Lex ends up having some soup she digs out of the icebox, handing it over and pointing to the empty burner on the stove. I would’ve been happy heating it up in my own ship, but as long as she’s fine having me here, I suppose there’s no reason to leave the house. I lean against the counter and stir the broth. I’m not sure what kind of meat this is, but it smells good. Something local, I assume.
I watch Lex roast peppers and glance at the princesses still playing cards with the odd cyborg watching.
Since I’m standing here… “What’s his name?”
“Abraham.”
I raise my eyebrows. “That’s an ancient name.”
She laughs. “Yeah, that’s what I said to him when we met.”
“I take it you dragged him out of that ship crash? He seemed frightened of me.”
She nods. “Saw the crash, went and got him out. Took a long time to get him back to decent health. He doesn’t share much, I don’t really know all that happened, but he tells me little bits at a time. He’s rather nervous around other people, though actually, you’re the first ones who know about him.”
She pauses, squinting out the window at the dark. My ship is sealed up and likewise only a shape in the night.
“I’m not sure how cyborgs work,” she says. “There isn’t much about them you can learn about how the programming works and all that, but I figure something must be broken in the way they created him that he doesn’t want to go back.”
I nod. “If he doesn’t want to go back, there’s definitely damage.”
She pauses to look at me. “And you?”
“Me?”
“There something damaged about you?”
Funny way to phrase it, but fair when it’s the phrasing I used. If I were her, I’d be trying to learn more about Abraham by asking me questions. Apparently, there are cyborgs out there less talkative than even I am. “Definitely. I don’t think I can help you with him though, everyone’s different. Everyone reacts to the programming different and reacts to injury differently. You probably know more about the way he works than I do. How long has be been here?”
She considers, glancing at the ceiling as if mentally counting. “Ten years?”
I blink. I was not expecting that long. “And he doesn’t say anything about leaving?”
“No, he seems to like it here.”
Forget my situation. This one is stranger. “Huh.”
She smiles. “It’s odd, I know.”
“Yeah… And no one knows he’s here. You said he’s…we’re illegal.”
“We don’t get much company out here and he has no desire to go to the cities. Our local sheriff…” she pauses, holding up her long cooking spoon as if she’s thinking about hitting someone with it “…I think he suspects there’s something going on. He saw the crash one day and since I’m closest came by and asked. I don’t think he believed me when I said I’ve never seen a cyborg. He comes back every once in a while, about once a week or so, but he’s not allowed to come into my house legally without reason. So, he’s annoying, but I can see him coming miles away. It’s not much of a hassle.”
“Think he’ll come by soon?”
“Maybe in a few days. If you stay that long, I can just put you in the cellar for a few minutes. I’ll say the humans are friends, or they can go down there too. He still can’t come in my house without permission. He knows I don’t like him.”
Maybe he likes her, I think but don’t say. I don’t know nearly enough about human relationships to figure that out. But it seems he either likes her or is radical about his job. I smile a little.
“Do you mind if we stay that long?” I ask, hesitant. “I don’t want to impose, it’s just good to know Zane’s in a stable place.”
“I don’t mind at all, and I don’t need payment. People need help, I help them.”
Weird lady. Nice though. Hopefully, this isn’t a trick and won’t change on a dime. I feel a little better now the other humans are around to interpret situations that may go over my head.
The soup is simmering and I’m not sure what else to say. It feels like I should thank her, but if having a heart-to-heart with Zane is rough, it’s worse with a stranger. Maybe it’ll keep her liking me, at least, even if she seems not to mind cyborgs in the slightest.
Finally, I settle on, “I really appreciate the help.”
Her smile is perfectly welcoming.
Lalia is awake and yawning when I return with the broth, and offers her hand for the food, so I’m left with nothing to do. Bat is still asleep, ears twitching. I hover for a minute as she helps Zane eat before wandering back out. Stand in the corner of the living room until I seem to unnerve Abraham with how twitchy he gets.
I head out to my ship. Check it over for the night. I’d stay in here if all the humans and Bat weren’t in the house, and I feel the need to watch over them. I don’t want to just fall asleep while everyone is awake. Time for the robot I’ve been neglecting. Picking up the little bag of loose parts and the body of the old thing’s chest, I bring it back inside and pick a spot close enough to the fire I don’t have to turn on more lights to see. My eyes are gonna glitch no matter what, this’ll be a slow process, but it’ll keep my mind busy.
Abraham takes immediate notice, silently staring.
“Did Bat take a look at that yet?” Yvonne asks. I think she means the robot, but when I glance over, she’s waving a finger at the damage done to my face yesterday. Now that she points it out, it hurts.
“No, it’s fine.” I’m not in the mood to be poked and prodded, even from Bat. And I’m not sure there’s much he can do. The damage done to my face is gonna scar no matter what, and that’s not precisely new, and the irritating dipping in and out of sight with my right eye isn’t fixable unless Lex suddenly has an extra pair of eyes down in her cellar alongside all the bandages.
“Doesn’t look fine,” Yvonne says.
“None of me looks fine.”
She rolls her eyes, putting her cards down and scooting over to get a better look. Apparently right up next to my face.
“Personal space,” I mutter.
“No such thing.” She matches my tone. Her finger brushes lightly against my temple, above the injuries and not hard enough to hurt, but I flinch anyway, moving her hand away. It’s hard to concentrate on the bit of the robot’s arm I’m fiddling with—nothing too complicated to mess up—with her breathing on me. Should be used to it by now.
“Does it make your eyesight worse?”
Apparently, she’s not going to let it go. “On one side, yes.”
She cocks her head. “Where do you get new eyes other than Amerov?”
She’s not trying to touch me anymore, but still sitting just as close. Her hands look rougher than when I met her, probably because we could all use a shower and fewer near-death experiences.
“Blackmarket stuff. Gotta find a doctor to do it too.”
“Bat can’t?”
“Maybe. Kinda out of his area of expertise. And you’re not supposed to be awake for that kind of thing.”
Yvonne cracks a smile. “I can’t imagine you letting anyone knock you out.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not living with bad eyes for fun.”
She rolls her eyes, leaning back a little. Anya has abandoned her cards and is laying on her stomach, chin on her hands, watching me fumble with the robot.
“You’re doing that wrong,” Abraham says.
I blink at him, all three of us turning to look his way. The princesses probably haven’t heard him speak.
“What?”
He gestures to the piece I’m messing with. “You’re not putting that back together correctly.”
I look at the arm. With the way this thing has deteriorated, I’m surprised there’s still a way to put it back together at all. I offer it to him. He stares at my hand, glancing toward the kitchen where I assume Lex is staring and leans out of the chair to take it, turning it over.
“I don’t know what I’m doing with it,” I tell him. “I found it on Amerov and Yvonne here thinks I should put it back together, so you’re welcome to have a go at it.”
Yvonne makes a face like I wasn’t supposed to bring up it was her idea to keep the thing. I remember her dragging it past Audra and the confused look on the face of Captain’s favorite cyborg. I smile a little. It feels like ages have passed since we were on Amerov, and I know she’s probably fine, but it’s a struggle not to head back to my ship and try to get the comm to patch through. It won’t help either of us. In fact, it’ll be actively dangerous for her and idiotic for me. But I wish that situation hadn’t happened. I wish there was a way to know Captain doesn’t suspect her of anything. If something happened to her, I wonder if one of the ForceZero numbers would’ve mentioned it to try to throw me off. Can’t guarantee it either way.
Abraham slinks down off the chair to seat himself on the other side of the robot, spreading out the parts I have unattached and checking out the empty chest cavity. I wonder how he knows about fixing robots this ancient, but I don’t want to spook him by asking.
Yvonne and I exchange glances and she smiles.
The night is filled with crickets. At least, whatever passes for them on this planet.
Lalia ends up crashing back on the bed beside Zane, Bat in his protective little guarding spot on the pillow after sitting on my lap throughout dinner. Lex insisted Yvonne and Anya take her bed as she’s happy sleeping on the couch and Abraham is happy in his chair. After a bit of consideration, I take my thin mattress from my bunk room and lay it next to the fire in Zane’s borrowed room. I don’t feel safe leaving them in here though there hasn’t been a single suspicious thing.
Whatever insects are singing outside don’t mind the chill. Despite the fires needing to be kept going, the bugs outside are perfectly content. It feels like a hot summer night despite the weather. I stare at the ceiling, messing absently with the damaged port in my right temple. It’s already healing over as face wounds tend to do, but my vision isn’t improving. Implants don’t heal, at least, my metal and wire ones don’t. As much as I don’t like my eyes being touched, Bat will probably need to take a look at it.
I sigh. I dozed for a while but have woken a handful of times, sleep evading me now despite the lingering exhaustion. I don’t feel entirely safe here.
As quietly as possible, I get out of bed, ignoring my boots by the end of the mattress, and wandering out the bedroom door. Lex offered us her shower, but I didn’t much like the idea of stripping naked in someone else’s house. Maybe I should, I feel a little gross, and there’s no need to waste the water in my ship. If I wasn’t worried about leaving the humans and Bat, I’d check out the hot springs and see if they indeed look as nice at night as I figured they might.
The fire is still crackling in the living room, sending warm fingers of orange light into the dark corners of the room. The curtains aren’t drawn over the main window, and so many stars shine so closely the firelight doesn’t block them out.
Abraham is awake, curled in the reclining chair, fiddling with the robot. Hopefully, he can fix it. Bat hasn’t seemed interested and I’m out of my depth. Both princesses will be thrilled.
The couch is empty, and for a moment I don’t see Lex until I realize she’s also in the same chair, squished in next to Abraham, stitching something in a piece of colorful cloth. Well, that’s an old-fashioned hobby. Fits her though, seeing as she seems the kind to never want to visit a city, living all the way out here. I’d imagine she’s quite self-sufficient. Two of the small, speckled dogs occupy the couch.
Abraham doesn’t seem remotely bothered by her presence. I watch them, stuck on the oddity of the site. She’s saying something to him too soft to pick up.
From over my shoulder, I hear quiet footsteps and glance over to see Yvonne joining me. She’s wearing nothing but a long t-shirt, and I look somewhere else. Her hair is sticking up, face puffy with sleep, confused at what I’m doing up. Leaning against my arm to get a look through the doorway, her face makes an expression somewhere between confusion and amusement. I don’t quite know what to do. Walk away? Or keep watching the odd scene with Yvonne leaning against my bare arm. Her skin is quite soft.
Lex leans her head against Abraham’s neck. It’s strange enough he doesn’t seem to mind, stranger still when he turns his face toward hers and kisses her gently.
Yvonne is much closer to me than I would like. Leaning away, I make my way back to the bedroom.
Lex ends up having some soup she digs out of the icebox, handing it over and pointing to the empty burner on the stove. I would’ve been happy heating it up in my own ship, but as long as she’s fine having me here, I suppose there’s no reason to leave the house. I lean against the counter and stir the broth. I’m not sure what kind of meat this is, but it smells good. Something local, I assume.
I watch Lex roast peppers and glance at the princesses still playing cards with the odd cyborg watching.
Since I’m standing here… “What’s his name?”
“Abraham.”
I raise my eyebrows. “That’s an ancient name.”
She laughs. “Yeah, that’s what I said to him when we met.”
“I take it you dragged him out of that ship crash? He seemed frightened of me.”
She nods. “Saw the crash, went and got him out. Took a long time to get him back to decent health. He doesn’t share much, I don’t really know all that happened, but he tells me little bits at a time. He’s rather nervous around other people, though actually, you’re the first ones who know about him.”
She pauses, squinting out the window at the dark. My ship is sealed up and likewise only a shape in the night.
“I’m not sure how cyborgs work,” she says. “There isn’t much about them you can learn about how the programming works and all that, but I figure something must be broken in the way they created him that he doesn’t want to go back.”
I nod. “If he doesn’t want to go back, there’s definitely damage.”
She pauses to look at me. “And you?”
“Me?”
“There something damaged about you?”
Funny way to phrase it, but fair when it’s the phrasing I used. If I were her, I’d be trying to learn more about Abraham by asking me questions. Apparently, there are cyborgs out there less talkative than even I am. “Definitely. I don’t think I can help you with him though, everyone’s different. Everyone reacts to the programming different and reacts to injury differently. You probably know more about the way he works than I do. How long has be been here?”
She considers, glancing at the ceiling as if mentally counting. “Ten years?”
I blink. I was not expecting that long. “And he doesn’t say anything about leaving?”
“No, he seems to like it here.”
Forget my situation. This one is stranger. “Huh.”
She smiles. “It’s odd, I know.”
“Yeah… And no one knows he’s here. You said he’s…we’re illegal.”
“We don’t get much company out here and he has no desire to go to the cities. Our local sheriff…” she pauses, holding up her long cooking spoon as if she’s thinking about hitting someone with it “…I think he suspects there’s something going on. He saw the crash one day and since I’m closest came by and asked. I don’t think he believed me when I said I’ve never seen a cyborg. He comes back every once in a while, about once a week or so, but he’s not allowed to come into my house legally without reason. So, he’s annoying, but I can see him coming miles away. It’s not much of a hassle.”
“Think he’ll come by soon?”
“Maybe in a few days. If you stay that long, I can just put you in the cellar for a few minutes. I’ll say the humans are friends, or they can go down there too. He still can’t come in my house without permission. He knows I don’t like him.”
Maybe he likes her, I think but don’t say. I don’t know nearly enough about human relationships to figure that out. But it seems he either likes her or is radical about his job. I smile a little.
“Do you mind if we stay that long?” I ask, hesitant. “I don’t want to impose, it’s just good to know Zane’s in a stable place.”
“I don’t mind at all, and I don’t need payment. People need help, I help them.”
Weird lady. Nice though. Hopefully, this isn’t a trick and won’t change on a dime. I feel a little better now the other humans are around to interpret situations that may go over my head.
The soup is simmering and I’m not sure what else to say. It feels like I should thank her, but if having a heart-to-heart with Zane is rough, it’s worse with a stranger. Maybe it’ll keep her liking me, at least, even if she seems not to mind cyborgs in the slightest.
Finally, I settle on, “I really appreciate the help.”
Her smile is perfectly welcoming.
Lalia is awake and yawning when I return with the broth, and offers her hand for the food, so I’m left with nothing to do. Bat is still asleep, ears twitching. I hover for a minute as she helps Zane eat before wandering back out. Stand in the corner of the living room until I seem to unnerve Abraham with how twitchy he gets.
I head out to my ship. Check it over for the night. I’d stay in here if all the humans and Bat weren’t in the house, and I feel the need to watch over them. I don’t want to just fall asleep while everyone is awake. Time for the robot I’ve been neglecting. Picking up the little bag of loose parts and the body of the old thing’s chest, I bring it back inside and pick a spot close enough to the fire I don’t have to turn on more lights to see. My eyes are gonna glitch no matter what, this’ll be a slow process, but it’ll keep my mind busy.
Abraham takes immediate notice, silently staring.
“Did Bat take a look at that yet?” Yvonne asks. I think she means the robot, but when I glance over, she’s waving a finger at the damage done to my face yesterday. Now that she points it out, it hurts.
“No, it’s fine.” I’m not in the mood to be poked and prodded, even from Bat. And I’m not sure there’s much he can do. The damage done to my face is gonna scar no matter what, and that’s not precisely new, and the irritating dipping in and out of sight with my right eye isn’t fixable unless Lex suddenly has an extra pair of eyes down in her cellar alongside all the bandages.
“Doesn’t look fine,” Yvonne says.
“None of me looks fine.”
She rolls her eyes, putting her cards down and scooting over to get a better look. Apparently right up next to my face.
“Personal space,” I mutter.
“No such thing.” She matches my tone. Her finger brushes lightly against my temple, above the injuries and not hard enough to hurt, but I flinch anyway, moving her hand away. It’s hard to concentrate on the bit of the robot’s arm I’m fiddling with—nothing too complicated to mess up—with her breathing on me. Should be used to it by now.
“Does it make your eyesight worse?”
Apparently, she’s not going to let it go. “On one side, yes.”
She cocks her head. “Where do you get new eyes other than Amerov?”
She’s not trying to touch me anymore, but still sitting just as close. Her hands look rougher than when I met her, probably because we could all use a shower and fewer near-death experiences.
“Blackmarket stuff. Gotta find a doctor to do it too.”
“Bat can’t?”
“Maybe. Kinda out of his area of expertise. And you’re not supposed to be awake for that kind of thing.”
Yvonne cracks a smile. “I can’t imagine you letting anyone knock you out.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not living with bad eyes for fun.”
She rolls her eyes, leaning back a little. Anya has abandoned her cards and is laying on her stomach, chin on her hands, watching me fumble with the robot.
“You’re doing that wrong,” Abraham says.
I blink at him, all three of us turning to look his way. The princesses probably haven’t heard him speak.
“What?”
He gestures to the piece I’m messing with. “You’re not putting that back together correctly.”
I look at the arm. With the way this thing has deteriorated, I’m surprised there’s still a way to put it back together at all. I offer it to him. He stares at my hand, glancing toward the kitchen where I assume Lex is staring and leans out of the chair to take it, turning it over.
“I don’t know what I’m doing with it,” I tell him. “I found it on Amerov and Yvonne here thinks I should put it back together, so you’re welcome to have a go at it.”
Yvonne makes a face like I wasn’t supposed to bring up it was her idea to keep the thing. I remember her dragging it past Audra and the confused look on the face of Captain’s favorite cyborg. I smile a little. It feels like ages have passed since we were on Amerov, and I know she’s probably fine, but it’s a struggle not to head back to my ship and try to get the comm to patch through. It won’t help either of us. In fact, it’ll be actively dangerous for her and idiotic for me. But I wish that situation hadn’t happened. I wish there was a way to know Captain doesn’t suspect her of anything. If something happened to her, I wonder if one of the ForceZero numbers would’ve mentioned it to try to throw me off. Can’t guarantee it either way.
Abraham slinks down off the chair to seat himself on the other side of the robot, spreading out the parts I have unattached and checking out the empty chest cavity. I wonder how he knows about fixing robots this ancient, but I don’t want to spook him by asking.
Yvonne and I exchange glances and she smiles.
The night is filled with crickets. At least, whatever passes for them on this planet.
Lalia ends up crashing back on the bed beside Zane, Bat in his protective little guarding spot on the pillow after sitting on my lap throughout dinner. Lex insisted Yvonne and Anya take her bed as she’s happy sleeping on the couch and Abraham is happy in his chair. After a bit of consideration, I take my thin mattress from my bunk room and lay it next to the fire in Zane’s borrowed room. I don’t feel safe leaving them in here though there hasn’t been a single suspicious thing.
Whatever insects are singing outside don’t mind the chill. Despite the fires needing to be kept going, the bugs outside are perfectly content. It feels like a hot summer night despite the weather. I stare at the ceiling, messing absently with the damaged port in my right temple. It’s already healing over as face wounds tend to do, but my vision isn’t improving. Implants don’t heal, at least, my metal and wire ones don’t. As much as I don’t like my eyes being touched, Bat will probably need to take a look at it.
I sigh. I dozed for a while but have woken a handful of times, sleep evading me now despite the lingering exhaustion. I don’t feel entirely safe here.
As quietly as possible, I get out of bed, ignoring my boots by the end of the mattress, and wandering out the bedroom door. Lex offered us her shower, but I didn’t much like the idea of stripping naked in someone else’s house. Maybe I should, I feel a little gross, and there’s no need to waste the water in my ship. If I wasn’t worried about leaving the humans and Bat, I’d check out the hot springs and see if they indeed look as nice at night as I figured they might.
The fire is still crackling in the living room, sending warm fingers of orange light into the dark corners of the room. The curtains aren’t drawn over the main window, and so many stars shine so closely the firelight doesn’t block them out.
Abraham is awake, curled in the reclining chair, fiddling with the robot. Hopefully, he can fix it. Bat hasn’t seemed interested and I’m out of my depth. Both princesses will be thrilled.
The couch is empty, and for a moment I don’t see Lex until I realize she’s also in the same chair, squished in next to Abraham, stitching something in a piece of colorful cloth. Well, that’s an old-fashioned hobby. Fits her though, seeing as she seems the kind to never want to visit a city, living all the way out here. I’d imagine she’s quite self-sufficient. Two of the small, speckled dogs occupy the couch.
Abraham doesn’t seem remotely bothered by her presence. I watch them, stuck on the oddity of the site. She’s saying something to him too soft to pick up.
From over my shoulder, I hear quiet footsteps and glance over to see Yvonne joining me. She’s wearing nothing but a long t-shirt, and I look somewhere else. Her hair is sticking up, face puffy with sleep, confused at what I’m doing up. Leaning against my arm to get a look through the doorway, her face makes an expression somewhere between confusion and amusement. I don’t quite know what to do. Walk away? Or keep watching the odd scene with Yvonne leaning against my bare arm. Her skin is quite soft.
Lex leans her head against Abraham’s neck. It’s strange enough he doesn’t seem to mind, stranger still when he turns his face toward hers and kisses her gently.
Yvonne is much closer to me than I would like. Leaning away, I make my way back to the bedroom.
