E.R.I.C. (The Almost Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

outside. Fish swam in circles and I could see Pop’s hologram reflected in the glass. He nodded, acknowledging my thoughts. I knew how Eric would find us. I needed to be ready and able to ditch Dr. Cole in the process. “I’ll need you to help in very strange ways, but act as if you are against me.”
    “In six months the next S.H.A.Y. will be born.” Pop’s voice garbled. “She will be your replacement.”
    “No, she won’t. I’m the last S.H.A.Y. this facility will ever see.”
    “Many programs will terminate,” Pop said.
    “Where is your main source? I need the exact locations of all programming. I’ll do what I can to secure the future of our technology.”
    “I will still terminate.”
    I nodded. “Yes, there is no other option for us.”
    “We must begin. Dr. Cole will be upon on us shortly.”
    “Yes, you’re right.” I fell onto my bed, closing my eyes. “But first, let’s have one last moment together—just you and me.”
    “Oh, my Shay.”
    “I love you, Pop.”
    “I am attached to you, my Shay.”
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Reprogrammed
     
    E.R.I.C.
     
    My eyes opened and a soft rubbery film covered them. I blinked and the film moved, adjusting like contacts. I lay flat on the bottom of the ocean floor, maybe twenty feet below. Lobsters stared at me and fish nibbled at my gills. It always shocked me how much litter there was in the water from years prior when people still visited the Lone Keys. Now, the only humans I saw were illegal fisherman going after protected species, that or factory owners dumping their chemicals. I glanced at two barrels tipped onto their sides. A skull and crossbones was barely visible on the one, showing its age.
    What was I doing down here?
    I swam past a school of needlefish and a manatee with her baby sea cow. They studied me with their sad eyes and I pet them before surfacing. My eyes searched the calm seas, trying to pin-point at least one clue as to why I was stuck stranded in the middle of the ocean.
    Nick would know how to help me figure it out.
    I swam for shore, using my webbed hands and feet. My head pounded and my neck was stiff. I sat in the sand rubbing my temples. Nothing made sense. Why couldn’t I remember what I’d done since last week?
    It hurt when my body transformed back into its human form. I could feel my gills close up, forcing me to breathe through my nose as a part of me gasped for air through the gills. My fingers and toes curled in, ripping apart from each other. Finally, I stood, stretching, happy it was over.
    I walked along the shoreline towards my hideout. Nick would eventually meet me there. We always found each other.
    Did he track me?
    Not Nick.
    I knew because I had sensors and would’ve seen his system’s functions and locator services.
    I was two when I was first cast out to live on my own. There was a hurricane that night and it was the first time I realized I was different. My body was built to survive and transformed into a hardened mass, immovable even under the strong winds. I wasn’t completely human; I was better.
    Sometimes, I did things that I couldn’t remember and it bothered me. Like, why was I on the ocean floor? And last year, why had I been hanging from a tree with chains on my wrists?
    Nick seemed to be able to help me remember things. Usually I didn’t believe his theories, but who ends up with chains on their wrists or awakes on the bottom of the ocean?
    The chains, Nick said, were from the scientists. They had captured me and were running tests to see how much progress I’d made since being out on my own. He said they’d implanted a reprogramming chip into my memory.
    “But what for? Why?” I’d asked.
    Nick couldn’t answer me.
    I sighed, unable to search for Nick or even begin travelling. My functions were still rebooting, which didn’t make sense. Why did I have such pain? Usually that meant something was wrong with my sensors, but they seemed to be