Chapter 29 - Meet your maker

The clock ticked at a constant annoying rate on the pristine white wall of the waiting room. A Female artificial bearing the name of Olga with brown hair, perfect makeup wrapped in a tight designer's dress sat with crossed legs in front of a glass desk. Behind her, Sognare's logo shone in golden letters. Her pink bracelet chimed which was unusual for an artificial to wear since they come equipped with internal communication interfaces. She looked up at us sitting on an L-shape white leather couch.

"Doctor Churchhill will see you now," she chanted in a joyful tone. She got up in a fluid gesture, pulled down the short dress to cover her long perfect legs. I felt tiny and unworthy just looking at her bounced off her high heels to the door marked 'Workshop no admittance'. Demos who was sitting beside me got to his feet first and held out a hand for me, which I refused. I was still pissed at him for yesterday.

We followed Miss tight dress down red stairs to a tall ceiling warehouse. I fumed as Demos check her out from the corner of the eye. I bet she didn't wear anything under that tight-fitting outrage of a dress. I averted my eyes from those legs crisscrossing as they made their way in the warehouse. I focused on the surrounded instead, my eyes roamed on the different sections. On the left imposing machinery and automated arms. On the right behind clear plastic curtains, what appeared to be a sculpting studio. We followed her to the far corner of the workshop where sat three people on cheap red plastic chairs surrounded with spare parts bound in bubble wraps. Legs and arms hang from the ceiling making an eerie picture. I recognized Grant from the three people instantly. He looked up with a smile.

"Liliane!" he called as he bounced to his feet. I rushed to him and threw my arms around his neck. He chuckled in my hair.

"I'm also happy to see you," he hugged me back with one arm. I pulled back and saw that the lower half of his arm below the elbow was missing. I covered my mouth staring with wide eyes.

"Oh my god, Grant—" he gave me a timid smile. He waved the severed arm at me.

"Freaky, right?" he giggled. It was definitely not funny. Not after the horrible imagery that played in loops in my head. No the gut-gripping terror of imminent death. I glared at him. He poked my nose with his index. I took a step back and bumped into Demos standing right behind me. We both averted our eyes and moved away. Grant rose a suspicious eyebrow at us.

"What's up with both of you?" he slowly turned to Demos with a frown then quickly faced me with his lips slightly parted.

"What happened between you two?" his silver eyes narrowed at me. Flashed of a passionate kiss in the kitchen punched me in the stomach. I looked at my feet feeling my face heat up. Footsteps tore us from our conversation. A red-haired man wearing a white blouse appeared next to the brunette.

"Miss Blanchère," he nodded to the pale girl in black sitting quietly on the red chair next to a long-haired blond guy missing a right arm. She slightly shook her head without making eye contact. He then turned to us with a nod.

"Miss Kerry, I'm Doctor Higgins Churchhill, but here everyone calls me Church. Since you both have unique companions," he gestured towards us. "I'm happy to see three of my masterpieces in one room—it's been a while," smiled the man. He looked like he was in his late fifties but I might be wrong. His baby blue eyes shone with a bright light.

"Please, wait a minute as I speak to Miss Kerry," Church nodded at the girl who sat as still as a statue. I had trouble telling if she was human. She looked like a life-size doll. The artificial sitting next to her seemed more real than she did.

"This way," he guided us to a door on the left away from the waiting room. Inside was a small office area, which was the opposite of the white storefront. Here, it was a mess with piles of papers stacked in a bookshelf taking most of the left wall. Books, a lot of them, those must cost a fortune. Paper was a luxury. Well, I guess it wasn't for Sognare. There were drawings glued on the walls, cross-section of body parts, and things I had no idea what they represented—some sort of machine. Opposite to the door was an old tiny wooden desk behind which the doctor sat. I took the only seat available facing him while Demos and Grant stood behind me. I twisted the hem of my shirt to keep my hands from shaking. The doctor gave me a smile and pulled his led-pad from a drawer.

"Well, Miss Kerry, I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident, know that our army of lawyers will hunt down that rascal and will make him pay for damaging Grant," he raged shaking a fist in the air. "My work—each of them is like my children. Each, unique in their own way. I pour my heart into making them more than just machines at our service," he smiled to the small marble sculpture depicting a nude girl with a headdress standing on his desk along with various other odd objects. I squinted my eyes at the girl, she looked like the one in the tight dress. I shuddered at it. The doctor was creepy.

"Mm—sorry to interrupt, is it serious? I mean Grant's arm. Cause he looked sick and we had to switch him off," I leaned forward to get his attention. His smile dropped, he ran his hand in his thick hair.

"Grant and Demos are unique because I only split an AI twice. The other two being female companions for a Russian client. Splitting in rare and not stable," he paused and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "I can't believe he used a plasma blade—I had to replace the reinforced carbon structure below the medial epicondyle—the elbow joint, the ulna, the radius, and the delicate hand," he signed while shaking his head. "Since Grant was custom made and very few Helios 2 were sold. It will take a little time to finish the repairs. Right now, we have three companions for maintenance in this workshop. Our three printers are working at full speed to satisfy our clients," I nodded at his explanation even if I only grasped the overall of all the technical speech. He pressed his lips together and frowned.

"However, I've noticed something," he hesitated.

"Something?" I repeated a little worried.

"Yes, Miss Kerry. Grant told me that you haven't synced with them," I dropped my eyes feeling my cheeks flushed. "Oh! Don't get me wrong. I won't dare to ask personal questions. It's just that the Helios series unlike everything Sognare produces are particular. They are emotional units made to experience life through their owner's eyes," he pressed his palms flat on the desk. "When they are not in sync with you they won't work like they were designed to. You should have picked one from the Servus series. They don't need to connect with your brain wave connector and are quite cheap," he turned his led-pad to show different faces with blank smiles.

"Liliane said she needed time to adapt to the new changes in her life," Demos stepped in. Church peeked at him then clicked his gold bracelet.

"Override Master control- Mute," Demos froze with his eyes staring straight ahead. I gasped at him promptly getting up.

"W-what did you do to him?" my hand shook as I brought it to my lips. The doctor calmly looked at me.

"There no need to worry, Miss Kerry. I am no mere technician. I'm their creator. I've sculpted them from nothingness. Coded and carefully crafted every branch of scripts," he gave a slight smile but his blue eyes remained cold. "Miss Kerry, I hope you are taking good care of them. Demos is the upgraded version of the Temus prototype. Normally, the Helios 4 are military grade. I'm here simply cause I'm curious to see who purchased them. I wanted to see if the person is really taking care of them," he frowned at me making my hands all sweaty. I sunk back onto my seat.

"It wasn't my fault—that man at work—he tried to kill me! Grant—" I looked up at him. Grant blinked and smiled back. "Grant saved my life!" the man peeked at Grant then back at me.

"I'm sorry if I seemed a little harsh. I've seen so many strange people in my twenty years in the industry, mostly making artificial for military use, space exploration and now for the past five years, for domestic use. You may never know on what nutcase you may fall," he let out a burst of throaty laughter I nervously joined along. He sprung to his feet and extended his hand.

"I'm happy to meet you, dear client. I hope you enjoy our first-grade products. My assistant will be here shortly for the paperwork," he pulled my hand to his lips. "It's been a pleasure," I quickly pulled my hand away. "I hope you don't come back to the workshop again. Else, I'll be very angry if my artwork is damaged because of poor use," his smile didn't reach his eyes. He moved to the door as he went for the knob he paused.

"And oh, Grant will stay here tonight," he clicked on his bracelet, Demos blinked, he relaxed to his normal state. His trembling fingers came to rest on my shoulder making me jump. When the door closed behind the doctor, leaving us alone in the room Grant glared at Demos.

"Why did you have to talk back at him?" he whispered. I got up on weak legs and threw my arms around Demos' shoulder. His arms warped around me his whole body was shaking.

"I was scared!" I whispered. Grant came to hug us. I stroked his wavy hair.

"I was scared too," Demos admitted.

"I'm sorry—"

"Why are you sorry, Liliane?" Grant whispered in my hair.

"I'll try to treat you better—both of you," I felt better surrounded with their warmth.