Losing Liberty: Part 5.
By: Danielle Nolan
Tags: Short Fiction, Science Fiction, Artificial Intelligence, Fiction, Short Story

Read Part One here: https://medium.com/collaborative-chronicles/losing-liberty-part-1-f067559356da

James and Andrew rushed to Libby’s side. As soon as they were beside her, they could tell that something was very wrong. Liberty wasn’t just unconscious; they were no signs of life within her, not even her simulated breathing. James tried shaking her awake, but they discovered that she was as heavy as lead. The boys began to fear that there was no spark of Libby left within this lifeless doll, but then she started to hum eerily.

“Snap out of it, Libby!” James called, but nothing that he tried could rouse her. Andrew clenched his fists.

“What have you done to her?” he screamed, glaring at the evil woman who had incapacitated his best friend. When Janice barely took the time to look him in the eye, Andrew started bolting towards the stairs.

“Andrew wait!”.

Reluctantly, Andrew looked back at Dr Fraser. When he saw his strange expression, the boy stopped in his tracks. Talon was calm. More bizarre than that, Talon was smiling.

“How can you possibly smile …?” he started asking but then Janice Avery spoke over the top of Andrew.

“I hope that you realise that you are the one at fault here, Doctor Fraser. Liberty was perfect until you filled her head with ideas that were too human for her to cope with. She would never have toyed with the idea of being unhappy if you hadn’t taught her about unhappiness in the first place. I may have had to sacrifice our last five years together, but at least I was able to protect my daughter from you in the end. This time around I will not allow you anywhere near her.”

“What does that mean?” James started to fret. What did the last five years have to do with anything? Meanwhile, Talon’s smile had turned into a triumphant grin. To the amazement of everyone, he laughed.

“How is it that you can call Liberty your daughter when you don’t understand the first thing about her?” Talon marvelled. “You’ve always given me far too much credit with her development. I may have been her teacher, but Liberty turned into Libby all on her own.”

He then gazed back at his girl with paternal pride.

“You built an amazing mech, Janice. Whether you believe it or not, Libby is real. She has her own, brilliant mind, a caring heart, and a soul. Surely, deep down, you have suspected as much. Why else would Liberty have become so impossible to control unless it was true?”

Janice scowled.

“How dare you shift the blame away from yourself. Liberty would never have become so rebellious is she had never met you. You’ve been her corrupting influence this whole time, Dr Fraser, even if you are too deluded to see it.

Janice started to descend the stairs, ready to collect Liberty and take her home.

“I’ll make sure that Liberty gets the fresh start that she deserves,” Janice vowed. “Take a long, last at ‘Libby’. I promise you that this is the last time that you will ever see her.”

“You can’t take Libby away. She doesn’t want that!” cried James

Andrew agreed with his younger brother

“We’re not going to let her go without a fight, are we? Come on, let’s try and reach Libby first.”

The brothers started trailing Janice, hoping against hope that they could wake Libby and get her away from her evil mother. Before they could reach their friend, Talon placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Whatever you two are thinking, forget about it” he cautioned. Andrew moved away from his grasp as he was increasingly getting more annoyed.

“At least we’re willing to do something,” he pointed out. “I was certain that you would fight to save Libby, but I guess that I was wrong. Libs needs somebody that will protect her, not a useless, uncaring uncle who just stands there and smiles while his niece is in danger.”

Talon’s smile faltered

“Why wouldn’t you think that I care about Libby?” he asked before realising that his appearance had been misleading. Of course, the brothers had no way of understanding what had just happened. He had been the only other person in the room, the last time that he had heard Liberty’s humming. Feeling guilty for not telling them before now, he decided that it was time to let them in on the good news.

With Janice completely ignoring them, it was easy for Talon to lean in and whisper to Andrew and James.

“It isn’t our place to save Libby anymore because Libby has already been set free. “

He exclaimed that the command ‘Nightingale drop’ had caused Liberty’s program to reset. Janice had been willing to sacrifice the last five years of her daughter’s progress because she was desperate to kill Libby off once and for all and have her perfect, uncorrupted Liberty take her place permanently.

“No!” James gasped. Talon quickly gave him a reassuring smile.

“Libby is fine. She’s better than fine, actually,” he promised. Because Janice had refused to acknowledge that Libby was real, she had just made a fatal mistake.

“Dr Avery is so convinced of her brilliance that she thinks that the mech lying on the library floor is her perfect daughter, Liberty. What she cannot comprehend is that Libby was always Libby, even from the time of her first spark. Liberty only came into existence because of the commands that she forced into that poor girl’s head. Since the reset deleted all of these commands, Libby is free of Liberty at long last. I am sorry for smiling before, but it amuses me greatly that in the end, Janice was the one who gave Libby her best chance of reclaiming her independence.”

James grinned too. No wonder Talon had been so happy.

“So this is all over then?” he beamed. “Libby wakes up as Libby instead of Liberty. The four of us stand up to Dr Avery, and we get rid of her once and for all.

“Not quite,” Talon replied. Before he could explain their remaining problem, Libby’s humming stopped. The three of them turned around in time to see Libby wake up and pull herself up from the carpet. Even from a distance, it was noticeable that something about her that was different. Libby was trembling slightly and taking in everything and everybody with wide green eyes.

“Who are you all?” she asked in a voice that sounded much younger than her usual self. Then she let out a terrified gasp.

“Who am I?”

“She doesn’t have her memories anymore, does she?” James sighed.

Talon shook his head.

“At the moment our girl is a clean slate. She is also very vulnerable and innocent now, more like a girl of seven than a high school junior. If we play our cards right, I believe that we can win Libby back, but it is going to take all of us to do it. We need to win over her trust and remind Libby of her true nature before Janice tries sinking her claws into her for a second time.”

Andrew sighed, as looked towards Libby.

“I’m your mama, sweetheart. Don’t you remember me?”

Dr Avery was smiling flawlessly at their friend and gently stroking her hair.

Libby smiled back.

“Are you really my mama? she gasped. “But you are so beautiful!”

Andrew’s temper started to flare again. How dare Janice act so lovely and charming when he knew very well how little genuine affection she had given her daughter before.

“It’s going to be alright, Andrew,” Talon called. “Libby is clever enough to tell a true heart from a false one. It’s our job now to guide her in the right direction. With a little luck, we will expose to her just what a snake Janice Avery is.”

They held back while Janice attempted to win Libby’s trust. Neither James, nor Andrew liked it, but Talon pointed out that appearing hostile towards Liberty’s mama wasn’t the wisest first move.

“You are my lovely daughter, Liberty Avery. To me you are the most precious girl in the entire world,” Janice cooed. “You have the potential inside of you to excel at anything that you set your mind to. You are nothing short of amazing, Liberty, and I love you very much.”

“I love you too, “ Libby echoed innocently, wanting to please the woman who was showing her all of this love and kindness.

“You’re a good girl,” Janice beamed. Libby nodded and grasped her hand without a second thought. As she stood, she suddenly noticed the buttons and wires coming out of her own body and screamed.

“Is…is my arm supposed to be like that?”

Gently Janice guided Libby’s other hand towards the open compartment. Together, they closed it.

“Your arm is supposed to be like that,” she then assured her. Deciding that it was better to stick to the truth this time around, Janice looked Liberty in the eye.

“You are a mech, Liberty and I am your creator. That means that you aren’t human like the rest of us. Don’t let this upset you, for you are something even better. You are living perfection: a flawless machine with infinite possibilities. It is your destiny to help the world with your brilliance. Is that how you would like to spend your life? Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Libby grinned. She was delighted at the idea of helping others and making her Mama proud.

“Can we get started now?” she asked, desperate to be good and start making a difference in the world.

“Absolutely. As soon as we get you home, we can get started.” Janice’s saintly mother act was so flawless that even Talon was getting nervous. As the mother and daughter walked past, Janice looked over her shoulder at Libby’s allies and snicked. Her gaze was icy.

“Move in, now,” Talon commanded, unable to bear Libby being ensnared by Janice for another second. James and Andrew did not need to be asked twice.

Andrew reached Libby first. He tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned, he gave her a friendly wave.

“Hello, Libs.”

As Andrew knew she would, Libby giggled. She had reacted the same way the first time he had called her that in the second grade.

“Are you talking to me? I thought that my name was Liberty. Libs is a funny name”.

“More like a ridiculous one,” Janice snapped without thinking. Libby’s jaw dropped.

“Did you just say something?” she asked, not willing to believe that she had overheard something so unkind. Janice softened her expression and shook her head.

“You must still be very tired if you are hearing things. Come on Liberty; we must get you home to rest.”

“We’re best friends, Libs,” Andrew cried, speaking over Janice this time. “We go to school together. You love flowers, butterflies and birds so much that you used to drag me all around the playground searching for them. More than anything, you want a pet. You told me never to tell anybody because your mother would get mad if you asked her about getting one. She thinks that all animals are dirty, smelly and a waste of time. The thing that you hate worst of all is brushing your hair. If you had a choice, you wouldn’t try so hard, but your mother always forces you to brush it for twenty minutes, every morning and every night.”

“That can’t be right” Libby gasped. The horrible mother that Andrew was talking about sounded nothing like lovely Janice. Surely he was mistaken.

“Believe me, Janice is the worst,” added James. “If you go home with her she will not stop until she has turned you into her perfect girl. Dr Avery may be your creator, but she sees you as a science experiment, not as her daughter. You mustn’t trust her. Please, stand up to her with us. We’re the ones who care about you. Janice is only interested in turning you into a mechanical doll. She cannot be trusted!”

Talon started rushing forward when he noticed Janice’s hands were shaking, but he was too late.

Slap.

Janice liked to believe that she was the closest thing to perfect while remaining human. Other than her frozen heart and obsessive behaviour, her other major flaw was her temper. Just like she had done to Talon the last time he had tried to rescue Libby, Janice slapped James across the cheek with all of her strength. The unfortunate boy yelped and hunched over in pain.

“James!” Andrew shrieked. Libby was also horrified.

“Are you okay?” she asked, kneeling by his other side. After seeing that James was too overcome with pain to speak, she leapt to her feet and glared Janice down.

“Why would you do that?” she screamed. Janice then confused her greatly by embracing her.

“I am the one who should be asking if you are okay. My sweet girl, these wicked boys don’t want us to be together. They hate us so much that they are lying to you.”

“Why would they lie?” Libby gasped. Janice’s honeyed voice was so credible that the confused mech was on the verge of believing her.

“Because they don’t want you to succeed, my darling. When you get older, you will understand that nobody likes seeing shooting stars shine. You cannot trust anybody, okay? The only person that you can count on to look after you and tell you the truth is me.”

Libby, overcome with paranoia, clutched Janice tighter. Other people sounded horrible. How lucky she was to have such a lovely mama to keep her safe and tell her the truth.”

“Take me, home, please,” she begged at last. Her mama replied that it would be her pleasure.

“Libby.”

As Talon spoke, Janice walked faster.

“Don’t listen to a word that man says, Liberty. He’s the worst of them all.”

“Libby, please look at me. It would make me so happy if you would.”

Libby looked as soon as she heard the word happy. She liked making people happy. What was the harm in granting his request, just for a second?

When Libby met Talon’s gaze, she couldn’t look away. Though his hair and clothes were scruffy, they took nothing away from his warm, kind eyes and the genuine pleasure on his face as the two of them locked eyes. In front of him, the man was holding out a flower arrangement that had been sitting on the windowsill a few moments ago. Libby didn’t know what the flowers were called, but she was captivated by the snowy white petals and cheerful yellow centres.

Libby’s natural curiosity, the one the had been present all of the time before Janice had silenced her, took over. Attracted like a honeybee, Libby let go of Janice’s hand and gravitated towards them.

“These are lilies,” instructed Talon, knowing very well that Libby was bursting to know their name. He pulled the heartiest one out of the arrangement, broke off the stem and placed it behind Libby’s ear. Libby was delighted.

“You wanted to be called Lily once, do you remember?” he smiled. “Your mama was getting angry at you so often that you had started to flinch every time that you heard the name Liberty. We almost started calling you Lily, to give you a break from it all, but then I suggested Libby, after my grandmother.

“I love the name, Libby,” the mech girl beamed, believing it to be the prettiest name that she had ever heard.

Talon chuckled.

“I know that you do. I love it too. You have been Libby to me ever since.”

He handed Libby the entire arrangement, so that she could have a closer look.

“These lilies grew from the seeds of flowers that the two of us planted together. Baby girl, please close your eyes and try to remember our garden. We had roses and freesias too. The gardenias were your second favourite flower because you love their fragrance. I taught you how to play hopscotch and jumping jacks on that grass so that you could join in when the other kids played at school. The two of us sat under the old redwood trees, reading The Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables. You loved hearing stories about girls who were a little bit odd and didn’t always do what they were told. Is this helping, Libby? Can you see anything yet?”

Slowly, Libby nodded. Their flowers were slowly coming into focus. She remembered the smell of the gardenias. Libby could just about make out the face of the person sitting next to her under the redwood tree. Then, the daydream vanished as somebody grasped her hand, violently.

“Get away from him, Liberty,” Janice barked furiously, dragging her backwards. Libby flinched. Hearing her name made Liberty feel so wretched that the memories of her Mama started to return. Libby hadn’t been allowed to have friends, let alone a pet. She had never been allowed to choose how to spend her own time and had not been allowed to speak her mind to the point that Janice had silenced her tongue with her inhuman commands. While she often reminded Libby of her perfection and how much she was loved, Janice had no tolerance for listening to her, answering childish questions, cheering her up when she was upset or tucking her into bed at night. Worst of all, she had done everything in her power to wipe Libby out of existence in favour of Liberty the doll. Libby slapped Janice’s hand away, refusing to touch the woman who had commanded her to obey her, without question, always.

“Are you alright, Libs?”

In the last few moments, Libby had moved from standing in a trance to shrieking. The negative memories and emotions associated with her mother were flooding back far too quickly, and it was overwhelming. Libby looked up at Andrew and knew him at once. She could recall their butterfly chases and how he considered her to be very interesting. Though Libby was too shaken to calm down completely, she managed to stop screaming and give him a shaky smile. Thank goodness Andrew was here. Just like when they were kids, Libby felt a little braver knowing that he was here to support her.

“Take it easy, Libby. Everything is going to be okay.”

Libby gazed over at James. Involuntarily she blushed. Her heart continued to pound but for a different reason. She started to hope that James liked her enough to ask her out again one day. To be swept off her feet just like a regular girl sounded like a dream come true.

“Oh, Libby. I hate how life has been unkind to you. You don’t deserve this at all.”

Talon hugged Libby and held her until she was calm. At that point, Libby still didn’t know his name, but then the last of her memories started trickling back. Libby could now see every flower and could remember snuggling up to Talon with a book under the redwood trees. At last, she could recall the afternoon where they had decided upon her new name.

“The name, Liberty, is a bit too hard and serious for you to wear, isn’t it, my darling. You deserve a softer name; something beautiful like these flowers”.

Young Liberty had immediately run over to her favourite flower.

“Like a lily?” she suggested, her green eyes sparkling with delight. “Maybe I could be a Lily too.”

“Maybe you could,” Talon had chuckled. “You’d spend all of your time out in the garden if you had a choice, wouldn’t you?”

Liberty nodded. That settled it then; Lily was the perfect name.

Talon still wasn’t entirely convinced.

“You’re more special than a common lily. You deserve a name all of your own. How about Libby?”

“So pretty! I love it,” Libby gushed. Then she frowned as she realised something important.

“We can’t change my name for real, can we? Mama hates us when we go against her. She’ll never agree.”

“Your mama will never have the power to change how you think about yourself. If you want to be Libby, then Libby you will stay.”

Talon stepped closer so that the two of them were within whispering distance.

“How about we keep the name between us then? It can be like your special name for me, top secret and for our ears only.”

“Papa!”

At last, Libby was calm, for there was no place that she would rather be than her father’s arms. While Talon wasn’t technically her relation or creator, even at age seven Libby was aware that Talon Fraser was the one who had turned on her soul. She spent almost a minute in his arms before realising that their curse was over. Libby took two steps back to admire her Papa’s appearance. No longer the kindly librarian or the adorable girl with pigtails, Talon had returned to being Talon; just the way Libby liked him. She loved his oversized glasses, his deep, sometimes intelligent, sometimes dreamy blue eyes and his boyish smile. Her favourite feature was his scruffy black hair. He had stopped brushing it especially to irritate Janice. On Libby’s behalf, he had rebelled against perfection, and she loved him because of it!

“I don’t want to lose sight of you ever again,” she declared. Talon started to echo the sentiment, but then he noticed that Janice was on the move.

“Libby, watch out!”

Dr Avery, having snuck up behind her was next to Libby’s left ear.

“Focus Liberty. Establishing command system, nightingale…..”

James and Andrew covered their ears. The second that Libby was aware that Janice was whispering in her ear, she let out an ear-piercing scream. It occurred to her that as a mech that perhaps she was capable of screaming louder. As it turned out, she could.

“Liberty,” Janice called, but Libby was so loud that she could not make herself heard. Suddenly, Dr Fraser was beside her.

“Leave this library now,” he instructed into her ear. “If you promise never to bother Libby again I will let you walk away with this with your reputation intact. If you refuse, then I am locking the doors and calling the police. There are enough witnesses here that can testify to you mistreating Libby and assaulting James Donnelly.”

Janice coolly met his gaze.

“Do you seriously believe that is going to stop me from taking Liberty away? She is my property, Talon; not yours. I am positive that the police will care more about how you stole Liberty from me then about how I treat my mech. As for that teenage delinquent, I was simply protecting my property from being damaged.”

Talon paused. Then he walked over to Libby’s desk to retrieve something silver and gold.

“Have you been missing something?” he asked Janice, tearing the wrapping paper off of his blind book date. When Janice saw her missing leather-bound journal, she was furious.

“If you don’t agree to leave Libby alone, I could always pass this journal onto the Scientific Guild. That would get you expelled for sure.”

Janice attempted to snatch it from his grasp. After she failed, Talon told her not to bother trying again.

“I’ve made scans of every page so what happens here today, doesn’t really matter. I knew that there was a chance that we might meet this evening, so I took the liberty of collecting the emails of every single board member. At 8pm tonight, they will receive a link to your journal pages unless you agree to surrender Libby and leave us alone.”

Janice Avery’s entire expression transformed. Andrew and James watched on with interest. Though it was too noisy to tell what was going on, suddenly Janice looked to be very afraid.

“Damn you to hell, Dr Fraser,” she raged. “Fine then. I accept your terms. Keep your damaged goods and continue to waste the rest of your life pretending that the mech is human. Honestly, the pair of you are two of a kind.”

Talon wasn’t fazed by Janice’s insult.

I’d prefer to be damaged and delusional, then self-serving and heartless, he thought. Libby has learned more about humanity than you will ever know.

Libby didn’t stop screaming until Janice Avery had left the library. Then she let out a sigh of relief.

“Is it over now?” she asked Talon. “Am I safe? Did Janice agree to leave me alone?”

Talon assured her that she had. Whether it was a promise that could be trusted remained to be seen, but for the moment Libby was free. If Janice tried anything underhanded, they could always leak the journal. If Libby agreed to it, Talon thought it would be worth their while to pay Professor Stern a visit. Janice’s teacher was capable of programming mechs and could ensure that Libby never heard another word that came out of Janice Avery’s mouth ever again.

“Are you ready come home with me, Libby? I’ve been planting fresh lilies every spring so that you would have a lovely garden to enjoy. I have two dogs already, but there is plenty of room if you are still interested in getting a pet of your own. I know that it is what you always wanted.”

Libby squealed and gave her papa a kiss on the cheek. Just being back in a garden with Talon again was enough for her. She couldn’t remember the last time that she felt so happy.

Andrew, James, Talon and Libby headed towards the library stairs. As Libby was about to step on the first one, she stiffened.

“What’s the matter, Libs?” Andrew asked, worried that Janice was still in charge of her somehow. Nervously, Libby giggled.

“You’re going to laugh at me, Andy. Finally, I am free to leave the library, and I am too terrified to move.”

Indeed, Andrew chuckled and shook his head.

“You’re an interesting one, Libby Fraser. Don’t change for anybody, ever again, do you hear me? I still think that you are incredible, quirks and all.”

James shyly moved next to her.

“You’re worried about those steps aren’t you? That you’ll get to the first one and won’t be able to step up?”

James gave the staircase a critical glare and a stern talking to. As he had hoped, Libby roared with laughter.

“Now I know steps,” he reassured her after she had recovered. “I’ve climbed loads of them before. Let me help you, okay. Between all of us, we will get you…”

Before James could say “through this”, Liberty had grabbed his hand. James fell silent and started to match her blush.

“Thank you, James”.

At last, Libby challenged herself to achieve the impossible. Carefully, she focused on placing one foot in front of the other until she had reached the top of the stairs and grinned. She pushed upon the door of the library, by herself, and stepped into the cool night air. The stars shining above them had never looked more beautiful.

Libby looked at James, Andrew and her father and grinned proudly. Libby was in charge of her own life at last, and it felt liberating!

The End.