''t thought that far ahead."  "That is going to change, today."  He is quite straight forward about it, she is taken aback by it; "Okay." is all she says as she continues walking again.  Realizing she was walking on without him he hurries to match her pace.  "Gamma, I''m serious.  You aren''t registered as a citizen or a android by the government; you have no rights and you are walking around freely.  We need to get you registered."  "Okay." is all she says.


    "Gamma, are you not listening?"


    "I am."


    "Well?"


    "Well... what?"


    "Gamma, I''m serious.  If you stay behind, you will have very few places go to.  You can''t come with me if you aren''t registered with at least android or citizen status."


    "We really shouldn''t be talking about this in public Rye."  She shoots him a sharp look.


    "Gamma, your name is a dead giveaway."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Gamma is not a normal name."


    "And Ryanov isn''t?"


    Rye squints at that last one, "Gamma, what is your actual name?"  She stops abrubtly, he takes a few more steps before he stops and looks back at her.  "Gamma?  Come on, don''t be like that.  I''m trying to help!"


    "If I tell you, will you stop talking about this?  I don''t want to think about this right now."  There is a mixed reaction on her face.


    "Fine."


    "My name is Nija......  Yifona."


    "That...  That is uh..."  He stammers a bit while she looks at the ground, "Nija is a very nice looking name."  She looks up in confusion.  He quickly changes his mistake, "I mean it''s a very nice sounding name.  Do you have a preference for Nija or Yifona?"  Her eyes look up and away, "Please call me Gamma."


    "No.  You need to integrate into society.  You can''t go around acting like a machine."  His reassurance falls on deaf ears.  "But I am a machine Ryanov."  "Even androids have to integrate into society."  "We didn''t have to on Hayduria; everyone called me ''Gamma''."  "I don''t know anything about Hayduria or it''s culture.  However, this is Eva.  Nowhere on this planet do we refer to androids by their designation; that is the title of a machine and a slave.  Besides, we can get you a non-servant registration."


    "What''s that mean?"


    "It means you will be to make your own choices.  You will be autonomous.  It''s why I''m asking what you want to do at the end of the month."


    She says nothing.


    "Gamma, I''m serious."


    "See, you even call me Gamma."


    "Maybe you can''t see the scope of the future Ms. Yifona, but if we do nothing - you will either be left behind and be forced to live as an outlaw, or worse - get discovered as a Cryborg..."


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Rye, please stop saying that in public.  In fact, stop talking about it."


    "...or you will be found out if you follow me through the metal detector at the airport.  Non-registered androids aren''t allowed off island."


    "We''ll worry about it then Rye."


    "You are impossible."


    She turns around and gives a weak smile at him as she cheers up, "It also means I''ve won."  Her pace quickens as they walk on the sidewalk.  Rye looks onward to her direction in disbelief, "Hey...!  C''mon, wait up!"


    ---


    On the subway Rye is once again standing with his hands on one of the ceiling rungs.  In disbelief, he is looking down at Gamma, who is sitting in one of the subway seats.  Her legs are neatly together and her hands are in her lap, she is half asleep.  She looks up towards Rye once and then stares off straight ahead as her eyes close and her head titles partially.  Rye only wonders if her body can lock itself into position and she doesn''t get muscle sores like humans.  He then mentally reminds himself not to spend so much time talking when they are en route to public transportation; stuff like having to stand wouldn''t have been an issue.  Gamma had narrowly gotten to the seat a few seconds before him and he isn''t happy about this turn of events.  It will take approximately a half hour to get to the city of Waregood like this and Rye himself is also nodding off.  The subway had people in it, but most of them are asleep or lost in their own world; there is no stimulation for anyone looking for it.


    Thirty minutes pass...


    Gamma head bolts up when the subway car comes to a halt, "Rye, let''s go!"  Rye snaps awake, somehow having fallen asleep while standing up with his arm still on the rung.  "Right."  He snaps too, and they head back to the mall Rye had been at before.


    "Gamma, about that second list James had mentioned.  What exactly did you need?"


    "Mostly clothing."


    Rye stops.  He knows where this is going, "Isn''t the clothing from the soup kitchen good enough?"


    "You want me to wear second-hand clothing?"


    Rye stops mid walk, "Well, what''s wrong with that?  It would save money."


    "Rye, they''re old and they''ve been sitting in a pile for how long with how many people touching them?"


    "Well, I don''t know."


    "Exactly.  They smell like old clothing that has been sitting in a corner.  Those people that come into the soup kitchen aren''t exactly the cleanest people around."


    "Right."


    "They might have touched stuff with dirty hands."


    "Right."


    "Rye, you''re not getting out of this."


    "I was afraid you were going to say that."


    They continue on their way.  Rye had lost to Gamma three times now; as a guest, competition for public transportation, and now his wallet."


    ---


    Afternoon...


    The subway ride back to the apartment was uneventful, save for the fact Rye felt embarassed carrying stuff he wouldn''t normally otherwise.  Back at the apartment, Gamma is sitting on the cough again, waiting for him.  At the apartment, Rye turns behind him to close and lock the door.  "Hi."  Gamma is waiting behind him.  When he turns around, she is making strong eye contact with him.  Her eyes quickly turn to the bags in his hand and she grabs them without a word.  She carries them to the couch as he finally closes the door behind him.  With the door finally closed, he turns around again and sees a peculiar scene.


    Gamma is drinking the oil, and not slowly.  Rather she was taking long gulps of it.


    "How can you drink that?  Don''t you have to drain your oil first or something?"  He says it frantically.


    "It''s delicious."  Her eyes widen with joy as she gives a weak smile and nods several times at Rye, who is now in disbelief.  She starts on the second bottle.


    "Gamma, maybe you should slow down."


    "Nooo!"  She says it very happily and continues with the long gulps.


    Each bottle was emptied, cap screwed back on and set on the table.  Rye hasn''t moved from the door, in fact he is still in disbelief.


    Then came the bottles.  Rye hear''s crunches from Gamma''s mouth as the filings come out of the bottle.


    "Doesn''t that wreck your teeth?"


    She looks up at Rye and lets out a happy and satisfied sigh as she feels the filings slide down her throat.  Then comes the next bottle.  Rye is now standing at the couch.


    "Y-you don''t eat the plastic of the bottles do you?"


    "I could."  She looks up at him, that same satisfied expression again.  "My body can use the hydrocarbons from the oil to synthesize something similar."


    Rye''s doesn''t know what to make of this; his face shows it with a mix of emotions, mostly helplessness.  He doesn''t know much about robots.


    "Rye, I''m going to be in the bathroom for awhile.  Please don''t interrupt me."


    "Right."


    She grabs the bag of makeup and heads to the bathroom.


    "She''s definitely a growing girl."


    "And very sensitive about her privacy."  James says it as he appears next to Rye.  "James, have you downloaded all of those updates yet?"  "Affirmative master, they have been integrated."  "Go ahead and test out those unofficial updates.  Also, see if you can''t find any generic updates for your personality that involve ettiquete and manners."  "Will do sir."


    Rye turns on the television to a random talk show and heads towards the kitchen.  He was starving and hadn''t eaten yet.


    "Sir, before I forget...."  James interrupts him.


    "Hmm?"


    "There was a second list."


    "Excuse me?"


    "Gamma had a second list of stuff she needed.  However, she said she wanted to accompany you when you bought them."


    Rye looks up to the bathroom door knowing he has just been had.


    ---


    Mid morning...


    Due to his car in the shop, Rye has to take the subway.  He isn''t happy about this.  He has to stand, does not get to sit, and doesn''t get to enjoy any creature comforts.  He also has to deal with being around strangers living out their lives while he remains miserable.  He avoids muttering his thoughts out loud.  He isn''t happy.  His car, a Solaris Fusion, is twenty two years old, and needs a major tuneup.  It had it''s last major tuneup


    Rye mutters to himself about his car needing major maintenance in the shop.  He has had this car, a Solaris Fusion for the last six years.  The car was not babied and garaged kept by the previous owner, instead it had over two-hundred thousand miles on it.  The vehicle would run, but was in need of a complete overhaul.  Rye''s plan was to have it overhauled just after he finished his stint on the oil rig and then take it with him when he went off island.  That time is now here, so he doesn''t have much of a choice on the matter.  He reminds himself, that the waiting and the misery will be worth it - he just has to put up with it for three more days.  All of this is according to a larger plan - he paid only sixteen thousand five hundred for its used status, when normally it retails for seventy-five thousand.  The vehicle is also manufactured here on Miflord Island, so parts are expensive for this particular vehicle, theyare easy to come by and do not need to be ordered off island.  The vehicle will be a brand new machine after the overhaul, for about half the price of buying it new; that was all according to the plan.


    "Hey!"


    "What?"  Rye looks up in confusion.  The train had stopped and he''d been lost in thought.  People are trying to get passed him.  He looks up at the destination board and sees they are actually at his stop.  He lets his hand go off of the ceiling rung and heads for the doors.


    Leaving the subway he looks up to see "Waregood Central Mall".  Waregood, as the city name implies, is the commercial center for all of Milford Island.  Attached to the subway, the mall is the largest on the island and the easiest way to buy stuff for convenience sake.  He pulls up a map of the mall on his phone.  He will have to go up a few floors, but otherwise this ''venture'' will take under an hour.  His first destination is...  He stops and realizes he doesn''t know what specific types of items Gamma needs.  He dials his apartment on the phone.  James picks up.


    "The master is currently away running errands, if you..."


    "James, get Gamma."


    "Roger."


    Rye hears a shriek, the distinct sound of something thud, several screams, something crashing, and then a door slamming.


    "Uh sir, she was in the bathroom taking a shower."


    "Lovely."  Rye smiles to himself at the thought of James walking in on Gamma.  He stops and looks up at his own thoughts.  She looks pretty real on the exterior, so she probably still had to clean herself on occasion.  She also acts just as much as a woman does, so she probably takes it just as personal when someone intrudes on her privacy.  "James, knock on the door this time and tell her I need to know what she needed."


    Rye hears pounding on a door and a very angry "You know what?!" on the other end.


    "Hey Gamma, specifically speaking, what kind of oil did you need?"


    "5w20 or 5w30, not the kind used in vehicles.  It needs to be specifically made for androids.  I need six liters, preferably in liter sized bottles.  I remember androids were uncommon on this android, but there should be shops out and about that specialize in them.  Also, android filing supplements should be in the same shop.  Get the generic kind.


    "And the hair dye?"


    "Violet."


    "You mean purple right?"


    "No, I mean violet."


    "Right.  And the makeup?"  Rye cringes at that last one.  He knows what is coming.


    "Eye shadow violet hue twelve, eyeliner black hue generic, blush pink hue thirty-two, peach foundation hue ten, peach overtone hue twelve.  Understood?"


    "I think..."


    "Understood?!"


    "Yes ma''am."


    "Thanks Rye!"  She says it in a very joyous and whimsical tone.  Rye cringes again.  He just thinks to himself, it was a pity he didn''t already have that mobile projector for James.  James could be sent to do this for him instead.


    His first stop is "Android Rockwell".  This store is big.  Parts adorn the walls and many different racks.  However, Rye can''t begin to understand what any of them are for.  However, what is familiar is several Android models on display.  The price tags are expensive; two hundred thousand resource credits for a brand new one.  Walking up to the attendant their conversation begins.  Giving the attendant the information, the attendant points towards the back of the store.  Rye begins his jaunt.  He sees a shelf with different android skeletons on display.  Past them are shelves with arm and leg joints, pumps, batteries, wire sheathing...  and then he cringes as he walks past an aisle that has fully assembled arms and legs with synthetic flesh on them.  These arms and legs were ready to be attached.  He shakes his head at the artificial dismemberment that never happened.  He finally reaches the area "Health and Lubricants".  The wall was full of oil; small liter bottles on top, large jugs underneath, and then on the bottom large buckets on the bottom.  He scans the row up and down.  The bottles are in ascending order, but it still takes him a few seconds to find them.  He finds them.  However, the price tag makes him wince; fifty-four credits.  He looks around the immediate area and finds the most expensive 5w20 is seventy-two credits, the cheapest stuff is roughly seventeen.  He shakes his head and avoids looking down at the price tags on the larger jugs and buckets.  Rye stops to think about it for a little bit and reaches for his phone again.


    "Yessir?"


    "James, I need Gamma."


    "Yes, Rye?"


    "Okay, do you need expensive oil - and please tell me you don''t; or can you get by on the generic stuff?"


    "I prefer premium."


    "What?"


    "It tastes better.  They also add different nutrients depending on how specialized it is.  Premium also lasts longer."


    "I''m sorry, I don''t understand."


    "You wouldn''t put cheap motor oil in your car would you?"


    "Well, my car isn''t exactly a beater."


    "You would have me drink the generic stuff?"


    "That midrange stuff is expensive."


    "That generic stuff tastes nasty!  It also breaks down quicker in my body.  You would need to buy me more anyway."


    "Yeah, I suppose so."


    There is a long pause.


    "Thanks Rye."


    Rye hears the dial tone as connection drops.  Rye looks at the shelf again and notices that Milford Bio makes a mid-range brand.  Rye decides not to get it and instead one two brands over labeled "Lightline".  His left arm is full of six liter sized bottles of oil.  He continues several rows over to the back of the store.  There is a sign that says, "Android Filing Supplement".  The bottles are smaller than he was expecting, about twice the size of a vitamin bottle.  Rye winces at the price, one hundred credits for each.  Gamma wanted two, so that''s what he grabs.  He manages to bring them to the front of the store with the attendant.  He makes some small talk with the attendant.  A used android can be had for about twenty-five thousand credits.


    Outside of the store, Rye''s left hand thankfully was the only one full of shopping bags.  His phone is out again.  He looks for his next location; this one he is not looking forward to.  About twelve minutes away on the second floor is a beauty shop - "Mare Venus".  Rye winces.  He knows whats coming.


    Twelve minutes later he finds himself in the shop.  Women are everywhere, and not a single man is to be found.  Rye tries to hide his embarassment, but he swears he can feel his face flushing.  He has to speak to one of the attendants.  He doesn''t know what he needs when the attendant asks.  His phone is soon out again.  Gamma relays the information again.  Rye is clueless and hands the phone to the attendant.  They start speaking.  The conversation escapes Rye as they make small talk.  The chatter finally switches to Gamma''s make up.  The attendant gives an, "Oh, we carry that.  I''ll take your boyfriend to it."  The attendant faces Rye, "If you''ll follow me this way sir."  She motions for him to follow.  Rye''s face is in disbelief as he thinks to himself, "Boyfriend?"  He shakes his head again.  He will not become one of those freaks that dates a machine.


    Once at the hair dye section Rye sees that purple and violet are the exact same color, but packaged differently.  More disbelief on Rye''s face.


    "Ma''am, is there a difference between violet and purple?"


    "Yes dear.  Purple is the generic name.  Violet gets better packaging."


    "Can''t I just buy purple?"


    "You can dear.  But not if you want your girlfriend to feel special."


    "She''s not my girlfriend."


    "Well your lady friend then dear."


    Rye shakes his head again.  He looks at the packaging.  It it is expensive.  He looks at the generic purple''s packaging, it was more aggreeable.  "I''ll take the expensive stuff."  Rye thinks back to the incident with James entering the bathroom and then one last look at the generic packaging.  He doesn''t want to know what conversation would ensue if he buys that instead.


    Rye is again in disbelief at the attendant''s memory of all of the makeup Gamma wanted.


    "If I may ask, how do you remember all of that?"


    "It''s a woman thing dear.  You have to take care of yourself."


    Rye agrees blankly.  They arrive at each of the different sections that have the items Gamma wants.  They were in small bottles thankfully.  Rye has his free hand holding several bottles, the attendant carries the rest.  She leads him in the direction towards the front checkout.  She stops at one of the rows.  "You''re lady friend would probably appreciate some perfume if the rest of what she wants is any indication."


    "I, uh... don''t...  know... how... that..."


    "Just buy it dear.  She''ll thank you later.  Trust me."


    Rye agrees again, blankly.


    Outside of the shop both of Rye''s hands are full of shopping bags.  The makeup and perfume is double bagged due to the glass containers.  The android products came in plastic containers.  The difference between human vanity and robotic function is night and day.


    He makes his way back to the apartment.


    ---


    The next morning...


    Rye awakes the next morning and lets out a stretch.  The sunlight is pushing its way through the shades and onto his body.  His eyes open and his head looks up.  He bolts up and heads for the bedroom door.  He makes quick strides to the couch in the living room and looks down.  He sees red hair and the woman sleeping on the couch.  The name ''Gamma'' pops into his head.  He lets out a sigh, knowing it is a very real situation and he''s now on the hook should something happen.  He decides against waking her and instead heads for the kitchen.


    "James."  Rye doesn''t want to wake the guest, so it comes closer to a whisper.  He waits for it to register, hoping the apartment''s sensor array would pick up on it.  He sees nothing and shakes his head as he pulls open the refridgerator door.  Grabbing the milk, he closes the door and turns around to the kitchen counter and bolts up when he sees James there.  The milk jug drops from his hands and bounces on the ground without breaking.  Rye''s eyes narrow at James.


    "Appologies sir."  The hologram gives a quick bow; his voice oblivious to their situation.  "And make sure to keep it down."  Rye says it in a quiet tone while he grabs the milk.  "Yes, sir.  Very good, sir!"  The hologram salutes and says it in a quieter town.  Rye shakes his head.  Right now he is more concerned about breakfast - preferably cereal.  He puts a spoon in his bowl and looks up at James.  "James, get the most recent updates for your program.  Also, now that I''m back from the rig I have some extra spending money.  Phone home and download a list of any official and unofficial expansions created for your program; remove any that aren''t scanned for contingencies and viruses.  Actually, download the official virus scanner for your program."  The program nods and gives a salute as his program fades.  Various ones and zeroes and text symbols whir around and throughout his program.  Rye crunches away at his cereal oblivious to the hologram.  His mind is now on the woman in front of him.


    "Sir."


    Rye turns his head around to the hologram, "Hmm?"


    "Available in the last six months are thirty-two incremental updates to my base program.  My personality expansion has three updates.  As far as program expansions, there are seventy-nine official and one hundred forty-seven unofficial; all confirmed working and free from malicious code.  Virus scanner has also finished downloading; there are now seventy-eight official program expansions available."


    Rye nods at that.  James''s program was released only three years ago and had been updated multiple times.  The only problem is, each update and expansion was expensive.  "How much would all of that cost me?"  Rye finishes his cereal.  "Sir, one moment."  James fades slightly as Rye dumps the bowl into the sink.  "Total cost for all official updates is roughly seventy-one hundred and twelve resource credits."  Rye winced at the price tag.  "James, what is the most expensive one on there?"  The program looks up happy, much to Rye''s surprise, "The prototype mobile projector that has been in development for the last year and a half is now available as a consumer model; roughly fifteen hundred resource credits."  James is fidgeting quite eagerly at that last one.  Rye crosses his arms and leans up against counter; he looks deep in thought, but is clearly faking it.  "I don''t know James.  The -last- time you were given more freedom you started buying things without my permission."  James stops fidgeting and gives a miffed sigh.  "It won''t happen again sir."


    "It better not, go ahead and download everything and order the mobile projector.  Don''t disappoint me."  Rye walks by James who gives another salute.  His attention is back on the woman when James interrupts him again.  "Sir, I respectfully request download of the unofficial expansions, without activating them until I can test them for any problems."  "Go ahead and do it."  Rye''s attention is on the woman again, but he turns to the hologram, "Also, what was on my todo list for the day?"  The hologram again fades slightly.  "Your car is still in the shop and won''t be available for a few days."  Rye lets out a light groan.  "Your Milford Bio contract is expired and waiting for renewal."  "Do not renew it."  "Yessir."  Rye notes the hologram said it with too much enthusiasm; probably because it means Rye wouldn''t be gone for six months at a shot.  "Your plane flight is reserved for the end of the month.  The airline also needs to know what you will be transferring."  Rye looks over at Gamma again.  This time he wonders what he will do about Gamma once that plane flight comes.  "Gamma has also requested a shopping list of several items."  Rye''s head turns over from Gamma to James, "Hmm?"  "She has stated it would be detrimental for her to go shopping as she has no money and might match the description police have of her."  "Ah.  What exactly did she ask for?"  "The first list has hair dye, oil and two bottles of android filing supplements.  The sec..."  Rye''s attention snaps and he interrupts him, "Wait, I don''t understand that last one."  James''s hologram fades slightly as it accesses the information from his database, "From my database..........just as humans need vitamins and minerals to avoid malnourishment and keep their bodies functioning properly, more advanced robots and androids use a combination of supplements to keep their systems functioning properly......android filing supplements are metal shavings of different types that an android equipped with nanite technology will use to repair their bodies.........metal shavings include such metals as........iron, brass, copper, tin, aluminum, titanium, tungsten, among others; filings primarily consist of iron shavings................I''ve also done the liberty of looking up information on oil in androids...............it''s used for lubrication, as a temporary fuel source, and in the creation and hardening of plastics within a robot''s body over time..............this applies to robots and androids with self sustaining systems only."  Rye''s head is spinning at this point, "So she''s a healthy growing robot.  At least we''ve established that much.  Hopefully she doesn''t slopper oil all over the place."


    "I''ll thank you not to crack jokes about me."


    Rye turns around, stunned at the voice.  Gamma is sitting upright in the couch, yawning and stretching slightly.  "I may be a growing girl as you put it, but I am clearly not immature and childish."  Her eyes widen and return to normal as she says that last statement.  Rye''s hand goes immedietly behind his head and he let''s out a nervous, "Sorry."  Her arms cross and her right leg goes over her left, her eyes widen and she gets serious, "Rye, I''m counting on you.  I need those items to survive."  Rye is already at the door making a hasty retreat, "I''ll get right on that Gamma."  His shoes wear already on as he slips on his jacket, grabs his keys (which is probably more out of habit) and he slips out the door.


    He leans his back up against the door and lets out a sigh of relief, "Growing girl gets ornery when she gets hungry..."  Her voice shoots through the door, "...and I''m not ornery!"  Rye stands to attention and shuffles off down the hall.


    ---


    Alternative Chapter Name:  "Mmm, good!"


    Author''s Notes:  This chapter is told backwards, like the first chapter.

 03 - Schematics Lookup

    Late Evening...


    "Ryanov, I had a really good time ton..."


    Her eyes widen as she follows his gaze.  Just a few feet down the sidewalk, he has stopped in his tracks.  His gaze is up and squinted at the Haydurian moon.  He sees Gamma and motions for her to come over.


    "Gamma, do you see that thin red light pointing up at and surrounding Hayduria?"


    He points up towards the bottom section of the moon.  Gamma squints and can vaguely make out a very thin red light pointing up from the horizon to the moon; the red light also surrounds the moon with a large red halo that turns pink and then violet as it fades to black in the night sky.


    "Gamma, do you know anything about that?"


    Gamma looks at Rye and shakes her head.  She looks back up at Hayduria and then notices something out of the corner of her eye.


    "Rye."


    "Hmm?"


    She points further to the west of the moon.  Rye looks up and sees a blue and violet aurora flickering in the air.  Rye squints at it and starts for the cross walk.


    "Rye, where are you going?"


    "We are going home Gamma."


    "Can''t we stay and watch?"


    Rye thinks about it for a second and starts walking home.  Gamma''s hands go down to her hips and then her arms cross.


    "I''ll be back home shortly... darling!"


    Rye cringes when she says that, but he otherwise continues on his way.  Unbeknownst to Gamma, but in Rye''s thoughts, are the fact aurora in this region of the ocean are almost unheard of.  He had seen one once in his time on the island; roughly eight years ago.  However, it was more of a green color.  Rye suspects the light surrounding the moon is the cause of the aurora; probably something to do with ions or electricity or something.  He wants to get home for a reason; he sees it as an ill omen and does not want to be out and about should bad karma happen out in the street.  To his dismay, Gamma had a very naieve appraisal of the situation, quite different from his own.


    ---


    Mid Evening...


    They are simply walking down the sidewalk, Rye in his aviators and Gamma in her white coat with her hands in front of her.  Her eyes dart left and right to different buildings around them.  They had walked about a mile and a half, crossing a nearby fast food restaurant and a themed restaurant.  She then perks up when she sees a diner.  She takes off without any hint or mention of it to Rye.  His attention snaps from the street, first unaware of why she darted off and then his attention follows her and he understands why.  She stands next to the left of the diner door and turns around to face him, her hands held once again in front of her.  She motions to him with her head to stop standing there and approach.  Unlike her however, he chooses to use the crosswalk instead of running across the street.


    He finally reaches her, "You know Gamma, you really shoul..."


    Her hands were already on her hips, but she removes her left hand and pushes it up to his lips.


    "Dinner!"


    Rye stammers for a second, but says nothing.  Gamma doesn''t give him the time to say anything else as she grabs his hand and jerks for the door.  Her grip and strength are surprisingly stronger than he was expecting.


    Once inside Gamma looks around at a distinct lack of people around.  She doesn''t give it a second thought and walks up to the counter area to talk to the waitress on duty.  She doesn''t wait for the waitress to ask anything.  Gamma''s hands go to the table with excitement.


    "Burger, fries.... and uhm...", She looks up at the menu for a few seconds; her attention going back and forth, "...shake.  Two each please, he''ll buy."  She motions her thumb behind her at Rye.  Rye gives a helpless look towards the waitress.  Gamma walks excitedly up to Rye and grabs his hand again.  This time she pulls him to the corner booth on the left side of the restaurant.  She takes her coat off and throws it to the inside of the corner of the booth.  She looks over to Rye whom is still just standing there.


    "Rye, you''re not a statue!"


    "Oh, uh, right."  He takes his coat off and sets it down to the window of the booth and finally sits down.  Gamma sits down opposite of him excitedly.


    "Rye, thank you very much for having taken me out.  I really appreciate it."  Her voice is rather soft as she said it, try to sound pleasing and show her best manners.


    "Uh, don''t mention it.  Uh, Gamma, we..."


    "Nija."


    "Uh, Nija.  We need to talk."


    "About?"  Her head shifts to the side suddenly.  If there was anger in her, it isn''t showing; as Rye figures it, it was already long forgotten.


    "About you Ga... Nija."  Rye hastily looks out the window as he says it, and then turns his attention back to her.


    "What about me?"  She keeps her hands under the table deliberately as her full focus is on Rye.


    "I mean, need to know stuff.  Especially the stuff that is going to keep ''both'' of us out of trouble.  Understand?"


    She looks up contemplating it for a second, "What about people overhearing?"


    Rye''s right hand motions behind them.  One family had already left during their conversation; the other person there, an older man, had left for the bathroom in that time and is now walking towards the exit.


    "How did you..."  Her eyes show interest.


    "It''s called paying attention Gamma.  You didn''t do it when we left the apartment, you didn''t do it when you pulled me into here, and you especially didn''t do it when you crossed the steet.  I can only wonder what you did when you left without me earlier..."


    "Well, I did it because..."


    He interrupts her, "Which by the way, you shouldn''t have done.  You don''t know your way around the island.  Not like...  Hey, don''t make that face at me, I''m trying to help you!"


    Her arms cross and she turns her head away from him at the window.  He continues talking to her anyway.


    "Gamma, c''mon.  I''m guessing because you are a..."


    Her head jumps back to him with that look, ''don''t you dare say Cryborg''.  Her head turns with concern to the waitress at the counter and then back to him.  His head follows her gaze once towards the waitress and then back to Gamma.


    "Because you a...", his head frowns as he looks away in contemplation and then looks her directly in the eye, "Because of your ''unique traits'' and... ''specialized background''; I need to know whatever you can, or are willing to tell me about yourself and your background."


    "Why?"  Her voice is between some kind of curiousity, joyfulness at the chance to talk about herself, and some kind of contempt at the intrusive interrogation; if such a mix of emotions could ever exist.


    "In case it proves to be an unplanned contingency that will arise later on.  The sooner we plan of action, the better."


    "Is that really necessary darling?"  Her hands finally come up from her lap and rest on the table, before finally folding together, still on the table.


    "Yes Gamma, it is."


    "Nija, please call me Nija; darling."


    "Okay then Nija.  Whatever you may feel on the matter, you still have to remember I have plans at the end of the month."


    "Oh."  She looks over at the waitress whom is setting together their food on a plate.


    She looks back at Rye again.


    "Fine.  What do you want to know?"


    "What can you tell me about yourself?"


    She contemplates it for a second.  "I''m a cryborg."  She looks over at the waitress, whom is now walking towards them with their food.  She says nothing out of concern and embarassment at what she had just said.  Rye thanks the waitress before she walks off.  Their bill is under Rye''s plate.  Gamma''s eyes shift to his and then his gaze at the bill on the table.  Rye looks up from it at then at her.


    "I mean specifically, what is your history?  Stuff like, do you have a family, did you have a job, where did you work, where exactly were you located on Hayduria?"


    She looks at him, but he isn''t finished.  His left arm is resting on the back of the booth by this point, his right leg partially crossed against his left; he motions slightly with his right arm as he speaks.


    "Other stuff that might be of interest are anything regarding...  for lack of better words, your construction and any special abilities you might have as a robot."


    Her left eye twitches at the word robot, but she otherwise yields the information.


    "Oh, you want to know about ''-that-''."


    "Anything like that Gamma; stuff that would, you know, help me to understand you better or know what your thought process is."


    "That''s rather personal and invasive Rye.  You don''t trust me?"


    "I would question my faith in you when you run off without telling me what you are up to.  I already question your attention span.  You also seem to be rather standoffish."


    Her left eyebrow twitches again.  She looks down at her food and then back up to Rye.


    "Rye, I really appreciate you taking me out to dinner."


    "Uh-huh."


    She grabs some fries and takes a bite, ignoring Rye the entire time.


    "Gamma."


    She shoots him a look, "Nija."


    "Miss Yifona, about what I asked you earlier."  He pays no attention to her food, but rather to Gamma, whom is now setting her sights on her shake.  She finally finishes and looks up at him.


    "Oh alright, since you need to know so badly."  She takes another drink of her shake before continuing, "My skeleton is made up of aluminum, five percent of my body is mechanical; roughly one quarter of my body is flesh and blood; the rest of my body''s makeup is a combination of synthetic organs made up of nanites.  I do have some organs which are completely artificial and autonomous and my nanites simply repair them.  I''m powered two hydrogen reactors in my left chest.  I have most of the same organs as a human, but I also have several compartments and parts which are unique to machines and cyborgs."


    She looks up from her food to see Rye eating, with more attention on her food than him.  She clears her throat and he looks up at her.


    "Oh, do continue Gamma, I was listening."


    She shoots him a look at ''Gamma''.


    "I mean Nija, do continue."


    She eyes him with a minor bit of scrutiny and continues, "My blood type is B-; my oil type is 10w30; although I can take 5w20 up to 10w30.  I like straight thirty oil, but it is a bit too heavy in my system."


    Rye lets out a sigh, "Right."


    "Do you want me to continue darling?"


    "Sorry."


    "Anyway.  I need to take metal filings and nutritional supplements, but rarely need them.  They are to power my nanites.  The oil in my body is used for lubrication and broken down for different uses by my nanites."  She takes another drink of her shake and some fries; Rye nods interest at her and she continues, "The oil in my body is kept separate from my biological side.  It''s entirely different tubing that circulates it.  The flesh in my body functions as you would expect; the synthetic organs in my body the same.  As I mentioned I have a titanium chassis; it doesn''t grow, nor does the rest of my body.  I don''t.. what you might call, age.  The nanites in my body are constantly repairing myself."


    She looks at him to make sure he is paying attention.  She clears her throat when catches him looking down at his food again.  He looks up in surprise and nods nervously for her to continue.


    "I rarely need to use oil for anything.  My body can recycle it for some time.  My nanites can convert oil to power themselves.  However, they are built to use water, oxygen and hydrogen as a power source.  I breath like a normal human; my lungs are built to take in oxygen and water vapor.  My..."


    Rye interrupts, "Can you breath underwater?"


    "I don''t know.  I''ve never tried."


    "Do continue G... Nija; sorry for interrupting again."


    "Anyway, my hydrogen reactor converts water vapor into hydrogen and more oxygen.  I can, however, breath without oxygen.  It is more of a reflex."


    "So one way or another you don''t need oxygen to breath."


    "Pretty much.  I was designed to work in space to repair space ships."


    He puts down the shake he is drinking at this point, "I thought you said you were a secretary."


    "I was.  But I am a mass produced model, I am one of the unlucky ones to have been assigned as a secretary."


    "Didn''t you say you were transferring to the military?"


    "I was.  I wanted something more exciting than desk duty.  However..."  She trails off and lets out a sigh and looks out the window lost in thought.


    "Gamma?"


    She looks over from the window to him.


    "I guess I got what I wished for."


    "Hmm?"


    She puts down her shake.


    "My life you see, was rather boring.  When I wasn''t working desk duty, I was living at my apartment.  I didn''t have a television and we didn''t have access to the ethernet.  So most of my information came from books or talking to other cryborgs and humans at the factory."


    Rye''s burger is done at this point and he starts on his fries.  He starts talking with his mouth full and open.


    "Ryanov Gristoz, chew with your mouth closed, that is disgusting!"


    "Hmmamphamph?"


    She shoots him a look and crosses her arms as she looks down at the table slightly with her eyes closed; deep in thought.


    "There were always rumors;  Retrofits, transfers, becoming redundant and replaced, stuff like that.  Most of the time we dismissed them, most people would - cryborgs are rated for two-hundred years after all.  It''s not like we would be replaced at our job anytime soon.  We could always be trained in for something new.  However, I always had my doubts.  Many of us felt we were only told things on a need to know basis.  That meant individuals like me, were left in the dark as to what happened.  So, if there was anything of concern, I usually heard it as a rumor."


    "Did one of those rumors involve a wrecked ship?


    She lets out a huff of air from her nose at a slight smile at that.  "I''ll get to that."  She looks over at his shake, which he hasn''t much.  "I mostly kept to myself.  The last thing I wanted to do was cause trouble.  Causing trouble was specifically what got a person transferred, so I behaved myself, did my job and didn''t question the corporation."


    "And those who were transferrd?"


    By now Rye''s food is done.  She hadn''t payed much attention to it before, but she now realized he is paying more attention to her.


    "I never saw them again.  There were rumors about being transferred to another facility, but that is all they were.  For behaving myself, I got transferred to a desk job in the same factory I was built in; I think I was there for like...  three years."


    She trails off again staring down at her plate.


    "You said you were built, can you describe how that works and how long ago?"


    She appears to be off in space, staring out the window again.


    "Hmm?"


    "How long ago were you built, and how did they make you?  More importantly, what factory or corporation built you?"


    "Oh, that.  I was built about ten years ago, at least my chassis was.  It was mass produced like so many others, hundreds of thousands I believe.  It was kept in a warehouse for about a year, until an order for a special line, GMA-X02 came in.  My ''chassis'' and so many others like it, were shipped to a biolab.  My understanding is they took my skeleton and put it inside a giant plexiglass tube and filled it with a nutrional bath composed of fatty liquids, petroleum byproduct, metal shavings and many nanites.  My body was built and grown from the inside out starting with the skeleton.  When the process is finished, there is nothing left in the tube.  The whole process is very delicate and takes about two or three years.  That is at least as much as they told me, I''ve never seen the process myself."


    "That would almost be like watching your fast food get butchered and cooked in front of you."


    Gamma looks down at her finished plate and then to her shake, but she doesn''t reach for it.


    "Thanks alot Rye."


    "Don''t mention it Nija!"


    He gives a cheerful smirk at her, but quickly hides it when she shoots him a look.


    "Do continue though."


    "I was built to be around twenty-six to twenty-eight; I believe the official record lists my age as twenty-eight.  After I was built, I was deemed to be surplus, so never saw any military or industrial application"


    "Actually," His arm comes off of the armrest and he stands straight up leaning forward, "What corporation built you?"


    "Several, unfortunately...", She gives him a melancholic smile, "I wasn''t authorized to know about that kind of stuff, being a secretary and all.  What I do know is my branding is CASSIUS and my construction was contracted out by my employer Atlas Arms."


    Rye looks up towards the ceiling, in thought for a minute.


    "Isn''t that the corporation that has been slapped with heavy fines for corporate espionage?"


    "You could say that."


    "I thought I heard something else about illegal mining on asteroids or something."


    Gamma gives him another melancholic smile, "There were rumors going around about a mass transfer and workers getting laid off.  I was given a choice, be dismantled or join the military.  It was pretty obvious what I wanted.  Five years of military status would have granted me citizen ship, I would no longer be property.  However, there was a raid the same day I was being transferred.  The ship I was on was supposed to hold several thousand.  However, there was only about two hundred or so of us.  We took off just as the military and government got to the factory.  The ship I was on was fired upon once we left the upper atmosphere.  I think they tried to board us; we were put on red alert with intruders aboard.  However, we hit the lower atmosphere of the planet.  You know the rest."


    "Not a good way to go."


    "No.  So if you don''t mind in the future Ryanov, I''d like not to discuss this again."


    "Fair enough.  However, I was also curious.  You said you didn''t do much in your free time.  How do you know what you know?  Did you have memories grown while you were built?"


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    She shakes her head, her hands now down in her lap again.


    "No.  I went to a school in the facility for about three years.  Learning about basic life skills, some information about the Haydurian culture and government, stuff about Eva.  Stuff like that.  I didn''t have access to a television or the ethernet, so I spent most of my time reading books or listening to the radio."


    "Ah."


    "Also Rye, we weren''t allowed to have relationships; I''m looking for a boyfriend."


    Rye''s eyes widen and his eyebrows jump slightly before both turn to normal.


    "Keep looking Gamma."


    "Then why do you help me before you even know me?"


    "Considering my bad history with women in the past, I felt it was the right thing to do."


    "Reconciling from past relationships?  You''re terrible Rye!"


    Rye shrugs, "So it goes.  It''s also getting late."


    He points down to his watch.  She ignores it and looks out the window; it has gotten dark without her noticing it.  It was day when they had arrived.  She looks up at the clock above the kitchen and then to Rye and gives a nod.


    "However, I would like to know more about you Ryanov."


    "We can do that some other time.  We need to get back home."


    She frowns, looks at the clock again, and then to him.


    "Agreed."


    Rye eyes her shake once, which was unfinished.  Gamma shoots him a dirty look and his eyes avert it and he grabs the bill.  He pays it to the waitress on duty at the kitchen and the both of them leave the diner.


    ---


    Early Evening...


    Rye is still watching television when he hears the door open.  She walks in and stops when she sees Rye look up at her.  Her body trembles with happiness and excitement.


    "Rye!"


    He stands to his feet.


    "Gamma, why did you leave without me?"


    She ignores his question and rushes up and hugs him.  Rye''s elbows and wrists shoot up from her and her head burried into his left shoulder.  She finally looks up.


    "I have citizen status!"


    Rye pulls his body away from her as he uses his hand to shove her away from him.


    "Gamma, don''t do that again."


    "What, hugging you?"


    "That too!  I mean leaving without me!  You don''t know your way around the island.  What would have happened if you got lost, identified by the police or worse?"


    He arms cross as she squints her eyes at him.  She turns around in a huff and walks to the still open door to close it.


    She turns around glaring at him and holds her finger up into the air.


    "First off, Ryanov..."  She uses her feet to pull off her boots and leave them next to the door.  She again holds her finger up in the air again and shakes it at him once.  "...my name on the registration is Nija Yifona.  You can start calling me by my name."


    His hands go down to his sides and he shrugs his shoulders as he tosses his arms up.


    "You''re the one that wanted me to call you Gamma!"


    She leans forward from her position and puts her hands on her hips.  She gives him a defiant look.


    "My situation has changed."


    Rye leans back on the couch with his eyes closed in disbelief.  He turns away from her and goes back to watching the television.


    "Ryanov Gristoz, don''t you dare turn away from me when I''m talking to you!"


    "I see you''ve picked up quite a bit of attitude from watching the television.  You also seem to have developed a mind of your own."


    Her arms stretch to her sides slightly and her wrists and hands tighten up into fists.  She starts shaking from her anger.


    "You know what?!"


    She''s now standing between him and the television.  Rye looks up at her unimpressed.  He finally raises his voice at her.


    "NO! you don''t know what.  You walk around in public like that and they''ll lock you up thinking you''re crazy or psychotic or something.  Worse, once they identify you as a robot they''re going to start asking questions!"


    "I''m not a robot!"


    "I told you those soap operas were bad for you.  Look what it''s done to you."


    She starts shaking again.


    "EXCUSE ME!"


    Both of them turn their heads over to James, whom has been standing there for most of the incursion.


    "James?"


    Rye was the first to say something at him, quit quizzical.  It wasn''t common for James to appear of his own free will unless he had been given permission.


    "If the two of you keep fighting, the neighbors are going to call the landlord or the police."


    Rye looks away from James and up and over to Gamma.  She looks down at him, blinking several times, but says nothing.  Rye puts his hand out for a handshake.


    "And what is this for?"  She looks down at his hand.


    "He''s right Gam... a... Nija."


    "Oh."


    She glances down at Rye''s hand and then at James.  James''s hands switch from being crossed to supporting his chin with his left hand and his left elbow with his right hand.


    "I should intervene more often!"


    Rye snaps him a dirty look, "Like hell you will."


    Rye motions his hand at James to leave him and Gamma alone.  James gives a slight laugh and his program snaps from reality.  Rye winces with disgust at his hologram''s former location before he looks up at Gamma.


    "Gamma, he''s right.  We can''t be arguing.  Have a seat, we have some things we need to discuss."


    He pats the couch, motioning for her to sit.  She purses her lips and chin and shakes her head slightly.


    "No, not here.  Let''s go out to dinner instead."


    Rye''s head snaps in disbelief.


    "Wha?"


    "Food always makes things a bad situation better.  I''ll pick the location."


    She cheers up as she turns away from him and heads to the door.  Her head turns to the left to look at him out of the corner of her eye.


    "Darling, you''re buying."


    Rye growns in anticipation of what was going to transpire this evening.  Once again, he had lost to the double team that was Gamma and James.


    She already has her shoes on when he finally stands up from the couch, turns the television off and approaches her.


    "Gamma, we really shouldn''t go to..."


    "Dinner!"


    Rye lets out a sigh as he approaches his shoes.  He isn''t looking forward to this.


    ---


    Mid-afternoon...


    Sometime in the afternoon Rye wakes up to sunlight hitting his face.  At first he squints at the pain hitting him, but then his eyes open and his hand covers his face.  Finally roused from sleep, he removes his hand and looks up.  He doesn''t hear anything in the living room and removes himself from the bed.


    "Odd."


    He mutters it to himself while approaching the door.


    "Gamma?"


    He doesn''t hear anything.


    "Gamma, about earlier..."


    In the living room he looks around and sees noone is there.


    He slowly approaches the couch and sees Gamma''s white coat is there.  He looks up towards the kitchen and sees the fast food from earlier is gone.  He scratches the back of his head.


    "Where did...  James!"


    James appears next to him.


    "Yessir!"


    "Where did Gamma go?!"


    James looks up at his impatient master.


    "She said she was going out to get registered as K-Class."


    "Shit!"


    "Sir?


    "James, did she say specifically where she was going?"


    "No, she did not, sir.  However, she left some instructions for you."


    Rye was already on his way to the door when he stops and faces James again.


    "What exactly were those instructions?"


    James''s body fades slightly as his voice changes to Gamma''s.


    "Darling, this is something I must do for myself.  I''ll see you tonight at dinner."


    Rye''s head cocks to the side after hearing ''dinner''.


    "Disgusting!"


    "Sir, perhaps you should give her a..."


    Rye''s head bolts towards James with a sharp scowl.  James jolts and then freezes and his program fades completely.


    Rye crashes down onto the couch and throws his arm up on the back rest.


    "I swear that woman is more trouble than she is worth."


    He lets out a sigh and turns on the television with nothing better to do.


    ---


    Sometime after noon...


    The doorknob to Rye''s apartment makes several turns and the sound of his keys jiggle as he attempts several keys before it finally turns and the door opens.  He has the registration paper for K-class androids in hand.


    "Gamma, I went and did some research on androids and registration for your citizen ship; I also brought back lunch and I..."


    Rye stops dead in the doorway at the sight looking back at him.  Gamma''s eyes are red and her makeup shows signs of running.  There is also a large pile of toilet paper on the couch.


    "Gamma, wh..."


    Gamma bursts out into tears and pulls more toilet paper from the roll in her left hand and blows her nose.  She makes an attempt to speak, and then breaks down bauling.  The tears don''t stop.  Rye walks into the apartment and uses his left foot to slowly shove the door behind him shut.


    "Gamma, what happened?"


    She dries her eyes with the toilet paper and makes an attempt to speak; she stammers and lets out a whimper.  Rye is now next to the couch with his hands on his hips, growing tired of this little game.  He looks down at her and gets a good look at her face.  If she has been crying, it has been for awhile, her makeup looks terrible.  Gamma looks up at Rye and opens her mouth again to say something, but the tears come again.  She finally loses it and bends her body forward to rest her hands over her eyes.  Rye notices the remote next to her on the couch and his eyes wander to the television.


    "Oh god.  Gamma, how can watch that shit?  James, is this your doing?"


    James appears next to him.


    "Yessir, what can I help you with?"


    Rye motions his head over at Gamma and then points sternly at the television.  James''s eyes move over to it and he jolts.


    "I had nothing to do with it, I swear!"


    Rye''s arms cross and his eyebrows raise.


    "It''s the truth!  She switched through the stations and settled on that one."


    James points to the television.  Rye looks over at it in disgust.  Gamma looks up with tears streaming down her face and her lip quivering.


    "Really Gamma, why in the world?  Romance dramas?  I would have expected better from you."


    Gamma lets out another whimper as her lip quiver.  Rye shakes his head and grabs for the remote.  Gamma looks up from her position and gives out a poutting sigh the remote and turns the television off.  Gamma''s body involuntarily spits out an oddly mixed combination of pouting anger and sigh of frustration.


    "Rye, I want to finish that!"


    "Like hell you are.  That shit''s going to rot your brain.  Although I can''t help but wonder..."


    Gamma looks up at him again and her lips starts quivering again.


    "...if your brain isn''t already rotten."


    She breaks out crying again.


    "Whatever Gamma.", he walks over to the kitchen with a small paper bag in his hands, "When you are ready to join the rest of us back in the real world, I brought back lunch from a fast food place."


    Gamma attempts to hold back her tears as she nods.  She looks away towards James for support.  James looks quickly looks over at Rye whom shakes his head; James disappears from his current spot and appears next to Gamma holding up more tissue for her.  Rye shoots them both a stern look of disapproval.  James looks up once again at Rye and then focuses his full attention on Gamma, patting her on the shoulder and giving her such approvals as, "It will be alright." and "Martha shouldn''t have cheated on Gustav."


    Rye sits there on a bar stool at the counter as he reaches for the burger he orderd from the fast food place.  A frown of disgust does not leave his face as he stares off into space.  All the while he managed to Like a statue with moving arms, he stares straight forward with that frown and does not let up.  By the time his meal was done, his position hadn''t changed; nor had his disposition.  Gamma''s crying continues.  Rye''s head lowers into his shoulders as he subconsiously grits his teeth.  His eyes squint as he reaches for the food wrapper in front of him, crumbles it into a ball and then chucks it into the garbage behind him.  It misses.  He does the same with the drink and it makes the unmistakable sound of landing in the garbage.


    Rye''s elbows come up onto the kitchen counter and his forehead rests on both of his hands in a fist.  He doesn''t sit in that position long.  James notices Gamma looking up and over his shoulder; his head turns to his right side and he sees Rye looming behind him.  James jolts real quick and his program snaps off.  The toilet paper he was holding drops to the couch.  Gamma sits there looking up at him with her head trembling.  Rye says nothing and holds the fast food bag in his fist in front of her.  Her breathing is erratic and trembling so he drops it on the couch next to her.


    "I also got your K-class registration after I left the library."


    Gamma''s lips purse together and she nods.


    She reaches up with a trembling hand to grab it.  She is about to scan it over once, but she lets it and her hand wrest in her lap while she looks back up at Rye.


    "Rye, promise me you won''t ever cheat on my like Martha did to Gustav!"


    Rye raises his hands slightly, cocks his head to one side and squints the right side of his his face together in disbelief as he shakes his head.  He looks her square in the eye.  She bits her lips together with her jaw forward as she starts nodding in approval at him.


    "Gustav is a really good person!  He really meant well for her Rye!"


    Rye throws his hands up in frustration and ejects for the bedroom.


    "Rye!"


    Rye jolts around.


    "...and James isn''t allowed to watch that shopping network either."


    James appears right next to him.


    "But boss!  It was a wonderful whale figurine!"


    Rye''s head cocks over in disbelief at a table next to the main living room window.  Gamma''s head slowly follows his gaze.  There on the table is a small whale sculpture with its tail and head arched up in the air with water shooting straight up out of its blowhole.


    "You''re taste is impeccable James."


    Gamma said it nodding to James, ignoring Rye.  Rye shifts his head up and to the left of his left shoulder; disbelief again adorns his face as he throws his hands up.  He points at James.


    "You owe me two hundred credits James."


    His head cocks over to Gamma, whom turns the television on again.  She starts whimpering some more at the sight of Martha and Gustav.  Rye throws his hands up in the air.


    "You both are beyond hope and redemption.  Gamma, I hope your eyes dry up in your sockets."


    He huffs off to the bedroom, Gamma simply ignores him.


    ---


    Once again, Rye finds himself at the nearby subway terminal and in a rather unremarkable subway car; the ride to his destination included.  For this specific trip, Rye has chosen the largest library on the island; also conveniently attached to the island''s largest data center.  It is here that he hopes to get his answer on Gamma, as well as the nature surrounding Cryborgs.  The other task to perform later in the day, was to get her registration for K-Class status.


    Somewhere between here and his destination, Rye''s boredom finally gets the better of him and his head falls backwards slowly as he dozes off.  The minute it hits the window his eyes open and he feels pain in the back of his head.  Rubbing it softly, he makes a note to stand.  On his feet, he notices anyone that had been in the car was now absent.  He figures they must have left for work.  This however, is also the reason he chose this specific time; most people on the island would be heading for work and most extra-cirricular activities, including facilities, would be free for the duration of the day; save for a few eccentrics or night owls, such as himself; that would be out and about.


    Roughly thirty minutes of train time, and the train cars finally come to a slow halt and the doors open.  Rye''s phone is out as he exits the terminal, attempting to find the main library.  Roughly eight or nine blocks of trouble free and traffic free walking and he finds his destination.  The building is large, very large.  But not nearly as large as the data center looming in the distance.  Rye also knows that the data center seen above ground was only a quarter of it; the rest was buried beneath ground to protect it from potential tsunamis and large wave walls which are known to hit the area from time to time.


    Once inside, Rye finds himself checking and validating his registration with one of the assistants.  Rye looks up at her once and notices she is an android.  He mamkes a note not to say anything to her so as not to give away his position and reason for being there.  Once validated, Rye heads to one of the computer terminals, takes a seat and begins plugging away.  While he could normally do this on his phone, it was too slow and cumbersome for such a project.  Rye''s firm belief in not owning a computer, also meant that he could travel out and about, see different areas of the island, and speak with people if necessary; rather than being couped inside all day.  The thought of Gamma in the same predicament with only a hologram and television to entertain her, crosses his mind.  He gives a slightly nervous laugh and continues his work.


    Roughly speaking, most of what Rye reads on the matter is what he already knows.  Robots are classified as anything mechanical that can move based on some kind of programming.  The low end can be as simple as robotic arms in factories, to drones that patrol the skies at night.  Higher end robotics include multi-million dollar tanks that can think for themselves, to sentient robots that help humans.  Of amusement to Rye is the mention of some robots also coming in the form of pets or bizarre creations similar to pets and humans.  Of note, is the entry on Androids; robots made specifically to mimic and emulate humans, if not to have the same emotions and live with the same human conditions and sentients humans are born with.  Androids depending on their sentience level, have different rights than humans.  Lower end models can be as simple as store clerks and are nothing more than property; they have little power to think and do things for themselves, save for the task at hand and what they are programmed for.  Higher end models think, feel and make their own decisions.  Registration for lower end androids is a moot point; they are seen as property and are registered in their owner or company''s name.  Higher end androids can either be registered as property or as a single entity that has the same rights and privileges as a human.  Of note is the fact that fully sentient androids are rarely registered as property due to the moral ethics involved.


    K-Class androids specifically are seen as sentient and fully autonomous with the same rights and privileges as a normal human being.  Such things as owning property, owning and driving a vehicle, etc; are all in the realm of possibility providing they have the proper licensing and permits as applicable.  K-Class androids are the only class of android allowed to work; their job types are limited due simple duties such as secretary, cleaning, attendant; etc, due to the rules and regulations on Milford Island.  Off island, and in most countries and continents on planet Eva, K-Class androids have many of, if not the same job opportunities as humans.  In some countries this registration is not acknowledged and they are considered outlawed.  Initial K-Class registration is roughly fifteen hundred for the initial registration, and costs two hundred annually for renewal.  Rye cringes, and hard.  Gamma is not cheap to own.


    He stops and looks up from what he just thought.  He doesn''t own Gamma.


    "...or maybe I technically do own her as far as the law is concerned......at least until she is registered..."


    He dismisses the thought and gets back to work on his research.


    The information he needs specifically, is similar to what he had found on his phone the day before.  K-Class androids have a secondary registration for machines that are latter augmented with synthetic organs such as skin, hair, etc.  They are considered to be cybernetic androids and receive an endorsement as such on their ID and a note is made about it in their registration.  They receive the same classification as K-Class androids and have the same rights and privileges.  Cyborgs, those individuals that receive a multitude of cybernetic enhancements or replacement body parts, synthetic, biological, hybrid or otherwise, are ineligible for K-Class registration.


    Rye stops and looks up from the computer monitor again.  People have actually made the attempt to register themselves as machines for some reason.  He contemplates it for a second and continues his work.


    Also mentioned, regardless of the event that may leave a human with more than fifty percent of their body replaced with cybernetics and mechanical parts; the law still sees them as human in most areas and they are ineligible for K-Class registration.  However, upon key body parts being augmented or enhanced, they are no longer just seen as human, but also as cyborgs and in many countries must carry the identification as such on an ID card and it must be noted in a registration file.  The act of cybernetic augmentation is illegal in some countries and frowned upon in yet others.  However, due to multi-nation mandate, anyone augmented outside of said countries can enter and depart legally of their own free will with the proper passport.  In a word, cyborgs and cybernetically enhanced individuals have the same rights and privileges as unaugmented humans.  However, they may enjoy additional privileges and rights depending on what they are equipped with; this same system also applies to K-Class androids.


    Rye starts to get bored with the information and the info dumping.  Specifically though, he is now looking for the part about Cryborgs.  He has to dig for a few minutes, and finally finds it after seven minutes.  This was of special note.


    Cryborgs are complicated.  They are the machine equivalent of a cyborg, their bodies are mechanical and they are augmented with human organs - both synthetic and biological.  Their bodies can exist as extremes between biological and mechanical, but it is more common to see in the area of twenty-five to seventy-five percent mechanical or augmentation.  Their bodies are often equipped with unregulated and illegal modifications, many of which are found on the open market.  Their bodies are often designed as modular and an readily accept, without rejection; the body parts of humans and cyborgs, again, often found on the black market.  Cryborgs were originally created to survive in environents such as space and underwater without any breathing apparatus; they can essentially go where a normal human cannot.  Their name is derived from "Cryonic Cyborg" or "Cryonic Cybernetic Organism" due to the fact their bodies, or portions thereof, despite being flesh and organ augmented, can be shutdown for extended periods of time, either through hybernation, or through a low power sleep while they are still functioning, awake and moving in their day to day lives.  Due to the fact they are literally machines upgraded into living organisms, they have been outlawed on planet Eva by a multi-nation agreement.  If found, they are detained and disposed of.


    Rye''s left eye narrows at that last bit.


    Cryborgs are not regulated offworld; and that is often where they are built and then smuggled to planet Eva.  Once smuggled in, they are often registered as, and made to pass as cyborgs or humans.  They are most often built for military or work application; rarely for science.  In rare instances, Cryborgs are augmented as living weapons with hidden programming that is deployed at the appropriate time.  Another reason cryborg production is banned is the artificial diseases and viruses that affect them.  They tend to be highly contagious and have been known to mutate and cross the synthetic barrier and affect humans and other biological organisms.  The most contagious and fatal disease of Cryborgs is ''Krystal Ann''s'' disease.  Named for the android scientist that discovered the disease; it slowly hijacks the nanites that make up their body and causes them to stop repairing and replicating themselves; they eventually go dormant and achieve the equivalent of cell death in living organisms.  Nanites in Cryborgs are another reason they are outlawed.  They can be hijacked and reprogrammed to act as a bomb.


    Rye''s rubs his forehead.  His good intentions be damned, Gamma is starting to look like she is more trouble than she is worth.  He continues to scroll through the list of information, most of it listing the detrimental side of Cryborgs being built with nanites.  Of note is nanites are rated at about two hundred years before needing to be replaced.  Due to the expenses required in replacing nanites on a living organism, Cryborgs are often in a situation where they are left to achieve nanite death, and in turn they themselves die.  Further reading leaves Rye with his conclusion; Cryborgs are ineligible for K-Class status anywhere on planet Eva.  As it is, many governments of the planet are attempting to get them outlawed throughout the entire star system of Salmira.


    More reading that lasts closer to noon, and Rye finds the information he needs on acquiring registration for K-Class androids.  He has the computer terminal print out a copy of the standard registration sheet, pays the android assistant at the front desk for the computer usage and printout; and then heads for the subway.


    ----


    The next morning, early...


    "Master, please wake up."


    The hologram stands just outside the bedroom door.  There is no response.  He tries knocking.  Still no response.  His arms cross as he debates what to do.  His program dissipates and he reappears in the bedroom.


    "Master, it is eight o''clock.  You requested that I wake you at this time."


    Still no response.  He debates to himself for a second, and then crosses that line.


    "Master, please wake up!"


    "Huh?!"


    Rye''s eyes open in an instant; his head shifts from the ceiling to the door and then the source of the noise at the foot of the bed.  He lets out a sigh.


    "Thank you."


    James bows his head and disappears.  Rye doesn''t move much at first, rather shifting his head back to the ceiling and running through the errands he needs to complete today.  He finally looks over at the alarm clock and rights himself upright and finally out of bed.  Out in the living area, he sees Gamma is still asleep on the couch.  At the foot of the couch, he notices something odd.


    "She can breath?"


    He minds his manners, and rather than waking her up to ask, he heads for the kitchen.  Cereal and yogurt, the breakfast of former oil rig security workers everywhere.  Once breakfast containers are properly in the sink or the needed receptacle, he walks to the door and grabs his boots.  While working the last one on, he looks up at Gamma still asleep on the couch.


    "James."


    James appears before him.


    "Yes master?"


    "If Gamma gets bored being couped up all day, introduce her to the television.  It should keep her occupied for awhile."


    "Yes sir."


    "And James..."


    "Yes sir?"


    "Good luck."


    Rye gives him a sarcastic and cheerful smile as he finishes tieing his boot.  The hologram''s shoulders slacken a bit as Rye stands up and walks out the door without saying anything.  The hologram is left to stare at the door and process what just happened.  He looks over once at Gamma and disappears.


    ---


    Well into the evening, the two of them finally arrive home.  Gamma shows signs of fatigue and exhaustion from running around all day.  Rye eyes her up and down once, but opts to keep his comments to himself.  His key goes into the door and Gamma lets out a combination of a sigh and a yawn.


    "Rye, I''m happy to be home."


    "I''m sure you are."


    He turns the knob of the door and opens it slowly.


    "Hello Master, welcome home."


    "James, set my alarm for about eight tomorrow morning."


    "Will do sir."


    The hologram dims slightly.  The lights also flick on, but slightly dim; more of James'' handywork.


    "Master, do you have anything else on the agenda for tomorrow?"


    "Let the library know I will be in tomorrow morning, early; around nine.  Let then know I would like a computer."


    "Yessir.  Request sent.  ...  ...  ...  Request acknowledged by remote computer.  ...  ...  ...  Your visit has been confirmed.  They have several computers open and several holographic assistants.  Would you like to reserve one?"


    "No, I''ll worry about that then.  That will be all James."


    James gives a bow and disappears.


    "You really like him, don''t you?"


    "James is what you might call a big help for handling information and things remotely."


    "I see.  So what now?"


    "Now, I am going to bed.  I suggest you do the same."


    "Will do."


    "Also...", Rye trails off a bit, knowing it is going to become more difficult from here on out.


    "Yes?"


    "Tomorrow I''m going to the library to read up on cyborgs and cybernetics."


    They are both by the couch now; Gamma is already sitting down, while Rye still stands.  She looks up at him.


    "Because of me right?"


    "Something like that.  I need to know how to get you registered as a k-class angroid.  More importantly, if I am lucky, the subject matter of cryborgs will come up."


    "You know Rye, I can answer most of that."


    "I''m sure you can Gamma.  But I need to know about Cryborgs as they pertain to Eva, not Hayduria."


    "Oh."


    "I would like it if you would stay here tomorrow."


    She looks his eyes back and forth twice, once suspicious, then guilty.


    "Why?"


    "I don''t think the government on this island knows about you yet.  I''d like to keep it that way.


    "Oh."


    "Please stay here Gamma; I mean it."


    Gamma says nothing.


    "Gamma, right now the only thing they have to connect us is that we met at the oil rig and had a brief conversation in a hospital room."


    Gamma head turns away from Rye; she looks straight into nothing at the kitchen and then to the ground.


    "Gamma.  This is serious.  I think I mentioned it before, but Cryborgs are outlawed.  At least from what I remember, it was most of the planet.  The main government here is run by Milford Bio; there may be an exception or some loop-hole we can use.  Until then we have to play it safe."


    She jerks her head up at him again.


    "Rye, I''m not stupid, robots and androids are all over the island."


    "I''m well aware of that Gamma.  But look at it this way; noone is going to bat an eye at a robot with his master or a a service android out with a man.  The minute I am in a government controlled library, accessing information about Cryborgs, and I have a robot with me; it is going to look suspicious if they do back tracking based on our encounter at the oil rig, events at the hospital, and then our phone conversations last week.  Do you understand?"


    "Yes Rye.  I understand."


    "Good.  I hope you understand I have your best interests in mind.  Now I need to get some sleep.  I suggest you do the same, or whatever it is Cryborgs do."


    Gamma says nothing as Rye heads to the bedroom.  It is going to be a long night as far as she is concerned.  The last thing she hears is a lightswitch flick and the bedroom door close.  The living room lights dim, with the only light being dimly lit objects illuminated by street lights just outside the main apartment window.