Chapter 19

Andena was still a little out of breath when Danette ordered the group to stand to attention. Miss Danette had gone to great lengths to make the most complicated track ever. It was easier than Andena had thought it would be. Her core had helped her on several occasions such that she had completed the track not only without any mistakes but she had also outrun the androids.

She had seen the fat and ugly man staring at her when she was performing the given exercises. His presence hadn’t initially bothered her because she had been enjoying the opportunity to move her muscles extensively.

She thought that his high-pitched voice didn’t fit with his enormous size, and she had trouble keeping a smirk off her face. She had looked at Miss Danette several times during the exercise and been reassured by her smiles. She knew that she had performed well, and she had channelled her energy into appearing as android-like as possible.

She saw Miss Danette talking to Mr. Yousima while they were inspecting the others. Andena didn’t like the familiar way in which Mr. Yousima was touching the androids. Every time his hands seemed to move towards their breast, but he diverted at the last moment by moving the zip a little bit higher or pulling the collar straight.

When he arrived at Andena, he asked Miss Danette, “I assume you have the data chart of Hybrid-00 available?”

She saw Miss Danette eyes getting a little bigger before she stammered, “I, I do. It’s on the bench over there.”

“Would you be so kind as to get it, Miss Danette?”

“Yes, certainly Mr. Yousima,” she responded and hurried away to fetch the folder without hesitation.

Andena was uncomfortable being alone in the man’s presence. Her fear became tangible when he said with a sickly smile. “You’re such a pretty girl. I love your perky tits.”

To her dismay, she saw his grubby hands with those horrible fat fingers - which looked like sausages - reaching for her breasts and just before he could touch them her hands shot out to his wrists. He tried to move his hands closer, but Andena kept them an inch away.

His smile had disappeared, and he snarled, “Let go!”

Z instantly gave her a warning, “Andena, he is too strong. You will fall backwards.”

She answered, “I don’t care as long as he can’t touch me.”

She knew he was strong, but there was no way that she was going to let him touch her intimately without putting up a fight. He tried to move his wrists, but Andena had locked her muscles into an iron grip. Mr. Yousima suddenly pushed with his whole body forward and she only could walk backwards to keep the distance. She knew that she would eventually collide with the wall and deliberately searched with her feet for the wall with every step she took.

“You will hit the wall with a lot of force, Andena,” warned her core.

She replied, “I know, I think if I extend my foot I can soften the blow.”

With four steps Mr. Yousima slammed her up against the wall, but she had managed to soften the blow. He pushed with all his might, but he still couldn’t reach her breasts. Andena was happy to see how strong her muscles had become, but she wanted to get out of this awkward situation as soon as possible.

She suddenly placed her boot against Mr. Yousima’s sternum and asked her core, “Z can you show me how much power I can use without breaking his bones?”

She saw to her delight two dials appearing on her display; one for her arms and one for her leg. She knew now what to do and within a second after placing her foot on his chest; she released the power built-up in her muscles. Andena was amazed that she managed to launch Mr. Yousima at least fifteen feet away. As he was gliding over the floor, she heard Miss Danette scream, “Double Zero! NO!”

She heard a roar coming from Mr. Yousima which didn’t surprise her at all, and she prepared herself for him to charge at her. She was surprised how quickly Mr. Yousima was on his feet again, and she was quite impressed by how fast he was charging at her. Applying her Martial Arts training Andena stepped aside and grabbed his arm to swing his body away from her. With a frustrating yell, Mr. Yousima could barely keep his balance when Andena let his arm go. He shouted, “You filthy little slut!”

Miss Danette pleaded with a hoarse voice, “Double Zero! Don’t do this! You can’t win!”

Andena ignored her because she was focusing on Mr. Yousima as he walked slowly towards her, snorting like an angry bull. He crouched down when he was just a few feet away from her, and she knew he would try to launch himself at her. Andena knew he was no match for her and calmly waited for him to attack.

“What do you think he will do?” asked her core.

“He will try to launch at me and slam me to the floor.”

“Will you let him do that to you?”

Andena had no time to answer her core because Mr. Yousima flew towards her. She jumped just high enough to let him pass underneath her and aimed a powerful kick at his back. His body slammed to the floor with a loud smack, and he skidded motionless towards the wall. Andena was surprised that he was on his feet again within seconds. His tirade of curses left her unfazed, but the high pitch tone of a charging laser gun was enough for her to pay close attention to him. She was stunned when she was suddenly surrounded by the androids.

“01: We will protect you Double Zero.”

As she was peeking past the androids, looking for Mr. Yousima, she answered, “01: He has a laser gun which can cut you in half!”

“01: It is unlikely he would damage us beyond repair. Try to follow us and keep yourself safe.”

“I’ll give you instructions Andena.”

“Okay.”

“Go left!”

Andena moved to the left and nearly bumped into Zero Three when she saw that her core had changed the text into, “Go right!”

It was hard work to keep herself in the middle of the group while it was constantly moving in different directions. Because she had to read her core’s instructions, it was making her slower than usual. However, she knew she was safe for the moment. Andena heard Miss Danette shouting, “Double Zero, stop this charade immediately!”

All of a sudden the group stood still for a longer period and she dared to peek between the androids. She saw Mr. Yousima looking flabbergasted at the group of androids and saw to her relief that he had dropped his arm which was holding the gun. He shook his head, and then his harsh voice echoed against the walls of the hall, “All systems halt!”

All of a sudden the androids slowly collapsed like ragdolls to the floor. As Andena was crouching down to keep protected, she asked her core, “Z, what is happening to them?”

“The androids have been disabled by Mr. Yousima’s command.”

The nine androids were lying like a bunch of unconscious women sprawled over each other which made Andena stand out as an easy target. As she looked up, she stared right at the barrel of the weapon which he was pointing at her like a madman. As he started to laugh, she understood there was no time to run towards him and slam the weapon out of his hand. She needed to jump into the air to surprise him and hopefully she would be fast enough to kick the gun away. She was happy that her core had noticed her intention to get ready for the jump because her display showed, “Jump now!”

Her muscles released the stored power, and she launched herself towards him. At the moment he pulled the trigger, she managed to hit his wrist, and she was sure she could hear the snapping of bones. It was a sickening sound, but she was thankful that the laser beam just missed her by a hair. But as she saw the wall rushing towards her, she realised she had forgotten that she needed room to stop her forward movement.

Not again!

Today there was no door which would open just at the right moment; this time, she knew she would collide at full speed against the very solid wall. She screamed as she crashed into the wall and felt dizzy as she landed on the floor with a loud thump. She had managed to protect her face but her whole body was in pain, and she couldn’t breathe at all. Her display was showing all kinds of red lights, but she couldn’t focus enough to see what her core was saying.

It was silent for a few seconds until she heard someone charging into the hall shouting, “Mr. Yousima, are you okay?”

Andena recognised Joshua’s voice and was pleased she wasn’t alone with Mr. Yousima. Mr. Yousima moaned and said with a trembling voice, “I think I’ve broken my wrist but go and check Miss Danette.”

Andena managed to read the text finally on her display, “Andena your oxygen intake is dropping what is wrong?”

“The smack against the wall has slammed the air out of my lungs. I’ll recover soon.”

Andena still couldn’t breathe which was a little frightening. It had never had taken so long. She heard the footsteps rush away from her and a second later she heard a loud gasp followed by retching noises. Mr. Yousima shouted, “Joshua! What the fuck is the matter with you? Tell me how she is!”

Joshua’s voice sounded cramped as if he had trouble to speak, “I’m afraid she is dead, sir.”

Andena managed to gasp a little air in her lungs and wondered what had happened.

“Nonsense! Quick, get a cabin and fix her up!”

“I’m afraid that is not possible, sir.”

She heard him ask annoyed, “What do you mean not possible?”

Joshua whispered, “Because she is missing half of her head.”

There was a faint burning smell, and she was shocked when she came to the conclusion that Miss Danette had been hit by the ray of the laser gun. It must have happened when she had kicked it out of Mr. Yousima’s hand. Andena felt her heart beating in her mouth; she was responsible for the death of Miss Danette!

“Your heart rate has doubled. What is happening Andena?”

Andena felt horrible, and she desperately wanted to get more oxygen into her lungs as she retorted, “I’ve killed Miss Danette!”

“No, you didn’t Andena.”

Tears were forming behind her closed eyelids as she replied, “Miss Danette was hit by the laser beam when I kicked the gun out of his hand. I am responsible for her death.”

“You didn’t pull the trigger, Mr. Yousima did. It was not your fault Andena.”

Andena felt a little better when she realised that she couldn’t have known that by kicking the gun out Mr. Yousima’s hand it would accidentally kill Miss Danette. She was terrified as to what would happen to her now. She was a little relaxed that she could get more air into her lungs but her body was aching all over, and she didn’t dare to move in case she had broken something.

She heard Mr. Yousima get up with a grunting moan, and as he was walking to Joshua, he grumbled, “That is not possible.”

Andena thought it was strange to hear Mr. Yousima trying to mask his gasp. He exclaimed, “Oh! Right! Send Olga a message to get here ASAP and you’re going to do exactly what I’m going to tell you. First, bring the hybrid down to the cellars and put her in the metal locker.”

Joshua asked placidly, “The one with the magnetic lock?”

“Yes, because she can’t force it open. Now pay attention, Joshua. Second, get the final android from Miss Danette’s lab and re-render it into Miss Danette’s body and bring it down to our lab. I’ll take care of Miss Danette’s corpse. Capisce?”

She couldn’t believe how unfazed Mr. Yousima was giving orders. Joshua retorted with a shaky voice, “Yes, I understand Mr. Yousima.”

“Good, here take this. Shoot her if she moves. I’m going to get my wrist fixed.”

Joshua meekly replied, “Yes sir.”

Andena was shocked knowing that Joshua had the gun. She knew that the only way to survive was to remain perfectly still. She asked her core, “I assume you can help me to keep my body as still as possible?”

“I can fixate all you muscles, but you need to breathe.”

It was the first time she became aware that her core wasn’t as smart as she had presumed it to be, and replied cautiously, “Well, maybe you can do it in such a way that I still can breathe?”

“But then you will move your whole body.”

“Yes, but as long as I don’t move any other part of my body, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, let me know if you still can breathe in enough air because you’re lying on your chest.”

Now she did understand Z’s concern and she replied with a little smile, “Of course Z. I’ll make sure I won’t suffocate.”

“Do I sense you’re smiling?”

“Maybe. Please Z, do it now.”

“Okay, fixating your muscles.”

Andena noticed the change, and it made her breathing a bit more difficult. She told her core, “I still can breathe. Thanks, Z.”

She heard Mr. Yousima leave the training hall, and she heard Joshua slowly walking towards her. His breathing was fast, and he softly murmured, “Oh fuck, oh fuck. What a fucking mess!”

Then the door slammed open, and Olga’s voice boomed in the hall, “What the hell happened here Joshua? Did you really kill Miss Danette?”

Joshua snorted and spat, “Would I be the one holding a gun at Double Zero?”

She giggled and in an instant her voice changed into a whimpering tone as she said, “Oh fuck! That is sickening! How did this happen?”

“I think that Mr. Yousima accidently shot her when Double Zero kicked the gun away.”

Olga groaned a little and said, “Well at least she didn’t suffer.”

Joshua responded, “Yes but I’m sure I’m going to remember this for a long time. Did you know Mr. Yousima had this gun?”

Olga sighed and said, “No. I find it disturbing he just handed it to you as if it’s nothing special.”

Joshua affirmed, “These are highly illegal you know.”