When Good Toys Go Bad Read Online Free PDF

cot lay a thin mattress, folded white bedding and a blue jump suit. The jump suit matched the Consortium ones, except instead of saying “Maintenance” on the back, it said “Inmate” in white block letters. A pair of athletic shoes completed the ensemble. I hadn’t worn those since my school days. I wasn’t sure I’d know how to walk in them anymore.
    I changed into the clothes. It felt strange to wear flat shoes, and I found myself tripping over my own feet. As instructed, I folded my street clothes and placed them in the metal box, along with my shoes and all my jewelry.
    I pictured Kai alone in the cave, sitting disheveled, cold and scared. Did he experience loneliness, fear or the elements? Was I projecting my own fears onto him? The sting of tears in my eyes preceded another shiver running through my body. Even though the cell was the same warm seventy-four degrees as the rest of the city, a chill took me over. A week ago my only problem had been how to stave off Brynn’s advances, and now… How did I get here?
    I jumped when the door flickered open. A woman in her mid thirties with red hair—natural red, not fire red—stepped through, and the opening disappeared again.
    “My name is Edana Murk. I’ll be representing you. I’ve read your files, and the case is pretty open and shut. I’ll have to do some fancy footwork to keep you out of prison. It would help if you told me the location of the merchandise you stole.”
    “He’s not merchandise! And I have no idea where he is.”
    “You’re not going to make my job easy, are you? If that’s the way you’re going to play it, I guess all I can do is see about getting bail set for you.”
    She didn’t bother to ask any more questions. A flash of the door left me alone again.
     
     
    “You made bail,” a voice bellowed from the door, waking me from an uneasy sleep. “Get your street clothes on quickly or you go home like that. You have three minutes.”
    I kicked off my shoes, unzipped my jump suit and threw everything on the bed. The door opened as I was zipping up my skirt and stepping into my shoes at the same time.
    When the lobby doors opened, I expected to see a bail bondsman or even Brynn. Instead I found my parents standing in the dank waiting room. Bema, my birthing mother, and my egg mother, Mema, looked both sad and disappointed. Typical of my whole life, Bema was crying and Mema’s face glowed red with her emotions. I immediately felt like the ten-year-old who broke Mema’s favorite vase, and I wanted to run.

Chapter Four
    The ride home was exactly as I expected—silent, except for muffled sobs coming from the front of the tram. Mema’s face was as red as her artificially crimson hair. I think she dyed it that color to complement her fiery temper. Although a loving mother, she was unquestionably the disciplinarian. Bema, on the other hand, true to her untouched natural gray, was the heart of the family. The couple was a striking contrast both physically and in personality. Bema was nurturing and incapable of hiding her emotions. Right now was a perfect example. Tears ran down her face, leaving meandering paths in her makeup. Her whole body shook with the emotion she couldn’t contain.
    The front door had barely closed when Mema let loose. “How dare you embarrass us like this?” She threw her coat at Bema, who managed to catch part of a sleeve before it fell to the floor.
    I wanted to scream back in defiance, “I didn’t do anything wrong, I just fell in love.” But the daughter in me, who was still afraid of Mema, muttered a pitiful, “I’m sorry.”
    “You should be, young lady. Not only did we have to miss a whole day of work to pick you up at the police station, but we find out you’ve been messing with a mandroid!” She kicked off her black pumps. “That stunt you pulled at the home office is all over Consortinet. I’d be surprised if it didn’t make tonight’s broadcast. Then, to top it all off, the front guard