A Price Too High

She looked out into the light. The water lapped at the shore, leaving tiny trails in the sand. Birds circled overhead, filling the air with their cries. A boat could be seen far off to the West, maybe a family on a day trip out to sea. She took in the scene, slowly, as though drinking a sensuous treat of some kind, and waited. Her feet were rooted to the spot where she stood; she could not have moved even if she wanted to. The biomechs in her body pulsed steadily with low currents, and she could feel their hum within her.

Minutes later, she was running down the beach as if on autopilot. In a way, she was. Her body surged forward, kicking up sand as she ran. She still thought about the boat out on the water, thought about the people on it, and what they must be doing. She remembered a time when her body was her own to control, when it didn’t respond to remote commands that could come at any time. That time was another lifetime. Memories of it were all she had.

Her body slowed, moving quietly into a small shelter further up the beach. Crouching in the shadows, she prepared to wait. She worried about what would happen, what the next command would be. Most of the time it wasn’t bad, but sometimes- sometimes she wished she could purge the memories out of her mind. Slowly the day darkened. She watched the sea. She waited.

The command came. Quietly she moved towards a dwelling further up on the beach. Slipping into the shadows, her mind raced, knowing she didn’t want to be on board for whatever was going to happen. Her hands crept along a window, finding enough purchase to gently slide it open. Her body slid through the opening, gliding into the room like a current in the water. The window closed softly behind her.

To her right was a doorway. Moving carefully, she made her way through it, she could see there was a body lying prostrate on a bed. She crept towards it, extending her index finger. A flare of light signified the concentrated power of the laser emerging from her fingertip, coming into its deadly existence. She placed one hand on his face, gently holding his head still, and with the other drew her finger across his throat. Blood welled out of the cut, surging briefly then slowing, half cauterized by the weapon. She thought about the boat.

She backed away from the body, and walked through the rooms, reaching the door. Unlocking it, she let herself out. There was no need to worry about being caught. She could pass any of the normal scans- her biomechanical enhancements were so discreetly built they could only be picked up if you knew what you were looking for. Her fingerprints would never turn up in any database. She didn’t officially exist.

Two years before she had made a deal with the devil. She sold her soul for her life. An accident, she was dying, her broken body’s strength slowly ebbing. For the return of her life, she’d take on the special enhancements, carry on with research and advancements to the technology. No one had mentioned the murders. No one mentioned the loss of self, that she would only ride her own body as a passenger. And now that she knew, it was too late to turn back. Irreversible changes. Irreversible loss. She thought about the boat.