Page 118 of Ezra
But aside from ripping through Ezra’s favorite trench coat and the rest of his clothes, cutting through his synthetic skin and causing him to bleed ivory, the bullets otherwise ricochet off his steel mainframe much like they did the other androids. He’s built for a gunfight, and where this would normally devastate any other android, he doesn’t even flinch.
I don’t trust the chief. They’ll kill him. And that overrides fear for my own safety. “Ezra!” I cry out desperately. “Ezra, please!”
He doesn’t acknowledge me. His gaze is fixated on Nolan, who’s gotten up with a grunt, and now looks properly irritated.
“I can’t go near him,” Nolan shouts to his team. “He’s trying to implant a virus in my programming. One touch, and it’ll be over for me.”
Of course. That’s it—that’s why TerraPura wanted him so badly. Ezra can power down droids with a single touch. He can access their memory banks, everything about them, with physical contact, and there’s no way to override him. It’s specific to the BNP99 design. With Ezra in their arsenal, they can easily overtake hundreds—thousands—of androids effortlessly.
They wanted to kill my dad, they wanted to kill me. But Ezra was the golden goose they were hoping for.
I’vebeen told to hang back, that this isn’t the place for me, but that isn’t true. Despite all the mayhem, I move toward Ezra, one slow, steady step after the other, feeling like I’m walking through one of my own nightmares. Several officers notice me as I pass them.
“Hey. Hey! What’s she doing?”
“Miss Carson, don’t!”
I step in front of Nolan as Ezra steps forward. He stops and glares at me. “Out of my way, insect,” he declares with such disregard for me, I blanch.
But I remain where I am. “Ezra, it’s me,” I implore. “It’s your Kat. You remember. I know you do.”
Nolan stands a yard behind me, watching carefully, but he doesn’t try to remove me or push me out of the way. “Ma’am, you should get to safety.”
“I love him,” I reply. The words flow from me as easily as breath. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ezra snarls at me. “Human filth.”
He could storm forward, knock me to the side, but he doesn’t. His feet are firmly planted, his fists are curled. He could devastate me. But something’s holding him there.
The reprogramming. He’s fighting it. Somehow, he is. He has to be.
“Ezra, I know you’re in there,” I whisper. “I know you. Your systems, your gratification drive—everything about you sees me, and knows me. Listen to me. Listen to my voice. Do you remember what we talked about last night?”
“This is good,” Nolan softly encourages me from his position. “Keep talking to him. Keep going. You might be getting through. His systems are all out of whack on the inside. I can see it.”
Ezra’s lip curls in a sneer as he storms toward me.
I hear officers lifting their weapons again. “Don’t shoot!” I shout to them.
Then Ezra’s hand closes around my neck, and he holds me tightly. He’s done this once before, with love and trust. Now it hurts. But he’s not trying to choke the life out of me. He could crush my windpipe in less than a second, but he’s not.
He doesn’t speak a word, but he stares into my eyes, and I stare into his. I keep talking with effort, my voice low and gentle. “You told me you’d find a way. That nothing could keep us apart, and you’d find a way to make this work. I believed you. I still believe you. I need you to find a way back to me right now, Ezra. Please. I need you.”
His grip doesn’t tighten. “Stop,” he snarls, and his face scrunches up in pain. “Stop it. Stop talking.”
But I can’t stop. Even here, in the face of what could be my death at the hands of the man I love.
“I love you.” I rest my hand on his chest. “I’ll always love you, no matter what happens. Remember, Ezra. Remember that I’m yours. And you’re mine.”
Slowly, the fingers around my throat loosen. His eyes flicker, and his pupils shutter. He snarls in frustration and clenches his jaw in a kind of pain I can’t imagine.
“Ka . . . tri . . . na.” The sound coming from him is mechanical, garbled, like an error in audio playback.
“Ezra,” I insist, desperate and hopeful. “Fight it. Come back to me. I’m here. I’m waiting for you. Don’t let it take you.”
A few officers try to shuffle closer, guns at the ready, but Nolan holds up his hand. “Don’t. Stay back,” he tells them. “Let her do this.”
“Katrina,” Ezra says between his teeth. “Hurry. Power me down. Hurry!”
