"Deactivate your skins."

The guard's order was loud and prompt. He was used to 100% compliance, no resistance, no questions. And just to be sure, he held a firm grip on the trigger of his firearm.

Kara's brain went into overdrive trying to come up with some sort of plan. She already knew what this place was. Officially, it was called a "recycling area", places where the authorities could safely deactivate deviants without risking public safety, and then use their components to make newer, better models. But to an android, it was just another way for humans to treat them as property, as disposable trash, like a plastic bottle or a used pencil.

And she knew that once inside, she and Alice would not be coming out.

The guard got impatient. Kara's eyes zeroed in on his index finger beginning to curl around the trigger.

There was nothing else she could do. She reached for the input on her right temple. Instantly, everything that made her feel human: her skin, her hair, just melted away. In its place was her real body-nothing but a white plastic doll with a face. Next to her, Alice was terrified. Even though Kara now knew she was also an android, the poor child hadn't quite shaken the belief that she was a real girl.

Kara knelt down. She found Alice's input. Her beautiful features were soon replaced by the same cold, lifeless ones that she saw on the woman she had imprinted on as her mother.

The guard relaxed. His finger moved away from the trigger.

"Now strip. Put your clothes in the bin."

Kara obeyed. She removed the clothes that were the only thing still remotely human about her, and placed them in a bin filled with dozens of other garments. Then, she helped Alice out of her clothes. The girl finally got to see what she really was, and when she did, she rushed over and threw her arms around Kara, as if to beg her to make this terrible nightmare go away.

"Outside. Get in line with the others."

Kara put Alice's hand in hers. Together, the two androids stepped out in the snow-covered landscape. Surrounding them were countless other androids, all stripped and skinless. Tall fences lined with barbed wire protected the camp, and guards wandered around with their guns close at hand. There would be no escapes and no riots on their watch.

One android did try to escape, only to get a bullet through his chest for the trouble. A guard ordered Kara to drag his body over to the disposal truck, away from the others, and she did. Then she realized something. The guards would never think to check the trucks for escapees. She could just climb on and hide amongst the bodies, and she would be free.

But she couldn't leave Alice. Alice was not just her ward, or a child who needed her protection. She was her daughter. Kara's maternal instincts, however illogical for an android, were too strong. She walked back just in time to see Alice being escorted by a guard into a separate line for the recycling chambers. Another guard forced Kara into another line, and then closed the gate behind them.

Alice was scared. She didn't know where Kara was. And ahead of her, she could see another group of androids being marched at gunpoint into the big metal box, humming and whirring. Why weren't they making any noise? Weren't they also scared?

In her mind, Kara knew what was coming. In less than two minutes, she and Alice would enter the chamber. The door would be sealed, and the mechanical arms inside would begin the process of terminating the androids using a special toxin that disabled their artificial organs. It would be a quick, painless death. Then, they would be transported to the scrapyard until their bodies were needed for parts.

She could already see the scrapmen coming to collect Alice. "This one's a juvenile model. Valuable. Send it back intact for reprocessing."

"What about the adult female?"

"Looks like a worker model. Keep the body, throw out everything else."

No. She would not let those filthy humans put their goddamn hands on her little girl. They would escape from this hellish prison, or die trying.

She already had a plan. The android in front of her was named Jerry. She knew he was programmed to ignore his self-preservation if it meant protecting a human life. And for all intents and purposes, he didn't know Alice was an android.

"Jerry, there's a human among us. She will die if you do not approach that guard."

Jerry stepped out of line, and began walking towards the guard. Meanwhile, Kara had managed to slip over to Alice's line without being noticed.

"Hey, who told you to get out of line? Return now!"

Jerry didn't listen, so the guard struck him on the side of his head. Kara took the opportunity to grab Alice's hand and run over to the fence. She quickly lifted the girl through the wire.

"Halt!"

A guard had noticed her. And he had his weapon trained on her.

"Kara, no!"

"Alice, run!"

Kara threw herself at the guard, managing to knock him to the ground. She tried to wrestle his weapon from him, but his grip was too strong. She knew it wouldn't be long before she was noticed, so she pinned the weapon against the guard's throat and pressed down until she heard a crushing noise. The guard stopped moving.

Climbing through the gate, she and Alice ran over to the disposal truck. There, they climbed onboard and laid themselves down.

"Kara, what's going to happen?"

"Quiet, Alice. I need you to remain still and not move."

The truck driver arrived to make his journey. With a huff and a jolt, the truck moved off into the night.

The next day, Kara awoke in the middle of the scrapyard. Around her were dozens of lifeless androids, waiting to be scrapped.

She couldn't see Alice among them.

"Alice? Alice? ALICE!"

"Kara?"

Alice woke up, just a few feet away. Without a word, she ran right over to Kara and hugged her.

"I love you, Kara."

"I love you too, Alice."

As they hugged, Kara found Alice's input, and hers.

Naked, they embraced each other as only a parent and a child can.