Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Zeta Project'. I do not own any of its characters. It's just a fanfiic.

I own Dr. Richard Simon's and Annabel's characters.

As English isn't my native language, I want to thank Aldebaran8423 for her editing help on this chapter.

Too much time passed since I posted Chapter 1 and as it's connected with this chapter, I'm afraid you have to re-read Chapter 1 and I hope it wouldn't be annoying for you :)

The Right Thing

by Iglika

Chapter 10

I always loved to look at the starry night sky.

But not now, lying paralyzed on the ground.

I closed my eyes.

I wanted to see Ro. I wanted to hear her voice.

At least I was able to play the files with my records of her over and over again.

Ro had told me human memories are a vague picture of what had happened. No matter how hard you try, you could never have a completely precise image in your mind.

'So I am the lucky one,' I bitterly smiled to myself.

I could see Ro in my internal vision, next to scrolling columns of data.

I could see her. I could hear her. She was so real…

She was as real as a record could be.

I couldn't touch her.

I couldn't talk to her…

I bit my lips and squeezed my eyelids shut even more tightly.

I knew it was useless, but there was only one thing I could try - to attempt to send a distress signal.

I had no data where my location was, but if someone could detect my call for help, it would be easy to determine where I was although I wasn't very optimistic about the outcome. The range of my signal wasn't too great so if the forest I was in was too far away from any human presence, I had no chance to be heard. And plus – I needed a listener, a radio operator on the right frequency who could pick up my signal. Or maybe someone like Bucky who had a special interest in robots.

Of course it was risky. Most of the humans I had met had betrayed me while I was fighting for my freedom, while I had been a fugitive. I doubted that now would be any different. No matter that I had won my freedom, I was still a synthoid. A robot. Human nature was mistrustful. And most people were inclined to treat a metal man like a servant. Like a soulless object and not a person, worthy enough for at least some respect.

But potential risks would not stop me from sending this signal, my last hope.

Also, there was a slight chance for a synthoid to detect my signal. If it was an Infiltration Unit on a mission, he would probably report to the NSA about me. That would be a good possible outcome. The agents weren't my enemies anymore. They would help me, I was sure of it. But if the synthoid decided that I was a threat, he would destroy me, maybe thinking my self-destruct system was damaged and the help I needed was to cover some aborted mission. If the synthoid was like IU7, there was no chance for a normal conversation. If it was a synthoid like Annabel, then perhaps I would be able to explain what had happened to me.

I put the signal on automatic play, airing at equal intervals. At times, I thought that there were some good sides of being a synthoid. I could play the files of my memories. I was able to send this signal. I was a lucky man, indeed.

But this time I wasn't even able to try a bitter smile.

Ro.

Where was she?

What had happened to her?

Was she safe and well?

I had to find a chance to be repaired and find her.

Yes, I still had hope that I would move again.

Hope dies last.

And I had hope.

Because of Ro.

I will hope.

Till my last spark of energy fades…

"Zee? Where are you?"

Annabel?!

I didn't hear her voice; it was a signal, sent by her the way she sent me her ID the moment Ro and I entered Dr. Simon's house…

This was odd. How was it possible for her to detect me?

From all potential options to have Annabel find me was the best which could occur, but…

How was this possible?

My signal had limited range, I was sure of this. Annabel should not have been able to receive it if she was too far away from me. Was she out here trying to find me? Was Ro with her? Maybe Ro had sent her to look for me.

It seemed too good to believe. Most likely Annabel was alone. And I had to be very cautious. I had made a mistake trusting Simon. Now I didn't want to repeat my error by blindly trusting Annabel.

So I kept trying to figure out the situation.

If I was very far away from Simon's house, Annabel wouldn't have caught my signal. But since I was in range of her, that meant only one thing - I was on Simon' s estate.

Obviously Simon was sure that no one would find me on his own property.

But since Annabel apparently walked around the estate wherever she wanted to - that meant Simon might have no idea about our capability to send private messages and communicate wirelessly with one another. And that was very strange. He should know everything about Annabel, he was her creator. How was it possible for him not to know the abilities of his own creation?!

There was only one answer to that.

He had illegally acquired the schematics according to which he had built her. And apparently he didn't know all the capacities of the parts involved in her construction. That was very weird, indeed, but I had gotten used to accepting that humans were able to be endlessly illogical. Ro had often told me that I was clueless. But from what I knew of humans, they were often clueless, too, and often unpredictable. Anything was possible when it came to human beings.

"Zee? What was that SOS? Are you in trouble? If you really need some help, I have to find you. Tell me where you are!"

Annabel definitely had no idea about the condition I was in.

Could I tell her what had happened to me?

And how would she react when she learned the one who damaged me was her creator?

Could I trust her?

I wouldn't know the answers unless I told her the truth.

"Annabel? I'm completely paralyzed and my orientation system doesn't work. I have no idea where I am. I hope you can estimate my location."

"Yes, I can. You're not too far away. I'm coming."

I bit my lips again, trying to fight a happy smile this time. The starry night sky above me was as indifferent to my joy as it had been to my sorrow.

I didn't dare ask Annabel if Ro was with her. Ro always complained that it was hard to surprise me. So if she wanted to astonish me now by convincing Annabel to speak and act as if Ro wasn't with her, I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

As I couldn't move my head and my eyes looked straight above me, I heard Annabel's steps long before I was able to see her. I didn't hear any other steps along with hers, but I tried to reassure myself that Ro was much lighter than Annabel and that was the reason I wasn't able to hear her steps...

Annabel came closer to me and finally she came into my field of view.

She was in her human appearance, wearing a hologram of a tight silver jumpsuit.

And she was alone.

"Where is Ro?" I asked, completely aware that my eyebrows had pulled into a frown of mistrust and fear, which I wasn't able to hide.

Annabel frowned in her turn. She tossed back her long red hair and said with an almost offended tone, "You are reputed to be a very polite person. I thought you would at least say a 'Hi' or 'Thanks for coming' or something."

"I'm sorry, Annabel. I'm thankful that you found me. But I'm very worried about Ro. Where is she? How is she?"

"She's fine," answered Annabel, somehow too nervously. "She's in Dr. Simon's house."

"Then why didn't she come with you?"

"She has no idea that…Look, I was just out walking in the woods. It's a habit that I have. I thought Dr. Simon sent you on a mission…what happened to you?" She knelt on one knee beside me and asked in a softer tone, "Who did this to you?"

I had anticipated this question. And the answer would be the hardest answer I ever had to give.

"I could lie to you, Annabel. But I think only the truth will help you prevent something similar from happening to you, too." I took a long pause and I added slowly, looking her in the eyes, "It was Dr. Simon."

She drew back, as if I had slapped her, and she rose up.

"Annabel! Don't go! Please!" I called out, but she didn't answer.

to be continued…

Please review! Your silence discouraging me. Once again a special thanks to the two readers, the only ones, who still read and comment this story. Thank you so much, Wtchcool and Umbre0n! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't keep posting the chapters of this story.