Freedom and Suffering pt.7
Hello, hope you are having a good day.
"What's wrong?" Leo wondered.
"Nothing. I'm just cold." Mattie answered. Leo pulled Mattie closer. Mattie moaned and leaned into his touch. Mattie pushed Leo so that they laid down on the bed. Mattie kissed Leo and Leo kissed back. Mattie put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Leo put his hand on Mattie's lower back. Mattie gasped slightly as his warm hand touch her bare back. Leo rubbed her back gently. They stayed that way for several minutes. Leo felt Mattie's heart start racing.
"Mattie, are you alright? Your heart is racing."
"I need to go to the bathroom."
Mattie got up and went to the bathroom. Leo followed her. When Mattie was done vomiting, she passed out on Leo. Leo carried her to bed and laid her down. He covered her up and laid down next to her. Mia came in and put her hand on Leo's shoulder.
"How long has she been asleep?" Mia wondered.
"For a couple minutes." Leo answered.
"You need to rest."
"I will when she's recovering."
Mia kissed Leo's forehead and left the room. She went downstairs and kept busy. Leo finally fell asleep. A few hours later, Mattie woke up and sat up. Leo felt her move and woke up. He sat up and put a hand on Mattie's shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep." Mattie sighed.
"You need to lie down."
"I can't. Leo, how bad is this going to get?"
"I don't know. I was going through the withdrawal of several drugs."
"Tell me about it."
"It was after my dad had died, we stayed for a month till the police came and we had to flee. I started to get in the wrong crowds and I got addicted to drugs and alcohol. I smoked whatever I could smoke. For seven years, I did this and I got worse. It got to the point where I was taking a lot than a normal person could handle. Fred caught me one day and tried to stop me. I took too much and I had an overdose. I woke up in Fred's arms and we were running for our lives. I got worse and there wasn't anything we could really do. We had to keep moving. One day, it got so bad that I slipped into a coma. I woke a month later and Mia was holding me while Max was tending to my high fever. I recovered but it was a slow and painful recovery."
"At least you've stopped."
"I know."
"Let's go back to sleep."
So they laid down and went to sleep. The next few days were hard for Mattie and Leo. Leo had woken and his infected wounds were worse. Mattie suffered from the withdrawal. Both were unable to get up out of bed. Mattie stopped sleeping while Leo rarely woke up. One morning, Leo woke up feeling very weak. He looked at Mattie and kissed her forehead weakly. Mattie rolled over and looked at him.
"How do you feel?" Mattie asked.
"Not good." Leo replied weakly.
"You look horrible."
"SO do you."
Max came in and went to Leo.
"Hey, how do you feel, Leo?" Max wondered.
"Not good." Leo rasped.
"Are you strong enough to eat?"
"No. I'm going to try to go back to sleep."
"Drink a bit of water first."
Max helped Leo sit up so that he could drink some water. Leo took a sip and tried to lie down. He went back to sleep quickly.
"He has no energy." Max said.
"I hope he recovers soon." Mattie answered.
"Me too."
Max sighed and left the room. He went downstairs.
"Leo woke up but he fell back to sleep quickly. He has no energy." Max sighed.
"That's not good. Usually, he has some strength." Mia answered.
"He has no strength now."
"Will he be ok?' Laura asked.
"Not if he keeps falling asleep seconds after he wakes up." Max said.
"We'll have to force him to stay awake." Mia suggested.
"He won't like it but he'll have to get over it."
That night while Laura was helping Mattie eat, Leo woke up.
"Leo, stay awake. You need to eat." Laura ordered. Mia heard Laura and came in. She went to Leo's side.
"I some broth for you. You need to eat it." Mia said.
"I'm too tired." Leo moaned.
"You will eat."
Mia grabbed the bowl and helped Leo eat his broth. Leo ate half of the broth before he fell back to sleep. Mia sighed and rubbed his forehead with her hand.
"At least he ate." Laura said.
"Yes, but it wasn't enough." Mia replied.
"Soon he'll be able to stay awake long enough."
Leo and Mattie started getting better. Leo's infections started to get better meaning that he was able to stay awake longer. Mattie was getting stronger. One day, Leo was in the shower. Mattie woke up and went to the bathroom. She knocked on the door.
"Leo, can I come in?" Mattie asked.
"Yeah. I'm in the shower." Leo answered. Mattie went in and went to her room to grab some clothes. When Leo was done with his shower, he put his clothes on. He tried to find a clean shirt but couldn't. Mattie saw him looking every where.
"What are you looking for?"
"A clean shirt."
"Just put a shirt on."
"I would if Mia wasn't washing them."
"Oh. You'll be fine."
Leo went to Mattie and kissed her forehead.
"I love you." Leo whispered.
"I love you too. I'm going to take a shower." Mattie answered.
"Ok."
Mattie went to the bathroom and took a shower. Mia came in with Leo's clothes. Leo pulled a shirt out and put it on.
"You look better." Mia said.
"I feel better. Mattie's in the shower." Leo answered.
"Ok. When she's done, both of you need to come downstairs for breakfast."
"Ok."
"And you can put your own clothes away."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mia left the room and Leo put his clothes away. He grabbed his laptop and looked at his code. He saw something move.
"What on earth?" Leo wondered. Mattie came out and saw Leo.
"What's wrong?" Mattie asked.
"Come look at this."
Mattie looked at his laptop and saw the code.
"That is weird. Who's code is it?" Mattie said.
"It's my root code. It hasn't done this before." Leo answered.
"Maybe a friend of your dad would know."
"Yeah, but who?"
"George Millacan."
"OK. We'll visit him after breakfast."
"Alright."
So they went downstairs. They ate breakfast.
"After breakfast, me and Leo need to go see a friend of his dad." Mattie said.
"Why?" Laura asked.
"My root code. There's something weird about it." Leo sighed.
"Be careful."
"We will." Mattie answered. When they were finished the went to George's house. They knocked on the door. George opened the door.
"Go away." George said.
"We need to talk about David Elster." Leo replied.
"What do you want to know?"
"We have to show you."
George let them in.
"Vera, go make some tea for these two." George said. Vera went to the kitchen. The three went to the living room and sat down. Leo showed him the code.
"Have you seen this before?" Leo asked.
"Oh, yes. David loved to put these little codes in his synths. The code is an executable program."
George moved it into a file.
"This is meant for a synth to feel." George said.
"Do you know what it is, Leo?" Mattie wondered.
"No." Leo sighed.
"Leo?" George wondered.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Millacan. We should go."
George grabbed Leo's arm.
"Leo?" George asked.
"Yes, I'm Leo Elster." Leo sighed.
"Leo died."
Leo lifted his shirt showing the wires.
"What has he done to you, Leo?" George questioned.
"Made me suffer for his sins." Leo answered.
"Leo, the code is from your father. It's time to let it out."
Leo sat down and plugged himself into his laptop. Mattie put her hand on his.
"It's safe." Leo said. He closed his eyes and gasped. He saw consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked at Mattie.
"What is it?" Mattie wondered.
"The code to making more synths like my family."
"The code to consciousness?"
"Yes but it was only part of it. The rest might be in my family."
"Your family?" George questioned.
"My dad made four conscious synths before he died." Leo replied. Then they heard a few cars come to a stop. Glass shattered as whoever was outside shot into the house.
TBC