David 8 / Reader
The cold concrete greeted you as you were tossed on to the floor of your cell. It was the year 2303 and the world had gone to shit; the fresh water supplies were low and the climate change had brought extreme draught and floods to completely wrong places at completely wrong times. This had caused chaos and many governments had fallen down as the rule had been taken by violently aggressive groups.
Those groups did not tolerate any kind of criticism and anyone and everyone who was suspected of questioning the decisions that the group leaders did, were taken away and interrogated until they got the confession, no matter if it was in fact a real one. There were rather horrible rumors about whether people ever came back from the interrogations, therefore people did not raise questions and tried to lay low, not drawing attention to them. In the situation of extreme danger some were even ready to complain about the others just to get rid of the suspicion.
Then there were the idealists, the fighters. You were one of them. You and your family worked in secrecy and tried to help anyone who needed it since the mentality in the new world was “every man for himself; only strong survive”.
The two men wearing black long coats and sunglasses laughed at you as you hit your jaw to the floor. The cold contact made you cry out even though you had tried to stay strong.
- Let’s see how long will you last! Your boyfriend lasted about three days and then he was ready to tell us everything.
Yes, the man who you had loved since you had been a teenager had indeed betrayed you and your family. He was now running free and you were… alive at least. Maybe it would had been better if you had died also… yet here you were; laying in the cell, spitting blood because hitting the jaw to the concrete. You got up and turned around. You saw a blond man in a grey uniform standing behind the laughing men.
- No use telling him your sad story. He is not a human, you see. He is just a robot and we have given him quite specific orders to make sure that you will not escape. He will not communicate with you so spare him from the pleads and cries.
They left the cell and the door was locked. You searched through the whole room but there was nothing to help you to escape. A couple of days passed. You could not sleep or eat and you were getting weak. There was someone at the door. It was the blonde man who was supposed to check if you were still alive. He had brought you some food and water. You were cautious about everything, one of the reasons why you had not eaten anything; what if there was poison or worse yet; truth serum in the drink.
The man did not enter the room. He just opened the small hatch in the door and slid the tray trough it. He was about to close the hatch when you ran to the door.
- Wait!
He stopped.
- Please… what is your name?
He shut the hatch and left.
- Please! you cried.
This time you absolutely had to take your chances and eat something so you would be able to defend yourself or try to escape if there was a window of opportunity.
After a while the door opened and a man in a black long coat came in. He approached you with a bag and before you could protest he put it on your head and dragged you away to the corridor. You tried to fight but you were just too tired. After the long corridor you arrived to a room that was lighted brightly. The man took the bag off and sat you by a table. The room was white and there was nothing but a screen on the wall right opposite from you.
You were being showed pictures of random people, most of them you did not know but then suddenly there were pictures of your friends, some of them were dead but not all. The interrogator was clearly trying to decipher your facial expressions; who did you know and what kind of relationships did you have with them. Your face did not change, not even when there were pictures of your family.
A man entered the room. He asked you a couple of times if you knew something that could bargain you your freedom back. You said no and your head was being covered with the bag again as you were escorted roughly into the cell again.
Next day there was the blonde man bringing you the daily meal again. You had learned the time when he always came. You did not have a clock but you had noted that the sun always shined to the corner next to the door when was the meal time. This time you grabbed the mans wrist as he was pushing the tray in.
- Please. Tell me your name.
- Miss, I am not supposed to talk to you.
- Please, I am so alone.
- I have specific orders not to ta-
- Screw the orders! Please, show some kindness.
The man pulled his hand away and closed the hatch.
- Thank you! you shouted and started to cry. After calming down you ate and drank and then lay on the floor and watched the room getting dark again. You had not slept for many days, only short naps from which you recoiled instantly. You were afraid that you would be just too vulnerable while sleeping. You stared at the ceiling, counting the minutes. The hatch opened again. You did not say anything. You did not even get up.
- It’s David. he said. You got up from the floor.
- David… you said and smiled although he could not see your smile.
- May I come in? he asked.
- Sure! you said and went to the corner that was the farthest from the door. You did not know if David was programmed to assault you or something. He opened the lock and then slowly opened the door.
- I must warn you, I have been authorized to use force if you’ll try to escape. Fighting me would be most unwise.
- Yes, I am aware of that. you said and tried to come up with something that you could use as protection. David closed the door and turned to face you. It was the first time he saw you well and the first time you saw him well. He was tall and well-build with broad shoulders and strong arms. He had blonde hair and greenish blue eyes. He looked just like a real human and it was difficult to remember that he actually was just a machine that had been programmed to do a certain job, in this case the job was to keep you alive and make sure that you would not escape.
But he was more than just a fancy computer, he had opinions and his opinion about you was that you were beautiful, strong and not as dangerous that he had been warned. He looked at you curiously as he tried to analyze your expression and stress level. He noticed immediately that you were tired.
- You look tired. he said. His brows furrowed slightly as he tilted his head to the side.
- I can’t sleep.
- Why? he asked.
- It’s not safe to sleep here. you said and crossed her arms. David did not answer.
- Why are you here? he asked.
- I am here because my boyfriend… well, my ex-boyfriend, saved his skin by sacrificing my family. So… the men came one night and burned our house. I was not there at the time so I did not die, however they caught me soon after and brought me here.
David looked at you. His expression was blank. After processing what you had just told him he asked
- Who killed your family?
- These people… David, you’re fighting on the wrong side. you said and looked down. You uncrossed your hands and rubbed them because the tiredness was really messing up with your capability of staying warm.
- You should go, David… you will get into trouble like this.
He was surprised that you actually cared. He smiled slightly and collected the trays from the room. When he was about to leave, he said suddenly
- I will come back and stand by your door, miss, you may sleep.
- It’s not necessary, I’m fine. you said and tried to keep your balance as you tried to look alert.
- No, I can clearly sense that…
- Don’t risk your life because of me. you said before he could finish his sentence. David left and closed the door. He did not come back since you were soon after being taken to the interrogation again. This time you were placed into a dark room. Then suddenly there were ice cold water showering from the ceiling. You screamed but you did not tell the men anything about your friends who were hiding.
You collapsed onto the floor. The men had lowered the temperature of the room and the water was turning into ice in places. The floor became slippery. You passed out and the next thing you knew was that you were in the cell again. When you opened your eyes, you saw David.
- Why don’t you tell them what they need to hear? he asked as he was checking your pulse.
- I cannot. you answered. David looked curious, obviously he did not understand your reasons.
- They will kill you if you will not co-operate. he said calmly.
You swallowed your tears and bit your lip so you would not crack.
- Then I shall die. I would not be able to live with myself if I gave up the things I hold dear.
- An idealist, I see.
- Haven’t you seen what’s out there? you asked. You did not want to treat David as a robot because he was almost a human and maybe being kind towards him was your ticket to freedom, or maybe not… but it was worth trying. David looked confused.
- People are fighting for their lives. There is no food, there is no fresh water and the men that you serve are not making things any better. I cannot just stand and watch. If that makes me an idealist, then so be it. you said and looked away. David stood up and walked to the door.
- You need to get some sleep. he said as he walked out from the door. You did not see him for a couple of days. There was another robot that brought you your daily meal. You did not speak to him at all. Then one day a man in a black long coat came to the room. He pushed you against the wall and put his strong, large hands around your neck. He had come to choke you until you were dead since you were not giving any answers and something that you had said had made David disappear for a few days. You tried to fight the man but he was too strong.
The world was going black when you saw David approaching and hitting the man with a flash light. You went unconscious and fell on the floor...