Losing Liberty: Part 4.
Read part one here: https://medium.com/collaborative-chronicles/losing-liberty-part-1-f067559356da
“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”
Libby glanced up from the journal at the boy who had just spoken. At first, she turned white. Libby held herself together long enough to give James a genuine, shaky, smile before the doll took over.
“Hello James,” Liberty chirped. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
Inwardly Libby braced herself, waiting for him to tell her what a violent, cruel person she was. Instead, James gave her his electric smile.
“Hello, Liberty,” he greeted her. ‘You really are the perfect girl, aren’t you?”
Just as Liberty was beginning to beam with pride, James’ expression darkened.
“Regrettably, I cannot say the same about you. All of us deserve the freedom to make our own decision, even if they are mechs. I really do hope this is the last time that we speak to each other. Libby has suffered for long enough, and it is time for her to wake up.”
Liberty was confused. Eager to please, she started to apologise.
“Have I done something to offend you? I’m sorry, James. If there is anything that I can…”
“Nightingale sleep.”
It only took those two words from James to change everything. Liberty was out like a light, crumpling in a heap onto her desk. Libby was drifting too.
“Libby. Can you hear me, Libby? Are you okay?”
Vaguely the mech was aware of James shaking her shoulders.
“Say something, Libby,” he begged, even though Libby was too far away and lost within herself to obey.
“Knock it off, James,” said a second voice. “Talon said that she probably wouldn’t respond in this state and he was right. We need to stick to the plan. Let me speak to her.”
Andrew moved in and grabbed both of Libby’s hands.
“Command search- Andrew Donnelly. Review please.”
Libby stiffened as she unexpectedly heard her Mama’s voice coming out of her own mouth.
“The next time that you see Andrew Donnelly you are going to look him in the eye and tell him that you don’t want to be friends anymore. You will ask him to leave you alone. Afterwards, you will not acknowledge his existence ever again. If he looks at you, you will look the other way. If he speaks to you, you will be powerless to respond. Do I make myself clear?”
‘I hate that you tore us apart, Mama’ Libby thought as her awareness started to sharpen.
“Thank you, Liberty,” Andrew spoke again. “Focus on that last command. Delete”.
“Deleting,” Liberty’s voice brightly replied. Inside, Libby was rejoicing. Had Andrew actually succeeded in eliminating one of her mother’s commands?
“You did it, Andy,” James exclaimed, overjoyed that the plan was working.
“Let’s keep working our way through the list. I can’t bear for her to live like this for a second longer.”
“Neither can I,” Andrew replied. Thought she was far away and drifting, Libby agreed.
“Neither can I.”
At first, Liberty’s deprogramming was successful. One by one, Andrew asked the doll to delete the commands that had been keeping her imprisoned. Smiling pleasantly when speaking to others, always using her impeccable manners, not being able to speak badly about her mother, and, very importantly, the command to always absorb every book that she read by reading them from cover to cover were easily deleted.
“Can’t we just skip to the bottom one,” James interrupted. “Wouldn’t it solve all of our problems? It isn’t like we have a lot of time. The library closes in less than an hour.”
Andrew hesitated. Surely Talon wrote the list in this particular order for a reason. Then again, the library closing meant the arrival of Janice Avery. It was certainly true that they needed to get Libby away from there as quickly as possible.
“I’m not sure that we should…” he objected, still not entirely convinced that skipping ahead was the wisest move. Meanwhile, impulsive James had already started entering the command.
“Command search, Janice Avery. Cross-reference, obey. Review please.”
Without hesitation, Liberty recalled the command.
“You are my beautiful, perfect daughter, Liberty. That means that you will listen to every word that I say. You will obey Janice Avery, without question, always.”
“Thank you, Liberty,” James replied. Eager to liberate the poor girl once and for all, he continued.
“Focus on that last command. Delete.”
“Additional password required. You have one minute to enter the correct password, or else an alarm will sound.”
“An alarm?” James squeaked. Anybody would think that they were robbing a bank!
Andrew sighed. This was his fault too for not insisting that they stick to Talon’s plan. He took a deep breath and tried his best not to panic.
Password, password. Considering the amount of trouble it had taken for Talon to find out about Janice’s nightingale protocol, Andrew had his doubts that they could come up with the correct password within the next minute. Instead of wasting time making random guesses, Andrew quickly attempted to delete one last command before he was locked out of Liberty’s system.
“Command search, Talon Fraser. Cross-reference disappear. Review please.”
“The next time that you see Talon he will be hidden from view. He will take on the appearance of a stranger, so you will be unable to recognise him for who he is.”
“Focus on that last command. Delete.”
“Access denied,” replied Liberty. “The alarm will sound in three, two.”
“We’re in for it now,” James moaned on one…
Zero.
“Hey, Andy? Do you reckon that it worked? I can’t hear anything.”
Andrew had already spotted what James hadn’t; Liberty wrist had started to glow red and was flashing.
“I don’t think that the alarm was meant for us, buddy. I have a funny feeling that we are going to meet Liberty’s mother, really soon.
James paled. Hearing about Janice Avery from Talon had been bad enough. He wasn’t keen on meeting her in person.
“Dr Avery is coming here? What should we do? Should we try to move Libby? We could find somewhere safe for her to hide.”
“I doubt that we could stay hidden for long” Andrew pointed out, fairly certain that the doctor was no stranger to GPS tracking. He took a steadying breath and tried his best to think of a solution. James waited for him impatiently. It wasn’t long before he lost his cool.
“You have to agree that remaining in the library is a terrible plan. We must do something. At the very least we should bring Libby home and lock the door behind us.”
“I am not sure that we still have that option,” interjected Talon, coming out of hiding to join them at the study nook. He glanced over Andrew’s shoulder at the scrap of notepaper and sighed. As he had feared; the brothers had not made it far enough down the list.
“Command search-library,” he called in a hopeless attempt to resume Libby’s deprogramming. As Talon had feared, Liberty wasn’t going to co-operate.
“All access to this system is denied. Desist now or face the consequences.”
Regretfully, Talon gave James and Andrew the bad news.
“Libby is still programmed to remain in the library until her mother escorts her home,” he informed them. “You’ve both seen how temperamental Liberty can get when somebody stands in the way of her obeying one of her mother’s commands. If we pressure her to leave, I am certain that she will cause us more trouble than we can handle.”
Andrew frowned, desperate to find a solution that would save his best friend.
“What if we leave Libby running under the nightingale protocol and carry her somewhere safe,” he suggested. Already Talon was shaking his head. He knew from personal experience that Liberty would break free of her nightingale sleep at the first hint that she was being forced to act against her mother’s will and would retaliate. Unfortunately, getting Libby out the library in her current state wasn’t possible now.
James shot Talon a guilty look.
“I’m sorry for getting ahead of myself,” he mumbled. Andrew sighed sadly.
“We’re moving on to plan B now, aren’t we?”
Talon regretfully nodded. Seeing how disappointed they were, he attempted to raise their spirits.
“You’ve both done a wonderful job so far. Please don’t blame yourselves. We’ll get Libby out of this, yet.” Unfortunately, Talon wasn’t very good at following his own advice. Why hadn’t he anticipated the alarm? He had warned the boys that there might be the chance of an impossible password or a lockdown preventing them from tampering with Liberty’s programming, but the alarm had taken him by surprise as well. More importantly, why hadn’t Talon kept Andrew and James under closer supervision during the deprogramming? Dr Fraser had elected to stay hidden within the bookshelves, just in case one of them let it slip who Talon was while Libby was asleep. He had chosen to be extra cautious because he knew that if Libby were to say his name when she woke up that she would fallen into another, unbreakable sleep. Instead, Talon should have focused upon Janice and her protective paranoia. Of course, Dr Avery had resorted to extreme measures to prevent her precious Liberty from being taken away. Why hadn’t Talon figured it out sooner?”
Unexpectedly, Andrew placed a hand on Talon’s shoulder. The Doctor must have looked as miserable as he felt.
“Libby is so lucky to have you watching over her. I don’t know how you managed to stay so strong for so long when somebody that you love is in trouble and unable to be herself. Don’t falter now, okay? We need you to get us through this. Libby’s freedom depends on us. ”
Talon shot Andrew a weak smile of gratitude.
‘The kid is right. Pull yourself together, Talon Fraser. You need to stay strong for Libby’s sake’.
Unshakably devoted to saving her, Talon leaned over Libby and gently whispered to her.
“Nightingale, wake up.”
At last, Libby was able to break free of her nightingale sleep and sit up. Desperately, she looked at Andrew.
“We’re in trouble, aren’t we? Did I hear you correctly before? Is my mother coming?’
As Andrew nodded, Libby grabbed his hands. She had only just gotten Andy back into her life. It wasn’t fair that soon her mother would be forcing them apart again.
Despite the circumstances, Andrew was able to smile.
“We’re together now, aren’t we? Not even your beastly mother has the power to stop us from being friends. I am sorry for not understanding before. I’m right beside you, Libs. For now and for always.”
“I am glad that you are okay, Libby.”
Libby looked at James. There was a fearful quiver in his eyes that she was certain that she had put there. Fate willing she would have the opportunity to win over his trust again.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you before, I swear. Liberty couldn’t cope when you stopped me from reading that book.”
“I came on too strong, didn’t I?” James asked with a jovial grin. Libby laughed, warming to James even more. Within this confusing, traumatic afternoon it was a welcome release to laugh.
“Libby? I’m sorry to interrupt, but we are running out of time. If we are to have any chance of saving you from your mother, then you need to listen to me.”
Libby turned, startled by the cute, little voice. Then she blinked. It was the Valentine Club girl.
“Who are you, exactly?”
She then shot a puzzled look at James for Libby had noticed his eyes widen.
“Why wouldn’t you know…?”
Andrew elbowed him into silence. James yelped.
“Don’t mind him,” Andrew apologised. “You girls go ahead and chat. I’ll make sure that James doesn’t waste any more of your time.”
Before Libby could question what had just happened, the Valentine Club girl grabbed her hands and asked her to focus.
“Who I am isn’t important right now. You should know that I am here on behalf of your Uncle Talon. He still loves you and wants to keep you safe, but he is unable to speak to you face to face because of one of your mother’s commands. I need you to follow two rules, okay? The first is that you must never say your Uncle’s name aloud. If you accidentally say it when he is watching you, you will fall asleep for at least an hour. That is the last thing that we need right now. The second rule is that you trust me implicitly. Do you think that you can do that?”
Libby continued to look at the girl blankly. She couldn’t have been older than eight years old. Her two, long pigtails were tied back with ribbons, and she was smiling at Libby with a gappy grin. Could she place her trust in this mysterious child to liberate her from her mother once and for all?
“Promise me that Tal.. that my uncle sent you.
“I promise on all of the lilies in his garden.”
Libby relaxed. Only one person knew how important lilies were to her. If Talon trusted Valentine, then she would too.
“Tell me what I must do”
Valentine helped herself to a nearby chair and sat opposite Libby.
“I am afraid that we don’t have very many options at this point. We cannot leave the library. We could try locking you away in the staffroom, but that is probably a bad idea, isn’t it?”
Libby nodded. Liberty didn’t like enclosed spaces. Once, the school counsellor had locked her inside of her office while she and her Mama had a discreet chat. As soon as she heard her mother’s voice, Liberty had panicked, screamed uncontrollably and clawed at the door so frantically that she had broken the lock. If they resorted to enclosing Liberty, it was likely that the doll would figure out a way to rejoin her mother.
“If we cannot change our surroundings then our only hope is to change you instead,” Valentine concluded. She pointed to the blinking light emitting from Libby’s lower left arm.
“Brush against that light with your fingers until you come across a bump. Once you feel something, press against it.”
“A bump?” Libby gasped. She brushed her fingers against the spot with no success.
“Can you help me find it?” Libby asked. Valentine shook her head and explained that the catch was electrically charged. She was powerless to help, even with the best protective gloves. Only Libby could do this.
“Just be patient, Libby. Go slowly. I am certain that you can do this.”
Libby nodded, glad that one of them was confident and tried again. At last, her finger brushed against a bump. She pressed it until she heard a click.
When she saw the control panel, filled with buttons and wires coming out of her arm, Libby sorrowfully moaned. Her hopes of waking up from this dream were dashed. Once, she had wished that she could be a regular girl; one that wasn’t so impossibly perfect and strange. Right now, Libby would have happily settled for being human.
Valentine grabbed her other hand, looking like she might cry at any second.
“ I’m sorry, Libby. I’m sorry for co-operating with Janice and not recognising how evil she was until it was too late. When we started this, I had hoped we would be walking away from the library right about now but instead our only choice is to try something drastic. You don’t deserve to be put in this position, but here we are. It is important that you trust me and that we act quickly.”
Libby wanted to obey, of course, but it was hard to focus with her eyes welling with tears. She had just noticed something: behind Valentine’s oversized glasses were eyes that were a very familiar shade of cornflower blue. Libby pieced together this observation with a sudden recollection of command she had muttered in her sleep. Hidden from her view, Libby was cursed to see the face of a stranger instead of the person who she cared for the most.
“Uncle…”
“Rule one, Libby,” Valentine/ Talon barked just in the nick of time. Libby fell silent, forced to express her sorrow with quiet sobs. Learning about her existence was horrible. Realising that her mother had gone to such lengths to conceal Talon from her had brought Libby to her breaking point.
Valentine/Talon wiped a couple of specks away from her glasses, pecked Libby on the cheek and then gazed at her sternly.
“I don’t blame you for crying. Any girl would be exhausted and terrified after everything that you have been through, and that is who you are. You are as real as any human with just as much right to get upset. I know that it is hard, but you must pull yourself together and listen to me.”
Valentine/Talon handed Libby over a pair of wire cutters.
“Take a look at your arm. Do you see that row of coloured wires? If you snip that green one, your auditory receptivity will cut out. Do you understand what that means?”
Libby frowned and nodded. If she cut that wire, her hearing would be disabled. Just thinking about living in a world with no sound terrified her.
“Uncle, are you certain that there is no other…”
“Rule two, Libby,” Valentine/Talon interrupted. Libby fell silent, remembering her promise to trust him no matter what.
“After you cut the green wire, you then need to snip the white wire. That one will put you into a deep sleep, so deep that all of the remaining commands imprinted into you will be disabled. From there we will be able to take you away from the library to the Professor Stern’s place.”
Libby gulped.
“I won’t just be sleeping this time, will I?” she asked, figuring out as much from the gloomy expression on their faces.
“I’ll be switching myself off, won’t I? In order to get out of here I need to stop existing!”
Valentine/Talon smiled at her reassuringly and urged Libby not to say such impossible things.
“You’ll be right here with me the whole time,” Talon vowed, pointing to his heart. He then explained that the professor was their ally and Janice’s former teacher. He had been horrified to learn about Libby and everything that Janice had put her through during her obsessive search for perfection.
“He want to be a friend to you, Libby. Samuel is confident that if we had to disable you, he would be able to fix you up as good as new. I know that this is a big leap of faith and that I am asking a lot of you, but do you still trust me?”
Libby smiled back.
“I trust you with my life,” she replied without hesitation. She picked up the wire cutters, prepared herself mentally to cut the wires, then…
“Nightingale drop,”
Janice Avery’s voice came booming down from the top of the stairs. At her mother command, Libby dropped, falling like a stone onto the cold, library floor.
End of Part 4.
Read the final installment of Losing Liberty here:
Thank you so much for reading. I hope that you are enjoying Liberty Lost so far. If you have enjoyed this story please show your appreciation with a round of applause.
