CHAPTER ONE
    Ugh. I groaned internally as I woke up. My head was pounding, and broken images were swirling around behind my eyelids. I had no idea where I was, or how I had gotten here. I refused to open my eyes and find out, or give any other sign that consciousness had found its way back to me again. Not knowing exactly where and when I was was a dangerous business for me. Very dangerous.
    You see, the last thing I remember before the blackness hit, is that I was running…
    My legs were on fire. They burned like nothing I had ever felt before as they pumped against the forest floor. They plunged me deeper and deeper into the thick trees. It kind of reminded me of a scene form Snow White I felt like the trees were reaching out to grab me and hold me there till I was caught. Ha. With my luck they probably were. I pulled in another shallow gasping breath as I turned and ran to the left. I had to get out of here!
    The sirens were steadily growing louder. I felt as if they were blasting away in my ears. The world was no longer a safe place for people like me; it hadn’t been for a long time now. So I lived a life on the run, rather than be killed.     
    As I ran, out of nowhere, a sharp pain struck me in the back of the head blinding me. Then the blackness hit pulling me down….
    So here I was now, lying pathetically, who knows where? The only things I could do to find out that wouldn’t show signs of life were feel and listen. The low melodic hum and cackle of flames was close by. The heat seemed closest to my right side. It felt like I was lying on cold dirt. My arms were bound to my sides with a sticky, plasticy material, most likely duct tape. My legs were strung together in the same manner.
    This all seemed very odd. If the no-longer-human, heartless, drones had captured me, I wouldn’t be outside. I knew exactly where I would be if it was them who had me.
     I would be strapped to an operating table. Receiving my first “upgrades”. Being turned from someone to something.     
The realization that I was outside, brought on a wave of premature hope. Hope that the reason I was outside was that I had been captured by people like me. Real people. I tried to smother that hope as quickly as I could. The fact that I was outside didn’t necessarily mean the best. It could just mean humans that the drones kept around as slaves- rather than change them into one of them and have to treat them as an equal- had captured me. After all humans had to sleep, ergo they had to make camp in the process of bringing me in to the life snatchers.
    So now, I was faced with a 50/50 chance. My life possibly could have come to and end, where my heart and feelings ceased to exist, and are replaced by something more efficient, machinery. On the other hand I could have been captured by humans who thought I was the latest and greatest, most human looking addition, to the evil robot family. In which case, I was also dead. On one hand, there was death, on the other, more death.
Great!
    I chose option C, this involved living. That was the important part. The least likely, but still, being a sunshiny ray of life and goodness, it was still my favorite! Whose wouldn’t it be? How exactly I was supposed to achieve this though was beyond me.     
    Suddenly a sound that had escaped me before rudely interrupted my ponderings. The sound of soft breathing landed gently against my ears. I was instantly on edge. The breathing was extremely close. Close enough that I could feel it like feathers on my face. It was a sensation that had me torn between blinding hope and the blackest of despair and fear.
    A rough hand was placed on my forehead. I guessed checking for body heat, a feature usually absent in clunking metal machines. The hand of my inspector (lets call him Steve shall we?) pulled away quickly with a soft gasp that was quickly muffled with a slight cough. Obviously the warmth, “Steve’s” hand had felt was not expected. All together, a good sign knowing that any metallic-spawn-of-the-devil’s- servant would have known I was human.
    I didn’t realize “Steve” was leaving my side until I heard his breath slowly distancing, his feet didn’t make any kind of sound against the dirt as he left. I decided it was time to look upon my captor(s) and surroundings. I cracked open one of my eyelids with a deliberate slowness that would put snails to shame. My searching eye first revealed to me that it was still dark or at least maybe dark again. It also noted that I was still in the woods. That could be a good thing; a girl like me was not beyond hiding behind or up a tree.
    My seeking green orb finally rested upon “Steve” who was in fact a guy. He looked to be about my age, which was either 16 or 17. I had lost count. I quickly closed my eye as his head of shaggy black hair turned in my direction.
     I heard a shuffle of clothes, and again the breathing got closer. A sharp pain jolted into my side as it was kicked by an unforgiving boot. “Get up! You worthless piece of machinery. I know you aren’t broken. I saw you looking around” a rough furious voice commanded. “I want some answers.”
    Oh, Crap! This would not go well. I pinched my face together then slowly, cautiously, opened my right eye to stare up at my captor. A fierce scowl distorted his features into an awful mask of pure loathing. His black eyes held the strangest tint of blue as they bored into mine. I let a sort of grimace/grin cross my face as I opened my other eye.
    “Hi, Um…about------ OWWW!” I screeched. He had kicked me again. “Would ya stop that? I’m trying to answer you but you’re making it kinda hard with all the kicking and glaring. Geeze!” I huffed.
    I watched as he took a step back form me and crossed his arms. His face gave nothing away but I could tell he was surprised by how human my words sounded. If he hadn’t at least subconsciously realized I must not be a robo-brain, he wouldn’t have stepped back. He would still take a lot of convincing though.
    “Thanks! Like I was about to say though Steve--” he cut me off.
“Who’s Steve?” He snarled.
“Uhh…” oops “Well uh what’s your name?” I asked.
“None of your business.” came his retort.
I let out a long sigh. This was going to take a while. “Well, then for the time being I bestow upon you the name Steve. Use it well my young friend,” I said holding back a chuckle. He just continued to glare unamused. Tough crowd. “Anyways… Steve, my name,” telling him this was a great leap of faith “is Del.” I snuck another peek at him and still his strange eyes told me nothing.
    I shifted my gaze to the nearby fire. “I really hope you know the risk I’m taking telling you that.” I said. “I’m pretty convinced though that you are still human,” I sucked in a deep breath ‘and I really, really need you to believe the truth about me, I still am too!” The words rushed from my mouth, and I braced myself for a kick form the boot that I was surprised to find, did not come.