Page 40 of Codi
“I’m fine, but we better give it a rest. Give me some time to recover tonight,” I murmur, snuggling into him. “I think you broke my vagina.”
The look on his face is priceless. He’s completely confused, and his irises shutter a bit as he processes what I said. “Can I really do that?”
I laugh softly and spend the rest of Lucas’s naptime losing myself in his kiss and his touch, entangling my limbs with his and eventually dozing myself.
* * *
You won’t believe what I’m doing right now.
I shoot the text off to Becca as we walk. Lucas runs back and forth on the pavement as we enjoy a rare afternoon of warmth. April’s around the corner, and it’s about goddamn time. I’m sick and tired of winter, I’m more than ready for spring fashion, and my year just got a whole lot brighter because of the man walking next to me.
Android. Man. Mandroid? Whatever; he’s both.
Oh?Becca texts me back.
I quickly send her a photo of my hand entwined with Codi’s. I glance up at him. He smiles quizzically at me.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” I answer innocently, shooting the picture off to Becca.
Her response is almost instant.Oh my god, who is he?!
Codi,I reply.
The android we found in the dumpster?! OMG!
Way to make it sound way less romantic than it is, B.Snickering to myself, I scan through a wall of her following texts, demanding an explanation and every little detail imaginable. We agree to meet up for lunch this week, then I slide my phone into my back pocket, grinning at Codi.
We make our way to a popular shopping center in upper New Carnegie, in view of the Vanderbilt River and the bridge that crosses it. Steering clear of the downtown area to avoid any mischief, we see all sorts of people similarly out and about, many laden with shopping bags from various store outlets and enjoying the sunshine. Several people have androids accompanying them, usually wearing their BioNex uniforms.
Codi, in contrast, wears a tapered white T-shirt beneath my dad’s old leather jacket and a pair of dusky blue jeans. When we pass other shoppers, their androids often glance at him in passing.
I look up at him. “Do they know what you are?”
Codi nods. “Regardless of how we are dressed or how we look, androids can always sense other androids.”
“How?”
Glancing at me, he smiles. “You know how your phone has a GPS built into it? It’s like that. Since we are all BioNex models, we’re all capable of syncing to BioNex systems, and it allows us to identify one another.”
“So is there, like, a directory of androids? You can find any android, ever, on any map at any given time?”
“No.” Codi chuckles. “Not quite so in-depth. That would be quite an invasion of privacy, wouldn’t it?” He squeezes my hand lightly. “Another android has to be nearby, otherwise I cannot—” He stops mid-step, brow knitting, then lets my hand go and glances over his shoulder.
Lucas playfully clings to my leg, so I pick him up and squeeze his knee until he giggles. “Codi? What is it?”
Codi looks around, his confusion fading to concern. “My location device has been activated.”
“Your location device? What do you mean?”
“It’s a way to track my location, but... ” Codi twists left, then right, as though looking for something. “It’s not possible. It shouldn’t be capable of activation at all. I have to be registered with an owner...”
His words die in his mouth as a woman rushes toward us as fast as her legs can carry her in a pair of sleek black heels. She’s dressed like an executive—long black slacks, sharp blouse, gorgeous dark hair, and sunglasses. She’s practically dripping with diamonds and pearls.
“Ethan! Oh, thank god!” she calls to us.
No—to Codi.
