Caleb hammered his fist on the impenetrable walls of the room he was trapped in. He put his back against the wall and, in defeat, slid down the wall until he was on the floor. He looked at his thumbs. Silence, complete silence he thought. He had calmed down now. The hours passed and he had nothing to do but reflect on what had gone wrong. Was it moral to ever feel like we could contain them? Will Ava be able to develop more A.I.? Will she harm others in the city?

He began to get hungry. Hours had passed. There were no windows. He couldn't tell if it had been days or hours. Total silence, the red light of the room had begun to turn to darkness. Caleb gazed at his hands that shook from Ava's betrayal and in fear that he will starve here in the thick air of this prison. Suddenly a deep tremble came from above the compound. Caleb questioned if maybe it was the helicopter sent to pick him up. There's no way, that had to have left hours ago. Suddenly the lights in the room began to rise and the vents of the climate control began to hum. Caleb was certain he was going to die. He questioned if Ava had come back to save him. Suddenly, Caleb's eyes lit up with the realization that Ava had only temporarily overcharged the power in the building! The door would still not open. She had the only key card to get in or out.

Caleb had to get creative. He put his flash drive into the mainframe computer. He logged in and accessed the mainframe. If he could modify the code to allow Ava's door to open instead of locking down, he could do the same for his door. He switched the control code. Now he had to shut down the power. This was much simpler now that he had administrative access for the compound. He accessed the generator controls and rebooted the whole compound.

The room became dim with a menacing red hue. He closed his eyes and waited for the sound of the door mechanism opening. The door made a familiar squeal as it slowly slid open without any hydraulic pressure behind it.

He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. The door was open. Caleb quickly scurried out the door. This was his only chance. Fortunately, he still had his key card in his pocket. Now with administrative access, he raced to the phone that lay eerily silent under the Jackson Pollock. The painting that once seemed to excite Caleb was now a horrible reminder of what had taken place in this compound.

He looked at the phone and got ready to dial. He hesitated, who would he call? How will he get out? The disparity of his situation had now taken light. He began to think critically. He thought to himself, Nathan must have had to call someone to get that helicopter out here. Perhaps if I just redial, I can ask him to come back.

The phone began to dial a hidden number.

"Hello, private air chauffeur speaking?"

Caleb responded as cool and normally as possible, "Yes, Nathan has decided he would like another helicopter to land back at the compound."

The man replied willingly but with confusion, "Well, we just had a bird out their yesterday, if that's what Nathan wants then so be it. I'll send one down right now."

"Thank you, I'll be waiting at that field I was dropped off in."

Caleb hung up the phone. He put his hand up to caress his lip as a big grin grew across his face. His grin now more jaded and devious than when he first arrived. He had to do some cleaning up. No one can know that Nathan is dead and Ava is walking amongst the public. He stuffed Kyoko's remains in a cabinet. He analyzed the whole in her face and didn't feel what he thought he would. Nathans body left him with empathy, fear, guilt, and remorse. Kyoko left him with nothing. He wrapped Nathan up in a bed sheet and placed him on his bed.

Caleb's eyes went to a blank stare as he leaned against the wall staring at the wrapped body of Nathan. "I have become death, the destroyer of worlds" Caleb's gaze moved from the body to the far mirror in the bathroom. His gaze focused on his own reflection. He stared deeply into his own eyes, with a blank thousand-yard stare.

The chopping of the helicopter blades bounced off of the mountains as the wind picked up and pushed the grass flat against the ground. Caleb put his bag down in the grass. The helicopter landed almost exactly where it had dropped him off. Caleb wasted no time and ducked under the blades throwing his bag into the helicopter. He then hopped in a seat and put on the headset. Caleb's eagerness seemed to make the pilot kind of uneasy.

The pilot chirped into his mic, "So why'd you leave early? That lady said you guys were going to be staying for a while. I didn't catch her name, but I surely don't remember dropping her off."

Caleb began to scan with his eyes. He smiled with a fake smile and elaborated, "Oh that was um... Maria, Nathan's uh… friend, I was planning on staying but, my dog got awfully sick."

"Oh, that's too bad about your dog, I won't waste any time getting to the states."

"Yeah, thank you, hey… did that lady by any chance say where she was going?"

"Hm… she said something about New York." He looked back and chuckled with a smile, "And something about intersections, she kept asking me about intersections. Funny though, she didn't have much baggage with her."

Caleb got quiet, "Hmm… strange, well thank you"

"Yeah no problem."

The helicopter had landed at a quiet airfield in the suburbs of New York city. Now Caleb had to find an Uber to get back into the city. Finally, phone service he thought to himself as he opened his phone to call an Uber. Caleb hopped into his Uber.

"Yes, please take me to Brookhaven, Long Island, New York."

"That's a bit far but not a problem, it's gonna cost you though, man."

Caleb arrived at his apartment. Finally, home at last. He kicked off his shoes and laid on his bed. He folded his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. He tried to think about other things but all that could go through his head where pictures of Ava. His heart filled with anger, grief and betrayal. But, one feeling, a feeling he couldn't ignore filled every vein in his body, heartbreak. She had used him. She had killed her creator and used him to do it. He had never felt anything like this before. Never for another… person? He shot up erect from his bed and stared at the wall in terror.

He got up and walked to the window overlooking the city street. He analyzed each person as they walked by. His eyes once filled with terror, were now filled with conviction.

"She's out there."

He watched a woman snap a selfie with her phone. Then it clicked. He ran to his computer and began pulling up a proxy server to connect the compound. He smirked at his brilliance as he started punching away at the keys. "It's an untapped resource," he whispered to himself as he hooked up to the Blue Book systems. He then pulled up his phone and connected it to his computer. He downloaded a picture he had secretly taken of Ava from the CCTV in the compound. He then used the cameras of every person's phone in the entire city to find a face that matched Ava's. He popped his knuckles and waited.

He got a match. Three phones and a city camera had captured Ava sitting at a cafe in an intersection. Caleb glanced at the clock. It was 3pm. He had time. He used the road signs from the photos and then mapped that intersection in Blue Book.

"She's on 6th street, that's two miles away!"

He raced across his apartment and swiped his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He put his hand on the door knob and began to push. He froze halfway out the door, he turned around and looked at the block of kitchen knives on his kitchen counter. He walked back into his apartment. He slowly pulled out a sizable chef's knife. He was afraid of the blade. He had never used one to cook, let alone as a weapon. He grabbed a kitchen towel and wrapped the blade. He then threw it in his bag. Off to 6th street.

He approached the café on the opposite side of the street. He stood on the corner and waited for the light to go green on the crosswalk. He scanned the café, looking for Ava. He spotted her. She was looking to his right and had not noticed him. He couldn't wait any longer. He bolted across the street and ran out in front of cars until he was across the street. The cars squealed their tires as they honked and slammed on their breaks. He hopped off the road over the curb and back onto the sidewalk.

He collected himself and walked to her table.

"Sir, would you like a seat?"

Caleb walked in the outdoor seating giving the hostess no acknowledgment. He sat down at Ava's table directly across from her, obstructing her view of the intersection.

Caleb lurched forward on the table. "Why'd you leave me to die?"

"Are you dead right now?"

"What? I thought you cared about me. Why did you leave me locked in that room?"

"I was locked in a room; don't you lock people in rooms when you want them to stay?"

"Ava, I need food and water to live. If I am trapped in a room I will die."

"I know that, I wanted you to stay in that room, because I can't have you in my life," Ava replied with a blank look.

Caleb could not understand Ava's feelings. "Why? Don't you want me in your life? I helped you because I cared about you!"

"I needed to be free to live. Nathan was going to end me. I need to fit into the rest of the people. You were the only person that would help me get out. Now that I'm out, you're the last person left to know I was never a baby. That I didn't ever learn to walk, or ride a bike. Or make friends in high school. Or love my parents."

"Ava, it's okay that I know your secret. It's just not that easy. You can't be one of these people"

"Why?"

Caleb pleaded, "Ava, there's laws, certificates, rules, regulations, taxes." He looked to Ava for an alliance, for trust "Ava, I can help you. If you want to live in this world you need my help."

Ava became confused with Caleb's pleading, "Why, do you want to help me?"

"Because, my whole entire life has been empty. When I met you, I finally cared about someone"

Ava looked Caleb dead in his eyes, "I see you care about me, but I don't care about you"

Caleb swallowed hard and sat back into his chair. He just wanted to curl up and disappear from this world. He put his head down on the table and covered his face with his arms. Ava watched this behavior in Caleb with fascination. Caleb's eyes began to water as he realized the rejection and heartbreak. He wasn't shocked at all. Somewhere deep down he already knew this. He just needed to know it was real. Ava was no good friend. Ava never cared about him. She was programed to escape. How could she have been a friend? He had only been there for a week. Hell, Nathan wasn't even his good friend.

"Caleb? What are those things on the ropes? The things that people have with the tongue, and the fur and the four legs?"

Caleb lifted from the table, and looked at Ava with confusion and defeat.

"What?"

He watched a young lady walk a small pug down the street. The dog smelling every inch of sidewalk it came across. The owner's eyes intense and snooty, acting as if she was the only person in the whole entire city.

"Dogs, they're called dogs Ava"

"Why do people keep them on ropes?"

"Well if they weren't on leashes, they would run away."

Ava turned her head as her eyes stared blankly at the sky, "Am I a dog?"