Page 5 of Ezra
“Katrina Carson,” I manage and look up.
Vibrant white irises stare back at me levelly, showing nothing. No fear, concern, or disdain. Exactly what one mightexpect of a machine. His dark synthetic hair is slightly disheveled. Dust and splinters of glass litter his shoulders, on his trench coat.
An android. Inhuman. But not just any android.
It’s . . . him. Dr. Lewis’s creation. My dad’s friend, who with Algrove Schroeder made . . .
I remember you,I want to say.I remember.
He shouldn’t be here with me. It’s dangerous, like it was for the female model before. My mind is jumbled. I should pull away. I should be afraid. But he helped me even though he probably understands why I’m here. What I stand for.
I should thank him. Shouldn’t I? That’s what any decent person would do.I’d like to think that’s what I am...
“Katrina,” he repeats. The gentleness in his low voice remains. “I’m Ezra, model BNP99. I’m with the NCPD’s Artificial Crime Unit. Emergency services are already en route.”
“My parents—” I begin, my throat dry and my tongue like cotton. I can’t get the rest of the words out.I know who you are.
“Robert Carson and his wife were far from the blast,” Ezra replies. “We’ve secured the perimeter. You’ll be with them soon. Remain here.”
His coat billows behind him as he walks away to see to another victim, one splayed across the sidewalk who needs far more attention than I do. I rub blood from my face, finding a gash in my forehead above my eyebrow. Sirens whine in the distance. I’m left to my thoughts, my fears, and wondering where we went wrong.
Humanity First was meant to be a symbol of perseverance and justice.
What are we now?
NEW CARNEGIE TIMES
SEPTEMBER 1, 2070
PRESIDENT TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS ON ANDROIDS, OWNERS
In her most recent broadcast to the country, newly elected President Shanice McKinley addressed the nation about what she refers to as a war on the home front.
“Over a year ago, I watched in horror as news of the Humanity First bombing in New Carnegie, Pennsylvania unfolded. With a final toll of ten dead and twenty-one wounded, it became clear to me that there’s a new enemy at large, and it’s here on American soil. It must not be tolerated.”
TerraPura first began their attacks in the UK. Thanks to the work of New Carnegie Police Department’s Artificial Crime Unit, several murders were linked to the PureEarth movement. Though the group classifies itself as made up of idealists, the president condemned them as eco-terrorists and a menace to society.
“We pride ourselves on freedom of speech,” President McKinley continued in the broadcast. “As much as I might like to, I am incapable of making it illegal to associate with this new underground anti-humanity group. However, I can and will takeevery measure necessary to protect the American people from domestic terrorism.”
The president announced an executive order that will render independent android programming outside of original BioNex software illegal. Sanctions and limitations must also be placed on android production and the materials used to create them.
“A housekeeper does not need a steel skeletal frame or improved strength to wash dishes or help with homework,” President McKinley said. “Licenses will need to be issued and purchased by those individuals who wish to utilize androids for entertainment or sports, such as the Bionic Fighting League.”
These new limitations state that all androids must be registered with an owner and will no longer be allowed to travel alone. They must be scanned and identified when entering any business. Unregistered androids will be confiscated, and anyone caught with an unregistered android may be apprehended, questioned, and subject to fines or imprisonment.
“The safety of the American people is my number one priority. Bionics are things, not people. They must be treated and utilized as such,” McKinley stated. She compared an unregistered android to an unattended bag in an airport.
“To TerraPura and members of the PureEarth domestic terrorist group that have already committed heinous crimes against the innocent civilians of the United States of America, Canada, and the UK,” McKinley said, “your days are numbered. We will find you, and you will be brought to justice. Weaponizing bionics against innocent civilians cannot and will not be tolerated.”
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SEPTEMBER 2070
Katrina
They just don’t make men like this anymore.
I dust my favorite display in the New Carnegie Museum of Natural History—the Pleistocene exhibit. Behind softly thrumming rails made of holo-beams, I polish several projectors built into the floor that play images of strong hunter-gatherers and how we imagine they may have looked when they wandered Ancient Europe—powerful, athletic, draped in animal pelts, carrying spears that glint with shimmering stone-flaked obsidian tips.
