Beyond This Place

Chapter 1

All around you, the trees are gnarled and bare, their naked fingers upraised to the sky in a gesture of pleading and hopelessness. The wind whistles through their branches, cold and unforgiving and merciless. Your homeland is before you, a simple sea of ashes.

There's nothing left.

Only ashes, ashes, ashes. Your mother is somewhere in the sea—just another pile of gray, undefined from the rest. So are your friends, your family, everyone.

Everyone is gone, and you know it. Only you and your father remain. Your small, frail body trembles, and your face is obscured by your hair and hands. Your shoulders shake visibly and it's impossible to see if you're crying. You want to know, almost masochistically, how they died, what they thought before they died—everything. You want to know everything.

But everything is gone.

"A failure."

"It's a failure."

"Not again."

The words surround her and ebb in the air like ripples on water. Her body is stiff and her joints are locked—but she supposes it's natural, because she doesn't know what is natural. This is her first moment when her eyes are open, albeit only halfway, the first moment when she thinks and feels and realizes what's going on around her. Through her eyes all she can she is blurred colorful masses—which is natural, possibly, she won't know anytime soon—and her ears can hear muffled humming, rumbling, and the exasperated whispers of people around her.

Surprisingly, she can understand what they're saying, but she barely registers their words. Her eyes blink lethargically and she is barely aware that she's awake.

"B25-756 has hemophobia—please ask the technicians to try to fix it. Having hemophobia isn't exactly a trait we want in our newest robot."

"Alright, then. We'll try to fix that in our next model. You might want to check on S20-756. She seems to have reached a state of consciousness."

From behind her, she hears footsteps, coming closer, closer, but it's impossible to tell who it is. Warm fingers press hard against her throat and her vision flickers wildly. With a sigh from deep within, everything flickers to nothing. The persistent hum of machinery fades from her ears and she drops into a deep sleep.

The next time her eyes open, her vision is clear and the forms before her are sharp and definable. She barely remembers the incident from earlier.

Her eyes quickly recognize what stands before her—a set of iron bars and humans behind them, clad in white coats. They wear funny goggles on their faces.

"Where am I?"

The words don't seem to come from her mouth, but they do. Her eyes flick over to the people in the lab coats. There are three people—two are tall men, one brunette and the other black-haired. The last is much shorter than the others and a female, and her dark blonde hair falls from its place tied against the side of her head to around her shoulders. The single ponytail is almost mesmerizing to the newly conscious girl, but eventually her eyes leave the person's ponytail and instead move to the people's faces.

Upon attracting her attention, the brunette man smiles and proceeds to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to the world, S20-756 and B25-757," the man says.

For the first time, the girl notices that someone stands besides her. It's a boy, and her heart thumps wildly in her chest when she realizes his oddities.

His blonde, soft and synthesized hair is falling around his face, tied into a small ponytail high behind his head. His left arm has no normal fingers like the men—instead they are spindly, long and mechanical. From his back protrudes a dangerous jointed pole with a third hand attached and a dangerous-looking gun. He has four legs, almost like a centaur, and rollers instead of feet, but other than this, the boy looks almost like a normal human other than some metallic features. From her own back, a similar jointed pole wraps around her protectively in her fear and she realizes she isn't normal either, nothing like the people before her.

"You two are robots," the man explains. "And you two are projects we worked on together. You—" he points a calloused finger at the robot-girl—she isn't sure what she is anymore. "—are S20-756. You're just another one of our sanitation robots. When you're bought, you will clean whatever your owner asks."

S20-756. She can't imagine a name that cries "robot" any more than it. Her teeth scrape at her lip. The way he says "just another one" is cold and makes her feel useless, unloved. She gazes coldly at the man, who proceeds to ignore her. He turns, and a smile is plastered wildly onto his face as he points his finger at the frightening boy besides her.

"You're B25-757," the man says, his voice filled with awed excitement. It is such a contrast from his tone he has used with her. "You are our first bodyguard robot."

The man waggles a finger as if speaking to a bad child. "You really took a while to develop, boy. You had ever so many problems."

B25-757 stares apathetically at the man, and S20-756 looks at him with fear and curiosity, noting more of his features. One of his eyes is a natural, soothing blue. The other, mounted on a silver plate attached to his face, is an angry, fiery red. The silver plate is startlingly shiny and harsh in comparison to the synthesized yet soft skin over the rest of his face.

"Ms. Akita will see you robots in just a moment to test you in your conscious states," the man says, gesturing at the shorter scientist girl. S20-756 can discern a nametag hanging messily from her neck. The bold font stretched across the slip of paper reads "NERU AKITA".

"After a bit," Neru says, staring hard at them. Her eyes are filled with something S20-756 cannot comprehend. "Rin, we don't need to test you as much, so just hang tight for a moment."

At her words, the two human men look at each other knowingly. At last, the brunette speaks.

"Neru, it's S20-756, not Rin, remember—"

"It's Rin," Neru says, and the pen she's holding to write notes on a clipboard rips the paper. Her knuckles whiten. "Isn't that right, Rin?"

She looks up expectantly at S20-756, and she knows what to answer from Neru's expectant, almost dangerous, tone. She nods quickly. Besides, she likes the name better than the one, the robotic one. Deciding to call herself by that name from then on, Rin mutters her new name over and over under her breath, testing how it feels rolling off her tongue.

"You're Len," Neru adds as an afterthought, pointing the blue pen at the robot-boy. Len-or-B25-757 growls under the attention that the scientists are giving him. Even so she sees something faint—fear?—reflected in his eyes, and Rin wonders briefly if he's really what he's all cracked up to be.

"I'll see you guys later," Neru says, and she sends a heartbreaking grin at both of them before sweeping away with the other two scientists. Rin is left in confusion. After a lengthy silence, Rin turns to Len beside her and musters the courage to speak.

"Hi," her voice is small, and she feels belittled by the bodyguard robot. She presumes from his dangerous-looking hands and various knives that he's meant to kill, and that scares her. Len looks at her quietly and says nothing.

"So you're Len?" Rin says. Her metal feet click as she taps her foot on the floor nervously. Still, Len fails to reply. He looks at her with his frightening mismatched eyes and continues staring. Rin gives up on attempting making conversation, sending paranoid glances at the boy as she explores the cell she's forced to share with him.

There are two small beds, placed in the corner farthest from the bars, next to each other. Other than that, there's barely anything to see other than dust. Rin is struck by a wave of claustrophobia and her thin limbs tremble.

She notices two of the three walls of the cell start with concrete from bottom-up for around two feet before turning into a glass pane with circular holes drilled into it, and Rin walks over to one of the two walls. From behind the glass she can see another robot.

The robot has long, dragging blue-green ponytails, tied on each side of her head, and her arms are fully made of metal, unlike the metal that only covers Rin's forearms. Her eyes are a soothing blue-green like her hair.

"Hi!" the robot behind the glass is energetic, though her eyes are determined with strange fire. "I see Neru gave you guys special names. She only does that to some robots, you know. She did it to me. You can call me Miku like Neru does."

Rin looks at Miku, a little overwhelmed. Her eyes quickly flick nervously to the side, then back. Miku looks around, as if checking for something, and then leans in close against the glass. Her eyes are suddenly blazing, furious.

"You don't want to be here. We're in a lab—the people in white coats are the scientists. All they do is force us to be their slaves. And then," Miku shudders. "If you're bought, then you're forced to serve the people who buy you. It's really horrible. Some robots are tortured…They don't understand that we have feelings, too."

Rin stares, wide-eyed, at Miku. She doesn't want to accept what the girl she has just met has said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said," Miku says, then falls back and stretches languidly, the metal on her arms glinting in the light that flitters softly from the ceiling. "You'll see one day, but you'll also get used to it."

"If you say so." Rin says faintly. She is uncertain of the meaning in Miku's words, uncertain whether to trust the robot girl. She pushes away the thoughts Miku has brought up, feeling overwhelmed.

Her eyes travel to the other wall with the glass, which probably divides her cell from another. Miku looks at Rin and laughs weakly.

"Oh, over there's just another cell," Miku says dismissively, her words weightless. "The one in there, well, we don't know who she is. All she does is sleep and she never speaks. It really isn't important."

Rin looks uncertainly over. On a bed clumped in the farthest corner, she can barely discern a woman wrapped in a red gown lying motionless, her back facing them. Bandages are wrapped around the woman's head and mats down her creamy-brown, shoulder-length hair. Rin turns back to Miku quickly. The sight is somehow lonely and frightening and sends frightful chills down her spine. Miku shrugs quickly and then looks past Rin's shoulder.

"Who's the boy with you?" Miku says, her eyebrows rising in interest. "As far as I know, they've never let two robots in a cell. Always only one."

"He's Len," Rin says, looking over at him nervously. He's still staring at her, his eyes raised slightly as he looks up at her from where he sits on the floor, his hind legs wrapped gently against the sides of his bent forelegs. "I guess they put us in together because we were "built together" or something. He's like a killing robot, essentially. He won't talk."

Miku shudders, her thin shoulders shaking. "Killing robot? I've never heard of that kind. That's a little disturbing. I wouldn't want to share a cell with a killing robot, no offense." Miku pushes a ponytail out of her way and her eyes soften. "Of course, I don't mean anything against him or you. We robots can't help how we're made. The selfish humans choose what we're like."

Rin nods halfheartedly. She can't help but steal worried glances at Len. He continues

looking at her, and for the first time she notices some kind desperation in his gaze, though she doesn't know where the desperation is from. Nervous that it means something dangerous to her functionality, Rin turns quickly back to Miku. Len yelps.

Rin almost jumps up in surprise, and she turns back to Len, as it's the first time he's made any noises at all. He lets out a soft growl and a few more soft yips before covering his mouth and looking up with embarrassment. Rin looks at him, her blue eyes piercing into his. Miku leans over to look over Rin's shoulder, her eyebrow raised slightly. Len is blushing now at the attention and a bubbling purr comes out of his mouth before he lowers his eyes and glares at the floor, visibly frustrated.

"What is it?" Rin manages to ask. Her voice is distant. Len continues glaring at the floor and Rin hears him gargle and chirp incoherently under his breath.

"Maybe he can't understand what you're saying?" Miku offers quietly, her voice soft like a dampened piano. "Maybe he's more like an animal than a person mind-wise."

"I guess," Rin says. Len fidgets—Rin feels bad for a moment as she wonders if he has heard and understood Miku's words—and then slumps on the ground, looking tired and weary.

"Huh," Miku says, averting her eyes. "Well, Neru's back."

Rin looks at the iron bars and sure enough, Neru is standing there, tapping her blue pen on the shiny metal clip of the clipboard. Rin nods in acknowledgment and walks over, despite what Miku has said about the scientists. Neru nods back at her, her electrifying golden eyes staring into Rin's soul. She gestures at Len with two fingers, and Len stumbles up a bit messily as his four legs struggle to keep balance. Rin supposes it's harder to stand with roller-feet and four legs, but he'll also get used to it, she thinks.

"Is it hard to stand with rollers as feet?" Neru asks, as if mirroring Rin's thoughts. She chews thoughtfully on her lip and scribbles something down on her paper. "Maybe we can get the technicians to fix that."

Len shrugs halfheartedly. Neru pulls out a ring of keys, accompanied by a metallic jingle, and then fumbles to find the right one, muttering beneath her breath. The one she chooses slides into the keyhole to the door of the cell cleanly (Neru seems pleased with this) and with a click, the door slides open smoothly. Neru nods and gestures for them to follow her.

"Good luck!" Miku yells, and Rin turns around to wave goodbye before Neru leads them behind a sliding door and it cuts off Miku's words.

They're in a hall now, and Neru's pace is brisk as she walks down the mostly empty corridor, her hands reaching up to tighten her ponytail. Her clipboard is tightly held under her arm. Rin looks around—there are many doors built into the walls of the corridor, and small gold plaques, shined to perfection, are mounted high up on the silver metal of the doors. Words are etched into them and read various things.

CELL ROOM NO. 456

TESTING ROOM NO. 455

INCINERATOR ROOM NO. 67

Rin's heart trembles weakly at the last one and decides to stop looking. Neru begins speaking.

"Most scientists would say I should leash you two before leading you around the lab—," she says without looking at them. "—and especially with the prototype bodyguard robot, which they consider very dangerous. But I don't care, because I know you guys are good, right?"

Rin nods even though Neru can't see her. Len says nothing and Neru stops suddenly.

"Here's the room we'll be in," Neru says. Rin reads the door plaque with placid interest

"ROOM NO. 798"—and there's no specific implication as to what's done in the room. Neru presses her hand against a small, circular panel directly to the right of the door, mounted on the wall, and a red light scans her hand before the door slides open easily. Neru leads them inside.

It's really not much of a room. A few chairs are lined up against the edges, and a small table is in the middle of the room. Directly across from the door is another door, cold and silver against the warm-colored wood of the walls.

"Rin, you sit down," Neru instructs. "We'll be seeing Len first."

Rin snuggles into the warm fabric of the nearest chair. It's warmed and comfortable, and she curls up onto it in pleasure. Neru walks up to the other door and grasps the heavy, rubber handle in her hand before pulling the door open with considerable effort. Behind it is a cold-looking, blue room, and Neru walks inside and disappears for a while. Rin takes this moment of peace to really pay attention to herself.

The jointed, arm-like pole on her back swivels as she tests her limbs. She flexes the items attached to the top of the pole with interest, moving the sponge to brush across the chair and the broom across the floor. She examines and flexes her feet and fingers, which are long and pointed and made of metal. After looking at herself for a while, Rin lifts her head to look at Len. Len is standing there, pawing the ground with apprehension. Rin recognizes light-up panels on his arms and legs, and his right arm is not unlike hers. The other has those dangerous, long fingers, and as Rin watches, Len brings them together nervously and they form a long drill that spins at rapid speeds, buzzing and humming and cutting the air into tiny pieces as he stands around. His ponytail twitches as if it has a life of its own and rises before drooping against his head.

"Come on in here," Neru calls from the blue room, though Rin can't see her. "Rin, you can come too if you'd like."

Rin gets up reluctantly, her fingers wrapped in the black cloth that covers the chair as she struggles to part from the warmth. She wants to see what Neru is planning. Len skates forward on his roller-feet, looking sullen (but maybe it's just an illusion because his ponytail is drooping so).

Rin enters the cold-blue room with Len and the room is as cold as it looks. The floor is white tile, icy against Rin's metallic feet, and she shudders as she looks at the walls, which are empty. Crumbled plaster hides in the corner, and Rin can't help but reach over and brush away the crumbled pieces into her tray which disappears into her body shortly after. She laughs sheepishly.

"I really am nothing but a sanitation robot, aren't I?" Rin says, almost bitterly. Her words drip in the air unhappily, and Neru looks at her almost as if reprimanding her, yet her eyes are dark and sad.

"You're everything," Neru says.

Rin looks at her, and for a second Neru smiles so sadly Rin almost wants cry. Neru whispers something under her breath, softly, like the falling of a feather, and then looks up sharply. Her eyes harden quickly, though they're not mean.

"Len," she says softly, her voice low. "Don't panic. It's just a test."

And suddenly, Rin sees it. From behind her, a dog looms on a leash. It snarls dangerously, and Rin sees that it's not any nice dog. Ribbons of veins bulge almost artificially from its biceps and quadriceps, and long, twisting wires stream down its body, half-mechanical, half-organic.

Neru takes a deep breath and then unclips its collar.

Rin lets out a little shriek and backs against the wall, and the monstrous dog, now free, shoots forward on ridiculously thin but strong legs, barreling towards her. Rin cringes—she knows she's no match for the insane creature—and prepares to be hit—

—There's a loud whirring and there's no impact. She doesn't feel claws ripping at her skin, teeth attacking her clothes and ripping them to shreds. Instead, warm, sticky liquid spatters onto her face in disgusting globs. Some drips onto her lips and it tastes metallic, like blood, and only then does Rin manage to open her eyes to look around.

Blood is spattered across the room, and Len's arm is going through the ribcage of a grinning, bloody skeleton that hangs from his arm limply, strings of its flesh across the room. Len leans over her weakly, his other arm next to her head and his fingers splayed against the wall. Neru is frozen in place, and suddenly Rin sees her begin to tremble uncharacteristically. Her hands rattle against the clipboard she holds tightly to her chest, and she stares at Len with wide eyes.

"…Very well done, Len," she says, but her voice is strange and unnatural. Len is panting visibly, and Rin notices that his pupil in his red eye has slit and turned catlike and wild. Rin looks at him, petrified, despite the pores on her body that instinctively pour out liquid to wash her body clean of the blood. His pupils dilate and he almost looks normal again. The skeleton of the once-dog rattles and slides off his arm and hits the floor with a loud thud.

Len backs away slowly, his arms and body dripping with gore. He mutters several growls and whimpers as he moves, and Rin takes them as some sort of apology from his tone. He falls back weakly, his eyes wild.

"Rin, you don't mind cleaning this up, do you?" Neru pipes up after a silence. Rin swivels the wiper attached to her back across the floor and it turns pink from the blood.

"No, I don't mind," Rin lies. In truth, she finds it disgusting. Flesh hangs in ribbons from the wiper that she swipes across the floor quickly, and she cringes and grimaces because it's disgusting watching the wet flesh cling to the towel and watching the blood blossom across its wet surface. Rin attacks Len's blood-spattered body with a sponge, wiping the blood from his metal appendages and washing it out of his clothes as well as she can.

"R-Rin," he manages to moan softly, though his words bubble as he speaks. Rin looks away. She's scared of what he can do, scared that he'll rip her to shreds like he did to the dog.

"Thanks for saving me," is all Rin says before she turns away to wipe the walls. She is too scared to look his way. Neru gets up slowly from where she's plastered herself to the wall and scribbles something on her paper before whipping out a yellow cell phone and whispering into it.

"B25-757 is fully functioning and working well," she says. "Maybe a bit too well."

When at last they arrive back in their cells, Rin falls onto one of the two beds in exhaustion. Len is slightly pink in his clothes and his hair is drooping weakly as he collapses on the cold floor. Miku looks at them questioningly but says nothing.

Rin groans softly. She feels disgusting—she can still imagine the rivulets of blood dripping down her arms in sticky rivers, the feeling of Len's labored, warm breath on her skin. She rubs her forehead, pushing her bangs up as she stares up at the bland ceiling. It's painted a bored tan all across, and a single light is fixated into the plaster. Neru has long left to give her report to the other scientists.

Silence abounds. The only noise is the omnipresent whirring of machines and Len's occasional, laborious snarls. He almost seems as traumatized by the incident as she is, if not more. In her fear of sharing a cell with this killer, Rin's terror turns to exasperation as she knows she can't escape.

"Can you not talk or something?" Rin growls at last, her words coming out sharper than she intended. Len's noises cut off instantly like a knife slicing through butter, and Rin feels a little bad despite it all. She turns to face the boy, who is twisting the dirtied cloth of his shirt around a spindly finger. His eyes are squeezed shut and she can feel his self-hatred, how badly he wants to be…something, she's not quite sure. Something nicer to be around.

"Hey, I didn't mean it in a bad way," Rin says, even though just a few moments earlier she probably did. "Seriously. If you can't talk, I can try to teach you."

Len's eyelids quiver open, and he looks at her desperately. Rin can't believe the words she has just spilled out of her mouth—she somehow doubts she can uphold the promise. But with the way Len is looking at her, she knows she can't go back on her word.

She sits up and beckons Len over. Len almost trips over his own feet rolling over, and she can't help but laugh lightly at his antics. She can't help but think maybe it won't be so bad to stay with him.