What Lies Behind: A New Adult Dark Science Fiction Romance by Travis Simmons Page A

going on with you now?” Brandon asked. “Higher thought. Automatons aren’t capable of that either. At least, none that I’ve ever met. They are all programmed with specific purposes. Except you, it would seem.”
    Cass frowned at him and looked at Andi sunning himself on the rocks. She neared the glass to see the lion better. There wasn’t any infrared in his eye. He could see like real lions could see.
    “Did you know that you were different before you started getting these higher thoughts?” Brandon wondered, placing his hand on her shoulder.
    Cass shrugged. “I think I did, but I didn’t really dwell on it. Not like now.”
    “And what’s changed?” Brandon asked. “Why do you have these thoughts now?”
    “The truth?” Cass asked him. She felt more nervous now than she had in all of her life. Or at least, in all the time she was able to remember. “It started the day you took me to Doctor Gerard.”
    “When Natalia knocked you out with the fire poker,” Brandon nodded.
    “All of these programs started coming online.” She refused to look at him while she spoke. Instead, she stared at the android lion. How much different life would be if she were an android. Maybe then Brandon would think of me as a real woman. Maybe as he thinks of Natalia.
    She told him how the nanobots repaired her that day. As they were repairing her how programs like free will and emotions were coming online. Things she’d never experienced before, never thought automatons were capable of doing were becoming normal for her.
    “And my thoughts have been changing too,” she confessed. This time she did look at him. She hoped that she didn’t see satisfaction, or any indication that he wasn’t who she thought he was. She hoped that she was right in trusting him. She saw confusion on his face. His hand slipped from her shoulder. “It’s like all of these new programs that have come online have changed my previous programming. I don’t just do what I’m told blindly now. I have thoughts and opinions about them that I don’t understand.”
    Brandon sat on a bench beside her. “How is this possible?” he wondered.
    “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “But I want to find out.”
    “Why?” Brandon looked up at her. He stood and placed his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. “Why do you want to find out. Can’t you just accept what’s happening? Can’t you be happy that you’re changing and maybe you can get away from Natalia’s abuse?”
    Cass shook her head, confused. It was almost as if he didn’t like Natalia any longer. “These things don’t just happen to robots,” she told him. “Not without a reason. I want to know what the reason is. Are these programs coming online because there’s another program inside of me that’s overriding the programming that already exists?”
    Brandon sighed and turned away from her. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “But I can see why you’d want to find out.” He turned to her. “What can I do to help you?”
    Cass shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to help me. I need to find these answers out for myself.”
    “Well at least I can make sure Natalia doesn’t do any further damage to you.”
    “That would be nice,” Cass said and smiled at him.
     
     

 
    The next week and a half was agonizing for Cass. Natalia was doing a lot of working from home, which meant Cass was doing a lot of working around the apartment. She fabricated clothing for Natalia’s next week, which was apparently going to be a big one, though Cass could only hear snippets of conversations Natalia had with people on the phone. It seemed like another job interview, which was strange to Cass since Natalia’s father ran the magazine where she worked. It would seem like she’d want to stay there and inherit the company, but Cass didn’t think much of it.
    Fabricating the clothes was interesting to Cass. She didn’t understand why people didn’t go out