Freak of Nature - By Julia Crane Page 0,27

specific purpose, and that did not involve forming emotional connections. That switch should be firmly in the off position. She should be able to do anything asked of her without question or fear.

This is not good.

Lucas shoved open the door to his office, a closet-sized space tucked into a corner near the lab. The thought struck him that the purpose of her very existence was to be put in harm’s way. He hated it. And now, with human emotions leaking into her consciousness, it could prove even more of a danger for Kaitlyn. What if she hesitated on a job and it got her killed?

Lucas took long strides to his computer and the chair squeaked noisily as he sank into it. He pulled up Kaitlyn’s files on the computer. Harrington will flip when he finds out.

Lucas started carefully reading through each line of code—coding that he had written—looking for the answer.

After four hours, his eyes were blurring from looking at the numbers for so long. Maybe there wasn’t a way to turn off emotions, and they had just been fooling themselves all along. Wishful thinking. There had to be a scientific explanation.

And then he saw it. His heart fell. No. No. No. This can’t be.

He never made mistakes, but there it was. One number wrong, and the entire sequence was faulty. It was an easy fix. Damn it! What the hell was he going to do? A couple of strokes on the keyboard, and a new upgrade, and Kaitlyn would be fixed. Emotionless and good as new. She would never look at him with that longing, that same intensity again.

He slumped in his chair, and rubbed his face. As crazy as it sounded, he knew he had fallen in love with Kaitlyn. It had happened gradually—all the days they’d spent together, alone, testing her skills; all the times he’d admired her strength and endurance. He’d fought against it for so long, thinking he was an idiot for essentially falling in love with a robot. A non-human. But there was no denying his feelings now that she returned them. She wasn’t a robot, after all. She was real.

She was always on his mind, and to know it was mutual… How could he erase that? He stared at the code across the screen, the flashing cursor set at the glaring mistake. He had naively hoped the coding was correct, and her feelings for him had overridden the computer somehow, like one of those cheesy romantic movies. He had hoped that a small part of her had remained, and that part wanted him.

But her desire for him had been nothing more than a slip of a keystroke.

Lucas had a sudden urge to throw the computer across the room. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

He had to get a grip. The project came first. That was what he was paid for—to make sure she was the sleekest, fittest, strongest, most intelligent mechanical soldier on the planet. Her life depended on it.

He had to do it. He couldn’t risk her being dismantled because he selfishly wanted her for himself. As much as it pained him, he knew what he had to do. It was the only choice he had—the right choice.

But for who?

If only he could have one more night with her. If only he could put off fixing the coding until the day after tomorrow…

No, he had to do it now. If he spent another day with her, he knew he might not be strong enough to fix her at all

His fingers hesitated over the keyboard. He pictured her beautiful face, and the excitement in her unusual grey eyes. At least he would have the memory of their evening together. She would have nothing.

It’s for the best.

Before he could change his mind, he made the correction and watched as the coding scrolled down the computer screen, updating her system commands. He inserted the new chip and waited for the data to transfer. Tomorrow, he would implant the new chip, and she would be a true cyborg. The thought made Lucas sick to his stomach. He was a monster.

All in the name of science.

The next morning, Kaitlyn walked into the lab wearing nothing but a stark white hospital gown, her feet bare. Lucas noted that she avoided eye contact with everyone in the room as she walked over and sat on the cold steel table, and waited. Her hands rested lightly on the edge of the table, and her feet hung motionless. The