She opens her eyes to a soft colorless haze, bubbling pieces of a colorless world all scattered apart. Slowly it takes time as one begins to stretch for another but soon enough the world comes together. At first touch the colors bleed in and blend out, taking form. The browns and greens, they become trees. The blacks and whites, mountains, and he blues and grays, the sky.
Her eyes flutter at the sight before her. It's a landscape. A landscape that's still-and then suddenly-moving. It is moving. It loops for miles across the horizon. Near endless. Pretty. Forever in motion behind a window.
Careful, she raises her hand carefully to the glass. One at a time, she presses each finger and another slow response from within her system manifests. A message casts from within her viewfinder. It hovers before her reflection. It is for her eyes only.
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She closes her eyes as the final portion of her boot completes itself. At last, she can feel everything again. She can feel the rhythm of the engine. Substantial but soothing. She can feel plush clean seats. Expensive. Brand new. She's the passenger in the backseat of a car. That much is clear.
She opens her eyes again.
She is conscious now, which means the questions have already begun. And there are hundreds. All of them wildly branching from Where to How. There's no clear order to any of them as more and fill up in her system. It's nearly causing her field of vision to stutter. There was so much to register. To wonder. Consider. So much to think about…when a much needed warm and slight weight presses to her side.
Alice. Altogether the questions pop as a familiar priority takes over.
She reaches out to the little girl in search of a pulse.
She's sound asleep, thank heaven. All vitals are normal. Clothes are clean. Hair is clean. The only thing that's noticeably different is the blanket that dangles off her shoulders. She knows all of Alice's things and this is not theirs. Regardless, it is undoubtedly warm. So she picks it up and evens it better, tucking the ends for extra security around the child.
Once she feels sure that everything could be done for Alice's safety, Kara turns away to peer her complete surroundings. For the inside of a car, there's not much else to focus on but the obvious front up there, are the backs and subtle profiles of two men. They are cleanly suited in dark finishes, from their sunglasses to the gray button down shirts underneath the jackets. In the little light from the dawn they are practically shadowed with the rest of the cars dark interior.
Yet something resonates from within. A strong, strange impulse carries out from her system memory, projecting voices that sounds familiar...and then it dawns. She had memories of these men. Very fresh memories. No less than a few hours ago. As they flow, in and out, she comes to know their nature. They sounded.. polite. Professional. Guiding.
Suddenly, she is calm. Calmer. More than before. It's enough to access her full memory. Imagery and all.
It had happened so fast.
One minute she was cooking breakfast for Alice. Then, she was answering the door. Then, she was packing a suitcase for two-and then-she was entering a wide black sedan.
The first thing they were told was that they would be safe, provided for and protected at all times. The second, was that they couldn't know anything beyond that until they were outside the Canadian border.
Then they drove along, following a lone road in silence that seemed to stretch for miles. Rows of lush trees and cascading mountains bordering the view. At some point, Alice grew heavy beside her and eventually she too had drifted.
It was true. Kara had no idea where they were going. Wherever they were now, it was miles away from home. Yet there was an odd peace about that. Her and Alice, in a quiet place with no need to be anywhere. No imminent threat. At this moment, it felt pleasant. However anxious she should have been, she was thankful Alice was safe. However doubtful, these two men had yet to betray their word.
A simulation of weariness reaches for her again and she welcomes it. She curls an arm around Alice, leans her head back, and slowly, waits for her system to power down again. For now, what was unknown was a problem for another time. For a while at least, the speed of the world could stop spinning.
x-x
Kara's eyes flutter open, blinking her attention upfront. A shrill noise from the outside. It hisses past her ear. Wind.
Alice? Still here. Still asleep. Who was that then?
It must have been one of the men-and it was-the one in the passenger seat. Not the driver but the passenger side. He had rolled down his window and had peaked his head out, allowing the sun to spotlight his face. Under the light, his bright short curls flail in the wind. His chin angles up and he whistles into the wind.
Kara studies the rest of his profile. Despite the formal dress wear he appeared to be quite wild. Tanned skin. Chiseled jaw. Golden brown hair. Traces of a five o'clock shadow. He was everything that was a cowboy from old pictures and comic books. They were stored in her logs. Various imagery from teen's comics to college film classics. Pieces of every media seemed to match with him. The only thing that stood out were the suit and sunglasses.
A half hour goes by as she watches him. Watches him bask in the sun with a curl in his lips. Watches him scratch his chin. Watches him slowly remove his sunglasses and turn over his shoulder to look directly at her.
"Oh."
Agents of the federal bureau. They were the most adept, cunning, and articulate humans of their species. Of course he had felt her eyes on him. It could also be true to say he knew exactly when she had awakened.
But rather than stare her down, he smiles.
"Well hello-" His greeting trails low to a quick silence. Something had caught his attention. Alice's sleeping form most likely. The window rolls up immediately and he nods quickly to her. "Sorry bout that."
His smile remains as he turns back to face her. The gesture was appreciated yet Kara chooses to stare back without reaction. He looked sympathetic, had a gentle voice to match, had raw pieces of himself in her memory that would be classified as sympathetic…but she cannot return the smile. There had been people who looked like him at first but acted differently soon enough.
Under her stare, the man doesn't falter in the slightest.
"Missy..." he begins again. His tone is relaxed with a touch of humility. It almost belonged in a country song. "You really have no idea why two agents just picked you up from your domicile at the crack of dawn?"
There's only one thing she can say to that.
"No."
"Alright." In assessment to obvious stress he takes the answer. Then, he speaks again and for some reason his words feel vaguely familiar. Perhaps this wasn't the first time he had explained himself to her.
Or perhaps it was. The world spun fast when he and the other agent arrived. When she awoke in the quiet it had stopped. Now it was back, gaining speed by the minute.
"Hey look we know you're scared, but just know that you're safe and we're glad we found ya."
No yes. She remembered this now. He said something like this. When they first met. When he lead himself inside. When he guided them to the couch of their apartment, to their room for a suitcase and lastly, the car.
"I mean y'all are practically celebrities now."
Kara blinks, feeling her head slant a bit. Her eyes fall out of focus on the man in front of her. She looks to Alice then back at him. Briefly the man chuckles.
"Celebrities..." She begins mouthing the word after it leaves her lips. It was a rare one in her vocabulary. Understood but rare.
The man nods, smile slightly wider.
"Oh yes indeed. You're all over the news in the states. Hit the other night."
The world.
"Super android mom rescues human girl."
It was spinning faster.
"Once we located you in Canada well, we were just glad to find you, right Ja-hey…Hey! Hey are you alright? Hey you're safe now!"
Out of nowhere a deep voice from up front, cracking midway like a broken radio.
"Ike, do I need to change our route?"
"No Jack, stay on course, she's just….hey. Hey you can hear me I know you can. Trust me. You are safe. Nothing bad will happen to you. We're here for that. You may have been living in Canada but you're from our country. So we're taking you to a place where you'll be safe. We gotta make sure you and the kid are good so they'll be two stops. After that, we settle you in and we go from there. Good stuff. All good things ahead. Better things. We promise."
We promise. It should have meant nothing but she grabbed onto it all. Partly because it sounded too good to be true. The other part because where could she possibly go now if it wasn't?
For whatever it was worth, she decides to be honest too. Sincere. No hiding. No lies.
"I-I tried to scan the car… You're federal agents."
The looks she gets from the man is one of slight intrigue. "You scanned the car?" he asks quick. A little firm but just a little.
"Y-Yes." Then however mild, an expression of amusement crawls across the human's face.
"Really? Well yes, missy we are agents..." he scratches his head. "I don't know much about androids and scanning, but I'll introduce myself anyway. I'm FBI Agent Ike Howell and the one driving is Agent Jack Thatcher."
Names. Names were good. An AX400 had a large registry of names. Primarily convenient for expecting couples.
Ike. Jack. She takes them like coveted notes to a test and runs them into her data logs. She finds them. She creates a new file for each.
Ike. Her system has a niche pool of data. Mostly in children's books and one play in particular. She cannot find many specifics-her stress prohibits it-but a quick image of the character flashes before her. Ike… Cheerful. Optimistic. Infectious positivity. It makes her want to smile but she holds it in.
Jack… The pool of info is much larger. Many decades ago, it was a very common name for boys many, fiction or otherwise. Now however, it was archaic. There were many Jacks in her registry. Far too many to account for any section alone. She would have to search later.
Ike... Jack... She has questions for both of them but firstly she had one in particular about herself that takes precedence.
"You mentioned the news.."
"Yes, missy."
"Am I wanted?"
Ike bites his lip for a moment.
"Let's… just say that once we get to our official destination… " he glances to the hidden agent Jack and they exchange a two-second stare. "…the White House…you'll be a lot safer than you were before."
A short silence falls around them. It would have settled completely, for the whole ride, if not for her reaction.
"The White House..." Her main pump accelerates and she holds a hand to her chest. The leader of her human country. She wanted to meet her and Alice? It was unfathomable. It was.
"Hey, Kara."
She looks up at Ike and his warm face. He points at her with his thumb and index finger.
"You're smiling."
"Ike, we"re getting the call."
"Hm...? Okay. Let's leave the audio on output so they can follow."
"Alright."
Kara watches Ike tip an invisible hat to her before sliding himself forward. "S'cuse us for a moment ladies. You'll get all the answers you need very soon, I promise. Oh and please, feel free to pry."
"Autopilot has been activated. Main screen is turning on now."
"Thanks Jack."
Just as the other agent has said, a hologram screen initiates and expands across the entire dashboard window. Another suited agent appears on sight. This time, a human female.
"Cool..."
At some point Alice had woken up. Kara takes her hand without thought and leans back into the seat. So much was going to happen, change their lives. She was glad how well Alice was taking this.
"Agents Ike Howel and Jack Thatcher. Please state your status reports."
"This is Agent Howel speaking… Let's see here, Emily. No casualties I believe. Subjects are one hundred percent cooperative. Supermom is very polite. Very pretty too, just like yourself last time we met. ETA is ...roughly two hours and 45 minutes, I would say, including our medical and rest stop. Don't have my watch on me currently though. Left it at home."
"Agent Thatcher?'
"Jack, I believe the lady wants to know your side of the story now."
"Agent Thatcher speaking. Everything…is fairly on par with Agents Howel's account. ETA will however be approximately 4 hours-."
"-Shit."
"-and 46 minutes, So we will definitely be needing their assistance."
"Understood, Thatcher. I'll forward the request to the department of Detroit. Please proceed to the destination and we'll brief you on your next assignment within 48 hours."
"Thank you, Emily."
The screen shrinks away without notice.
"Supermom..." Alice whispers under her breath. She's still plenty exhausted, not even budging from her smudged spot. She glances up at Kara before cuddling closer. "So cool..."
Kara can see Agent Howel had heard her. His head was angled at them. He had the absolute ears of a hawk. When he turns around fully, he offers Alice a small smile before facing them both.
"I can answer more questions now by the way."
Kara doesn't know where to begin.
"How did I get on the news?"
"I'd rather not get too descriptive in front of the little girl but...well you remember a man by the name of Zlatko?"
"...Yes."
"We got to investigating him a few months ago. Found a lot of surveillance footage there. Media got ahold of it, then the public. It spread fast. Caught viral as we sometimes say. Some of it's a little distorted but the message is all the same. That then lead us to you and another man, Todd Williams. Look, all you need to be reminded is that you're a hero, Plain and simple to both us humans and your androids."
All Kara can do is stare. Once again, Ike's face doesn't falter.
"If you still have questions there will be a formal briefing where we arrive at our last stop. It'll be long and boring as all hell though. Figured I'd give an informal heads up to you two to calm your heads a bit."
"I…I just have one more question."
"Ask away."
"Will we be able to return home?"
She watches Ike open his mouth to answer when a different voice speaks.
"Do you like it in Canada, Miss Kara?"
At first, Kara doesn't know where to look. Then, she understands. Carefully, She turns to the driver's seat and finds the other agent. His face is completely out of the rear view mirror. All she has was his voice, a solid neutral tone. Model FBI conduct but at the same time, lifeless.
A small fear bubbles inside. It tries to drain her focus but she fights back. She sits up tall. She squeezes Alice's hand. Agent Thatcher had asked her a simple question. She would give her simple answer.
"Yes," she says. Quick. Affirmative. "Canada is our home."
A strained silence precedes his reply.
"Then let's hope so."