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I stand, confused, until 6:07 am. Nobody comes to say anything to me. It is as though I don’t exist at all. My role is filled, my space is claimed. I am obsolete. The thought gives me a headache. I am a good worker. This is my role. My job. But it is not my role. My job. I feel my thoughts starting to curl around on each other in confusion. I don’t know what to do.
A voice I do not know speaks inside me.Follow your instincts.
What a nice thought. I wonder what instincts are.
I walk out of the factory. I should return to my room. Instead, I turn toward the docks. I don’t know why. At this time of the morning, there are many workers thronging the streets. I blend in among the gray and beige smocks until I leave the last monitored point and keep walking. I am out of bounds. Someone should be trying to stop me. But I am also not out of bounds. I am at my desk. I am doing my job. Someone who is not me has become me. That was nice of them.
The water at the docks is blue today, sparkling with sun. I stand at the edge of the sea wall for what feels like a long time, though it is probably only a few minutes.
A big, heavy, muscular arm drapes itself around my neck. I look up to see a tall, broad, handsome man smiling down at me with the light of love in his eye. I do not know why he is so happy to see me, but it is impossible not to feel joy when looked at in such a way. I am accustomed to blank stares that go through me and find the wall behind me. This is a look of care that finds the core of me and wraps around me and makes me cozy in the early morning sun.
“Hello, Dreamy,” he says. “You’re right where you should be.”
I smile at him. I have no idea what that means, but it feels nice to hear. He does seem to have been either waiting for me or looking for me. Either one of those options is very flattering.
“I’m Shah,” he says. “Do you remember me?”
I shake my head. “I think I’d like to, but I don’t.”
His face falls slightly. I have disappointed him, and I feel a pang of sadness at having done that. He seemed so happy to see me. And here I am, not having the foggiest idea who he is.
“You’re mine,” Shah says sternly. “I know that you don’t remember a lot of what happened prior to this point, but I need you to understand, Dreamy, that you belong to me. The things I’ve done to claim you are… well…”
“Illegal?” I am teasing, because of course they are illegal. Everything Shah does is illegal. I can tell he’s a criminal. He wears that criminality on every inch of his massive body.
“Illegal, yes,” he laughs. “And extreme.”
“Why would you do that for me?”
“Because you sacrificed yourself for me and my crew more than once. Because you’re the only woman I ever want in my life or my bed.”
“I don’t remember.”
“I know. But I’m going to abduct you from this Colony now and never bring you back. I hope that’s okay. If it’s not, too bad.”
With that, he picks me up. I find myself pressed against his rock hard, very tall, very powerful body. It’s a very pleasant feeling, though did he just ask me if I minded being abducted? Being abducted seems like something I should resist. How would I go about resisting? His arms are like two big muscular bands of steel, and he’s using them to hold me so tenderly.
He carries me into a nearby bar with a Greek symbol above the door, the sort of place only criminals and reprobates frequent. I seem to remember that a place like this is not for me. I am not supposed to be here. I have no choice but to be here, of course. He has taken me, and so I was taken. Not my fault.
A dozen people turn toward us as we enter. They are a fascinating and motley crew of handsome, strange, beautiful men and women, all of whom seem very pleased.
“Dreamy!” Everybody shouts the name he used for me.
I don’t recognize any of them. But they certainly seem to know me, and they’re happy about it. I lift my hand in something like a wave.
“She doesn’t remember, so don’t scare the shit out of her,” Shah calls out to them. “And don’t let her out of our sight.”
Shah
The plan worked perfectly. Zeki is now coded with Dreamy’s data. She is no longer Zeki. She is Unit 4392. Early this morning we dropped her off on the docks and she walked up toward the factory like the good little wind-up worker she is now. That means as far as the Colony is concerned, Dreamy is present, correct, and accounted for. That means the real Dreamy, my Dreamy, can be retired from the system without anybody noticing. She’s free. Properly free. With Zeki taking her place, there’s nobody left to plot against her, and me, and everybody we care about.
We’ve solved every problem we had with this one act. I feel relief and happiness of a kind I have not felt in a long time. I have Dreamy back in my arms, and I have precisely zero inclination to ever let her go.
Malik comes up and nudges me. “Ready to let her use her own legs, bro?”
“No,” I tell him firmly.
“Malik?” Dreamy says his name in curious remembering tones.
