Unfinished, Page 2

  * * *

  Later that day, once he was upstairs in the main training room and safely away from Miss Maren and her scientists, Quinn asked, "What did the numbers mean? When Lexa got scared, she said a bunch of numbers in a row. What are they?"

  His instructor, Doc Mendal, had been trying to teach Quinn how to block an opponent wielding a knife, but he had no interest in training today. Doc backed away and huffed a breath. "Boy, you ask a lot of questions."

  "Because that's what they designed me to do," he said, feeling stubborn. But it was okay to be stubborn with Doc Mendal. He might have to run an extra mile or climb the rock wall without using his feet for disobeying, but that was easy.

  Doc mumbled something about "Goddamned free will" then sighed. "Her reset pattern. Whenever she goes into overload, she recites her reset pattern. It'll happen if she ever reboots or goes into sleep mode, too."

  "Do I have one of those?"

  "Yes, but you don't know what it is. It's buried in your subconscious. It'll only come out when you trip the recall."

  Quinn cocked his head to the side, considering. "So humans wouldn't have those?"

  "No."

  "So how do they react to trauma?"

  "Badly," Doc Mendal said. "That's your advantage." He glanced at the cameras mounted in the corners of the training room walls. "Enough talk. Assume close combat stance."

  Now it was Quinn's turn to sigh. He faced away from his instructor, knees slightly bent, waiting for the attack. But when Doc wrapped him up tight in his arms, he whispered, "Remember what I said about how humans handle trauma. There will come a time when you need that advantage."

  Then he tossed Quinn to the mat.