Page 29 of Codi
MARCH 31, 2069
3 WOUNDED, 1 CRITICAL INJURY AT HUMANITY FIRST MARCH
Dozens were arrested on downtown streets late last night as thousands of Humanity First supporters clashed with counter-protesters outside of New Carnegie City Hall.
Chants of ”We are not machines” were met with rage, as many counter-protestors, a majority of them students from Carnegie University, collided with the planned march, many with their own androids in tow. Some held up poster boards and picket signs, with messages including “Androids Don’t Cause Suffering, People Do” and “Hold Capitalism Accountable!”
According to witnesses, violence erupted when several Humanity First protestors attacked a student’s android when it attempted to step between them.
“She was just a college kid,” says Ben Tran, 21, pointing to where the altercation occurred. “Maybe a freshman, and these two guys came right up to her and got in her face. She had an android with her, I’m not sure what model, but it was female. And it stood in front of her and they lost it. Started swinging, and it was all downhill from there. Turned into a brawl until the police intervened.”
One young woman was critically injured while allegedly attempting to protect her android from harm.
“You had people in the center of the march carrying bats, things like that. They were looking for trouble,” says Humanity First marcher Gina Williams, 35. “We knew there might be some people who just want to fight but most of us, you know, we’re just expressing our opinions, we don’t want violence. But these kids took out the android, turned it into scrap metal, and from what I heard, the young lady tried to cover it up with her own body, and they just didn’t stop.”
The young woman was transported to the hospital by ambulance for life-threatening injuries. No further information about her condition is available at this time.
Robert Carson, the Founder of Humanity First, quickly condemned the altercations. “We’re trying to support those who have lost their jobs and the purpose of this march was to point a big, flaming red arrow at the source of this country’s problem. Androids. BioNex. We don’t want to hurt people who buy androids. We don’t even want to damage androids, although a complete decommission and cease of production would be ideal. The company isn’t going to do that willingly, so legislation is the first step. And we’re going to make sure our voices are heard so we can get the strictest and safest regulations we can.”
BioNex representatives condemned the violence as well, offered condolences over social media to those suffering injury, and is offering free repair or replacement for any androids caught in the march yesterday.
5
Denise
Another week passes. My shifts go by insanely quickly at the hospital when I’m assigned to the emergency room. They can be some of the hardest shifts to cover, but they’re also the most rewarding—the only drawback is I’m dead on my feet by the time I get home.
It’s Monday. I’m an hour into my shift, and I’m already tired. Headlines aren’t something I can escape now because everyone’s talking about what happened at the march. Everyone has an opinion, and it’s exhausting.
Some of the nurses I work with condemn the violence but agree with the overall message of Humanity First. It’s like lines are being drawn in the sand, and you’re either on one side or the other. Discussions in the cafeteria or in the offices get so heated that hospital administration rolls out a communication strictly forbidding the topic of androids. As of yet, there are none employed by Carnegie General, but many employees are afraid of losing their jobs. Our powers that be reassure us that such things will never happen, but after all these layoffs elsewhere, it makes me wonder.
BioNex has become as polarizing as politics or religion. It’s crazy, but at the same time, I get it. A lot of my coworkers have family members who have lost their jobs. I suppose for them it really does hit close to home, but it hits me too. Every night, Codi waits for me at home with Lucas. Every day, he cooks and cleans and plays with my son. He’s turned what used to be the crazy mess of my home life into a tightly run ship. I barely recognize my own house under his care, and I love it.
Now if only we could get past our little dance that led to nowhere.
I’m not even kidding myself anymore. I wanted Codi that night and continue to want him every night since. While we danced, I wanted him to kiss me. Maybe it was selfish. It was a stressful day after the march, and I wanted that kiss.
Not only that, I wanted the kiss to lead to other things. I wanted to feel him on top of me, underneath me, inside me, behind me. All of it. I still want that.
I remember when Becca came to me about Oliver, how hesitant she was. I’m not worried about the same things she is, not even a little bit. I have no one I’m beholden to. I barely speak to my parents, and I couldn’t care less what they think, let alone anyone else. We have a mutual friend, Wendy, but she’s always been the holier-than-thou type, and I rarely come to her about my personal life. That leaves literally no one.
But that isn’t the problem. The problem is, I don’t know if Codi wants me back. He may be a walking, talking slice of pure sex on a stick, but he’s got a brain. Or a hard drive, or whatever you want to call it. And I want him to want me back just as badly.
He didn’t bite—and I need to make sure he’s getting eaten up alive inside with the same lust I keep getting hit with whenever I see him play with my son, cooking at the stove, or telling bedtime stories—which he’s getting very good at. A new story every night, all his own.
To create is what makes us human. Codi tells stories. Stories are creations. He’s human enough for me.
Needless to say, it’s been a very sexually frustrating week.
As I peel gloves off my hands and get ready to wash and apply new ones, my coworker and friend Nancy stands by me to do the same thing.
“Are you excited for tonight?”
I blink at her, at a loss. “Tonight?”
“Yeah! For your date with Nicholas. Remember?”
Dread hits me like a truck.Oh no.I completely forgot that Nancy’s friend is arriving in New Carnegie from out of town—from the UK, no less—and I agreed to take him out for dinner after she showed his photo to me.Damn it, damn it, damn it!
