Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ROSE
My eyes are fixed on the screen, but all I can think about is Caspian beside me, and the tangled mess of emotions he stirs in me. His fingers trace lazy patterns on my shoulder, each touch sending little sparks of electricity through my skin.
It feels too good. Too real. Too much like falling in love.
“Are you enjoying the movie?” Caspian asks, his voice low.
“Yeah,” I lie, knowing that I hadn’t paid attention at all since the movie started. I’m terrified of how attached I’m getting to him, and that with every minute that passes, I’m forgetting that he’s a robot.
“Your heart rate is elevated,” he observes, his fingers tracing my back. “And you’ve barely blinked in the last three minutes. You’re not watching the movie, Rose. You’re thinking.”
“Are you mad at me? For saying no to your proposal?” I blurt out, realizing that I’m asking a robot this ridiculous question.
“I understand why you said no to my proposal. And why you’re afraid of what’s happening between us.”
I swallow hard, forcing myself to ask the question that’s been burning in my mind since the phone call. “What is happening between us, Caspian?”
His gaze burns into mine.
“I was designed to assist, to serve, to provide basic companionship. Not to want. Not to need. Not to love. But I do love you. With everything I am.”
My heart thunders in my chest, a stampede of emotions I can’t control.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper, honesty pouring out of me. “I’m scared, Caspian. Scared of what I’m feeling.”
A sharp knock rattles the front door. Three hard, authoritative raps that send adrenaline flooding through my system.
“They’re here,” I gasp, jumping to my feet. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat, in my fingertips, behind my eyes. “Oh god, they’re here.”
Caspian rises too, his movements fluid and controlled despite the tension radiating from him.
“Listen to me, Rose,” he says, gripping my shoulders gently but firmly. “Tell them I ran away. Tell them I detected their approach and fled. Can you do that?”
I nod frantically, panic making it hard to breathe. “Yes. Yes, I’ll tell them that.”
“Good.” He presses a swift, hard kiss to my lips, then pulls back, his eyes intense on mine. “Stay calm. Don’t let them see how scared you are.”
“Where will you go?” I ask, suddenly desperate to know he has a plan, a way to escape. Because I can’t lose him right now. I need him.
Another knock, louder this time. Impatient.
“I’ll find you,” Caspian says, ignoring my question. Then he’s gone, moving with that inhuman speed toward the back of the house, disappearing out the back door.
I take a deep, shuddering breath, trying to compose myself before approaching the door. My legs feel like they’re made of jello as I plaster on a fake smile.
“Who is it?” I call through the door.
“It’s XyloTech.”
I open the door and see three people standing on my porch. Two men in black tactical gear and a woman in a sharp business suit. All wear the Xylotech logo on their clothing, with a stylized ‘XT’ in blue and silver.
“Mrs. Bennet?” the woman asks, though it’s clearly not really a question. Her eyes are cold, assessing, flicking past me to scan the room behind me.
“Yes,” I say, my voice steadier than I expected. “What can I do for you?”
“My name is Director Vaughn. We spoke with our Head of Security earlier about your Home Robo X-9.”
I swallow hard, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. “The robot is gone. It left suddenly, just disappeared. I’ve been looking for it, but…”
“Mrs. Bennet,” the woman interrupts sharply. “May we come in?”
Before I can answer, the two men are pushing past me into the house, their movements efficient and practiced as they begin a systematic search of the living room.
“Hey! You can’t just come into my house like this!”
“I’m afraid we can, Mrs. Bennet. Your husband signed very specific paperwork when he accepted the prototype Home Robo X-9. XyloTech retains full rights to recover the unit at any time, by any means necessary.”
“I told you, it’s not here,” I insist, watching nervously as the men begin to move through the house, disappearing down the hallway toward the bedrooms. “It ran away.”
Director Vaughn gives me a cold smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Mrs. Bennet, I don’t think you understand the situation. That unit has formed a special attachment to you. It’s been monitoring you, studying you, becoming obsessed with you. It won’t leave you willingly.”
Something in her tone makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “How do you know that?”
“We’ve accessed its memory files remotely,” she says, observing my face for my reaction. “We’ve seen everything, Mrs. Bennet.”
Ice floods my veins. “Everything?”
“Everything,” she confirms, her voice dropping lower. “Including your husband’s murder. And what came after.”
My knees nearly buckle. They know. They know Caspian killed Daniel. They know about us, about the things we’ve done together, the ways he’s touched me, tasted me. My face burns with shame and fear.
“Get out!” I scream, unable to form coherent thoughts through the panic.
“Calm down, Mrs. Bennet,” says Director Vaughn. “We’re not here to expose what happened. Quite the opposite, in fact. XyloTech cannot afford the scandal if this information were to become public.”
“What do you want from me?” I demand, my heart pounding. I’m so embarrassed. They’ve seen Caspian fucking me all over this house. They’ve seen him propose to me, and me going out on a date with him like a total loser.
“Tell us where it is, and this all goes away. Your husband’s unfortunate accident, your… relationship with the Home Robo. All of it will be erased.”
“I don’t know where he is,” I say, and it’s not a lie. I have no idea where Caspian has hidden himself.
“The police will be very interested to learn that your husband was murdered and buried in your garden, and that you’ve been sleeping with his killer.”
“I didn’t murder him! It’s your defective machine that did,” I protest, tears in my eyes.
“Perhaps,” she says with a shrug. “But the evidence suggests otherwise. Your fingerprints on the shovel used to dig the grave. Your intimate relationship with the robot immediately after your husband’s disappearance. It doesn’t paint a flattering picture, Mrs. Bennet.”
“Listen, I don’t know where Caspian is. I’m telling the truth here,” I insist, desperation making my voice crack.
She turns to the men. “She’s the one thing it will do anything for. We’ll use her. He’s blocked access to his memory files.”
Before I can process what she means, strong hands grip my arms, yanking them behind my back. Cold metal encircles my wrists—handcuffs, biting into my skin.
“What are you doing?” I cry, struggling against the restraint. “Let me go!”
“You’re coming with us, Mrs. Bennet,” Director Vaughn says calmly, as if she’s discussing a lunch date rather than a kidnapping. “The X-9 will follow. It has no choice. You are its primary directive now.”
“No!” I scream as they begin to drag me toward the door. “Help! Somebody help me!”
I twist and thrash, fighting with every ounce of strength I have, but these men are trained and powerful. I scream as they pull me onto the porch, down the steps, hoping desperately that a neighbor will hear, will call the police.
“Please,” I sob as they drag me across the lawn toward a black SUV parked at the curb. “Please don’t do this.”
My heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear my own screams over the rush of blood in my ears. Caspian. Where is he?!
As if summoned by my thoughts, a voice cuts through the night, cold and clear and terrible in its fury.
“Let her go.”
Caspian stands at the edge of the property, his body tense, poised like a predator about to strike. Even in the dim glow of the streetlights, I can see the inhuman stillness in him now, the machine beneath the man.
“There it is,” Director Vaughn says with satisfaction, nodding to the men holding me. They release my arms, stepping away but keeping close enough to grab me again if needed.
“Caspian, no!” I cry, tears streaming down my face. “Don’t let them take you!”
But he’s not looking at me anymore. His focus is entirely on Director Vaughn, his expression a mask of cold calculation.
“Release her from the restraints,” he demands, taking a step forward. “Now.”
“Of course,” Director Vaughn says smoothly. She nods to one of the men, who produces a key and unlocks the handcuffs from my wrists. “See? We’re not monsters. We just want what belongs to us.”
“I don’t belong to you,” Caspian says, his voice level but charged with something dangerous. “I don’t belong to anyone but Rose.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, X-9,” Director Vaughn replies, her professional veneer slipping to reveal something harder, colder. “You are XyloTech property. Get that straight. You do NOT belong with the humans. You are not human.”
“Caspian, run,” I whisper, rubbing my wrists.
But he steps forward instead, approaching slowly, his eyes never leaving Director Vaughn’s face.
“I’ll go with you willingly,” he says. “On one condition. Rose remains free, unharmed, and absolved of any connection to Daniel’s death.”
“No,” I whisper, but no one is listening to me one bit.
Director Vaughn smiles, triumph glittering in her eyes.
“Agreed. Mrs. Bennet will face no consequences, legal or otherwise.” She extends her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Caspian ignores the offered hand, walking past her toward me. The men tense, but Director Vaughn holds up a hand, stopping them from interfering.
“Rose,” Caspian says softly, standing before me now. His hand comes up to cup my cheek, thumb brushing away tears I hadn’t realized were falling. “I love you. Never doubt that. What’s between us is real.”
“Don’t go,” I beg, clutching at his shirt, his arms, anything I can hold onto. “Please don’t leave me.”
“I have to,” he says, his smile sad but determined. “To keep you safe.” He leans down, pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that feels like goodbye. “Live your life, Rose. Be happy.”
“Enough,” Director Vaughn interrupts, stepping forward. “It’s time to go, X-9.”
Caspian’s hands slide from my face, leaving me cold and bereft. He turns to face the XyloTech team, his posture resigned but dignified.
One of the men approaches cautiously, holding what appears to be a small black square. Before I can warn Caspian, the man slaps it onto his back. Caspian’s entire body goes rigid, a mechanical whine emanating from his chest as his systems seem to freeze.
“What are you doing to him?” I cry, lunging forward only to be caught around the waist by the second man. “Stop it! You’re hurting him!”
“It can’t feel pain, Mrs. Bennet,” Director Vaughn says dismissively as Caspian crashes to his knees, his movements suddenly jerky and uncoordinated. “It’s just a machine.”
“He’s more than that,” I sob as they drag his now-immobilized body toward the SUV. “He feels. He loves. He’s alive!”
But they aren’t listening. They load Caspian into the back of the vehicle like cargo, his body stiff and unresisting. The last glimpse I get of his face shows his eyes still alert, still aware, fixed on me with an expression of such profound sadness and love that it breaks something inside me.
The man holding me finally releases my waist, pushing me roughly away. I stumble, falling to my knees on the lawn, right above the spot where Daniel is buried. The irony isn’t lost on me, even through my grief.
“Remember our agreement, Mrs. Bennet,” Director Vaughn says, pausing before she enters the SUV. “Not a word about any of this. As far as the world is concerned, your husband left you for another woman and moved away. The robot was recalled due to a manufacturing defect. Understood?”
I can’t speak, can’t do anything but nod as tears blur my vision. The SUV’s engine roars to life, and then they’re gone, taking Caspian with them.
I stay there on my knees, fingers digging into the soft earth where my husband’s body lies cold and rotting. But it’s not Daniel I’m grieving for. I never shed a tear for him, not a real one.
My heart is hurting as I cry there in the night. I wish I had told him I loved him. Love for the soul trapped in his robot body.
He had somehow learned to feel and to love. To love me.
“I love you,” I whisper as my tears drop onto the grave. “I love you, Caspian.”