The white light took everything over. There was no start, no end, no wall, no floor, no ceiling. 88 stood among all the white, being alone. His body unmarred by the events that happened moments before.

“Hello? Anyone there?” He called out. There was no answer. He called out again. “Justice. Is that your name? Are you me?” 88 called out into the white emptiness.

A shadow appeared behind him. It was another him, but it wasn’t him. It was Justice. Both men now looked at each other face to face.

“Quite a predicament you’ve gotten us into.” Justice smiled. 

“Us? What a joke. I am me. You are the one who’s dead. Even 00 says so.”

Justice walked around 88. The two could pass off as twins, if they weren’t the same person. With every step Justice took, the white started to gain color. The white world they were in, changed into one of a small plaza. 88 looked around, not sure of the area around him.

“Have I been here before?” 88 asked, feeling that he was here. Justice smiled, leaning near 88’s face. 

“”You” haven’t been here before, but I have.” Justice turned his back to 88. He started to walk, heading his way to a bench.

 “So, in your life, you have been here. What is this place?” He went to join his past self.

Justice sat, resting his arms on the back of the bench, glancing up at the blue sky. 88 joined him, but rested his arms on his knees, looking at the ground. Justice smiled as 88 frowned.

“This place is my escape. I come here to think of what to do next.” 

“And what is there to do next?” 

“I really don’t know. After all, you did get shot in the eye.” 

“By your sister nonetheless.”

Justice snapped his head, the comment about his sister made him angered. He stood up, getting ready for a fight. 88 looked up amused, the small smile was almost an insult.

“What are you going to do? Beat yourself up?” 88 cracked. Justice fumed but didn’t do anything, he just sat back down muttering. 

“Shut up.” 

88 looked down at the bricked floor. “So, what are “we” going to do?” 88 asked, no joking the second time around. 

“Things didn’t turn out the way we planned.” 

“By "we", you mean Dr. Ackell right?” 

Justice nodded. “We had a plan but he didn’t stay with it. Also, Jeremy got in the way.” 88 looked down, he felt his heart hurt when the name “Jeremy” was spoken. Justice felt the same but for a different reason. 88 speech became serious again.

“Why did you two do this.” 88 corrected himself. “I mean the five of you.” Justice remained silent for awhile, before answering. 

“Can’t you recall yourself?” 

88 clenched his teeth, he was getting pissed. “I don’t have your petty feelings.” 

“I did it for family.” He said flatly. “I did it so I could see my sister smile again.” 

“So by playing God you help create this. With your father, Ackell, Terri and Jeremy.” 88 stood up, grabbing Justice by the collar of his shirt. Justice’s dull gray eyes reflected in 88 lively ones. 

“You wouldn’t understand! You have no idea what I lost when I lost my sister.” 

“Why wouldn’t I understand? We have the same memories, the same past. What is so different?” Both men knew that answer. 

“Jeremy, that is what’s so different.”

88 let Justice down, whatever anger was left over, faded away with frustration. “It’s why I am here.” 

“It’s why other models gained a soul.” 88 turned his back, walking away from Justice. Justice reached out to him, unsure of what to do next. “Where are you going?”

88 turned and looked at his former self in the bright plaza. “I’m not going to let this soul I gained fade away with Jeremy’s memory.” 88 faded away, leaving Justice alone. Justice let his hand drop, leaving a smile on his face.

“I’ll be here waiting till it’s over.”

Error 09

*****************************

“I just have one question.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Dr. Ackell, why was he involved?”

“As you said, we liked playing God. He just took it farther than we thought he would.”

“All this to a God complex. I am sure Hell is waiting for you.”

*************************

88 opened his only eye. The gray slowly started to come back to life in it. The water around him, was still tinted pink from the massacre 00 had left behind earlier. 88 stayed still for the time being, adjusting to the reality near him. He pushed himself up slowly before looking around in a sitting position. 88 noticed his movements had become stiffer and was in need of maintenance that he could not perform on himself. 88 pulled himself up into a standing position. He started to walk, the splashing of water echoed with every step. 88 held onto his arm, not looking down at the man below him, nor the man scattered around the room. He walked through a door into a new nightmare.

88 saw the hallway before him. Everything was red. Many people he had seen moving in and out of the company. The people who shut models down, even a few models themselves lay among the carnage of death. 88 just walked forward, ignoring the soft squish that would happen occasionally.

88 felt what was left of his heart race in fear for Will and Clare. Not knowing of their fate and knowing of what 00 could do to a person with her bizarre ability. 88 stopped abruptly. Something echoed in the long corridor.

88’s eye widen. It was laughter, the laughter of children. 88 quickened his pace, making the walk turn out into a full staggered run. He made it to the door, with the words “Day Care” painted in bright colors. 88 moved his hand slowly to the doorknob, he turned it with a soft click. The laughter stopped. 88 pushed the door open, a silent squeak of the hinge was all that was heard. Then the sound of flesh being dragged, connecting with the opening of the door. For the first time since 88 had awaken, he felt like he wanted to puke. The room was covered in blood. Chunks of flesh, meat and bone, scattered everywhere. 88 walked forward into the room, stepping on a toy that called out “Mama” in an ironic robotic voice. The only other door in the room was opened with a bloody trail leading out to the main building.

88 stopped halfway. He started laughing a bit. Talking to himself. “How am I to stop something like that? Something that can kill so easily?” 88 walked again, slower than he would have liked. He had no idea where he was walking, all he knew was that he wanted to move. The area around him seems to blur. The silence was almost madding. Then a voice “binged” in his head out of the darkness. The voice was a familiar comforting one. 88 smiled in the bloody mess he was trekking in.

 “88, what is happening? I felt you fade away.” The voice called out in fear for his friend. 

“23, where are you? Please tell me you are not here?” His voice cracked. 

“I am not.” 23 spoke with a little energy, unsure of 88 condition or state of mind. 88 looked around, the area he was in now was the mess hall. It had yet to grace the presence of 00. For now it was a safe place. 88 spoke to 23 again. 

“00 has awakened. Do you know of ways to shut the system down?” 23 spoke up, hearing 88’s voice returning to normal. “The older models like myself had to be shut down manually. The newer models can be shut down with satellite but it targets all models in radius. This was meant as a fail safe.” 88 narrowed his eyes. He was unsure if 00 was considered old or new. 00 had a different programmer and also knew the 00 wasn’t the first model created. Just the name was given as the one to work with, as to 00 wasn’t the type to fall into any of the categories. 

“Can you tell where 00 is 23?” 

“Yes, 00 is still in the building. What has 00 done?” 

“It is a massacre.” 88 stopped talking when he heard something being knocked over. 88 brought his arm out, slinging out the blade. The movement came from his blind spot. He stopped the blade inches from Clare’s neck.

“Holy shit.” Clare stared down at the damaged blade. 88 retracted the blade.

 “Are you unhurt?” 88 asked, glad at least there was a living person around. 

“I am. Will on the other hand. I am afraid he might die of shock. He lost so much blood.”

Clare brought 88 over to Will, who was hiding behind the trash can. Will looked up, unamused at Clare’s comment.

“I’m not dead yet.” Will’s leg was wrapped up but still bleeding. His attitude changed when he saw how damaged 88 had become. “I see you’re not faring well either 88. Dr. Ackell do that to you?” 88 tried to smile at the attitude Will and Clare were giving off but he knew they didn’t understand the situation. 

“Not all of it. 00 has been awakened. Ackell is dead, 00 killed him. 00 also killed people along the way. I was afraid she may have gotten you two as well.”

Clare was on guard duty, keeping an eye out for the robotic killing machine. “Is that why all the screaming was about?” Her voice worried. 88 nodded. “The Day Care center is a mess.” Clare went pale, she knew half the children there. Will’s labored breathing became heavier after hearing that. 

“00 has been around long before I showed up.” Will looked over at 88, his face was rather sad looking. “I know Greg and Rod worked on 00 but they two weren’t the only ones to do so.”

Will pushed himself up, taking the feeling a bit dizzy. He wobbled his way over to 88 who took a spot sitting at a lunch table. Clare helped Will move forward. “What are you doing?” 88 was worried. Will sat down. He steadied his breath. 

“I still got two good hands. I can at least fix something for you. Clare, do you think you can make it to my office?” 

Clare nodded. “Is it locked?” 

Will frowned, unsure if he had locked it or not. “I don’t know. I lost the key somewhere along the way.” Clare walked over to Will, giving him a hug. Will inhaled her scent. She smelled of strawberries, a re-fresher than the blood scented building. “Just be careful.” He whispered to her. Clare broke away from the hug, giving him a kiss before running away.

88 looked on, wondering if Justice had someone that close as well. The song that 00 hummed gave him a flash of memory. Something small Justice was willing to show him.

Will sighed, ignoring the pain in his knee. “88, only five people worked on 00 and they are all dead.” 

“No, not all. Terri Anderson is still alive. I didn’t eliminate her or 23.” 

Will looked on in shock. “She’s still alive! If we talk to her, we might be able to stop 00.” 

“I am talking with 23. We have a connection due to our programming.” 88 hit a small button underneath his skin. Out of his ear, a voice could be heard. It was that of a child. Will was happy to hear it’s annoying voice. 

“Will, it’s so good to hear you again!!” 23’s hyper energetic voice was offset to the scene. 

“It’s good to hear you too, you brat.” His voice faded a bit. “Is Terri around?” 

“I’m listening too Will. David has been informing me of what is happening.” 

“David?” 

“That’s my name, my real name.” 23 piped. 

Will smiled. “Davis is a good name.” 88 felt his heart feel calmer, having almost everyone there with him. 

“Terri, you know the programming system for 00, correct?” Will asked, getting to the point. 

“Yes, I know the programming system. 00 was set with the manual shut down drive but that was taken out when the Model 60 was created. Since the Model’s could be shut off in groups, Rod thought it would at least be a fail safe if anything had gone wrong with 00 programming.” 

“Wrong, as in how?

” “Dr. Ackell had been tinkering with 00’s programming system. He tapped into experimental projects along with the help of Jeremy.” 

“So there is a fail safe? Any ideas on how to access it?”

 "I have no knowledge of it. You did look after Rod, even in his failing mentality. Did he mention anything to you?” 

Will thought for a bit. Trying to think back to any hints Rod could have dropped. After all, being human, many people give out information without knowing subconsciously. “Nothing that comes to mind.”

88 spoke, giving Will more time to think. “Anderson, can I ask you a question?” 

“Yes?” 

“Why? Why do all this, what reason? I have already gotten one answer. Why go as far as you all did?” Silence filled his ears, then the voice shattered that silence.

“It was because we opened Pandora’s Box. All of us knew what we were getting into, so we all took a vote and not look back. Even the person you came from followed that vote.”

88 sighed heavily, an act he was taking on by learning from Will. A smile fell to his ragged face, knowing he was becoming more human than his counterpart.

“Quite a mess, if anything.” Will interrupted. He glanced over at the clock rather nervously. The pain in his leg was now just a numbing dull. He leaned on the table he was sitting by. 88 rested his good hand on Will’s shoulder.

“You doing alright?”

Will smiled, glancing over at 88 who was more far gone then he was.

“That should be my question to you. I’m just worried. It’s taking her too long.” Will glanced up into the ceiling, looking up at the artificial lighting. The detaching silence was something he had never grown accustomed to. Will had hoped it wouldn’t be a normal thing in life, after all, he did have Clare who made his life noisy. If her noisy was gone, Will figured life wasn’t worth living anymore.

*****************************

“I just have one question.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Dr. Ackell, why was he involved?”

“As you said, we liked playing God. He just took it farther than we thought he would.”

“All this to a God complex. I am sure Hell is waiting for you.”

*************************

“It should feel like home.”

“Ah, that made me laugh.”

********************