The Man In The Machine Read online

  "There you go." She said, laughing lightly.

  Octavia stared at the number on the wall, and then laughed. "Sounds good to me. I'll have it memorized by the time I get outta here." She grinned, and after a second stretched her legs out across Blake's lap as she leaned against the wall. She was most definitely flirting, which was ironic. Two girls flirting in a holding cell.

  It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

  "Alright then, Medea." She smirked. "Tell me more about yourself."

  A New Friend

  The hours passed by quickly, with the two women learning lots about each other. Blake told Octavia of her past, full of parties and excitement and wild rides. Octavia told of her past, full of explosives and deadly opportunities.

  The two weren't so different after all.

  Willow managed to get Blake a bail hearing before what would be typical, considering most of the time it took between forty-eight and seventy-two hours in Vancouver. The same officer came to get Blake, however, after only seven.

  "I'll… See you around. I hope." Blake said, looking sadly at Octavia. She didn't deserve this for simply lighting some fireworks.

  "See ya." Octavia waved and winked at her. "If I don't get fucked by the legal system, I'll see you around!"

  The officer sighed, and closed the door behind them as they left the cell. He locked it behind himself, and then started leading Blake through the police station. "We're going to your bail hearing. You're awfully lucky you have the friends that you do, because otherwise you probably would've been here for a lot longer. Your lawyer has been arranged, and we'll be meeting them there." It was a damn good thing she was so close with the Grace family.

  They had a lot of good connections.

  The next two hours were a blur of security, searches, yelling, and transport to the courthouse. This part of the process seemed far more… Intact.

  Blake was led into a large courtroom, with most of the seats already full. She hardly knew anyone, except for Nych and the Graces on the front row. Of course they'd gotten the closest seats.

  "Blake Medea." The judge said, looking down to her from his podium. "You have been charged with the desecration of a human corpse, the corpse of one Nych Haywiyth. We will now proceed with your bail hearing."

  He turned towards the other side of the room and gestured toward the prosecution.

  "Yes, your honor." A thin, portly man with walnut eyes and coconut-colored hair spoke from the other side of the room. "We would like to press for the maximum bail amount of twenty-thousand dollars."

  Blake balked. She didn't want Willow to have to spend that much money on her. Even with how well-off she was, that would put a serious dent in her pocket.

  The judge looked to the lawyer who sat next to Blake and asked, "And you, defense?"

  "We would like to press for the minimum bail amount, your honor." The lawyer was a younger woman, with brunette hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Her dark eyes glittered with determination, and she glanced to Blake.

  The pinkie and ring finger on her left hand were robotic. She must've worked with Willow's family before.

  The lawyer looked back up at the Judge. "Reading over this case, I think the evidence is hardly enough to press for the maximum bail. Not only that, but it has been fifteen years since this case was opened, and any incriminating evidence which was not found during the time of the investigation is gone by now." She raised her chin, voice strong but face neutral.

  The prosecutor spoke once she was done.

  "Your honor, you will find that the evidence we do have in this case is highly convincing of the fact that Blake Medea is guilty. She is, in fact, one of only three people who had access to Nych Haywiyth's laboratory."

  "False!" A voice from the audience sounded, and everyone, judge, defense, and prosecutor, looked toward it.

  It was Nych.

  "Your honor, my name is Nych Haywiyth, and I've been reincarnated in the form of an Artificial Intelligence. I can tell you for a certain that there were eight keys to the laboratory I used, and I only had one of them."

  He sat back down, and the prosecutor looked back to the judge, speechless.

  "I… Your honor, Blake Medea is the only one with a connection to Nych Haywiyth, excepting Willow herself, who has an alibi."

  The prosecutor was going to speak, before the judge held up a hand.

  "Prosecution, might I remind you that this is simply the bail hearing, not the trial. Please, save your rhetoric until that date. For now, I am granting Blake Medea the minimum required bail of five-thousand dollars, to be paid at any time after the closing of this hearing. Any questions?"

  There was some grumbling, but other than that, everyone stayed quiet.

  "Alright. The hearing is adjourned."

  The judge banged the gavel once, and everyone got up. An officer put Blake in handcuffs, and began leading her back to her holding cell.

  "We can go pay the bail up front." Nych said to Willow, his arms wrapped around her waist.

  Everything would be fine.

  Willow sighed, closing her eyes and leaning against Nych. "I just want this to be done with." She looked up at him after a moment, and then shook her head as she moved a hand up to rub her temple. She was getting a headache from all the stress of that day. "Come on. Let's go." She took his hand and started to lead him out of the courtroom.

  She had wanted justice for herself and her daughter, but after this…

  They'd have a hell of a time even getting her to admit a generalization of what happened in front of a cop.

  "I've been thinking." Nych said, practically reading her thoughts. "How about we go away for a while after this? Maybe somewhere in the States? New York, maybe? Just to get away from everything that's going on. Plus, you can tell the police there about what happened, and say you moved because you were scared he would come back for you."

  It sounded… Nice. Like it would do them well.

  "I don't know. Just something to think about."

  The clerk's desk could be seen from across the room that they walked into.

  "Maybe." Willow thought about it for a couple seconds, and slowly nodded. "I think either way, I need a vacation. Maybe somewhere tropical. We could go to Disney World." She looked up at him with a slight smile. "That would be fun. Although it's going to be a real treat trying to get you an ID and a passport." She sighed, going quiet as she walked up to the clerk's desk, fumbling her wallet from her pocket.

  "Hi." She put on a polite face for the clerk. "I'm here to pay Blake Medea's bail."

  She really owed Blake.

  The clerk nodded her head and handed Willow a few papers, smiling. "Will that be cash, credit, debit, or personal check?"

  Nych, meanwhile, looked around the courthouse. Everything about it had changed since he'd been in there last. The televisions alone had become so much more advanced, it was nearly unreal. The paint seemed to shift colors as different things came over the loudspeakers, and the people milling around didn't simply wear black suits anymore.

  There were some very interesting colors.

  "Debit." Willow pulled out her debit card and sighed as she examined the papers. She handed her debit card to the clerk and tucked her hair behind her ears so it was out of the way of her face. She honestly just wanted to get this over and done with, because she needed to go home and sleep. Especially considering what she had planned for the next day. She knew it would put her in a good mood, but she didn't want to be tired.

  Giving sick kids a new chance to live their life normally with robotic limbs was one of the factors that helped her get up in the morning.

  Maybe now it wouldn't be one of the only factors.

  "Alright…" As Willow filled out the papers, the clerk checked all the right boxes on her computer to make sure that everything would go as needed. "So. The bail for Blake Medea. Five thousand dollars inclusive. Please sign here…"

  She pointed to a spot on the papers after she stamped it with the
dollar amount, and then proceeded to show her three other places to sign.

  "Alright! You're all set. I'll call the guards now, you can go up to the front to wait."

  With that, the woman turned, and began dialing on her phone.

  Willow nodded, and turned back towards Nych with a weary sigh.

  She looked exhausted.

  She took his hand and led him over towards the front of the building where there were some chairs to sit in. Willow practically collapsed into one with a huff, and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm just going to order Chinese food for dinner." She said after a moment. "I don't feel like cooking." She lolled her head to rest on Nych's shoulder, and after a second closed her eyes.

  In a few moments, Blake was led to the front by one of the officers, who left when she told them that she was with Willow. Blake walked over to her and Nych with a smile, and bumped against Willow's shoulder.

  "So. A fifteen-year-old crime, it fucking works, and I still get pinned for this? Damn. Life's rough."

  She knew she wouldn't get slammed for this. Watching the bail hearing had made that clear enough, and Nych's little intrusion had caused the prosecutor to fall apart.

  "Don't beat yourself up; I wouldn't take it back even if I was put away. But if you want to make it up for me, there is one thing you could do."

  "Ugh." Willow grumbled, and wrapped her arms around Blake. "I'm still sorry I got you dragged into this." She sighed, looking at Blake and tilting her head to the side. "I have no real desire to be here any longer than I already have, so let's leave now." She gestured for them to follow her and left the building as they started walking towards her car. Once there, she unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver’s seat, waiting for everyone else to get in as well.

  Willow looked over at Blake when she got into the car, an eyebrow raised. "Alright. What do you want from me?"

  She was kind of curious, but she sort of expected it to be something dumb. Like a tub of ice cream.

  Blake looked to her, and wondered what she'd think of what she was going to say.

  "There's someone in there who was arrested for lighting some fireworks in a backyard. Nothing too serious, but… Could you get your lawyer to represent her? She's got no money for a decent one, and is going to accept the state's appointed one. I'd really rather she didn't have to do that."

  Well… For the first time in a long time, Blake had asked for something selfless.

  It was a miracle.

  Willow was quiet for a second. "… Well, alright. If that's what you want." She wasn't one to ask questions when it came to Blake.

  She turned her car on and pulled out of the courthouse parking lot, weaving through the various idiots trying to get in. "Do you know her name? I'll call my lawyer when we get back to the house." Honestly, she was kind of surprised. Maybe the woman had somehow struck her fancy? Nobody knew when it came to Blake.

  "By the way, does Chinese food sound good?" She asked. "I'm not cooking."

  "Her name's Octavia. Never got a last name." Blake said, staring out the window. Nych had sat in the back, and was staring towards the sun.

  "It's so weird… I don't have to look away from it. I can just… Stare."

  The blinding rays of the sun no longer blinded him, or hurt his eyes in the slightest.

  It was the strangest thing.

  "Yeah, Chinese sounds good." Blake chuckled, staring forward. A robot, a genius, and a criminal sat in the car together. They were quite an interesting team.

  They soon arrived back at Willow's house, and she opened the car door to see several garbage bags full of who-knows-what beside the steps. Willow furrowed her brows in confusion, walking over and prodding at the bags, before she opened the door to the house. "Terry?" She called into it.

  "Hey!" He called back from another room. "How'd it go?" He walked out towards the entryway, running his fingers through his hair.

  "It went well." She nodded at him, and then gestured to the garbage bags. "What are these?"

  "I bagged up all of Marcus' shit." A sly grin spread across his face. "I'll get my truck and take it all to the dump tomorrow while you're at work. Took a couple hours, but Ais and Dean helped. I paid them in cookies, hope you don't mind."

  Nych walked slowly up the stairs and inside, looking around for Aisling. He didn’t really care to hear about what they would be doing with Marcus’ belongings. Eventually, he found her in her room.

  "Hey kiddo." He said, smiling lightly.

  "Don't worry about what happened earlier. Blake is going to be fine."

  He figured the kids had probably worried about her.

  At least, Aisling had probably worried about her.

  "Nych!" Aisling's eyes lit up when he entered the room, taking a break from making a massive Lego tower with Dean. She ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him with a grin and looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Blake's okay?" She frowned slightly after a moment, furrowing her brows as a look of concern crept across her features. "Uncle Terry said she had to go but that she'd be back soon. Is she back now?"

  Aww. She was so cute.

  "Did Aunt Willow bring dinner?" Dean asked after a moment. "We're hungry, but dad said he wasn't gonna cook yet since he wasn't sure if you guys were going to bring food home."

  Nych chuckled. Of course Dean was only worried about food.

  "She's ordering Chinese food. In fact, you two should probably run along and tell her what you want." He said, pushing Aisling lightly towards the kitchen. He could hear Willow asking Terry and Blake what they wanted, and he sighed in contentment.

  It had been a more exciting day than he would have anticipated.

  "You too, Dean." He said, standing aside and allowing him to pass through the doorway.

  Dean nodded, standing up and following after his little cousin who bolted towards the kitchen.

  "I want almond chicken!" Aisling ran into the room, colliding with her mother and wrapping her arms around her with a grin. She looked over at Blake, and her eyes lit up with a gasp. "Blake!" She ran over to hug her instead, squishing her cheek against the woman's stomach. "You're back! Where did you go?" Thankfully, it seemed Terry hadn't told the children that she had been arrested, though it was unlikely it would've impacted their view of her.

  Aisling loved Blake.

  Willow laughed softly. "Okay. I'll get some almond chicken."

  Blake chuckled, tussling her hair. "I just had a few errands to run, nothing really important. I'm back now, though, and I'm staying for a while." Truthfully, Blake didn't know if she would be going to the party.

  Octavia had made her bolder. Did she really want to go back to Emma? Was that really what she wanted?

  She receded into her own little world, and Nych, having followed from the bedroom, knew the signs of that.

  "Hey Aisling, wanna build a huge Lego tower before dinner gets here?" He asked, holding out a hand.

  Aisling looked over at Nych, and then smiled and nodded as she took his hand. "Yeah!" She bounced on the balls of her feet, brushing her messy orange hair back away from her face. "Come on! I have all my Lego in my bedroom! Dean, you come too!" She lightly tugged on Nych's hand, starting to lead him towards her room. Dean quickly told his father what he wanted and then followed after them.

  Willow watched them go with a smile, and then phoned the Chinese place to place their order.

  "… So." Terry waved his hand in front of Blake's face to get her attention, and then gestured for her to sit down. "What's on your mind?"

  Blake came out of her trance, and then smiled at him warmly. "I don't know these days, Terry. If I want to be with Emma, I have to go to this party, but…"

  She contemplated not telling him. He didn't need to get tangled up in her romance drama.

  "I just don't know if that's what I really want anymore. I love her, but… We aren't very good for each other, I'd say."

  That was the most adult thing Blake had ever said.

  Terry nodded at
her and sat down at the dining room table. "I imagine this isn't the first time you guys have had a split like this." He studied her face knowingly, and after a moment a slight smile worked across his features. "Look, from what I know, there are some people in this world that you might love more than anything that you sure as hell can't be with. You've got to decide if it's really worth chasing after them all the time."

  He rested his head on one hand, and shrugged his shoulders. "Are you really happy with her, or are you just walking on eggshells all the time and relying on her because she's all you've ever known?"

  … He brought up a good point.

  Blake sighed, shrugging slightly, but smiling a determined smile.

  "I guess that's just what I'll have to figure out, Terry."

  Willow had, by this time, finished ordering, and sat down at the table with them.

  "But let's not talk about my romantic endeavors." Blake said, with a evil smile on her face. "Let's talk about the queen of romance, who brought her dead lover back to life. How long did you know him? Four days?"

  Willow blinked at Blake, and after a moment set her phone down and rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up." She pulled her hair down from the bun it had been stuffed in all day and ran her fingers through it to try and relieve her poor scalp. "Even if I hadn't been with him at the time, I still would've tried to bring him back. He's brilliant, and I hate to think about what kind of scientific advancements could've been made had he been alive those fifteen years."

  "Oh my god, you're such a nerd." Terry rolled his eyes. "Get a life, you science freak."

  "You're just jealous because I'm better off than you." Willow scoffed at him.

  Meanwhile, Nych sat with Aisling and Dean, and was teaching them everything they had to know about structural integrity.

  "Alright, so the bigger the bottom, the more stable it is." He explained, since they were angry their one lego wide tower wasn't standing upright.

  "So, say you have twenty as the bottom…" He began laying pieces out, and he had to say, Aisling had a lot of Lego. It was actually pretty funny, considering it had been fifteen years. Lego was still a thing?