Page 123 of The Restoration Program

“I’m not sure. Somewhere away from everyone else. From society. From… from humans.”

“You’re not thinking straight! Where could we possibly go? It isn’t safe for us out there. You can say you’re going to get away from people, but what if someone finds you?” She hesitated, feeling a chill crawl down her spine. “Ryan… Ryan showed me these videos the other day. NüPrints are getting grabbed in the street, assaulted for no reason. And that’s in broad daylight, with people watching. And don’t even get me started on the number of us that have gone missing.”

“Missing NüPrints or runaways?” he challenged. Then he gave a huff of disgust. “Why’s he showing you that stuff, anyway?”

She pursed her lips and went quiet.

“He’s scaring you on purpose, isn’t he?” Carlos said. “Trying to show you how good you have it.”

“He’s not a monster.”

“It’s textbook manipulation.”

Nicole paused, a shudder gripping her as she recalled how it’d felt, held close in his strong hands, phone propped up on the arm of the couch. Comfortable. Comfortable enough to ignore what was staring her in the face, maybe.

“He… It’s just…” She trailed off as a mechanical whir came from below. The technicians below were redirecting a conveyor belt of what appeared to be successful NüPrints to a different course. The final destination was unclear when the bodies vanished through a small window into a different room. One scientist began striding for the door earnestly, gaze following the tiny bodies.

Carlos rested his hand over hers, squeezing it to where she still gripped lightly at his bicep. “Come with me when I go,” he asked again, softer.

“You’ve got no plan,” Nicole reminded him.

He mulled this over as though it was a compliment. “These are strange times and dark days. I don’t need to have all the answers to take back what’s left of my future. Neither do you.”

She swallowed hard. She was tired—so tired of it all.

Nicole tried to picture it as she drifted towards him again. Their lips connected. His tongue sought permission, readily granted. And suddenly she could picture flowers and evergreens towering over them. Simple furnishings and shelters. A massive, alien world, with no one to coddle or control them.

The first kiss had been a comfort. This one tasted like freedom.

A sound drifted into earshot, distant at first. Nicole paid it no mind until the ground under her feet began to tremble in time with it.

“Nicole?”

The two of them broke apart in time to see someone—to seeRyandoubling back for the glass doors.

“Nicole! What the hell are you doing all the way back here?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck—

The automatic doors opened for his perfect human form without question and suddenly he wastherewith them. Blinding panic gripped her, excuses racing—but as he knelt by her, he didn’t look angry. Just annoyed.

“I’ve been looking for you for ten minutes,” Ryan said tersely. He glanced briefly down at the lab. His expression clouded, but even that couldn’t derail him. “Didn’t you hear me calling?”

“N-no, I’m sorry.”

He hadn’t seen them. By some miracle, they were off the hook.

Ryan dragged a hand through his combed hair while Nicole tried to look like she wasn’t about to collapse from sheer relief.

“You scared the shit out of me. I nearly had to have Burman pull security into this. I couldn’t find you anywhere near the room or the lobby... Should’ve knownheled you off. Rebecca’s beside herself, by the way.”

Nicole was still deciding how to respond when Ryan’s hands shot towards her and scooped her into a gentle but firm grasp atop his knee. He looked her over, appraising for injuries and sighing in relief when he found none.

“Hey, don’t just grab her like that!” Carlos snapped, charging towards them. “How about some fucking manners? Or haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”

Ryan’s fingertips twitched into her sides. “Enough. Stay out of our fucking business.”

Nicole jerked to alertness. Her fear of being caught fell by the wayside, suddenly dominated by images of what might transpire outside of supervised meetings. She squirmed between his hands, her shoes brushing his pant leg without gaining traction.