CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

David looked down at the squirming woman in front of him. Her eyes were wide and teary with fear as he smiled at her. "Fear not. Your purpose is still being fulfilled. This was why you signed up for the expedition, is it not? You wanted to be a part of something new and I shall be the one to grant it to you."

She frantically shook her head. Her protests were muffled by the long piece of cloth that he tied around her head.

Through fear and panic, she couldn't understand why this was happening to her. This wasn't the Walter she had come to know. This synthetic, with the beautiful face, was a monster.

He raised a black flask into the dim light. She could see that the content was moving and her fear spiked. What was it and what was he going to do with it? What was he going to do with her?

A smile stretched across his face. "You shall be one of many." It was unfortunate that he was going to have to go through the trial and error process, once more. Failure didn't sit well with him. It had been such a long and tedious task last time.

…

I woke up to Walter sitting at the desk, looking pensively out the window. The light was filtering in at an angle where it gave him an angelic glow. It was strange that the two synthetics could look so similar, yet behave so differently.

"Did you sleep well? Have you had pleasant dreams?" he inquired, finally turning to look at me with a pleasant smile.

I nodded, stretching until my back gave a nice pop. "Very well," I sighed. "What are you doing here? Did you need something?"

"No. I simply wished to enjoy your presence," he replied. Only he could sound so genuine saying something like that and actually mean it. "It is a very beautiful day. Everyone seems to be out in the sun. Productivity and morale are high."

That was good. After discovering the new hostile creature, people have been on edge. They needed something positive to keep their minds off the possible dangers.

"Did you want to lay with me? We don't have to do anything, just lay down in bed. That chair can't be comfortable," I asked as I relaxed back on the bed, slowly being lulled to sleep by the peace and quiet of –

Bang!

I jolted up, staring at the window in shock. What was that?

Walter was the first to exit. His hand was already grasping the hilt of his thin dagger. We walked cautiously through the small colony, brushing by people who were also curious to see what had caused such a ruckus.

"Help!" a woman sobbed, holding a man close to her chest. His arm was bent at an odd angle and sweat dripped down his face.

He was in pain.

Walter was quick to access the situation. His hand left the blade to retrieve the first aid kit that he always kept with him. "Please, tell me what happened and I shall assist you to the best of my ability."

The woman blubbered on about how he had fallen from the half-constructed hut and most likely broke his arm upon impact.

"There's nothing to see here. Return to your posts and give the man some space!" I addressed the crowd that was still staring in fascination. Honestly! It wasn't that interesting.

As Walter began to put the fractured limb into a splint, I began to wonder where David had gone. It had been a while since I last saw him and as much as I hate to admit it, I was really craving his attention. I really needed to stop being so reliant on him. It couldn't possibly be healthy.

My eyes raked across the field, until it settled on Daniels. She was talking animatedly to a handsome blonde who looked rather infatuated with her.

I was happy to see her finally moving on from her husband's death. Even though I never had a chance to even meet him, she always seemed to be suppressing an inner depression by putting up a cheery front.

It was what made me like her, but sometimes, she was too clever for her own good. As much as I wished her well, I would always choose us over everyone else.

"There we are." Walter patted the man's arm. "Make sure to allow it to heal before you use it, again. Take these as needed, but use them as sparingly as possible." It was left unsaid, but we had finite resources here. We couldn't afford to use up all our supplies so early into the colonisation. There was still much to do to ensure our longevity on this strange, foreign planet.

Eventually, we were going to have to make our own cures with the native ingredients. David and Walter had already set up an entire laboratory, trying to figure out what everything could do. The combinations were infinite. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with that. There were enough scientists to work on it with the two synthetics.

I had looked at all the progress, but even on paper, it was little more than nonsense. I hated it. There was a part of me that really wanted to understand everything just so I could talk about it with David. Alas, my brain wasn't wired that way.

"Cassandra, is he okay?" Daniels asked, gazing at the injured man in concern.

I shrugged. "Nothing life threatening, but it looks like he'll be in pain for a while and no working until it's completely healed."

She nodded in understanding. "That's good. I'm glad Walter is here. If it was David, I – " She suddenly stopped to regard me cautiously as if I was going to lash out at her. "I mean… I know you two were close and you must miss her a lot. I would be pretty lost without Walter with me and… you guys were alone for so long."

I forced my face to stay impassive at her words. She didn't know and if I had it my way. She was never going to know. "It's hard and you're right. He was my only companion for the longest time. I still think of him, sometimes, but it does help that Walter is here."

Her head bobbed. "That's good. I can tell that Walter really likes you, too. Maybe… Maybe the two of you can work something out?"

If she only knew… We had most definitely worked something out. "It'll come when it comes," I told her with a small smile.

I really wished that she wasn't so kind. If she had to die for whatever reason, I really hoped that it was swift and painless.

"Daniels! Come here, have a look at this!" Tennessee shouted, waving her over. He was still suspicious of me and no amount of acting could convince him otherwise. Unfortunately, we may have to get rid of him soon if he proved to be any more of a problem.

He turned her away from me. It was painfully obvious what they were quietly mumbling about.

Quickly rotating on my heels, I walked away from them. I didn't have any time for high school drama. I had no intentions of meaning any of them harm. In fact, I was quite content with our current situation. My child was able to feed through the land and… I placed a hand on my stomach. David had somehow managed to impregnate me. I didn't want anything to change, but I knew that it was bound to happen. Nothing ever remained stagnant forever.

As long as David was around, things were going to constantly change. It just wasn't in his nature to let things be for long, but what was he up to? I knew that he had gone off somewhere last night doing who knew what and he still hadn't returned.

It was really beginning to annoy me. He wasn't allowed to knock me up and then disappear!

As I fumed, there was a crackle from the communicator. I knew that it was him, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to pick up. If he was physically present, then I wouldn't be ignoring him. He could talk all he liked if he was right here beside me.

Walter found me not long after. "He inquires why you have not been answering him."

I glared at the synthetic. "What are you? His messenger, now?" I snapped. It really wasn't his fault, but his face just really pissed me off, right now.

"Cass – "

"If he wants to talk, he can get his ass here!" I shouted, throwing a small, broken twig at him.

He allowed it to hit his chest and it didn't make me feel any better. "Just go away, Walter!"

I hugged my child close to me, drawing comfort wherever I could. I hadn't been so annoyed by them in a while, now, and it was also making him restless. "Honestly, if he wants to talk to me, he can come here and talk to me. I'm carrying his stupid baby. Shouldn't that be the most important thing to him?!"

As soon as I said that, an arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against a hard, defined chest. "I calculated that you may become more possessive upon pregnancy."

I quickly turned and slapped him. The hit really did nothing to him and sent a dull chock of pain up my arm. Even as I was now, he was still sturdier and stronger than me. 'I hate you!" I spat, trying to get away, but he held fast.

His face remained irritatingly pleasant as I poured all my frustration out on to him. "Who do you think you are? I waited for you all damn night and day and what the Hell were you doing?!"

Once I was done, he smiled appeasingly at me. "I apologise. I shall be more aware of the time."

With a huff, I turned my face away. More aware of the time? I was sure that he knew perfectly well how long he had been who knew where!

"What can I do to make it up to you, Cassandra?" He tilted my face back towards him, forcing me to look at that painfully handsome face. It wasn't fair!

Biting my pouting bottom lip, I buried my face into his chest. "Stay with me all night. I don't want you to leave." I knew how moody and clingy I sounded, but I didn't care. I had enough quota for two people and if the baby said he needed daddy, then daddy should be there.

"I will be at your every command," he promised, kissing the back of my hand as if he was a fairytale prince.

Even though I knew better, I nodded and could only do my best to make sure that he kept his promise all day and night. He was only allowed out of my sight when one of the other colonists required assistance. I wasn't fine with that, but it had to be done to keep suspicion away from us.

"Can I talk to you?" Tennessee suddenly came up behind me with a hammer in his hand.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry, this is a bit short and the next couple of chapters might be short as well if I even manage to get them out. I'm experiencing quite a bad case of writer's block for this story. I'm hoping it'll pass, soon! I got a box of new pens and usually that gets my inspiration going. Who knows…

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