Shelly is released from the hospital heartbroken and feeling alone. Will her family cheer her up, or drive her into a deeper depression? And what has Jessica been up to this whole time?

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Chapter 16
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Prime Directives

Shelly signed the documents, allowing her to leave the hospital. She could have walked out, but they had a silly policy about wheeling patients out the front door, regardless of their condition. Did they think she was going to trip and sue them?

“You’re agitated,” Sonia stated as she pushed the wheelchair. “I thought you’d be happy to get out of here.”

“I didn’t think your software included reading minds,” Shelly snapped, and immediately felt sorry for it. She knew Sonia could read her body language and temperature. She was a sophisticated piece of machinery. She could probably even sense Shelly’s pheromones, and extrapolate data from that. “I’m sorry. I know I should be happy, but I’m tired of being treated like a child. I can take care of myself. I’m all healed up. I don’t need this chair. I can walk. And as much as I enjoy your company, it’s been a couple weeks since the explosion. I don’t need you protecting me all the time.”

“Of course not. You have your big girl panties on, and don’t need anyone.” Was that hurt in her voice? Shelly knew she could emulate emotions, but what was the point in acting hurt right then? “You’ve been acting surly ever since Jessica abandoned you. Knowing that you gave away your father’s secret, and being trapped in that hospital haven’t made you any nicer.”

“Don’t forget about Becky dying, or Areth giving up her life, either,” Shelly grew defensive. “Everything has gone downhill lately, and I’ve been next to useless. What good am I, huh? All those years of training to protect others and to fight for what’s right…. Where’s it gotten me? I couldn’t save anyone. I don’t even know what’s right anymore! I fell in love with my own sister, and I…. We….”

Shelly stopped moving forward suddenly, and Sonia rounded the chair to confront her. She found herself weightless as Sonia gripped her under her arms and lifted her into the air. Anger blazed behind the android’s green eyes. Shelly hoped it was her imagination, but she thought she saw arcs of electricity behind her pupils. Sonia brought their faces together, until Shelly was certain of the blue-green sparks.

“I have known a lot of soldiers,” Sonia informed her through clenched teeth. Had Shelly really thought that the android’s emotions were synthesized? “I have known men and women who went into certain defeat, only to walk away victorious. I’ve seen brave men run from spiders and snakes, and cowards stand up to overwhelming odds. Do you want to know what always made the difference?”

A male orderly approached, a concerned look on his face as he asked Shelly, “Do you need some help ma’am?”

“Official business,” Sonia stated without looking over. “You know who I am. Everything is in order. Make sure we’re not disturbed further.”

“Yes, Agent Sonia,” the orderly stated. He gave Shelly an uncertain look, but she shook her head and the man turned to do as he was told.

She turned back to Sonia, her heart still pounding, but a little calmer. “What made the difference?”

“Heart,” Sonia informed her as though that was the answer to everything. “I haven’t known your family for long, but the CIA and the FBI, and a number of other agencies that I’m not even allowed to admit exist have a huge dossier on your family. You wouldn’t believe the amount of detail that’s in it. I have access to all of it. Guess what’s not in it?”

“Why ask? You’re going to tell me anyway,” Shelly muttered.

“Damn it!” Sonia swore and let go. Shelly wasn’t expecting to be released and she collapsed into the chair. “I understand you’re hurt because you lost someone, but—”

“Not someone,” she spat and jumped to her feet. Or tried to. Sonia stood her ground and Shelly ended up bouncing off her and sitting back down. “We lost Becky and Areth. In a way, we lost Gloria and Jessica also. And for what? What do we have to show for it?”

Shelly heard the other woman grinding her teeth before she spoke. “I’ll have to update your file that you’re a quitter.” Sonia’s voice sounded final and resolved as she spoke. “I have the most powerful processors known to mankind, but I can’t figure you out. Compared to me, you’re a ghost driving a meat-covered skeleton made from stardust. You can change forms, and do things most humans only dream of. Yes, you live a violent and dangerous life. You have to fight more than most people. Not only does that mean you’ll end up losing more than most, but it also means you’ll end up living more than most. Do you think either Becky or Areth would want you moping around like this? Stand up and grow a pair!”

Shelly felt something turn in her stomach. It lurched up past her heart, making it flop for a moment before working its way into her throat. When it burst free, she finally recognized it for what it was. She laughed, and then laughed harder. Her sides ached, but still she laughed. She couldn’t help it. It struck her as hilarious. “Grow a pair!” she gasped, and then broke down into hysterics again. She clutched at her stomach as she doubled over in the wheelchair. “I… I think… you have… some… wires crossed. Grow a pair?” She continued to chuckle and wheeze, having to wipe at her eyes. “My brother can change… to grow a different pair… I can’t—” She cut off, her laughter overcoming her again.

“It wasn’t that funny,” Sonia groused. “You know what I meant.”

Something in her tone sobered Shelly a bit. She looked at the android and realized she may have actually offended her. Scooting the wheelchair back a little, she was able to stand. Sonia looked at her, wary for some reason. Shelly felt like crap, knowing she’d been rude, but Sonia was just a robot. Sure, she was incredibly lifelike, and she’d been at Shelly’s side for the last two weeks as she recovered, appearing to care, but Shelly knew it was all programming and electricity.

“I’m sorry, Sonia. I know I’ve been an ogre to deal with. I didn’t mean to offend you, I—“ She was cut short as Sonia pulled her into a bear hug. “Are you sure you’re an android?” she gasped as she tried to breathe. Sonia was acting too emotional.

The second she finished asking the question, she was released from the hug. Sonia blinked repeatedly as she looked at Shelly. Her brows knit together for a few seconds before she dropped her gaze down.

“Something is wrong with my programming,” she admitted and shuffled her feet. “Ever since I entered your mind, something has been wrong with me. All my diagnostics come back clean, but my emotions have been stronger than my emotional subroutines can account for. I can’t entirely turn off my emotions, either. I tried. I’m in charge of my body, but not my emotions. I can’t figure out why.”

“Welcome to being a woman,” Shelly muttered, then felt guilty again as Sonia’s shoulders slumped further. “Sorry. Do you think entering my mind messed you up somehow?”

“Not really,” Sonia said and turned away from Shelly. “I’ve had to do that before while on missions, and it never affected me. Why should you be different?”

“Why indeed?” Shelly tried not to feel insulted from the easy comment. She didn’t think Sonia meant to be rude or condescending. In fact, why should Shelly be different? Just because they’d fooled around in her Mens Mundi? “I was in my Mens Mundi at the time. Maybe that had something to do with it?”

Sonia was quiet for a long time. Shelly placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder, trying to comfort her, and wondering at the switch in their positions. Just a moment ago, it was Sonia trying to get Shelly out of her funk. After a moment, Sonia placed her hand over Shelly’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“There you two are,” Sheldon’s voice boomed to them. “We were starting to worry about you.”

Shelly glared at her twin as she felt Sonia tense up under her hand. Of course he would come in and ruin the moment. Sonia dropped her hand and stepped away.

Shelly followed Sonia from the lobby without saying anything to her brother, and without sitting back in the pointless wheelchair. Sheldon still had that annoying golden glow around him.

Outside she found her parents, Mandy, and Shlee waiting beside the Orange Bubble. There was also a massive crowd being held back by a security force. Cameras flashed and cheers erupted as she stepped into the afternoon sunlight. She hadn’t expected this. What was happening? Why were these people here?

Her mom pulled her into a tight hug, almost matching the strength of Sonia’s embrace a moment ago. She felt her father’s strong arms encircle them both a moment later.

“Glad to have you out and free again,” Lyden said as she felt his love and warmth envelope her. She hugged them back, feeling better than she had in some time.

“Oh, sure!” Sheldon complained to Shelly. “They get hugs, but I get a cold shoulder.”

“Sheldon?” a female voice called out from the crowd. She had long red hair, and a tight-fitting black miniskirt. “Sheldon Snow? Was that you at the club? I’ve been trying to talk to you! Sheldon! Please look at me!”

“A new girlfriend?” Shelly couldn’t help but tease her brother. “She doesn’t even know your correct last name.”

“No, I don’t think I know her,” Sheldon looked confused.

“She seems to know you,” Shlee teased him. “Or maybe she just wants to know you?”

“Another broken heart left behind?” Mandy asked with a smirk right afterwards.

“I honestly don’t know who she is!” Sheldon glanced from them to the woman waving frantically at them. She was attractive, if dressed a little slutty, and seemed desperate to get past the police holding the crowd back.

Shelly enjoyed watching her brother grow flustered by the other two women. At the same time, she was glad that he was no longer keeping them at arm’s length. It seemed the three had acquired a balance between them.

For a moment she felt empty inside. Eldon had two beautiful women to replace Gloria, while she had no one to fill the hole Jessica left behind. Jealousy wormed its insidious way into her. It wasn’t fair! She’d never felt the need to have someone else in her life, but now that Jessica had abandoned her, she had no one. Her brother’s girlfriends may have been forced on him, and she knew he still pined after Gloria, but at least he had girls that cared about him, and loved him. Even Bridgette ended up with a new boyfriend in the form of Oberon, King of the Fairies.

And now here was another attractive woman chasing after her brother. Why should he get all the love, and she get nothing?

“Her name is Megan Raquel Myers,” Sonia informed them. “She is currently unemployed. She has no children. She is twenty-six years old. According to her last driver’s license, she is five foot seven, and weighs a hundred and five pounds. In truth, she weighs closer to one-twenty. She has red hair and brown eyes. She broke up with her boyfriend after kissing a stranger in a nightclub a couple months ago, according to social media. She—”

“Thanks, National Registry,” Sheldon complained, “but that tells me nothing. I still don’t know who she is. Sounds like she’s human, and I don’t know many of them.”

“We should get out of here before this crowd grows any more unruly,” Sonia turned back to face them. She glared at Sheldon for a moment before taking Shelly’s arm and heading for the car. The crowd roared again, but she tried to ignore them.

“I can walk on my own,” Shelly tried to pull her arm away, but Sonia’s grip was too strong. It didn’t hurt, but Shelly didn’t appreciate being treated like an invalid either. “Let go of me.”

“As soon as you’re safely inside,” Sonia told her.

Shelly ground her teeth as she was forced into the Orange Bubble. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she shook Sonia from her and stomped to the back. Everyone else clambered in, but Shelly turned her back on them. She was glad to be out of the hospital, but she couldn’t stand seeing how Shlee and Mandy hung on her brother. Even seeing her mother waiting hand and foot on her father sickened her. Between the crowd outside and Sonia treating her like a porcelain doll, the laughter earlier was gone from her heart.

“Your heart rate is elevated,” Sonia stated behind Shelly. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Why do you even care?” Shelly snapped, though she kept her voice low enough to not be heard by anyone with normal hearing. “Don’t you have some terrorists to kill, or the president to save?”

She didn’t receive an answer right away, and for a moment she thought Sonia had left her alone. So alone. When Sonia did answer, there was no doubting the anger behind the voice. “I care, because I care. My current assignment is to make sure your family stays safe. That crowd out there idolizes your family right now, but that doesn’t mean someone with ill intent might not be hiding among them. I demanded this assignment. I refused to let anyone else take it. I thought that maybe you… you were happy for a moment in the lobby. I don’t like seeing you like this. Do I need to tell you to grow a pair again?”

Shelly had the feeling Sonia had wanted to say something else when she hesitated, but couldn’t think what it might have been. Part of her appreciated Sonia taking time to talk to her, but part of her felt it was an intrusion. That latter part won out when something else she’d said struck her.

“So you only care about my safety because this is your mission? Well, I’m fine, okay? In here, I’m safe. There are very few creatures that could hurt us in this car. You can relax and leave me alone.” Her voice rose as she spoke, but she didn’t care. What did any of it matter?

“Are you even listening to me?” Sonia gripped her shoulder and turned her torso around to face the android. Shelly saw that everyone was watching them, but she didn’t care anymore. She was used to not having any privacy. “I told you I care. I demanded to be on this duty. I wanted to be… I wanted… I thought that you… Damn it! How do you humans deal with these out-of-control emotions?”

“What are you talking about?” Shelly asked, seeing some inner struggle cross the android’s face.