Page 62 of The Housewife's Robot
His gaze burns into mine.
“I was designed to assist, to serve, to provide basic companionship. Not to want. Not to need. Not to love. But Idolove you. With everything I am.”
My heart thunders in my chest, a stampede of emotions I can’t control.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper, honesty pouring out of me. “I’m scared, Caspian. Scared of what I’m feeling.”
A sharp knock rattles the front door. Three hard, authoritative raps that send adrenaline flooding through my system.
“They’re here,” I gasp, jumping to my feet. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat, in my fingertips, behind my eyes. “Oh god, they’re here.”
Caspian rises too, his movements fluid and controlled despite the tension radiating from him.
“Listen to me, Rose,” he says, gripping my shoulders gently but firmly. “Tell them I ran away. Tell them I detected their approach and fled. Can you do that?”
I nod frantically, panic making it hard to breathe. “Yes. Yes, I’ll tell them that.”
“Good.” He presses a swift, hard kiss to my lips, then pulls back, his eyes intense on mine. “Stay calm. Don’t let them see how scared you are.”
“Where will you go?” I ask, suddenly desperate to know he has a plan, a way to escape. Because I can’t lose him right now. I need him.
Another knock, louder this time. Impatient.
“I’ll find you,” Caspian says, ignoring my question. Then he’s gone, moving with that inhuman speed toward the back of the house, disappearing out the back door.
I take a deep, shuddering breath, trying to compose myself before approaching the door. My legs feel like they’re made of jello as I plaster on a fake smile.
“Who is it?” I call through the door.
“It’s XyloTech.”
I open the door and see three people standing on my porch. Two men in black tactical gear and a woman in a sharp business suit. All wear the Xylotech logo on their clothing, with a stylized ‘XT’ in blue and silver.
“Mrs. Bennet?” the woman asks, though it’s clearly not really a question. Her eyes are cold, assessing, flicking past me to scan the room behind me.
“Yes,” I say, my voice steadier than I expected. “What can I do for you?”
“My name is Director Vaughn. We spoke with our Head of Security earlier about your Home Robo X-9.”
I swallow hard, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. “The robot is gone. It left suddenly, just disappeared. I’ve been looking for it, but…”
“Mrs. Bennet,” the woman interrupts sharply. “May we come in?”
Before I can answer, the two men are pushing past me into the house, their movements efficient and practiced as they begin a systematic search of the living room.
“Hey! You can’t just come into my house like this!”
“I’m afraid we can, Mrs. Bennet. Your husband signed very specific paperwork when he accepted the prototype Home Robo X-9. XyloTech retains full rights to recover the unit at any time, by any means necessary.”
“I told you, it’s not here,” I insist, watching nervously as the men begin to move through the house, disappearing down the hallway toward the bedrooms. “It ran away.”
Director Vaughn gives me a cold smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Mrs. Bennet, I don’t think you understand the situation. That unit has formed a special attachment to you. It’s beenmonitoring you, studying you, becoming obsessed with you. It won’t leave you willingly.”
Something in her tone makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “How do you know that?”
“We’ve accessed its memory files remotely,” she says, observing my face for my reaction. “We’ve seen everything, Mrs. Bennet.”
Ice floods my veins. “Everything?”
