All the while, she was trying to think through a mind clouded by fatigue. She didn’t want to argue with Harold like that; she wanted to discuss what they were going to do next. Should she have locked him somewhere and gone back to London by herself? Prove that the neuromimetic system was fake and that he was a perfectly legal Amicus? Hope that as time went by, Harold would eventually see where she was coming from?
Absurd. It was all nothing but foolish delusions. Realistically speaking, Department Head Angus or someone else at Novae Robotics Inc. probably had already analyzed Steve, providing proof to back the validity of the leak. The IAEC, no doubt, was already making its move. Totoki and the others must have already realized that Echika and Harold had become fugitives.
There was nowhere left to run.
It felt like the floor had vanished under her feet and that she was about to plummet into the abyss. Echika shook her head, trying to banish that thought. There had to be some way out. Something, anything…
When she entered the prefabricated front desk area, hot, stagnant air enveloped her. The spacious room included a front desk for check-in purposes, vending machines, and a shower room. But then Echika stopped in her tracks.
“The London police ordered a search. Do you have a guest with an Amicus that looks like this?”
“An Amicus? Sir, you do know this is a technologically limited zone, right?”
Two officers were standing at the front desk, their backs turned to her. They were probably with the local police. They held up a tablet, which they used to show an image to a man.
Time here seemed to be at a standstill?
As if.
Echika instantly turned on her heels and left the prefabricated building, trying her hardest to not make a sound. She didn’t know if the officers had turned around to look at her. She was too scared to make sure. Echika hadn’t brough Harold when she’d checked in. She simply asked for a room for two, so the person manning the desk didn’t know anything.
Her steps grew quicker until she eventually broke into a run. Of course, she didn’t know for sure that the officers were looking for Harold, but given the situation, assuming this was some other Amicus felt overly optimistic. As their container came into view, she desperately lunged at the door, yanking it open. This made her realize she’d forgotten to lock it behind her when she’d left, but that wasn’t important now. Harold was still sitting on the bed.
“Get ready to leave, now.” Echika pulled her down jacket from the wall. “We have to get out of here.”
The Amicus raised his head, realizing something was wrong. “What happened?”
“There are officers at the front desk. Probably looking for you.”
As Harold got up, she shoved the jacket into his arms. He didn’t take it, so Echika spread it out in a hurry and stood on tiptoe to pull it over his shoulders. His arms weren’t in the sleeves, and the hood was pulled down to cover his face.
The Amicus’s lakelike eyes narrowed only slightly. “Where to next?”
“I haven’t decided yet, but we have to hurry. We’ll be in trouble if they start checking rooms.”
“What about the charge for the room?”
He was worried about that now?! “I already paid it.”
This time, Echika grabbed Harold by the arm and pulled him out of the container. He followed without a fuss. Maybe he’d already resigned himself to whatever would come, or maybe he just felt like he was humoring a child’s whims.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was acting more and more ridiculously.
In the end, Echika decided to go to Aberdeen and sail to the Shetland Islands. She got Harold in a share car and drove north up the one-lane country road. Unchanging farmland that seemed to stretch forever sailed past the windows. When they got to a town called Dunblane, the road became wider, with more lanes. Even after getting on the main thoroughfare, she kept her speed up. At three in the afternoon, the sun was beginning to set, and the snow grew stronger.
The trip was thankfully a smooth one, with no pursuers in sight. The only issue was that neither of them said a word the entire time. An unfamiliar acoustic guitar tune playing on the car stereo was the only sound to break the silence. Echika felt like everything would fall apart the moment they next spoke. That inexplicable fear crept over her, threatening to grab her by the back of her neck.
The change happened just when they were about to get on Forfar Junction, an hour or so away from Aberdeen. The road was slightly congested due to a traffic regulation stop. The area was enveloped by the dusk sky, and cars stopped in the jam one by one, their taillights flashing in irritation. Their car, too, was inevitably caught in it.
Why now, when we’re in a hurry?
Echika changed the radio stations but didn’t hear any reports of traffic restrictions. Stifling a sigh, she leaned against the steering wheel. She was concerned about the car running out of power, too.
She snuck a glance at Harold, who was in the passenger’s seat. He was sitting there calmly, the hood of his coat hanging over his face. He seemed to be looking at the lights of houses in the distance, just barely visible through the snow. But then, suddenly, she heard his artificial breathing. He took a quiet, deep breath.
“There was a time, once…when I thought, What would it be like if I were human?”
This was the first time he’d spoken since their last exchange at the container hotel. Despite him speaking, everything didn’t instantly fall apart. All it did was make the air tremble, ever so slightly.
“It was when I was being held captive. Not by you, but by Aidan Farman.” Harold kept his eyes fixed on the scenery. “If I were human, I wouldn’t have to run and hide now. I wouldn’t have gotten you involved in this, either. And not just that…” He trailed off, then continued. “So many things would have gone better.”
Echika could only guess at what he meant by “so many things.”
“…Would you have preferred to be human?”
“Sometimes I’m not sure.” His voice was far too calm for it to come across as a complaint. “This secret has been hounding me for so long. And I’ve never found myself thinking ‘I wish I was made this way.’”
What would be the right thing to say here? Echika didn’t know, and so all she could do was grip the steering wheel. Lexie had given the RF Models the neuromimetic system. One could easily say she’d created them only to satisfy her curiosity. And that the karma of her choice passed from one thing to another, leading to this moment.
Over the next ten minutes, the flow of cars moved forward and stopped a few times. The junction was finally coming into view. But at the same time, revolving lights flashed ahead, and Echika saw police officers standing by the road. She stiffened, her heart skipping a beat.
“A checkpoint.”
This was why there hadn’t been any reports of a traffic jam. She’d assumed the officers only showed up at the hotel because there was an area-wide search going on. But it was possible the local police forces already had some idea that Echika was in the area. Or maybe the officers just spotted her at the hotel.
She should have been more careful, stayed off the highways.
“End of the line, it seems,” Harold said, all too easily. “Let’s say I coerced you into coming along with me. When you get to the bureau, testify that you didn’t know about the neuromimetic system.”
Echika ignored his suggestion, pulling up the scarf over her mouth so as to hide the isolation unit on the back of her neck. It was already dark, and so long as they didn’t make out her features, maybe they wouldn’t realize who she was. She opened the glove box and took out the Flamma 15, stuffing it into her jacket pocket.
“Echika.” Harold’s expression turned severe. “What are you thinking?”
“It’s just in case. I won’t shoot, so stay quiet.”
Following the row of cars ahead, Echika hit the brakes. She saw five officers at a glance. She looked over to the lane on the right, which was sectioned off by a line of safety cones but otherwise empty of vehicles. An officer was approaching her from straight ahead. He motioned with his hand for her to lower the window, which she complied with. If she could talk her way out of this peacefully, that would be for the best. But her heart was thumping so fast, she felt like it might burst.
“Pardon me, ma’am,” the young male officer said, peering into the car. “A share car, yes? Where are you coming from?”
“Manchester,” she replied, trying not to sound nervous and shrill.
“Sightseeing?”
“No. I got a call from a hospital saying my mother collapsed. She’s in Aberdeen.” She could tell the cop’s gaze was moving to the passenger’s seat, but Harold’s features were hidden by the hood. “That’s my brother. Pardon, he’s very tired and fell asleep…”
“Very well. I’ll just need to see some identification, and you’re good to go.”
“I’m sorry, I left my ID at home. I rushed out here as soon as I heard about my mother…”