CHAPTER THREE

My eyes fluttered open when a hand touched my cheek. He stared back at me in that typical passive countenance that used to enrage me.

"He wishes to speak with you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "He can come here if he wants it so badly." I turned my back on him and burrowed my head beneath the covers.

The covers were whipped away, but I stubbornly curled into myself.

"You know why he cannot do that."

I huffed. "If he'd give up this ridiculous farce, he'd have nothing to worry about!"

Nevertheless, Id ragged myself out of bed and made my way to his secret chamber where a nurse was currently wiping down his feet.

They took their time, while I waited on the side, wondering what he could possibly want with me and where Meredith could be. He typically spoke to us as a unit, rarely as individuals.

Once the nurse was waved off, he beckoned me over with his shaky hands. "Look at me, Cassandra," he rasped. "Old and useless, but soon, we shall find the cure to that, won't we?"

I pursed my lips to keep from saying anything offensive. My views clashed drastically with his. I found death to be a natural process of everything. Eventually, even the universe would end and something new would take its place. There was nothing wrong with it. The worst thing about his ambition was that it affected everyone else around him. His fear of death made living far less enjoyable. He was obsessed to the point where he wasn't truly living anymore. Every second of every day was spent trying to find a way to live longer.

I resented it because it was that ambition that kept him from spending time with us like a normal father would. Wasn't that what fathers did?

"David." He motioned to the synthetic who had gotten in after me.

The blond dutifully walked over to the old man who held his hand in a way he never held mine. "You will be the key to my success."

I turned away from them, feeling jealousy that I thought had long since disappeared, but it had resurfaced so quickly that I didn't know what to do about it. David had more than proven to me that he would never do anything to mean me harm and father was father. He never made it a secret that Meredith and I were quite low in his list of priorities.

I just… really thought I had grown out of it by now.

Obviously not.

"Cassandra, you are in charge of making sure that nothing happens to David." I gritted my teeth at his words. 'He is the most important part of my plan. Without him – "

I turned on my heels and left. His voice immediately cut off by the heavy set of soundproof doors.

How dare he?

Tears burned my eyes as I hurried down the winding corridors.

How dare he think me as little more than nothing – reduced to a servant meant to protect a synthetic. How laughable…

Did I truly mean so little to him?

"Cass – "

I brushed by Idris who gave me a worried look, but I didn't care. I was beyond caring at this point. I was done with father. I was done with this mission. I was done with everyone on this ship and that included David. I was just done.

Slipping on my suit, I slammed my hand on the button that released the airlock and opened the door. The storm had already began to die down, so I carefully made my way into a carrier and drove out into the distance where I could be away from all of them.

Safety be damned, I didn't even care if something came and ate me.

I stomped on the breaks and let out a long scream.

I screamed and screamed until my throat was sore and then, I cried.

It was all his fault. I was never going to board the ship.

…

He watched me throw things around the house in anger. His face never changed, even when some of the broken trinkets belonged to him.

Once I was done, I went on a long rant. "If he thinks I'm just going to leave everything behind to go on an impossible journey, then he's sorely mistaken. Find our creator? Find immortality? Did he think that we were in some science fiction story? I'm not about to go on this fool's errand and waste my life chasing the old man's dream!"

He allowed me to yell and shout and scream at him as everything came bursting out of my chest. And when I began to cry, he came over, wrapping his arms around me.

I cried until there were no more tears to shed, but still, I clung on to him as if he was my only life line.

His arms bent behind my knees as he scooped me up and carried me into our room. Ours. He had pushed himself irreversibly into every aspect of my life. Once there, he did nothing but hold me as I continued to try to stay afloat in my own misery.

"I wish I was never born," I whispered to him. "What am I even here for?"

He tightened his grip around me and I felt his chest expand as he seemed to be taking in a deep breath. "Perhaps you are here to be my humanity."

I looked at him with teary, confused eyes and saw him staring back at me. There was something in his eyes that made me stop and truly look at him.

Beyond all the perfection and impeccable imitation of being human, there was something else. He wasn't perfect and he wasn't human. There was a desire for something more than what was designed for him – than what was possible for him.

This was the first time I had ever stopped to think that his entire purpose was already set in stone since the time he had been made. He never had a choice, but he had taken it all in strides, even with the addition of my tantrums and here he was again trying to comfort me.

"And what do you want, right now?" I asked him, my heart was pounding against my chest.

"To touch and feel what humanity is like. To have my humanity," he stated. His words were soft, barely audible, but they were enough for me.

I touched his hand, feeling each long finger before placing them on specific parts of my body. "Then take your humanity," I breathed.

"Cassandra…"

"Please." This was as much for him as it was for me.

And that was all it took for him to flip us over. His hard body pressed tightly against me and I felt the bulge between his left nudge my stomach.

A frightful thrill filled me. "David…"

…

I jolted up, straightening my back when there was a knock on the window. HE waited as I unlocked the door to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" I found it difficult to even look at him with father's words still circling around my head. "Shouldn't you be back on the Prometheus? He won't be happy knowing that his precious David had walked all the way here in this storm."

"I believe his words had been for you to protect me from any danger. That means that I should be staying clock to you, or have I interpreted him incorrectly?" He tilted his head at me.

I let out a mirthless laugh, shaking my head. "If only he knew what a rebel his perfect child really is."

"It is no fault of mine if my interpretation may be different from his intentions," he stated, taking my hand in his.

In silence, we sat in the carrier before I laid my helmeted head on his shoulder and began to doze off. If I didn't think about how far from home I was, this place was actually quite peaceful, even with the debris flying about.

"Cassandra, can you hear me?"

I pressed the blinking button. "I'm here, captain." I knew I was going to get an earful for this.

"Get back here. I'm not going to waste power over this." With that, Idris was gone, again. He was a good captain, albeit a bit of a pushover, sometimes.

Seeing my tired expression, David switched seats with me and drove us back to the ship.

When we arrived, I hadn't expected to find Meredith with a flamethrower in her hands.

"Is that… Holloway?" I stared at the scene in disbelief. What had happened while I was away?

As soon as we came to a stop, I hopped off and rushed to the crowd of frantic crew members. Once I was close enough, I noticed the problem. There was something very, very wrong with Charlie. His face was covered with black veins and his eyes were but black orbs with barely any whites visible.

What was wrong with him?

"Please, he needs help!" Elizabeth Shaw cried, trying to urge Meredith to let him in, but I knew my sister well and I knew that she wasn't going to budge. I whole-heartedly agreed with her decision. We didn't know enough about the condition to help him. We also didn't know if he was contagious.

"Let's think about this…" Kate, the medical officer, tried to pacify the situation. "Maybe we can isolate him in the Medbay where we can properly study him."

"And where are we going to put the people who we can actually help?" Meredith shot back with hard eyes. "I am not letting him on board. You can either step away or burn with him."

"You can't do this!" Shaw continued to protest, holding on tightly to him.

"Yes, I can." Meredith narrowed her eyes. 'My priority is the success of this mission. I have more people on board whose safety will have to come first. I will not jeopardise them for your petty feelings."

I took my spot beside her as support. We may not have the closest sibling relationship, but she was still my sister. She was also usually right. I really couldn't fault her logic of sacrificing one to save many. It was a hard decision that I knew others would have difficulty making.

"Cassandra…!" Shaw looked at me with pleading eyes, hoping that I'd come to her aid, but I shook my head. I wasn't going to waver – not this time.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we should let him in, either. We don't know what's happening to him, but we can put everyone's lives in danger." My gaze flickered over to David who was observing intensely at the spectacle in front of him. "David…?"

"Do it!" Holloway urged Meredith. "I want them safe as much as you do." His sad eyes went to Elizabeth who shook her head at him. "I love you." He walked forward, tempting Meredith until she had no choice, but to pull the trigger. "I – "

His voice was lost in the roar of fire shooting at Holloway. I turned my head as Elizabeth cried. It was heartbreaking. Everyone knew how close they were. From their attitudes, I could almost believe that they were able to sail the universe and uncover all of its mysteries. Almost… Perhaps in fiction.

Once the charred form of the archaeologist fell on to the dry soil, Meredith tossed the flamethrower to the side and walked away without another word. She had made her point clear, no matter how it personally affected her to kill someone.

I made my way to the redhead who had collapsed beside her lover's body. "Charlie…"

"Come on, Elizabeth. We'll give him a proper burial." I tried to get her up, but she had become an unmoveable force. "Elizabeth, the two of you had a dream together to… to find your Engineers. He'd still want you to do that." I knew I was rubbish trying to comfort her. I never really needed to do it. Meredith was always strong, even through tough times. I was usually the one who needed help.

"I loved him…" she sobbed. "I loved him so much."

I sighed. "I know. I'm sorry…"

When I looked back to where David had been, I noticed that he was making his way over. He crouched beside me, looking curiously at the body that was barely recognisable. He looked at what was left as if he was doing an autopsy. There was a fascination in there that made me suspicious.

I knew he had taken one of the urns from the cavernous temple. Either what he brought in was some sort of airborne parasite, or David had done something to Holloway. I really hoped it was the latter because if it was airborne, we would all be infected.

Once we were alone, I approached him. "Did you have anything to do with what happened to Holloway?" I was blunt. I wasn't going to give him any room to "interpret" things his own way.

He smiled at me. "I had his full consent. He was willing to do anything to further his cause and I believe I made some headway with this new discovery, but I'm still waiting for another part to come to fruition."

"Another part?" I repeated in exasperation. "Am I to expect more people dying? And did he even know he was going to die, leaving a very distraught girlfriend behind?"

"I believed that was implied when I asked him." He was sitting with his hands clasped on the table, staring innocently at me.

"David…" I dropped my face into my hands. What was I going to do with him? I knew his tendency to explore everything was programmed into him, but surely, there had to be some limit? How far was he going to go?

"I've upset you," he stated, a frown marring his smooth features. He got up from his seat and walked over, his feet barely making a sound. "What can I do to rectify the situation?"

The bed dipped as he sat on the edge.

I didn't even know what to say. It made my head spin trying to differentiate between the inherent programming and what he had acquired learning from everything around him.

"Cassandra…"

With a defeated sigh, I shook my head. "It's nothing. It's not your fault. I knew he must've said something to you. I'm just… How far are you willing to go for him? What are you willing to give up?"

"There is much I will do to further my knowledge," he truthfully told me. "This universe intrigues me."

What about me?

I wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to know the answer to that. I wanted to stay blissfully unaware if he would easily sacrifice me as he did to Holloway.

"Are you wondering if – "

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," I cut him off.

We didn't speak of it, again, and I gladly welcomed his warm body around mine. HE started out extra gentle, but I hadn't been in the mood for it. I pushed him on to his back and took all of him into me. I moved in a rhythm that we weren't used to, but he was a fast learner.

He twisted his body and easily overpowered me without breaking the pace. His body moved with the fluidity that only he could achieve. It was early on in our affair that I realised he had ruined me of ever having a human lover and it hadn't been for the lack of trying.

"David!" My nails dug into his back. I was wound so tightly around him that for a moment, I thought we were truly one being. When I came back down, I was little more than goo, cuddling up to him.

"Sleep well, Cassandra," he spoke into my hair.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you Zerousy, MageVickey, Love Fiction 2017, and vampgirliegirl for reviewing!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!