"I mean, it's probably best that you do talk to her... we can't just ignore that there are people living so close to Brightvale, or, you know, that there are other humans out there who have tried to make contact with us. Sure, they might seem like a pain in the ass right now, but it would be a bad move for us to not at least try to form some kind of useful relationship with them..."
Curtis ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"I know, I know, I just... I thought that if there were other humans out there, anywhere near enough that they might become a factor in our lives that..."
"That they'd be nice, and share our goals? Yeah, I guess I kind of thought that too. I guess we didn't learn as much from the likes of Janice and Sophie about humans as we thought," Madeleine conceded.
"I just... I just hope I can persuade this countess whatever-her-name-is that we're not doing this to fuck with the Aerquan for fun, or because we're angry -"
"- but we are angry. There's no denying that. We could have considered the stealthy get-the-people-out-without-destroying-the-city plan, and we didn't. We want to kill the Aerquan as much as we want to free the people, and we are lying if we pretend that our own desire for revenge is playing no part at all in our plans. I mean, I do think we're doing the right thing, and I do think that if we don't kill the Aerquan in Brightvale we'll just be inviting problems for our city further down the line - I think we need to show them we are not to be fucked with at this point rather than giving them a reason to believe they can come after us successfully. But... well, that's the angle you will need to push, because if she already thinks all of this is just you having a tantrum of some kind, then she's not going to be persuaded otherwise if you talk about how the Aerquan need to be eradicated. It needs to sound strategic."
"Yeah, you're right, I guess. Ugh, do you want to come with me to talk to her? Or do you think I should get one of the androids to assist me - I was thinking Carla is probably experienced in talking to people with fancy ideas about themselves from her time working for the dean of the college?"
Maddy shook her head.
"You just saw for yourself how annoying it is trying to reason with an android, and so this countess is just going to feel the same way if she has to talk to Carla, who is on your side. It won't help you win her over. And with me... well... I don't really know how to say this without sounding like an asshole, but if she already seems to think of you as a kid, then bringing me along, someone much older... well, doesn't it kind of reinforce that?"
Curtis knew she was right. He often forgot that Maddy was in her late thirties, given that she looked a lot younger having spent all of her life out of sunlight in a cave, and with the Sanctuary-approved healthy diet and exercise regime. And the fact that when it came to the world out here, she wasn't even as experienced as Curtis.
"So... it should just be me then. Actually, you know what, I'm fucking fine with that. Earlier, with that butler guy, Featherby, well, I thought I needed to put on airs, make him respect me by living up to his expectations of how a proper man acts and conducts himself. But his expectations are from some weird past where all of this bowing and having butlers and living in mansions meant something. I'm not going to even try to talk to the countess like that. I'm a guy with a city, a legion of androids who I treat pretty damn well, a pregnant half-alien, and a hot preacher all on my side. I may not have some fucking title or whatever, but I am someone to be respected, and if she wants to talk to me, she needs to give me that respect. No bullshit, no fancy talk to hide what she really means, just her and me, sorting this shit out."
He was angry, and he only really believed about 70% of what he was saying, but he needed to believe it more, he needed to steel himself to talk to this woman. In his head, he pictured her just like Janice. Well, things were very different now to the last time he'd spoken to that particular matriarch. He wasn't nobody anymore, an inconvenient cog in her otherwise nice, orderly machine. He was the guy who could smash the machine if he wanted to, with a big fucking hammer. Wielded by a big fucking robot. He could not be intimidated. He would not be intimidated. Somehow though, this whole thing was riling him up even more than the prospect of the actual assault on Brightvale.
"Well, I guess I should go - that damn butler android is off setting up the conferencing stuff with - what's her name, the woman who is always on the reception desk? I want to say Karen, or Kaylee, or something?"
"Kylie. But, yeah, can you come and find me straight after though? Just because I don't think it'll look great for you if I sit in, doesn't mean I'm not itching to know what she says...."
"Of course. And, look, thanks for letting me rant - I would go mad trying to deal with all this crap without you. I really mean that," he said, and he squeezed her shoulder lightly before striding out of the gym with renewed purpose in his step.
"Wait, one last thing -" Madeleine called back after him.
Curtis turned back by the door of the gym and looked at her quizzically.
"Find out how her ancestors made the deal with the Aerquan, or the treaty or whatever it is, in the first place. I didn't even realize before that there was a way to talk to them, let along negotiate with them. I know we don't plan to ever actually do stuff like that - we'd rather just get rid of them than try and play politics - but, well it could be useful to know if we're ever in a situation where we could benefit from being able to have a diplomatic conversation with them."
Curtis nodded. He'd already been wondering about this, actually. Madeleine had never seen the aliens in person, but he had, and that creature that he'd watched Mercy fight in the road, it hadn't seemed like something that could be talked to. It had made no effort to communicate in words or gestures, its body language had been incomprehensible to him, and the sounds it had made... He had doubted that the Aerquan communicated among themselves with sound, given their telepathic abilities, and he couldn't help but wonder what strange measures the countess' forefathers had taken to be able to even be close enough to have a conversation, without the pain from those psychic powers causing them to black out or die. Thinking about this, he found some new enthusiasm for talking to Featherby's boss. Maybe he'd learn something useful.
Chapter 9
"What do you mean you don't know how to talk to them anymore?" Curtis asked in bewilderment at the woman on the screen.
"Well, one has to understand, that any conversation that occurred in the past was at the full discretion of the Aerquan. My great-great uncle Barnaby - I think he was my great-great-uncle, anyway - he was given special dispensation to communicate with one of their leaders, who had learned the English tongue in order to understand materials and signage in this world when they first arrived. Anyway, if there isn't anyone among the Aerquan now who speaks English, whatever lines of communication old uncle Barney had won't matter a jot, will they? There has been no reason to talk to them. The arrangement was made that we in the Warren estate, and the descendants and laborers of the Warren family, would be left their land and their freedom in return for staying out of affairs in Brightvale. The Aerquan have held to this, and we have kept up our side of the bargain, too. This is the first time there has been any reason to be concerned that something might upset this peace they brokered back then."
Well, that at least means I don't have to worry about her warning them about the attack that's still definitely happening.
The countess was a good looking woman, in a haughty, slightly drunk, slightly mad sort of way. The hint of craziness was exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact she was wearing a pink ballgown, and a diamond tiara. On the screen in front of Curtis he watched her take a sip from a crystal glass of red wine, her long, manicured nails clacking daintily against the glass as she rested it back on an ornate little table beside her. It was impossible to say how old she was - her skin was perfectly smooth and flawless, and her hair a golden blonde without a trace of gray, but of course, there was a lot a good android esthetician could do, and she had already implied that she had a number of
adult children. She talked in a posh but faintly manic way - a little too fast, sometimes interrupted by what he was sure she thought was a charming giggle. Her eyes were large and stared right into the camera, the positioning of it making it feel slightly wrong, as if she was looking intensely at the top of his head. She hadn't been at all what he expected, and didn't remind him of Janice at all now he could see her. Less imposing. But also a bit less easy to read.
He'd decided to start the conversation with getting some of the history of her family and what had lead to their current situation, rather than going straight for the point of contention. So far what he had heard had only fleshed out the picture he had already gotten from Featherby. Rich family survives the invasion in their bunker, and then just tries to carry on living as if nothing has changed. There was some hint that this interest in tradition had grown into something more akin to a purpose, however. When he'd asked what the people in the mansion - the countess and all of her various cousins and children and other members of the esteemed Warren clan - actually did with their time, she'd responded that preserving the culture of man, and seeking out important things from the past were their main concerns. They studied music and art and read the books in the mansion's library - which sounded like it rivaled even the one at the university - but they also sent out their androids to investigate ruined towns and cities, in search of historically important artifacts or pieces of art that they felt should be kept and looked after for future generations. It sounded like their early pretense that the world hadn't really changed, and that they were still important, and that wealth still mattered, had grown into a kind of obsessive nostalgia. The Warren family, Curtis surmised, had become the keepers of a museum nobody visited. Hoarders of man-made treasures that were now more worthless than priceless. They lived in the past, surrounded by its trappings.
"But what I'm not getting is why. Do you know why the Aerquan were so willing to reason with this Barney guy and give you the rights to stay where you were, when they were happy to just kill everybody else?"
"As a matter of fact, I do know. We posed a threat to them. One they haven't encountered from humans since. Until now, I suppose. We have planes, and helicopters. Uncle Barney liked to fly, you see. It was a hobby in the old times, but one that meant he had a collection of aircraft, and his own airfield here at the mansion. And of course, with planes and a pilot, it would be possible for him to assault the Aerquan in ways even you probably haven't thought of yet," she gave a little chiming laugh as if the idea of the Aerquan being scared of her ancestors' planes was a great source of pride and amusement to her.
Curtis nodded, impressed. Yes, there would have been other people with planes, too. Military bases, airlines, and so on. But the Aerquan probably took all of those people out on invasion day, before they had a chance to use them. A rich guy with a private airfield, who appeared weeks later, knowing what was out there, well, he could see why that might have been a problem for the Aerquan, especially given the Warren family had androids too, and would have been able to defend their land using those. He did wonder why the androids hadn't fought using planes. Maybe they had - but perhaps they had only used them to defend their areas, rather than plotting an organized attack on the Aerquan. It seemed the androids just weren't designed to start conflicts without a human telling them to, but to put up resistance. Androids with aerial capabilities might have been a factor in why some cities were left behind by the aliens, but only a human with planes would be deemed to be a true threat to their burgeoning strongholds. It did make sense. He had wondered before about trying to find and secure an airport or similar, for their future efforts against other, more distant Aerquan cities, and he mentally lifted looking into this up his priorities list.
"So, do you all know how to fly, then?" he asked, trying not to let greed show in his tone. If he could somehow win her over to his side, then would he have pilots at his disposal, even now, even for the battle in two days time?
"Oh, well, you see, it was part of the treaty that we wouldn't. If the Aerquan of Brightvale so much as see a plane or helicopter rise up above our lands, this will be seen as a breach of the agreement, and the end of the peace between us. But, well, we do still practice good maintenance of the planes, and we use simulators we have at the mansion to keep alive the skills Uncle Barney had - to keep alive the knowledge that enabled our family to persist where all others fell. All of my children are excellent pilots, and I myself hold many of the records on our simulator software!"
Curtis didn't even have to wonder if there was software like that at the university - it was almost certain that there was, and if there wasn't, he could probably have Osiris, who managed the drones, create something for him. Lena could probably even design and build him a plane, if there weren't any suitable that they could commandeer from an old airport or air force base. He could bring in those kinds of skills with or without the Warren family. But if he could get the self-professed countess Gwendolene Warren interested in fighting the Aerquan, then he could have aerial supremacy by the weekend... He didn't need it - he was sure their original plan was sufficient for Brightvale - but now that a potential new advantage was being flaunted in front of him, he wanted it.
"Countess Warren?" he began.
"Oh, do call me Gwen - I fear that it was the wrong choice sending Featherby to make contact with you now I've spoken to you. He's a good butler, but rather too stuffy for the likes of you, I'd imagine. Don't think we're all like that - he was my great-great-grandfather's closest android aide and programmed to the tastes of an older generation," she said, with a dismissive wave of her wine glass.
"Gwen," he continued, grateful to be able to do away with the ridiculous title, "I think we both know that you're not going to be able to change my mind about storming Brightvale. You haven't even really tried to persuade me yet, but it's clear from what we have already discussed that the only reason you care whether I do it or not is because it will break the peace treaty, and mean you'll have to defend yourselves from possible attacks. Now, I am sorry to have to do that to you, but I think you'll have no problems setting up some defenses with your androids, and I know you've got that nice big bunker under your nice big house, so I don't really think that me starting something with the Aerquan is going to put you in mortal danger. I also don't think you really have anything you can offer that I would want, so I don't think we can even negotiate any position where I do what you want. But, with that in mind... Why don't you join us? We are going to do this, your uncle Barney's treaty will be broken, and you will have to defend your land again anyway, so why don't you do it from a position of agency? Send your pilots to join the fight. Help us rescue those people in Brightvale."
He was sure he'd phrased it well. He was sure his argument was reasonable and compelling. And yet the countess just shook her head sadly.
"Maintaining the status quo is still worth considering, Curtis. You shouldn't kick a hornet's nest. Right now, I and my family, and all of the peasants who live in the area around the mansion and serve us or farm for us, we all live in peace. Your life is probably all about exciting new things, about making your mark in a world that feels like it has been waiting just for you, but that isn't how it is for us. We were all born into this. We have lives, and interests and relationships, and children to educate - it may surprise you, but we rarely speak, or even think about the aliens. Our world may be small, but our androids go out and bring us back things that make us feel like part of an ancient dynasty of humanity, that may no longer be strong, but that is still living on, in spite of calamity. This is all we hope for. To live well, and to keep our heads held high, rather than to cower in fear. You could stay in peace, too, you could rule over your own city, or, well - you could join us here. You could have something resembling a normal life. But instead, you prefer the notion of stirring everything up, changing our role in the world from just living our lives, to fighting a war. We never wanted that. Don't you see how unfair it is for you to appear from nowhere, a
nd insist upon this for us? To turn our way of living upside down? Why can't you see that things can be fine as they are? That things don't need to be disrupted? That you shouldn't have the power to change everything? I will not argue that you do hold that power, but I can only plead with you to consider how you use it... and whatever your decision, there is no way that I can commit my family - my children, even - to flying for you and fighting for your cause. That is not something you will ever get me to agree to, and if refusing you that is the only power I have, then I am happy to exercise it."
"But what about the people? What about the people who are, right now, holed up in some compound being forced to breed, and then taken - or watching their children be taken - for the Aerquan to do fuck knows what to? Do you think we should ignore them because it is inconvenient to help them? And even if you do think that their suffering isn't your problem... There are so few of us humans left that even from the least compassionate of perspectives, you have to see that it is better for us to free those people and with them, begin to repopulate?"
"I'm so glad you bring up the topic of repopulation," she said, with a weirdly out of place, almost suggestive laugh, "because that is quite the cornerstone of my own proposal."
Chapter 10
"Sorry, what?"
Curtis was now very confused. One minute he'd been trying to appeal to the countess' better nature, to convince her to join him in assaulting Brightvale, for the good of the innocent people there, but the next, as soon as the topic of repopulation had come up, things had taken a very odd turn. The countess was now biting her lip, and looking into the camera alluringly (though her eyes were a bit glassy, much like Maddy's looked when she'd had to much whiskey), poised with one hand at the neckline of her ballgown, just above her firm, bulging cleavage.
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