Free Standby (The Emile Reed Chronicles, 2.5) by Nicole Sobon

The Emile Reed Chronicles:
    Program 12
    Program 13
    Allegiance
    Deprogrammed
    Standby
    Rebooted
    New Beginnings
    The Emile Reed Chronicles Extras:
    Rebirth (Standalone McVeigh Novel)
    The Program Manual
    The Untold Stories
    Program 22: Session 15
    He isn’t perfect, but he is as close as we will get . Emile was one of a kind, though I don’t believe Charles understands that. She wasn’t created, she remained underneath the programming, long before I began messing around with her system.
    It is important that we hide his true being from the others for now. They are fearful of the unknown, and we don’t know what he is capable of, which makes him a danger to all of us.
    At least, that is what they believe.
    There’s still a bit of human left inside of him; a will to survive, to fight off the machine, and the truth is that they are terrified by that. They are terrified that something they’ve created could possibly destroy them.
    Subject: Grant
    He reminds me of her. He’s eager for freedom, for a way out, something that is rarely seen in Programs. I had programmed him to be a certain way, to act a certain way, but these thoughts? These thoughts are Grant’s, not Twenty-Two’s. He’s more human than I thought he’d be, but he’s still a machine, as hard as it is to believe.
    But I need to ensure McVeigh doesn’t find out. If he knows just how advanced Grant is, who knows what he’ll do, but I’m most certain it won’t be anything good.
    Log 22013:
    There are things I have been forced to do during my time here; things that I’m not proud of. Performing an update on Tommy’s deactivated body was one of them. I’d known this boy for years, long before he’d started seeing my sister. Seeing the vacant look in his eyes and the pale coloring that overtook his skin, I couldn’t help but to think what I was doing was wrong. He was fading away, and now McVeigh expected me to bring him back, but for what? To suffer some more?
    None of this is right. None of it. But I know that he deserves a second chance. They all do. I only wish that I could fix them all. Until then, I will continue trying to right the wrongs of a sick man, in hopes of restoring humanity to how it once was.
    I almost feel as though there is no way out of here outside of death, and that terrifies me. I just want to save her, to save Grant – even though I only knew him as a Program, and to start over. But I don’t see him allowing that.
    I’m here to save her, but I’m afraid I’ll die before I get the chance.

1 THE PROCEDURE
    A s I lay on the table, with White Coats hovering over me with their scalpels in tow, the sharp edges of which tear into my skin, all I found myself thinking about was her. Not the pain. Not that I missed my old life.
    None of that.
    All I could think about was her.
    And it wasn’t just because I had missed her – I did, more than anything – but it was also because I felt as though I had failed her somehow.
    Maybe that was a ridiculous thought considering the circumstances. I’d fought hard, and I knew that, but I couldn’t help but to think that it hadn’t been enough. I could’ve saved her from this , I thought to myself, even though I knew that it was ludicrous to think such a thing. I tried like hell. I did everything that I could. I risked everything to protect her, because she was worth saving – she was worth losing everything for.
    She was my baby sister, and I had done everything that I could to see to it that she stood a chance at escaping this terrifying world that she’d been forced into.
    But even with my need to protect her, I knew that she was more than capable of protecting herself. She had already shown me her strength once before, having survived the transformation and regained control of her body. She was strong, determined, and quite stubborn, but even knowing all of that, I still couldn’t help but to think that I should have done more.
    Having spent months working for Charles McVeigh had not