Defy the Worlds (Constellation #2)(12)
“Or a family member.” Abel decides upon the best stratagem. “Let’s go.”
“Cousin Abel!” Virginia Redbird throws her arms open wide. Her long, red-streaked brown hair hangs free almost to her waist, and her orange coverall is decorated with badges and pins from dozens of different sources. While they’ve been in occasional contact via holos and data transmissions, this is the first time he’s seen her since their escape from Earth nearly six months prior. “My beloved, long-lost cousin! I’ve missed you so much!”
Abel submits to the hug, which gives him the chance to whisper in her ear: “I think the human phrase for this is ‘laying it on too thick.’”
Virginia laughs. “Remember who you’re talking to. I lay everything on too thick.”
This is true. The others standing around the geometric perfection of Cray’s Station 47 landing dock pay absolutely no attention to Virginia’s over-the-top welcome. Only Zayan and Harriet are staring. They’ll get used to her in time.
“Did you come all this way just to visit me?” Virginia slings her arm around Abel’s shoulders, leading him into one of Cray’s underground corridors. The planet’s surface may be a seething red desert, but down here everything is cool and crisp, mostly in various shades of white, orange, and gray. Every shop offers games, snacks, or holos to pamper the brilliant scientists who live here, working with the massive supercomputer powered by the planetary core. “I’m touched by the depth of your family feeling, Abel. Deeply touched.”
He tries to get into the spirit. “Anything for you, Cousin Virginia.”
She laughs out loud in glee. “Who are these friends of yours?”
“Harriet Dixon, Zayan Thakur, this is Virginia Redbird, one of the top science students on Cray.” Abel gestures toward his… friends. Yes, that’s the right word. “Virginia, my friends Harriet and Zayan work as crew on my ship.”
“What’s that ship named these days?” Virginia had seen a few of the fake IDs he had to use during Noemi’s whirlwind trip through the Loop.
“The Persephone,” Zayan offers. When Virginia looks over at Abel, her expression becomes softer. She knows he renamed the ship in Noemi’s honor without his even having to explain the connection. Abel finds himself touched at being understood.
Meanwhile, the George mech that checked the Persephone into dock shows no sign of recognition of either Abel or the ship, though it may well be the exact same George that dealt with them six months before—when a security alert went out for him and Noemi. He has no worries about any human recognizing him from that; their brains discard far more information than they retain. Probably the Georges undergo periodic memory purges, a factor Abel took into account when deciding to return to Cray.
Yet he cannot forget that Burton Mansfield is still looking for his creation. Still eager to destroy Abel’s consciousness—his soul—and replace it with his own. Surely he’s programmed certain mechs to recognize Abel, and then work toward his recapture. That’s a threat Abel lives with every day.
Either he’s been very lucky not to be spotted, or Mansfield knows his location. Tracks him. Waits.
Abel catches himself. Paranoia can lead to a spiral of recursive thoughts. He must remain focused on the moment.
“Harriet, Z, you guys seem great.” Virginia thumps Zayan on the shoulder. “Abel and I need to talk family business for a while. But how about you meet us at Montgolfier at 1900 hours? It’s this restaurant where all the dishes and tables and chairs are made out of energy fields, so it’s like your food is just hovering in space in front of you!… Okay, it’s kind of disgusting, but it’s flash at the same time. You should try it just once.”
Harriet laughs. “Okay, you’re on. Pretty sure we can find plenty to amuse ourselves with around here.” Already Zayan has his sights on one of the games shops. Abel thinks they might have wandered off even without Virginia’s suggestion.
Now he can discuss the advent of the next generation of mechs—without having to hide the fact that he’s a mech.
The Razers’ new secret hideout looks very much like the old one, with the same hodgepodge of computing equipment, inflatable furniture, multicolored string lights, and makeshift ashtrays that smell strongly of controlled substances. “This location, though?” Virginia scoops some abandoned clothing from a chair and motions for Abel to take a seat. “They’ll never find us here, unless Mansfield sends more crazy mechs after you.”
Abel sits in the inflatable chair with as much dignity as he can muster. “I don’t think we have to worry about that right now. My creator seems to have turned to new concerns. I followed up on the research you sent to the Persephone. Mansfield is creating a new kind of mech—one almost entirely organic.”
Virginia’s eyes light up. Other humans react this way when offered sexual intercourse or perhaps that endangered rarity, chocolate. “Jupiter Optimus Maximus! That’s gigantic, Abel! How come it’s not on every news feed in the galaxy?”
“The information is being kept secret, except from a select few wealthy individuals I suspect to be investors.”
“This is amazing. We need specs. We need their data! So we’re going to have to break into Mansfield Cybernetics.” Virginia ticks that off on her finger as if it were any ordinary errand.