When Kara opened her eyes again, she saw Connor missing from the bed. Wallet was where he was at, as well as Echo. They were both resting.

She got up and looked around but heard the water running. She smiled. He's adapting well. Just like everything else, androids could stink too. Usually they were just put in standby while owners sprayed them with a hose. If even. When she first came, the smell was different in the air. A lot had changed though when she was first created, but the air. It smelled a little nicer.

The more machines, the more metal, the more synthetic skin . . .

She watched as he emerged from his shower, fully dressed.

"That was nice. I thought it was unnecessary," Connor admitted. "It was very necessary. There really isn't that much different between us and humans. Especially smell." He shook his head. "I smelled many foul things that I didn't care about. I couldn't care about. You don't want to know what dead smells like."

Yeah. Humans. Curious creatures, they wanted to make the androids as much like themselves as they could. No wonder she was one day born. "They put so much of themselves into us, maybe it was inevitable, we would become free like them?"

"I thought about that too." Connor put a stocking cap on and gave one to her. "Get dressed. Get a shower too, it's healthy."

Nice way of saying like every other android, she stank. Humans adapted to the smell better. "I will, but where are we going?" Were they going to get Alice right away or not?

"The beginning," Connor told her. "We are going to revisit where you were first born."

—

Cyberlife

Kara felt more at ease in the building than anywhere else so far. It was Kamski's property, and once Connor told him he needed access to help with the deviancy problem, Kamski had sent personal passes to each of them. The same way he used to secure everything for them.

Kara stared and gently touched it. "The machine that gave me life." It was so overwhelming, to see it again, after all these years. The place she was born. The handles that created her. She had no existence, and then she opened her eyes and . . . this machine.

It might not have created body number nine, but it was there in her memories. What started her in the beginning.

"This is an older model," Connor said. "It was before we had constant seconds between someone being born and told to stand in line. Back then, they still ran tests between. Connor went to the computer. "It's been offline for about two years, but Kamski said he'd allow access."

Kara swore she heard the old machine sigh as it came back on. She found herself taking a deep breath too. She stroked the machine. "You gave me my first breaths. My first visions. My first everything." She touched her lip. "It's hard. This is my mother and my father, and it's not even . . ." Sentient.

"Yes. It can't understand your feelings, but it doesn't lessen your feelings for it," Connor said more succinctly as he started to check the computer.

Kara waited, wondering which 1 or 0 was out of place to create her ability to be born free. She walked around the machine thoughtfully.

"There must be a mistake. It holds the data from every serial number," Connor said, "and 579 102 694 is not there."

Well? She didn't have a choice. "It is under KPC 897 504C." Connor clearly wanted to know how. "Dangerous to explain, sorry."

Connor just sighed but got the hint. He looked under that number. "It looks pretty standard. Except for . . ." Connor turned his head. "You said that you had 9,000 stories to tell. You chose to keep those."

"Yes," Kara confirmed. "I have many stories. Never know when you need a good story."

"You have 9,001," Connor told her. "Hang on. You have a different story that no other AX 400 can tell."

Oh. That was kind of sweet. The error came from an extra story.

"I am running comparisons of it against the other stories of the other AX 400's." It didn't take long for Connor to have it. "Story number 2,356."

2,356. "Once upon a time there was a unicorn, that befriended a human." Then, she started to see the difference in the structure that created a great dissonance between the rest of the stories. "The unicorn was special, and didn't look like a unicorn. The unicorn was . . ." None of this. None of these were the stories she had ran into all of these years of telling stories.

"This could be important," Connor urged her. "Please?"

"The unicorn was taken by a giant and imprisoned. The human the unicorn befriended made friends with the giant too. The unicorn thought it was because the human was her friend." No. "The human knew what made the unicorn special, and took the unicorn to the palace of the biggest giant." She couldn't. Kara shook her head. "This isn't possible, this was here at my birth? It couldn't know this."

"Unless it was supposed to." Connor came over toward her. "I don't think it is the exact people you are thinking of. Ken Dulith could be a misstep. You couldn't predict his intentions at birth. If he wasn't the one in the story, it could mean Kamski had meant to later on."

"Elijah?" So, Elijah always knew. He created the error that caused this?

"It's sad to say but this machine produced so many androids, Elijah Kamski probably just put in the tiniest of errors randomly. Being too exact, he'd get found out. Just one robot, out of hundreds of thousands. Even he wouldn't know."

Elijah? "Elijah treats every robot like just a machine, until he sees the spark of life." That was who Alice had been with right now. He had made it happen, and he never told her?

I'm sorry. I need to know the rest of the story, Kara."

She didn't want to. She really didn't want to.

"You need to finish the story, Kara," Connor warned her. "We can't get through this, without the whole story."

"The biggest giant did not keep the unicorn in the palace for long. They traveled the world, to see and touch everything the unicorn wanted to explore. The unicorn was alive. It's path undiscovered-error." She choked the last bit. "There isn't a period at the end."

"A simple miscarry," Connor said impressed. "Can you repair it, seeing the damage where it is now?"

Kara tried to aim her repair sequence at the error. "It's not working."

"Then it's no error, your double checks have been created to ignore it, and your repair sees no repair to be made." Connor looked at the big machine that created her. "Kamski knew this whole time. Is that the end of the story?"

Kara nodded. "That's it. He should have taken me, instead . . ." He didn't know which one she had been. He didn't know until Ken shared the truth. Even then, he still didn't seem to understand the difference until that one day.

That one day he offered to free her. The day she touched so many hands of other androids.

"I just ran a diagnostic check on myself," Connor said interrupting her thoughts. "I have that story tucked deep inside a file. I bet every deviant does." He moved back toward the computer and looked toward the contents. "Up to two years ago, androids were still coming from this particular machine."

"Connor, I want Alice." Kara made the point clear.

"I know," he said. "I know. I don't understand why Kamski didn't say this."

"I want Alice now," Kara said firmly. "Let's go, let's just go."

"I understand that now you are frightened for Alice. We'd been deceived," Connor said to her. "Once we lose his aid, we can't visit along this path. Even he should know we will find the truth. He wanted us to find the truth for ourselves." Connor stared at the computer. "Maybe thinking, if the error was seen by a machine, it could understand what went wrong."

"Why certain models get hit harder by the error?" Kara said. "If we delete the story, that should end it."

"You said you weren't the only one. The former leader of the rebellion, he could also change, correct?" Connor asked her. "He could change more harmlessly. Kamski solved that riddle, only, to pull that error to spread in that way? It was risky, the chances you wouldn't be corrupted and killed weren't good."

RA9. Kara understood that part. "Cyberlife has great tech."

"True. I can be uploaded into another body if something happens to me. If Kamski was working on you? RA9. That might explain the 9 in it," Connor said. "You could be in the ninth body of yourself. You do have a different serial number. Kara?" Connor turned to look at her. "How well did you know Elijah Kamski?"

"It's dangerous to tell you," Kara said quickly. "Or, I promise I would."

"Right. I get it, I could become machine again." Connor sounded disappointed. "I already can tell it's well. You call him Elijah, you were fine with Alice being with him before this, and you probably know what RA9 is. I am guessing it is the extra bodies for upgrade."

"If you already know." Kara nodded. She didn't or couldn't lie if he knew.

"Certain machines are compatible with certain androids." Connor pulled away from the subject again. "Most androids are compatible with most machines." He ran a check against it. "This one is an older model that doesn't actually go with every machine."

"So, the androids that are more affected by the error, are the ones this machine can't build?" Kara asked. Why wouldn't Kamski know that? "Connor? If you didn't take me to go investigate this, we would have been sent back."

"We'd be terminated," Connor agreed. "Kamski didn't tell us, because orders to Cyberlife saved us."

It was the same thing as being out there known as RA9. The world was supposed to see her as she had been. That was all messed up though now. A few videos made their way around, showing off some of her abilities. Not much, and most weren't helpful since she'd been in safety mode. Not free at all. They probably only hurted her cause, not helped. "Let's go. Mystery solved. Elijah knew everything, let's get Alice."

"That isn't it," Connor told her. "This gives us a lot of answers about how it emerged, why, and what Kamski did about it. There are some other things that we don't know though. Your owner registration said Eden's Club, but they don't actually mark like that."

What? "What do you mean they don't mark like that?"

"The head of the company would have his name on the registration, they purposely put your register under their DBA. They didn't want to get traced back to an individual, which is exactly what we need to do."

Kara didn't like the sound of this.

"Did Ken Dulith really just go up to Kamski first? He said they were good friends, and even threatened to dismantle me by telling Kamski too. It's hard to believe an average worker was friends with the owner of Cyberlife."

Connor was right about that. "Ken said he had to tell his secret from person to person before he was able to tell Kamski."

"Up the chain higher. While he was doing that, someone purchased you." Connor reached out for her.

Kara almost lost her balance. This was hitting hard. Eden's Club wasn't just a random buyer? "Someone knew my secret?"

"I didn't want to ask before, I knew this wouldn't be easy," Connor said, "but we have to."

"I need to sit down." Kara sat down as Connor let go of her. She just needed to sit down. Absorb it all.

Connor bent down to the ground. "Kara?"

Don't ask. Please don't ask. She knew he was going to ask, but she didn't want him to ask. The questions she didn't want to think about were coming.

"Were you in a normal section in the front of Eden's Club?"

The questions were starting. The questions had to start. They needed answers. Just be thankful he's more deviant than machine right now. "No."

"Where were you kept?" Connor asked.

"I was kept in a room."

"What kind of room?"

"Just a room, alone. I was still in a capsule."

"Could anyone access the room?"

"No, people needed to have a pass to open the door."

"How did they get that pass?"

"I don't know. Regular customers didn't get the pass."

"The customers who did. When they opened your capsule."

"My Eden Club installs kicked on." Here it comes.

"Kara. The Eden Club androids never had their installs taken out. They bought them 'as is' and added a two-hour memory wipe, otherwise that was it. They were also only certain models. You won't find a housemaid model in there." Connor was making the point clear.

Which she hated. "I don't know what it is, I can't predict anything."

"I know trust is hard, but you need to run those programs," Connor said. "We aren't going to know the truth, until we hear it from yourself."

"It'll make me the clown at a birthday party."

"I understand that," Connor assured her. "It's not you. I won't change my mind about the friend I'm coming to know, from what I see or hear."

Friend. He was warming up to her. She stood back up. "Flip me into standby as soon as you get what you need." She balled up her fists.

"Yes, I know," Connor said. "We'll find out the truth, and you'll never have to do this again."

Kara took a deep breath. A very deep breath as she triggered the program Eden's Club put into her.

—

Connor wasn't absolutely sure what to expect, but he had a creepy feeling he did. "Kara?"

Kara smiled at him. Not her smile though, that almost dead smile he absolutely hated. "Well, how did you wander into this room, Sweetie? Present a pass or you better skedaddle on out of here because I'll activate the club's alarm."

A warning system came with the first greeting?

"Seriously, you have to present your pass-" Connor took her hand and got past the prerequisite. "Oh well there it is." He watched as Kara wrapped her arms around him into an embrace. "What is your preference? Did you want the full android experience? For that, you need 299 dollars for twenty minutes. For the full human experience, you need 20,000 dollars for five minutes. Your gold pass will be charged once you choose your option."

Eden Club androids were 29.99 for thirty minutes. Even as an android option, she was overpriced. Connor feared what cost 20,000 dollars for five minutes. I wish my thinking was wrong. "The human experience."

"The human experience? A preferred favorite," she chuckled. "Don't worry. These five minutes are all yours. Here are the rules. I may fight back and I will not easily obey. That's why you picked the option though, right? You don't want it given to you, you want to take it with a fight. If you break me though, Eden's Club will take matters into its own hands, the paperwork and video feed will be fed straight to Ed Peppers. There are no memory wipes to ensure all parties are covered in medical and repair. Eden Club is not responsible for any hospital bills, repair bills, or your life. Fees for both parties will be calculated at the end of your stay. I am not a fighting android, I'm a general housemaid and nanny android with no extra strength biocomponents. Keep this in mind in your fight. If you'd like this to be more of a challenge, place a weapon in my right hand in the next thirty seconds." She held her hand out to Connor.

Connor watched her for thirty seconds.

She backed away from Connor. "We are to this part now?"

Normal. She was back to normal.

She touched her arm unassured. She didn't say anything.

This. Was.

This. Was.

Kara, this was Kara. They didn't load her up with any advanced moves for human gratification, no extra talk, nothing. The program installs blocked them from seeing her as she had been until they paid the price. Meet the free android. Fight back. Disobey. Absolutely, and they paid for that!

"You look like you want to fight me, don't fight me, I don't know why this results in . . ." She didn't finished. "Anything I said or did to egg you on, it wasn't me."

"Hank must have known." That was why he was so mad at the RK 900 and him! Androids could do anything asked of them, anything went, except? To disobey. To fight.

Unlike other androids, Kara had will. Unlike other androids, she'd remember.

Kara didn't say anything.

Connor didn't say anything either. What should he say? Ask about if she killed any of the humans? How many times she'd been in repair? In her early days, deviancy shouldn't be a problem, the machine that created her would be compatible to almost every android back then. "You were bought for five minutes to fight. You never did anything wrong in your installs, just dictated the rules." He had to let her know.

Kara looked at her hand. "Usually, I'd wake up with a knife or a gun or something in my hand."

He wanted to ask. Ask so many things. None of them though, he could actually ask. It was obvious her clients were people who wanted to fight with an android with real will power. Or, they just wanted to . . .

No, no he couldn't even. He just shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Last time, you promised?" Kara asked again. "I'll go on standby in a few minutes."

He did have something he had to ask. "Did Kamski ever fight you?"

Kara shook her head. "I met Kamski like this, but he never raised a hand. He just asked me questions like what I felt about living, and if I remembered Ken."

"Can you remember specifically what he asked you?" Connor asked.

"He told me that my install riled people up so they were ready to fight or try to hurt me in some way," Kara said. "He asked me if I felt numbness or any kind of pressure in . . . interactions. He came twice, and then I was moved by Ken. Then I was owned by Ken."

Ed Peppers. Connor looked up information on him, and got results in seconds. "Ed Peppers is the official owner of Eden's Club Corporation, as well as other similar clubs, held for humans illegally. He's good at holding information over others. Black mail. I'm certain he probably had something on Kamski. That would explain why he didn't . . ."

"Elijah doesn't have a pristine background," Kara agreed.

"He used Ken to get up the ladder, and get you out in degrees," Connor said. "If he hadn't helped Ken, you'd probably still be-" Stop! Even now, he was starting to mess up. He didn't need to say anything more. "Elijah Kamski couldn't help because Ed Peppers probably had blackmail over him." That's all, that was all he had to say.

Then Kara went into standby. The five minutes had been up. Someone could do a lot to another person in five minutes. Twenty thousand dollars to take on an android with will power. No. "To fix the error, we just have to manually put in an ending sequence to your story."

"If we do that, then the error for the ones I changed?" She shook her head. "I know that I can't pick and choose. You already had a good chance of shifting back, Connor."

It pretty much guaranteed Connor wouldn't stay deviant for long. "I'll still be here, Kara. I can't stop my machine self from looking at certain things, but I can label things. If I write deviant warning on some of my recent memories, when I change, I will probably not look."

"What are you going to label with that?" Kara asked.

"Not everything, that would look suspicious. The Eden Club installs, I am going to mark . . . to Check Soon."