Thanks for reading.
*~*Chapter Three*~*
1.
Bosconovitch's lab was empty as usual.
He preferred to work alone and Nina often found the man late for the appointment she had to keep. This time, it was past half an hour.
Nina's patience was wavering.
She wondered around his lab, trying to discover what his secret was. Maybe it would be fun to study the doctor instead of being studied. She knew he was hiding something but when she stumbled across the room next door, she found a body of a girl lying on a steel table.
Curious, Nina steps closer to see her face.
It was not human.
The face was undone. Metal and wires provided the structure for the skull and two dull light bulbs sat inside the eye sockets. A sheet covered the torso of the body and the legs stuck out, covered in stockings and adorned with metallic ankle boots.
Doctor Bosconovitch was really serious.
She didn't know whether to be touched or amused.
This must have been the daughter he was talking about.
Alisa.
Nina touches the undone face and moves to feel the rubber texture of the neck. It felt so real.
The lifeless body lay while Nina carried out a slightly inspection of it. Could Doctor Bosconovitch really infuse life into this thing?
The doors opened and Nina found the Doctor walk inside the room.
"I see you've met Alisa."
"You created a robot."
"In the memory of my daughter." His tone was wary but held emotion.
"When you couldn't preserve her, you went and did this. I wonder how your daughter would feel about this….being replaced by a robot."
The silence was sour and Nina saw the old man flinch. How could he try and replace his daughter with something inferior? It was like one of those horrible Sci-Fi movies that moved you despite being so damn cheesy. The thought of being replaced was horrifying and in that moment, Nina felt sorry for the deceased Alisa.
He quickly swallowed back the hurt and cleared his throat.
"I want you to see something."
The small man drags himself towards the body of his android. Nina steps back and watches him plug a socket onto the android. He presses a few switches and the humming begins. The two dull lights grow green and the android comes to life.
It sits up, still wired to the socket and blinks.
"It's alive."
The robot first looks at the doctor and then turns to Nina.
"Alisa, this is Nina Williams."
It doesn't say anything but fixes it's gaze on Nina, the state was so intent that Nina felt uncomfortable with those two green lights staring right into her soul.
"Williams, Nina." It finally spoke.
The voice was light and girly.
"I am Alisa Bosconovitch. Nice to meet you." It extended a hand towards Nina.
She took it, absorbed the feel of warm rubber in her hand and let go. When the android took hold of Nina's hand again, she repeated her words.
Doctor Bosconovitch turns off the socket, the android falls slowly back on the table. The two green lights become dull again.
Nina puts the hand back beneath the sheet and covers the torso.
"You see, Alisa may be an android but she can have life. She can be human."
Doctor Bosconovitch's words strike a chord in Nina that would haunt her for weeks.
2.
"Nina, how do I look?"
Julia stands, wearing a red dress that reminds Nina of someone. It was tight and Nina was sure that if Julia sat down, it would rip off completely.
"Who gave this to you?"
"I got it from the charity store."
She rolls her eyes and walks to the cupboard. Pulling out a dark gold cocktail dress, Nina puts it on the bed.
"Try this, it might be a whole lot better."
She left the woman to try on the gold dress.
When Julia came out wearing the dress, it was perfect for her. Julia told her that she had a date tonight and Nina rolled her eyes, knowing that Julia's so called friends set up a blind date for her.
"I'll be late but there's some meatloaf in the oven and if that's not enough, you could order Pizza or something."
The eager young woman left for her date and Nina found the apartment very quiet. An hour or two later, Nina went to work.
"I hate it that you walk in an hour late." The same girl would spit, showing her spiteful side.
Nina threw her a death glare and continued with her work. Julia had picked her date in the same bar and was having trouble with her date that was a fat old beast.
Keeping a close watch on her roommate and the beastly man, Nina ignored a few customers and hovered close to Julia's side.
"He is trouble." Jin said, watching Julia trying to resist the advances of the bald beast.
"I'm going to knock him out." Nina grabbed a bottle, wanting to thrust it in the thing's face.
Jin held her arm, keeping her back. "And lose your job? I think there's better ways to handle this."
"Go and show me then."
So Jin walked ahead, disturbing the mismatched couple. He tried to ask the man very politely to leave and Nina was ready when Jin was knocked back by the bigger man's brute force.
Nina tossed the bottle to his face and the beast erupted, drowning the festive cheers in an outrage.
Everyone stopped and watched the beast smash the bar, charging at Nina.
Nina was ready until Jin had thrust his back with a fist. Nina dodged out of the way and the man fell behind the bar, crushing anything that lay in his path.
A customer with a jaguar mask decided to help out, it turned out to be a big mistake because that night, someone died.