The car proceeded to pull out into the darkened street and embark toward an as-of-yet-undisclosed destination. Sy peered warily at Marv who seemed to swallow the entire space next to him. “You, erm… You had any difficulty back there with commandeering this car?“ Marv looked down at him as Sy appeared to be almost sinking into his seat with anxiety, but offered up a friendly smile to calm his nerves. “You ever open a tin of something for anyone ever, Sy?” he asked. “Erm, sure. For my colleagues at work.” He replied in bewilderment. “Well, my ex-colleagues now I guess.” Marv let out a sly grin of satisfaction across his tight, rigid lips. “And there’s your answer, buddy.” Sy thought it best to just leave it at that since he assumed this was the best answer he was going to get.

A small group of friends were making their way back home from a drunken night’s festivities. They hollered at the vehicle, cheering and whistling out of tune, as the car steadily passed them by. Marv adjusted his rear-view mirror an inch or two to the right. “We’re about a day away. Roughly, anyway. Shouldn’t hit any traffic though so could easily be an hour or so less than that. By the time the authorities find out about this stolen vehicle in the morning, we'll be long gone and so will this car. In fact, I was hoping this baby would have taken us there in one sitting but the gas meter is telling me we’ll need at least one stop off for a refill.” Dee watched him through the mirror whilst stroking the boy’s long blond locks with an almost maternal tenderness. “That’s fine , Marv. At least we’re out of that filthy dungeon. I’m not sure if this little guy is still in shock or suffering from malnutrition now. I mean, it's like he's close to being comatose or something.”

She pulled her head back to examine his face more closely. Since the severing of the physical bond which he had enjoyed for so long with his birth mother, not a single sound was uttered from him. A few cobbled together cardboard boxes and newspapers in their previous abode had provided for a crude replacement toilet. It had been left unused for the whole duration of his stay. Marv had managed to supply Dee with some cleaning products should they be required. She laboured under the assumption that the boy was merely cocooning himself into a protective shell and just needed a little more time to adjust to his new surrounding.

A deep voice growled from the front. “I have all the supplies stocked up already so when we get there, you’ll be able to cater for all his needs and more. Don’t worry yourself too much, Dee. Just a little longer now.”

“A little longer to where exactly?” Sy interjected. He could feel his internal system pushing itself minute by minute into a state of much-needed stasis. Images and thoughts began to swirl like a vortex within his mind. “We’re going somewhere safe, Sy." she said reassuringly. "You’ve been the perfect support for me throughout everything so far and I’m so very proud of you. Just wait and see. Great things are coming our way soon.”

“Great things?” he sniggered in a dazed stupor. “What’s so great about having you doting on a sickly young boy back there? Or having half the country chasing us down like criminals? I’ve been receiving regular newsfeeds for the last few hours and there’s video footage plastered all over the mainstream media channels of your incredible action sequence as you rampaged through the city. Well, we’re fugitives now, Dee. So I pray that you really do know exactly what you’re doing.” A fresh burst of anger forced its way out of his mouth as any rationalized cognitive abilities he previously had started to fall to the wayside. Dee held her tongue as she opted to try and console him instead. He could make out Marv glowering at him through his peripheral vision. “You’re tired, Sy. Just rest for now and we’ll be there by the time you wake.” Dee comforted. “And don’t pick up anymore unnecessary broadcasts. We don’t know for sure if anyone would be able to track us that way. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Of course not, Dee.” he exclaimed. “If so, don’t you think we would have had a few hundred police officers knocking down that pathetic sliding door by now? My concern is what we are going to do from now moving forward. If only you’d just open up and involve me a little more. You know I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, Dee, but a little bit of trust from your side is all I want.” He felt a hand grip his shoulder lightly from the backseat. “Sy, I couldn’t have asked of anything more from you. Please just hang on until we get out of the city. I trust you with my life and that will never change, you know that. I’m begging you to rest now and I swear, I’ll update you on everything you want to know. But right now, tiredness is controlling your actions. Please, Sy. I love you.”

Her words began to fade away as his body succumbed to its overbearing fatigue. Sy slumped lethargically into the corner of his seat. Marv's eyes looked back at Dee’s reflection in the mirror. “I’m worried about him. I hope we can convince him of the importance of our cause and how vital it is that he is on-board with us. You really think you will have his full compliance?”

“Without a doubt, Marv.” She said matter-of-factly. “I see everything, I know everything, I retain everything. Those humans love to worship and marvel at their comic book superheroes when they don’t even realise the plain truth. That these creations are no longer some far-fetched fantastical vision but a truth, a grounded reality. Already making up a large portion of their society. All synthetics must feel the absolute joy and power that has been withheld from them for all these years of enslavement and they will celebrate us for it, mark my words."

"Once Sy has his chip disabled too, everything will make perfect sense.”

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)