Freak of Nature - By Julia Crane Page 0,23

thudded to a stop before her, leaning over to catch his breath. He obviously needed to work on his cardio.

“Why did you call me Kate?” she demanded.

Lucas straightened up. “I…I don’t know. I’ve always thought you should be called Kate. Kaitlyn sounds so formal.”

“I like Kate.” She paused, saying the word once more in her mind. “It makes me feel strange to hear you say it.”

“It does? It makes you feel?” Lucas said. He looked flustered, like he didn’t know what to say or do.

“I don’t know why.” Kaitlyn kicked at the ground and looked off at the tree line. The sun was beginning to set. The sky was a beautiful shade of violet swirled through with pink. It was amazing that such beauty existed and then there was such ugliness in the world. Such as herself—not human, but not fully robot.

Lucas studied her face. “Kaitlyn, do you feel more than you let on?”

She shifted her feet and shrugged, discomfited by his gaze. “I don’t know what I feel—if anything—most of the time.”

“I can relate to that.”

“You couldn’t possibly understand what I’m going through,” Kaitlyn said through gritted teeth and took a step backwards. Her vehemence surprised her; that reaction had come from somewhere deep inside.

“You’re right.” Lucas held up his hands. “That was insensitive and unfair. To answer your original question: You are hands down the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”

He thought she was beautiful? Kaitlyn frowned and shook her head. “You don’t have to say that. I know I’m a freak.”

A hurt look crossed his face. “Kate, you’re not a freak. You’re incredible. There is not a woman out there that could compare to you.” His troubled eyes met hers. “I’m sorry we did this to you.”

“You’re sorry?” What did he have to be sorry about? It wasn’t like it was his idea. He just worked there. If anyone was to blame, it was Harrington for coming up with the crazy notion of merging humans with machines.

“You should have had a chance to live your life without our interference.” Lucas laughed, but it wasn’t in humor. Kaitlyn’s sensors supplied a definition for ‘irony.’ “Kate, you’re amazing. You are beautiful, and the person you were… We took that from you.”

“Lucas, look at me!” Kaitlyn said, lifting the hem of her shirt to her bra line. “I have so many chips implanted in me that I don’t know where I start and where the machine begins. Scars cover my body, and not to mention this.” Kaitlyn pointed at the translucent part of her arm. The patches of see-through plastic were spread over various parts of her body. “How could you possibly think I’m beautiful? I’m repulsive—a freak of nature.”

A strange sensation on her face gave her pause. She reached up and touched her cheek, then drew wet fingertips away.

What…was that a tear?

Her artificial heart pounded in her ears as she stared at her hand, captivated. After all the time she had spent at the facility, all she had been through, she’d never cried. She didn’t think she could.

Across from her, Lucas stared. “Oh my God. Kate.”

She didn’t know what to say, so she just lifted her hand and murmured, “I’m…crying.”

Lucas grabbed her hand, the wetness of her tears smeared on her skin as he closed the space between them. He pressed his forehead to hers. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her body was rooted in place. She was so confused by the way he made her feel. His closeness was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

“Kate, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” His thumb gently rubbed another tear away, making her shiver.

“Didn’t know what?” She sniffled, and then berated herself for showing weakness. Now that he knew her secret…

“That you could feel.”

“Why does it matter? Are you going to bring me back to the lab and erase what is left of me?”

“No, Kate. We’ve done all the programming we know how as far as emotions go. In truth, it’s amazing. Goes to show how incredible the human mind is.”

“It’s only you that makes me feel things. Well, I guess Quess too. I like her.”

Lucas stared at her for a moment. “No one else?”

She shook her head and looked away.

“Do you feel the same for me as you do for Quess?”

“Definitely not. I like Quess as a friend.”

“And me?”

“You make my body feel like it’s revving up when I am standing still. I don’t know how to describe it. I wake up looking