_AUTHOR'S_NOTE_
This is part 20 of my first SciFi story, '_Automata'. It is the story of a girl, who has been captured by machines during a global robot apocalypse. See 'Girls Submission to AI in Latex.' for the beginning.
__PREVIOUSLY__
Robots, AI and cyborgs now rule the world. Jenny and some of her fellow sex slaves have been sold to General Rockwood. During delivery Rockwood killing the slave master Sovereign. Jenny is trapped in Rockwood's grasp. Rockwood make Kayla reveal she was a traitor secretly working for the machines and Sovereign. Jenny tried to kill Kayla when she found out
All characters are over 18 years of age; please respect the author's copyright.
__PRISON_CELL__
Kayla's eyes burned, as she sobbed. As part of their punishment, they had been blindfolded and locked up. Both were trapped in a shallow darkness of themselves. Sitting on the floor, Kayla remembered something she had thought about while visiting her dad's freezer. Sometimes, life has these tiny moments that hold big changes. He had said stuff like that--corny, sappy stuff straight from the pages of a motivational calendar. Her last visit felt like weeks ago now. She had gone one last time to say goodbye, to silently ask for permission and guidance. His frost-covered flesh always gave the same reply--do the right thing.
That morning, she caught herself smiling in the mirror. She had realized it was the first genuine smile she'd had since the apocalypse began. She slept at home that night, and had a one-sided conversation with the 'Popsicle,' as she felt her dad would have called himself. His hibernation pod sat like a mausoleum in the basement. Later, she had dinner with her mother, with her brother acting as a referee. The next morning, she traveled back to the pens, and said goodbye to her dad. If she saw him again, it would be in triumph; if not, it wouldn't matter. She would have a different future. Things hadn't turned out the way she wanted or expected, but Dad always said life did that.
Now, Kayla sat chained up on the cold floor of a holding cell. The iron bars were solid, the locks real, and their hands were tied.
Both of them sat on the floor with their arms held in the air, blindfolded, and their wrists held above their heads as punishment. After the collar machine, they had changed the manacles around their wrists. These were somehow magnetized and stuck to the wall, making it feel as if she had been bolted to it. Jenny was now more than a leg's length away from Kayla, a little too far to kick, as Jenny had discovered. Kayla had just sat there crying.
"Why are you crying?" Jenny's voice was as sharp as a knife. "I should be the one fucking crying. I'm the one being betrayed here. Damn that. Joe is betrayed big time. You stabbed him in the fucking back. He loves you more than anyone could believe. You don't have the right to cry."
"I messed up," Kayla said, tears still running down her face.
"You can say that again," Jenny said, looking away. "If there was ever a day that crying turned out to be cancerous, it's now. How did I get in the middle of all this shit? You know when we get out, I'm going to tell everyone. Everyone will try to kill you. They're going to take turns killing you."
"I can explain," Kayla said.
Jenny didn't respond.
Jenny decided not to speak to Kayla or show that the constant sobbing had any effect on her. Time passed too slowly in the cell. After a long while, Jenny's thoughts got the better of her.
"Okay, there is one thing I don't get. It's really bugging me. You were free, right? You were one of those sellout scumbag immortals, yeah? And then you sold yourself to Rockwood, is that right? Why? Why the hell why? Was this some stupid way to pay off your college tuition?" Jenny asked.
"I tried to buy you," Kayla said.
Jenny looked back. "Well, that came straight from the pages of 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'."
"Buyer Jones was me," Kayla said.
"Makes sense. Although I thought Buyer Jones was an immortal. Or is there something else you're not telling me?" Jenny said.
"The buyer was my mother; she's the immortal. I said I would pay her back. Then every time I bid, Rockwood would pitch the bid up. I started borrowing money from friends, coworkers. I took out a loan. I thought if I could buy you both, we could be together. I could set you free within the house," Kayla said.
Jenny looked over. "Because nothing says 'friends for life' more than having a pain collar around your neck. I remember everyone was saying they were better than a charm bracelet, which split in two."
"I wouldn't use it. We could just pretend. No one would know. You would be safe. Joe would be safe. This crazy war would finally have some kind of meaning," Kayla said, still on the edge of tears. The quiver in her voice told its own story.
"Really? Why didn't you tell us?" Jenny asked.
Kayla sniffed and pulled herself together. "The collar records everything I said. I had mentioned it to Sovereign. He was watching me very closely. Sovereign would find out. He would pull me out. He kept telling me I had to be harder. He said I was putting the other operatives in danger. It would take one mistake and everyone would be trying to kill me. Then Joe...you heard him, he hates us...them. If I told him... But I deserve everything you do to me. I was a terrible friend to you."
"To me?" Jenny asked.
Kayla just kept looking at the floor. "The bidding kept going up. I realized I couldn't afford you both..." Kayla said, descending into a cacophony of tears and sobs. "So...I put all the money on Joe. Oh shit, I'm so crap."
Jenny looked over, her voice was more neutral. "Well, you loved Joe, right? I mean, he loves you, but you never answered my question. What was all that business about 'I am a slut unit'?"
Kayla seemed to run out of tears.
"Because I didn't know Rockwood was some kind of T-Girl freak, during the final bidding, I put every penny I had on Joe. I sold my car, my immortal body, everything. However, Rockwood still outbid me. So I went to Sovereign and told him he could have all the money I bid, if he would give me to Rockwood as a free gift. Rockwood needed sleepers like everyone else, and he wouldn't turn down a free sleeper if he was trying to build up a data farm, especially not if Sovereign recommended me."
"But why did you sell yourself to Rockwood?" Jenny insisted.
"Because life in slavery with Joe and you is better than living forever without you," Kayla said.
Now it was Jenny's turn to feel her eyes swell, and twin black rivers of mascara run down her face.