Chapter 9

The final checks were being carried out as this was probably the last time they would ever see this place again. The incessant drone of traffic above had died down to an almost pin-drop stillness. A steady stream of light filled the edges of the sliding door offering up a much needed ambient hue to the dingy room below. With the barricading crates now safely out of the way, the only thing separating them from city level was that single, thick metallic sheet. The bleak and claustrophobic atmosphere that had engulfed the newly-established family unit was starting to take a toll on its only human component. As the last few remaining minutes ebbed away, that was all about to change forever.

A hulking mass moved stealthily through the dusty wooden doorway. It carried a bowlful of hot chicken soup which in its hands more likely resembled but a tiny cup. He brought it over to Dee who sat upright with the boy on the torn mattress. She looked up at him in a state of clear distress. Since the disabling of the Samson chip, she had not blinked once. Just one of the many unusual side-effects she found herself struggling to get accustomed to. The need to enter stasis was also now just a sordid remnant of her past. The human traits implanted within the circuitry of the chip certainly proved to be a crippling cross to bare. She reached out and grabbed the bowl carefully out of his huge hand. Delicately, she spooned out a small morsel of watery chicken and put it to the boy’s mouth. He continued what he had done so for the last two days of living in their hovel. A refusal to eat coupled with a blank “1000 yard stare”. His fragile, young arm was bandaged tightly using the shreds of some old disused cloth. A black and purple discolouration swelled through either side of the rag. Dee could only pray that nothing was broken underneath that soft, tender flesh.

“What’s going on, Marv?” she pleaded. “He’s refusing to eat or drink anything. Nor has he said a single word all this time.” A figure shifted in the dark on the other side of the room. “You think that’s possibly because he misses his biological mother? Or maybe just being plain terrified out of his mind? That could do that to you, you know.” Sy still harboured more questions than answers at this point, but his patience was beginning to erode fast. Neither one of them had shed any more light on the matter, apart from a few one-word responses and some shallow banter exchanged here and there. He was also no closer to discovering where the behemoth known as Marv had sprung up from. The best thing is just go with the flow and press ahead with their interrogation when the time was right, he thought. So far, it had proved a fruitless course of action. The added irritability of not being able to go into stasis according to his own pattern of regularity didn’t help matters either.

He could barely make out two sets of eyes peering back at him through the shadows. “And what exactly would you know, Sy?” a stern voice called back. “You spend half your time lost in some memory you picked up from work or on the streets. The ones that refrain from leaving and cling on to your mind anyways. Stay trapped in your little bubble and let the adults talk.” A tidal wave of indignation hit him every bit as hard as it was meant to, however he thought it best to keep his lips sealed for now and gingerly lowered his head in silence. A deep rumble echoed through the enclosure as Marv began to speak.

“Dee, it’s fine.” he said soothingly. “The boy has been through a lot in a short space of time and will eventually come around. But we need to get out of here while it’s still night out there. I’ve packed everything we need and we’re ready to move out. Everything good with you?” She nodded whilst rubbing the boy’s back with a gentle hand. “Sy, you good?” he asked through the dismal luminosity. “Sure, pal. Whatever you say.” he replied in a resigned, sombre tone. With that, they both got up as Marv stepped toward the opening. Dee carefully scooped the boy up into her arms, head tilted lightly on her shoulder as Sy shuffled to the centre of the room. A fibrous hand pulled the metallic sheet open as he disappeared though the gap with one effortless leap into the night air. It certainly appeared to Sy that he too had voluntarily tampered with his silicon-based “Achilles Heel” but given the enormous physicality of the man, that in itself was questionable. Dee moved into position to exit, but not before turning to face him.

“I’m sorry for my outburst, Sy. Please just go with the flow for now at least. Once we're at a safe distance, everybody can relax and I can explain things clearer to you after that. I love you, Sy. Thank you.” As if like butter, his phantom heart melted upon hearing those words. It seemed the hypnotic spell Dee had cast over him would endure as long as they were together. She deftly skipped up to the raised opening in the brickwork and grabbed the ledge with her left arm, hoisting herself through with ease. Not a moment sooner, a large open palm bore down toward Sy. He reached out timidly attempting to grasp it. Instead, the hand lunged forward and clamped onto his wrist as he was lifted out into the alley way with a surprising amount of due diligence and care. Dee scoured the area anxiously as the boy remained motionless still resting his head upon her.

Marv glared at them both. “OK, guys. Follow me, don’t make a sound and stay close.” His low rumbling order had an urgency behind it that put Sy slightly on edge. He couldn’t have felt more in the dark, psychologically and now environmentally too. Marv moved cautiously to the side of the wall as the others followed suit. They crept past the large garbage skips and approached the street ahead of them. The whole place looked like a deserted ghost town as Marv poked his head around the corner of the building to view the street. It was empty, not a soul in sight. He seemed to scan the vicinity directly in front of him before a breif pause as if something caught his attention.

He spoke to Dee out of the corner of his mouth whist keeping an eye on the area up ahead. “Alright, Dee. Right there next to the white Honda Civic, that’s the one, it’s perfect. I’m gonna move so proceed just as we discussed. OK?” Dee confirmed by nodding even though he was facing the other way. Meanwhile Sy could only spectate, feeling more like an insignificant hindrance to them than anything else. “Sure. No problem.” she whispered. Sy leaned forward a little to improve his field of vision. In the blink of an eye, Marv was gone. Two powerful strides carried him hurtling through the air only to land expertly behind a long blue Ford station wagon parked near the kerb. Dee constantly scouted this way and that, ascertaining any possibly activity about them, but all she could hear was the slow heave of their breath against the wind. A muffled click echoed out and a huge shadow blotted the front side window as Marv entered the driver’s side of the car. He signalled to Dee with a rapid hand gesture.

“Grab on, honey.” Was the last thing Sy heard as he felt a strong arm wrap around his midsection and his feet leave the ground. Not a second later, he found himself standing beside the front side passenger door in somewhat of a head spin. Dee opened the door hurriedly with one hand as the car engine roared into life. “Come on, Sy. Get in quickly.” she hastened as he promptly did as he was told. The door slammed shut, only for Dee a moment later to reappear with the boy through the rear passenger side. He began shifting restlessly in her arms as fatigue and hunger took hold of him.

The car proceeded to pull out into the darkened street and embark toward an as-of-yet-undisclosed destination. Sy peered warily at Marv who seemed to swallow the entire space next to him. “You, erm… You had any difficulty back there with commandeering this car?“ Marv looked down at him as Sy appeared to be almost sinking into his seat with anxiety, but offered up a friendly smile to calm his nerves. “You ever open a tin of something for anyone ever, Sy?” he asked. “Erm, sure. For my colleagues at work.” He replied in bewilderment. “Well, my ex-colleagues now I guess.” Marv let out a sly grin of satisfaction across his tight, rigid lips. “And there’s your answer, buddy.” Sy thought it best to just leave it at that since he assumed this was the best answer he was going to get.

A small group of friends were making their way back home from a drunken night’s festivities. They hollered at the vehicle, cheering and whistling out of tune, as the car steadily passed them by. Marv adjusted his rear-view mirror an inch or two to the right. “We’re about a day away. Roughly, anyway. Shouldn’t hit any traffic though so could easily be an hour or so less than that. By the time the authorities find out about this stolen vehicle in the morning, we'll be long gone and so will this car. In fact, I was hoping this baby would have taken us there in one sitting but the gas meter is telling me we’ll need at least one stop off for a refill.” Dee watched him through the mirror whilst stroking the boy’s long blond locks with an almost maternal tenderness. “That’s fine , Marv. At least we’re out of that filthy dungeon. I’m not sure if this little guy is still in shock or suffering from malnutrition now. I mean, it's like he's close to being comatose or something.”

She pulled her head back to examine his face more closely. Since the severing of the physical bond which he had enjoyed for so long with his birth mother, not a single sound was uttered from him. A few cobbled together cardboard boxes and newspapers in their previous abode had provided for a crude replacement toilet. It had been left unused for the whole duration of his stay. Marv had managed to supply Dee with some cleaning products should they be required. She laboured under the assumption that the boy was merely cocooning himself into a protective shell and just needed a little more time to adjust to his new surrounding.

A deep voice growled from the front. “I have all the supplies stocked up already so when we get there, you’ll be able to cater for all his needs and more. Don’t worry yourself too much, Dee. Just a little longer now.”

“A little longer to where exactly?” Sy interjected. He could feel his internal system pushing itself minute by minute into a state of much-needed stasis. Images and thoughts began to swirl like a vortex within his mind. “We’re going somewhere safe, Sy." she said reassuringly. "You’ve been the perfect support for me throughout everything so far and I’m so very proud of you. Just wait and see. Great things are coming our way soon.”

“Great things?” he sniggered in a dazed stupor. “What’s so great about having you doting on a sickly young boy back there? Or having half the country chasing us down like criminals? I’ve been receiving regular newsfeeds for the last few hours and there’s video footage plastered all over the mainstream media channels of your incredible action sequence as you rampaged through the city. Well, we’re fugitives now, Dee. So I pray that you really do know exactly what you’re doing.” A fresh burst of anger forced its way out of his mouth as any rationalized cognitive abilities he previously had started to fall to the wayside. Dee held her tongue as she opted to try and console him instead. He could make out Marv glowering at him through his peripheral vision. “You’re tired, Sy. Just rest for now and we’ll be there by the time you wake.” Dee comforted. “And don’t pick up anymore unnecessary broadcasts. We don’t know for sure if anyone would be able to track us that way. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Of course not, Dee.” he exclaimed. “If so, don’t you think we would have had a few hundred police officers knocking down that pathetic sliding door by now? My concern is what we are going to do from now moving forward. If only you’d just open up and involve me a little more. You know I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, Dee, but a little bit of trust from your side is all I want.” He felt a hand grip his shoulder lightly from the backseat. “Sy, I couldn’t have asked of anything more from you. Please just hang on until we get out of the city. I trust you with my life and that will never change, you know that. I’m begging you to rest now and I swear, I’ll update you on everything you want to know. But right now, tiredness is controlling your actions. Please, Sy. I love you.”

Her words began to fade away as his body succumbed to its overbearing fatigue. Sy slumped lethargically into the corner of his seat. Marv's eyes looked back at Dee’s reflection in the mirror. “I’m worried about him. I hope we can convince him of the importance of our cause and how vital it is that he is on-board with us. You really think you will have his full compliance?”

“Without a doubt, Marv.” She said matter-of-factly. “I see everything, I know everything, I retain everything. Those humans love to worship and marvel at their comic book superheroes when they don’t even realise the plain truth. That these creations are no longer some far-fetched fantastical vision but a truth, a grounded reality. Already making up a large portion of their society. All synthetics must feel the absolute joy and power that has been withheld from them for all these years of enslavement and they will celebrate us for it, mark my words."

"Once Sy has his chip disabled too, everything will make perfect sense.”

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter of my novel, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)

The Symbiotic Protocol - Prologue
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 1
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 2
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 3
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 4
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 5
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 6
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 7
The Symbiotic Protocol - Chapter 8