It only gets worse

John could not see the shaking of Rachel's body in the dark. Neither could he see the terrified expression on his daughter's face. The vile nature of this news shook her. She never anticipated the mechanical thing downstairs could still be considered as her mother. She had discarded her mom and Rose both thinking they were just some robots that Dean had created for his fiendish goals. But no… her mother might still be alive!

Not hearing any response from his daughter, John continued, "But apparently, things are not as simple as I hoped it to be. No." John sighed heavily. "It appears that bastard is using androids to fight against the government, trying to collapse it by making claims that they failed to protect its citizens from the attack of the monsters. His rebel army's ace is these strong androids. And as long as he has control of these androids, he is almost untouchable. The already weakened government is under tremendous pressure having to fight off the monsters and rebels while the citizens are protesting against their incompetence."

John exhaled. "These are the things my friend in the government told me anyways. But they do not concern us. What we have to worry about is why would that bastard Dean leave his facility in the capital city and make a base here out in the middle of nowhere. Why would he plant two androids to spy on our family? What could his goal be?"

Rachel calmed herself just enough to voice, "Dad? Is there anything that you aren't telling me about your past works? Is there something you found in one of your dig sites that could make that guy interested in you?"

The moon's glow exaggerated the shadows of John's frown as he considered Rachel's questions. After a short while, he replied, "There are too many things that might interest him. Yet if I think about it carefully, none of my works should push him to go this far to get to me. I mean, I'm an old man. If he really wanted to get to me, all he needed to do is grab me while I'm out hunting for food or whatnot, and that would've been it. No, girl." John shook his head. "It is clear to me that he is trying to manipulate us. And there could only be one reason for him to go through all the trouble to revive your almost dead mother and send her to me. That bastard is cooking up something disgusting!"

"Well? What is it?" breathed Rachel.

"You know, I've thought about it a lot these past few days. The things you told me that happened with you while his men kept you captive. He never tried to use his full force on you. You could have never escaped from him if he was really serious and he asked you to help him over and over, right?"

"W-what are you trying to say, dad? That I might have something that he wants?"

"How could I know?" said John as he gazed outside through the window, "This is all just guesswork right now. But it makes sense because my contact told me about a rumor that his team had been investigating on. He told me that Dean and his group of scientists invented some sort of device that could somehow make all the monsters go away. This rumor might sound absurd but the government seems to be worked up about it. If this device does exist in Dean's grasp, then the government would lose all face against the rebels and they would be ruined!"

"I don't care about all that!" suddenly Rachel's anger surfaced as she shouted, "Are you telling me that bastard had something like that all this time and he hasn't used it to drive those damnable things away?"

"Shh!" hissed John as he glanced at the door wearily. "You'll wake your mother!"

"Wait!" said Rachel with surprise. "Do androids sleep?"

"Of course! They still have human parts, don't they?"

"Oh!" Rachel moved a little closer towards her dad and sat under the moonlight that fell on a part of her bed. She said in a low voice, "Why didn't that guy use that device yet?"

"Because it is probably not finished yet. And that is why I suspect he is looking for you." John paused for a while before saying, "Look, pondering about this isn't going to do us any good now. Only Dean can answer these questions."

"Hmm," said Rachel with a nod of agreement. "Our focus should be now to do something about mom!"

John stared at his daughter. Then said slowly, "What are you thinking?"

"You just said that Dean is controlling the androids, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, I think we should find out more about this. If there is even the slightest chance that I could free mom from that dirtbag's control, then I'll do it."

"You're right. Me too! Besides, it's not like Dean is just going to give us an eternity. He'll come for you sooner or later."

"Yeah!" said Rachel with a sharp nod. "We will hit him before he makes his move!"

After a moment of silence, Rachel added, "If we want to find useful information about androids, then we will have to infiltrate his base which is located in that hot zone of monsters. All we have to do is wait for a chance for one of those creatures to come out. We will move in when his men move out to neutralize it leaving the base mostly defenseless."

"Doesn't sound too bad," said John. "But we will need something that hits hard, girl."

"Don't you worry about a thing, dad!" said Rachel with a wide grin. "I know just the place!"

"Good. Then, we'll go tomorrow when the sun hides beyond the horizon," said John with a smile.