Part 8
My head is aching as I wake up. The air is damp with the aroma of mildew. Rocks poke into my side from the dirt floor I’m laying on. I attempt to brush some stray hairs from my face when I notice my hands are bound. Carefully maneuvering myself, I make it to a sitting position. The only light that enters the labyrinth comes from a small soot covered window on the opposite side. I see the faint form of another person propped up in a corner. “Oh god, Duo.” Traveling on my knees I make my way over to his still body. Someone had beaten him very badly, he might have still been asleep when he was attacked.
“So glad you’re awake my queen.”
“How could you do this to him?”
“Because he was deceiving you, and you fell for it. Do you honestly think someone like him could care about someone like you? It was for your power that he pretended to love you.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Did you ever ask him my queen?”
“No, but what he showed me…”
“All just an elaborate scheme to make you vulnerable. He had you in the palm of his hand.”
“No, that’s not true!”
“Do you think that anyone could love you for who you are? You are just an office, there to be taken advantage of if you let them.”
I can’t hold the tears back anymore. What he was saying had to be a lie, there was no way that Duo would do those things to me. We had shared something special, didn’t we? I refuse to believe it.
He walks over to the unconscious pilot. "He deceived you very well obviously. Your parents would be very upset if they knew their little girl was hanging around with the likes of him. You haven't been using your brain my queen."
I watch in horror as he kicks Duo in the stomach. "STOP!" I do my best to put myself in between the two. "Damn you Kit! You unfeeling bastard. What do you know about anything you fucking machine!"
"I know what you humans think, how you work. It's not hard to see that you've been taken for a ride. This scum has fooled you."
He makes another move to kick Duo. I place myself in front of his boot and take the full impact. I have never felt such pain in my life. It feels like my insides are ready to push out of my abdomen. Black spots dance in my vision and all the contents of my stomach are instantly lunge upward. I swallow down the taste of bile. I fall onto my side pulling myself into a fetal position, my bound arms clutching my belly.
Kit can only stare at me. If he could feel, I'm sure it would have been shock that he was feeling at this moment. He had made a dreadful mistake and I'll make sure it is his last. "Mel, why did you do that?"
"You wouldn't understand, without feelings this world is devoid of all that is good. I know why father created you now. I finally understand it. He wanted to nullify the world through me. He thought that I would do everything that you said and therefore create a place without hope or caring, a place without love or happiness. A world of black emotions brought on by the blackest of hearts." I pick myself off of the ground and stare directly at the man who I had spent the whole of my life with. "Without me, you would be nothing. I'm not playing for your game any longer. I will be the best ruler that I can be and I will do it without you or my father! I will be strong and not even God himself will be able to alter my path!"
The sound of clapping comes from the only entrance to the basement room. "Bravo little one. I never expected you to be able to change so fast. It truly is amazing to see how fast a human can adapt to a changing environment. You went from spineless to ruling material in only a few days. Now you can finally earn the respect that a queen deserves. You have done a wonderful job Kit. I honestly didn't know that a machine could do such great acting. I'm sure he even had you fooled." The footsteps echo in the small space as the newcomer makes their way over to Kit, placing a hand on the machine's head like it's a dog. "Unfortunately we had to reprogram him in order to pull this off. He really was a remarkable program, human in almost every aspect. I even suspect that he did really have some emotions. Too bad we had to wipe the slate clean, he would have made a remarkable case study. But alas, most every good thing must come to an end."
"You think the ends justify the means? What kind of person are you?"
"One who has put you in the situation of growth. You have shed your cocoon Mel. Now you can rise up and instill that feeling of hope that you hold inside of you. Let it spread throughout the universe. Help us create a new way of living." Turning their back to me, "You are wrong about your father you know."
"What do you mean?"
"The reason he created Kit was to give you your soul mate. A being so close to perfect that you couldn't help but love him. Unfortunately your father didn't take into consideration that you too are only human. It was just a matter of time before you found those fractional faults and turned to seek what you really needed, a person. Maybe you have found what you need in Duo. Or maybe he is just a stepping-stone. That decision is up to you."
"What happens now?"
"That is also something you have to decide."