Chapter 3

Days quickly turned into weeks since the beginning of the war between the surface and the underground as there are others who really want this war to end. Aurora, Zak and Zoey are currently walking through a fresh part of the forest which was also untouched by the spoils of war.

"What is metro city like?" Aurora asked wanting to know at least some more details about the city since it was well much talked about in the underground. The twins also seemed to have known about this place and the hero that lives in it called Astro boy which brought her suspicions. Zak was surprised by the sudden question Aurora had just brought up as if she wanted to see it in person despite hating them for talking bad about her mother all week but all she could do was watch and stay quiet like she was nothing but an pot doll getting dusty on the shelf never to be used again.

"You really want to know?" Zoey asked as Aurora nodded being quite intrigued about wanting to know more information about places she hasn't been before, while humans and robot live in peace there working together without a harm in the world. "I would love to speak about her mother again but..isn't she supposed to know about this stuff?" Zoey thought looking at the very intrigued teen while Zak grew annoyed of this unsure of how long he can take this anymore. But he didn't want to hurt her feeling despite growing a little friendship bond after these past weeks together not wanting to lose the trust he had gained with the one person's daughter who was possibly the only one who could've caused all of this to happen.

"Shouldn't we leave the explaning part to someone who actually knows metro city more than us?" Zak said as he quickly shut Zoey up not wanting her to spoil his plan. He sighed grabbing Aurora's wrist taking her in a completely new direction in a hurry while Zoey rushed behind them knowing exactly where he is going.

"I take that you don't want to talk about it" Aurora said knowing that Zak seemed to be quite stressed right now and maybe not wanting to speak about a touchy subject or he could just be in a very moody mode today like always. They began to head towards some hills before stopping in front of one of the walls of the hills that were extremely high.

"Whatever you do..don't follow us" he said as he placed his hand against the wall as the rock of the mountain began to move revealing an unknown entrance as it revealed the dark abyss within.

Aurora's PoV:

Even with Zak still holding onto me I saw how dark the place was and I didn't really like it as bad vibes came from this place.

"Zak? Why are we—Ahh!" I said as Zak seemed to have pushed me inside as I lost my footing making me fall onto the cold metal floor of the entrance, I was able to look back seeing Zak looking down at me with a very straight face while Zoey looked concerned for me as the door began to close shutting me inside. "Did they just..abandoned me?" I though as i climbed back up onto my feet again as I rush to the door while the darkness slowly surrounded me swallowing me while as I began to bang against the metal door wanting them to let me out but it was no use they couldn't hear. As I looked around seeing nothing but darkness surround my every view I began to head away from the door as my hand left the cold metal surface walking in the opposite direction not noticing the staircase that awaited for me making me misstep and fall as my body collided with the every step that I hit hurting me the more I fell down them.

It didn't take long for me to reach the bottom as my body rolled for a good second before stopping as my entire body began to ache in pain because of it. "Why didn't I see this coming?" I thought before feeling myself begin to drift away into unconsciousness joining the darkness as a little bit of wet substance began to touch my face before completely blacking out entirely unsure of what it was.

No ones PoV:

An hour had passed and Aurora is still lying unconscious on the ground not showing any signs of waking up a few metres away from some metal doors which had miraculously opened as a familiar scientist came inside seeing her lying there thanks to the ray of light that shined through the darkness revealing her.

"How did she get in here?" They said to themselves before rushing over to her seeing if she was still alive and was glad to see that she was breathing before picking her up in their arms and rushed off to hopefully get some help. They went through another door as it automatically opened as they scanned their card granting them access into the secret room that they call a laboratory.

"Aurora! Quick bring her to the table!" Professor, Rose demanded as the scientist quickly went over to the lab table placing her down on her back while Rose began to lower a X-Ray machine that scanned over Aurora's body showing very weird things that a human or a robot shouldn't really have. Rose sighed with relief glad to see that nothing was damaged other than that her own daughter having a couple grazes and bruises on her body.

"Isn't it strange to have a child like this Professor? Ya know she isn't exactly human" the scientist said as Rose seemed to instantly lift her daughters shirt up in front of the other scientists before pressing against her chest cavity as it seemed to allow her to gain access to her heart as it pumped with life while she watched in total amazement at this new found alien daughter she has raised watching her heart mysteriously glow blue very second her heart beats travelling the blood around her body and lungs showing that she is something extremely extraordinary.

"No. because now I can finally see if project X is actually worth calling my daughter despite not being my actual daughter by blood" Rose seemed to have confessed about something very dark about herself leaving everyone in complete shock before Aurora's heart began to beat uncontrollably fast as rose quickly closed her chest cavity covering her daughter's body with her shirt again before checking her blood flow.

"So..how did you get her in the first place?" They asked again as Aurora's heart began to slow down back to normal as Rose sighed with relief before looking at the scientist very seriously.

"I had no choice but to take her! If not we would all would be dead if it wasn't for me!" She yelled before walking Aurora up as she sat up holding her head that was still hurting from the fall.

"Can't you just reset her she is part robot after all!?" They yelled back as Aurora seemed be a bit dazed luckily not hearing the truth that came from one of her mother's workers.

"It doesn't work like that! She maybe be human but you won't understand how everything works until you meet her yourself!" Rose said talking about someone else someone who is incredibly dangerous to be around especially if you take her daughter away from her putting everyone's life in danger.

"But—" before they could finished Professor, Rose cut them off.

"End of discussion! Get out!" She said as Aurora looked up seeing them rush out of the lab before looking at her mother then noticing Dr, Hope that seemed to walk over to her knowing that the young one might be in a state of confusion.

Aurora's PoV:

"How are you feeling?" She asked as I looked at myself seeing that I still have some grazes on me but I felt fine beside from this little headache I was having right now.

"I'm fine but..they abandoned me Dr, Hope" I said as she put hand onto my shoulders out of pity knowing that I must be in a lot of pain right now after being betrayed by the only friends I had.

"I know it hurts but...you need to move on. You have me and your mother by your side until the very end, no matter what happens" she said as I gulped knowing that she was right but I hated being underestimated by everyone but they always seemed to look at me differently as if I was some imposter or something.

Before I could speak I saw a huge vessel that seemed to be covered by some type of fabric that followed with some more vessels but they weren't covered like that one they had humans in them but were they actually human? Some had different and unusual hair colour like red, blue or even purple but some had normal hair too which wasn't bad. The one vessel kept me wondering if what was behind it or if it was broken but I will never know the truth will I?

"Why are there humans in those vessels over there?" I asked as Hope looked behind her releasing her hands off my shoulders turning to see them completely as I stayed on the table behind her.

"Oh. those are just robots Aurora, ignore them they're for a different project that me and your mother are working on" Hope was being very honest with me which my mother wouldn't do if I asked something like that about her work. I then looked at the covered vessel as Hope seemed to freeze instantly not wanting to really talk about this one. "That one is just..."she paused unsure of what to say as my mother came over pulling me off the table.

"It's a failed project, now go! I need to be alone" she said as Hope took me out of the laboratory again which began to make feel like I was going through a loop again. "Keep her away from my lab!" She yelled as we left the lab making my mother the only one in there now to her own devices.

Professor rose's PoV:

I don't know what to do? Is she actually catching on to me does she know what she is already? I really don't want to skip to phase 2 right now but if her intelligence increases even more then I would have no choice but to use it.

"I wonder what will happen if I toy with her emotions? Would she get mad and release her power or would she coward and cry?" I thought to myself as I headed over to the vessel that was covered by some fabric, I grabbed it yanking it off completely revealing a complete double of Aurora but this one was more of a robot than a living organisms like the real thing but she can do almost everything that Aurora can't do.

"You're just perfect! A perfect replica of her, oh how I love to make more of you but I haven't got any room here since I had to release the twins so I could make more" I said to myself while looking at all of my precious creations that are mostly made of strong irresistible metal and materials that makes them obsolete.

I sighed knowing that what I was doing was wrong but I had no choice after losing everything I lived for because of her. I decided to leave the lab and go watch some of the robot games to help clear my mind but as soon as I got out of the lab I looked to my left and saw Aurora and Hope talking which I was supposed to be doing with her..my daughter. I hated that old witch and the way she bonded with her taking her away from me every time I try to teach her how to be resilient and rely on yourself since when someone else does it they don't do it the way you want it. But it was better than having her bugging me 24/7 even though I said I would spend time with her but never really keep my promises from the lack of love and attention I was given in my childhood but I never really had any parents I was very much an orphan all my life before eventually being adopted by a very rich family of mad scientists who took interest in my ideas and rare high IQ.

"What will you teach me today?" She asked as I saw how she happy she was to have her there reminding me of when I was a little girl with my parents as they showed me the wonders of science and robotics. But the reason I was down here was because of Bill Tenma, he was the cause of my anger and hatred to everyone since he fired me for nothing when a stupid employee blamed me for apparently doing illegal experiments on my family.

I huffed before walking off to the arena where I will hopefully get my mind back into the game and continue with my work.

No ones PoV:

"Can we learn more about robotics?! Please can we! Can we!" Aurora begged extremely eager to learn more about robots but despite liking the subject she is slowly growing more and more afraid of them. Hope eyes looked to see Rose looking at them before going away in the complete different direction leaving the two be.

"Follow me then" Hope said as she held Aurora's hand guiding her to one of the stairs teaching rooms as Aurora rushed over to one of the seats close to the projector as Dr, Hope got everything ready for the 1-1 class. When everything was set up the projector turned on showing the computer screen that was connected to it showing the slides that linked to Robotics while Aurora grew excited to learn more about her favourite subject. She learned about the different jobs robots are built for as the flash image came through Aurora's head of the battle field as she held her head before beginning to shake and breath heavily while Hope quickly noticed and rushed over to her calming down the poor thing.

"You're gonna be fine..I'll always be here for you little one" she said as she brushed her hand through the girls hair as she held onto Hope's lab jacket tightly scared before Hope used the remote to turn to the next slide.

A 3 days later!

Aurora was lying on her bed fully clothed looking at the ceiling bored while thinking about the surface and the friends that betrayed her. The more she stayed there the more her mother grew more negative towards her but she didn't care she still loved her mother so much not caring at all what she does as long as it doesn't involve the ones dearest to her.

"Aurora!" Suddenly her mother came through her door looking as serious as always as Aurora got off her bed. "Hope wants your presence" she said changing her tone to a calm polite manner which confused her but she didn't mind at all as she followed her mother through the door to somewhere she hasn't been before ever which seemed a bit sus.

"What does Hope want from me?" She asked not sure of what to expect when she sees Hope today despite acting rather strangely unusual these past couple of days.

"It was mostly my idea but we have something to show you" her mother said as they got to the door where Dr, Hope would be waiting for them so she thought. Her mother used her card key to open the door revealing the room which seemed to be protected by a force field as Aurora looked around to see Dr, Hope wasn't anywhere to be found.

Aurora's PoV:

Mother said she was in here but why can't i see her anywhere unless she's late or something. We walked into the room that I quickly realised that it has to be one of those testing rooms they use for robots which Hope and I hate to go into.

"I see you have our first subject, may I ask is this project X?" One of the scientists asked as if they were aiming it at me but I have a name if they don't remember who I was unless less they're aiming it at someone else because I don't remember meeting anyone named 'project X'.

We were able to get behind the force filed that was completely closed down as scientists began to look at me very weirdly as if i had something wrong with me. I looked through the glass seeing nothing but darkness while something was seen squirming in the darkness but it seemed to be stuck it even trapped out there. My mother noticed me as I went to the glass placing my hands against it trying to squint and see whatever it was that was in there if it was human or not.

"Lift the glass and turn on the lights!" She demanded as I stepped back a bit from the glass as it slowly went up allowing me to go inside as the lights turned seconds later blinding me making me use my arms to prevent any damage to my eyes as I sooner were able to move them out of my way to see Dr, Hope there tied up by her arms from something that hung from the ceiling above her.

I froze in shock as I looked at her wanting to move but I couldn't it was as if I was glued to the floor watching while she dangled there looking at me very scared of what will happen to her. "You can go get her..if you can make it that is" I looked back at my mother seeing her smirk sinisterly at me as I turned back to Hope seeing her trying to break free but couldn't as something moved behind her seeing the one thing I hated the most out of everything.

"I don't know what to do? Why can't I move?!" I thought as the glass was heard shutting behind me as it hit the floor leaving me stuck in this testing area with whatever that thing was so I got my courage up and began to carefully head towards Dr, Hope who obviously didn't want me to go near her.

"No! It'll kill you! Get out of this place and get help! You don't deserve to live like this!" She yelled as I paused knowing what she was right but I was also scared as the thing came closer to Hope but it was covered by some sort of cloak of some sort hiding it's appearance which would obviously be human.

"But I want to help you!" I yelled as wanting her to be alive and unharmed when we escape this place. The chains that held her arms up shackled the more she moved trying to get out seeing the restraints the closer I got to her knowing that I would have to fight it in order to help her but I have nothing to users my defence, I'm just another useless human being.

"No..just go I'll be fine, just get help" she said as I watched as the thing pulled out a blaster revealing that thing wasn't actually human it was just another machine doing what it was told as it placed it by her head while it charged making the light shine blue before killing her right then and there but the one thing I didn't get was, how did the blood splatter onto me and my shirt I was only 7 metres away from them unless it was because of the contact between the blaster and the human skull being so close together making it travel so far. This let me in a state of distraught and feeling of guilt about not doing anything to save her and died as a result.

"This is my fault..I wasn't fast enough" I thought as I collapsed onto my knees looking at the floor traumatised and scarred for life remembering this moment every day and night for not actually doing something and could've helped her than just standing about like that.

"Don't be sad be happy. Be glad that I speared your life" the mysterious robot spoke as it came towards me stopping and kneeling down as it grabbed my jaw lifting it up to its face aggressively before letting me see her face which wasn't any different to mine.

"Who are you?" I asked feeling it squeezing my jaw even tight which surprising didn't snap at this point with how much pressure it was applying to me as we locked eye contact.

"I'm you but better" it said as it let me go pushing me onto the floor straight onto my back as it pulled down the hood down revealing my face, eyes and hair leaving me absolutely shock but why would there be another me?

I instantly looked back at the glass seeing my mother watching while the one I used to look up became more and more as a stranger to me now. I was confused more than anything on why she made another version of me but I really hated it as it was a robot with my face.

"Why did you do this?!" I yelled before getting up but that was impossible when robot me decided to put her foot on my back pushing me down to the ground winding me. I was still able to look at the bitch that made this thing as she seemed to not care at all as the robot rubbed her foot into my back as if she was going to break it but that seemed impossible.

"Aurora! Stand down or we will make it eradicate you from existence!" A scientist said through the speak implying to me making it seem like I was the threat here not this thing which kinda scared me because anyone can believe that it was me despite not actually being me unless Rose gave her my memories which would be impossible unless she had a piece of my DNA to use.

"F-fine..I surrender.." I said as she moved her foot off of my back freeing me as I got back onto my feet again.

"I will be watching you.." she said before walking towards the glass as it lifted up allowing her to leave making me feel off and afraid being left all alone down here. I looked at her body once more before noticed a pierce of Hope's hair on the floor so I picked it up placing in the secret compartment inside of my necklace incase I needed it. The sight was horrible making me feel sick and guilty for allowing this to happen but all I can do was move on and find a way out of this hell hole and get help before it's too late.