A Perfect Machine(70)

N I N E T E E N





Marcton and Kendul stood on rubble in the basement where Adelina was buried. Kendul had brought a large duffle bag along, but hadn’t opened it when they’d arrived, and hadn’t told Marcton what was inside.

“She’s here?” Marcton said. “Beneath us?”

Kendul nodded, thought: And there’s that faint thrumming in my bones again, but even stronger than I remember. He still couldn’t understand how Edward hadn’t been able to feel it.

The house itself was mostly destroyed on the inside, but – quite miraculously – had stayed up the past three years. As amazing as that was, neither Marcton nor Kendul wanted to test their luck, so were fairly edgy, reacting to every creak and groan. From the outside it looked somewhat alright, but one wall had entirely come down, making it clear to any passerby that no one lived there, and likely hadn’t for years.

“So,” Marcton said. “We just start digging, do we? Then put her back together like fucking Humpty Dumpty?”

Kendul grimaced. “Something like that, yeah.”

Kendul turned, picked up one of the shovels they’d brought, stuck it into the earth, started heaving dirt and small chunks of concrete over his shoulder. Marcton followed suit. Before long, they’d uncovered an arm and part of Adelina’s torso.

“Fuck me running,” Marcton said, stopped digging, leaned on his shovel handle. “She is here.”

“Why would I lie, Marcton? What point would that have served?”

“I know, I know, it’s just… Christ. I somehow didn’t expect it to be true.”

“Let’s get some more hands in to get her out.”

“Yeah,” Marcton said, still dazed by confirmation of the discovery. “I’ll make the call.”



* * *



Three hours later, six sweating men – Kendul, Marcton, Cleve, Bill, and two random Runners – stood in a semi-circle around the two arms, one leg, and one torso-leg combination of what now constituted Adelina Palermo’s body.

“Jesus,” one of the randoms said.

“Crazy,” said the other, looked over at Kendul and Marcton. “What is this again? Some kinda robot?”

It’s you, Kendul thought. This is you. All of you. What you’d become in your purest state. He shuddered, said, “Yeah. Some kinda robot.”

On some level, they know. Even if it was never spoken aloud, they know. They have to sense it somehow, don’t they?

Kendul glanced at the four men they’d called in to help dig Adelina’s body out of the basement. Cleve and Bill were part of Marcton’s team, his inner circle, and they likely knew what they were looking at, but maybe Marcton told them to shut up about it. The other two, though – the looks on their faces indicated to Kendul that they weren’t necessarily firing on all cylinders, so maybe this moment’s profound significance escaped them. Kendul thought that even if they did know – if Marcton and Kendul just came right out and told them – they still wouldn’t really grasp it. They might intellectually know, but anything deeper would be impossible.

Better safe than sorry.

“What’re your names?” Kendul asked, flung his shovel into a corner of the basement. Something nearby groaned, shifted, and everyone looked alarmed for a moment till the noise settled, stopped.

“Harold.”

“Jeremy.”

“Well, Harold and Jeremy,” Kendul continued. “What if I told you that this is what you turn into when you achieve ascendance?”

Harold and Jeremy exchanged disbelieving glances.

“Geeeeeet fucked!” Harold said, with a giant grin on his big dumb face. “Seriously?”

Jeremy, possibly the smarter of the two, just shook his head, said, “No way. Nuh-uh.”

Kendul held their gazes seriously for a moment, then dropped his eyes, laughed once, sharply, said, “Nah, it’s just some kinda robot. You guys’re right.”

Harold and Jeremy looked satisfied with the answer. Easier to accept. Easier to swallow. Less horrifying than knowing that the thing you’ve been taught to aspire to – to treat as a lifelong ambition – ends with transformation into a giant beast that your own kind felt the need to blast literally limb from limb, and bury in the ground.

“Head back to the warehouse, fellas,” Marcton said, nodding at Jeremy and Harold. “We’ll catch up with you soon. And thanks for the help. Much appreciated.”

They nodded, looking both relieved and somewhat confused.

“Oh, and don’t mention the big robot, OK?”

They nodded, but Marcton knew they wouldn’t be able to keep their mouths shut. It wouldn’t matter soon enough, anyway. Either their plan would work, and Adelina would stop Kyllo – and they could then kill and bury her somewhere else (this time hopefully for good) – or their plan wouldn’t work, and Kyllo would carry on into the outside world, destroying the way of life and the anonymity they’d been building for over a century.

Jeremy and Harold said their goodbyes and left the basement. When he heard car doors slam, Marcton said, “Not the brightest bulbs, I know, but they work like fucking dogs.”

“By the way, any word of disappearances tonight from your camp?” Kendul asked.