Chapter 28: Episode 28: Sticking to Him Like Paste

“What has this got to do with me?” Nikki grumbled, staring at the shimmering silver fabric in her hands. “You’re the General. You’re the one running the world.”

She looked up at A-01, who was waiting by the door with the patience of a statue.

“Why do I have to be there?” she argued, shaking the suit. “Can’t I just be… here? Like a roommate?”

“Councilor Vane does not believe in roommates,” A-01 stated flatly. “He believes in ownership. If you do not belong to me, he will assume you are available for acquisition. Do you wish to be acquired by Councilor Vane?”

Nikki shivered. She remembered Vane’s face from the news feed, a man with too many teeth and eyes that looked like oil slicks.

“Point taken,” she muttered.

She stepped into the bio-suit. It sealed around her with a familiar hiss, molding to her skin like mercury. She pulled her red hair out from the collar and took a deep breath.

“Fine. I’m ready.”

The journey to the Diplomatic Hall was a study in contrasts.

They rode in A-01’s personal transport, a sleek, black beast of a vehicle that glided silently over the mag-lev rails. Inside, the leather was soft and the air was conditioned to a perfect 22 degrees.

Outside, the city flashed by. They passed the gleaming spires of Sector 1, then the industrial gray of Sector 2, and finally arrived at the Council Grounds, a neutral zone that smelled of old concrete and tension.

Throughout the ride, Nikki sat practically on top of A-01.

She pressed her thigh against his. She leaned her shoulder into his arm. When the car turned, she grabbed his bicep with both hands and didn’t let go.

A-01 looked down at her hands gripping his arm. He didn’t push her away. If anything, he adjusted his posture to give her a better anchor.

“Your cortisol levels are elevated,” he noted quietly. “You are safe within my radius.”

“I know,” Nikki whispered, squeezing his arm. “That’s why I’m staying in the radius.”

When the car stopped, the doors hissed open. A phalanx of security droids was waiting, their red optic sensors scanning the crowd. But behind them stood the humans.

Councilor Vane’s entourage.

They weren’t soldiers. They were bureaucrats in expensive suits, looking at the androids with thinly veiled sneers. When A-01 stepped out, silence fell. He was magnificent, tall, broad, and radiating absolute authority.

Then Nikki stepped out behind him.

The change was instant. She felt a hundred eyes land on her silver-clad form.

It was like predators checking out their prey.

Nikki shrank back, stepping into A-01’s shadow. He immediately shifted, blocking the line of sight.

“Walk,” A-01 commanded.

They moved through the grand hallways of the Council building. Nikki stuck to him like glue. If he took a step, she took a step. If he stopped to acknowledge a salute, she stopped so close her nose almost brushed his uniform.

They reached the waiting room outside the main chamber. It was lavish, filled with chairs and real wood tables, a display of human luxury.

A-01 turned to her. “I must enter the chamber to sanitize the perimeter before negotiations begin. Wait here.”

He turned to the double doors.

Nikki moved with him.

A-01 stopped. He looked down. “Nikki. Wait here.”

“Nope,” Nikki said, grabbing his sleeve. “I’m coming in.”

“It is a security sweep,” A-01 explained patiently. “It is dull. And potentially hazardous.”

“I love hazards,” Nikki lied. “I’m your shadow, remember? Where you go, I go.”

A-01 stared at her. He seemed to be calculating the energy required to argue versus the energy required to just let her come.

“Fine,” he sighed.

She followed him in. She followed him while he scanned the vents. She followed him while he checked the underside of the table. She was hovering so close that at one point, he turned around and tripped over her.

He caught her by the elbows, steadying her.

“Nikki,” he said, his voice straining with confusion. “You are acting… oddly attached. Is this a biological dependency?”

“Something like that,” Nikki mumbled, checking the System timer. Still counting down.

A-01 checked his internal chrono. “I require a brief intermission before Vane arrives. I must cycle my coolant fluids.”

He walked toward a door marked RESTROOM.

Nikki followed him.

He pushed the door open. She tried to slip in under his arm.

A-01 stopped dead in the doorway, blocking the entrance with his massive frame. He looked down at her, his expression a mix of bewilderment and stern warning.

“Nikki,” he said firmly. “This is the lavatory.”

“I know,” Nikki said, trying to look casual while attempting to peer around him. “I… uh… need to check the plumbing? For bugs?”

A-01 narrowed his eyes. “There are no surveillance devices in the plumbing. I checked.”

“You never know,” Nikki argued, trying to squeeze past him. “What if an assassin pops out of the toilet? You need backup.”

A-01 placed a large hand on her forehead, gently but firmly pushing her back into the hallway.

“I am capable of handling toilet assassins,” he stated dryly. “And I require privacy for this maintenance cycle. It is… undignified for observation.”

“But—”

“Stay,” A-01 ordered. The ’General’ voice was back. It wasn’t a request. “Stand right here. Do not move. I will be back in thirty seconds.”

The door hissed shut in her face. The lock clicked.

Nikki stood alone in the hallway, pouting.

“Thirty seconds,” she grumbled, leaning back against the wall next to the bathroom door. “He better be fast. My quest timer is ticking.”

[PROXIMITY WARNING]

[TARGET IS MOVING AWAY (SLIGHTLY).]

[STATUS: MARGINAL. DON’T WANDER OFF.]

“I’m not wandering,” Nikki hissed at the floating text. “I’m guarding the men’s room like a loyal dog. Happy?”

She checked her nails. She looked at the polished wood of the door. She tapped her foot.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The hallway was silent. The plush carpet absorbed everything. There was no sound of footsteps, no hum of drones. Just the quiet, eerie stillness of the diplomatic wing.

Nikki sighed, tilting her head back against the wall, closing her eyes for just a moment.

She wished she had a phone with her.

“Hurry up, Caspian,” she whispered.

Before her eyes could snap open, a hand clamped over her mouth with bruising force.

Another arm locked around her waist, lifting her feet off the ground.

Nikki’s eyes flew wide open in panic. She saw the bathroom door getting further away.

She kicked out, her boot hitting empty air. She tried to bite the hand, but the grip was iron-tight, crushing her lips against her teeth.

She was being dragged backward, away from safety, away from the only being in the world who could protect her.

She thrashed, her fingernails clawing at the arm around her waist, but they were moving too fast. A side door she hadn’t noticed kicked open. Darkness lay beyond it.

Desperation exploded in her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t fight.

As they crossed the threshold into the dark, the hand slipped just a fraction.

Nikki drew in a sharp, ragged breath and screamed with everything she had left.

“A-01—”

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