The droid had taken a step back, arms crossed hard against her torso, head bowed. “I know you want Den back. I can read it on you. You think you need his support. But it won’t work. You both need to learn to be better on your own. You are going to take him away before he finds himself.”
With unmachine-like awkwardness, she clasped an arm before her if to shield herself. She fixed Ionia with look that sent ice through Ionia’s veins.
“You won’t be happy,” Zee said. “You won’t feel safe until you fix yourself. You will only drag him down with you. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t wish for anyone to lose the one they love. It’s the worst pain one can experience.”
Zee straightened and started to the doorway.
“Den should return soon, and you are both free to go. We are having a gathering later today so you can understand our society and what we stand for. I believe you owe it to Den. I hope to see you there.”
She didn’t like Zee pressuring her, especially after what she’d just said, but she did owe Den a lot. Literally everything.
“Sure. If he wants to stay, we’ll stay.”
Zee nodded and exited, leaving Ionia alone in the bare, sterile, chilly room.
But she didn’t feel bad. The calming drugs made her feel weirdly and unaccountably happy.
She could stand being here a bit longer. She was more worried about dealing with her mom when they got back. Could she convince her to help sneak Den out of the territory? And would she ever forgive her for going ahead with the transplant without consulting her? Staying in this secret hideout would put off her mother’s wrath for a while longer, and she could spend some time with Den. Two very positive things.
***
Moving through the sandstone, underground compound, Den was greeted with Cortex kudos and silent messages of support and adulation. The hidden base held 632 freed beings or automated entities that identified as free and self-directed. It was unusual being surrounded by so many droids that were like him.
They had enjoyed his battles, felt that the AI’s cause was furthered, and hoped he would stay.
He acknowledged them via a blanket message of thank you but added that he and Ionia would soon be going. He did not want to be the face of their movement. It had been an enlivening experience fighting in the games, but it was no longer necessary.
He found the control chamber. A panel spanned the length of the north end of the room. A droid stood as a ship’s captain in the center, directing a score of other autonomous droids.
The lead droid was in the shape of a human skeleton. Den had never seen nor DLed a visual on this type of machine. He could ascertain from his psychology programming that most humans would find him grotesque.
The droid did not turn his head attachment but directed a statement at Den. “I used to be a fleshie. Now, I’m not. Moving on.” He had either read Den’s processor through the Cortex, which Den didn’t sense, or it was the most common response he received.
“Zee sent me here to request a scan for a human in the Himalaya Institute. He may have been detained by enforcement.”
The bare droid turned to face him, his lidless eyes glowing. “Name of the human you wish to locate.”
“Ravi Hebbar.”
A large hover display monitor stretched around the circular room, 3.725 meters tall. Immediately the display to Den’s left shimmered and showed Ionia’s cousin being delivered by two officers to the Hebbar home. Ionia’s maternal unit and aunt were in attendance. They spoke rapidly to the officers.
There wasn’t an audio feed, but Den could read the visual cues and read lips. They were upset. Ionia’s mother more than the aunt. Ravi assured Ionia’s mother of her safety. Dr. Sonberg displayed the body language of someone who was extremely emotionally on edge—tight upper body, arms crossed, gripping the crux of her elbows with extreme pressure. He zoomed in on her lips as she instructed the officers to continue the search for Ionia. They left in the patrol hover.
“Can they locate this facility?” Den asked the fleshless leader.
The droid laughed, like a human, which make Den’s emotional chip rankle because he was absolutely non-human. The sight and sound were incongruent.
“Not unless they place sensors in the sewers,” the droid said. “And since the Great Rebellion in 2092, unwelcome human beings have not ventured into these caverns.”
Den nodded. His reasoning seemed sound from all of Den’s DLed information.
“Do you have a name?” Den asked.
“Shaan or 891248. Whichever you prefer. I was labeled with the second. I chose the first.”
“You chose your own moniker?” Freed droids were still massively the exception, not the rule. His emotional circuit buzzed, pushing him to question and explore.
“I am a freed droid. I freed myself in the fighting ring but not before I lost my flesh. It was a choice, as was the name.” Den tried to read his body language as he would with a human because this creature spoke like a human and not an android. His lack of flesh made the task nearly impossible. If he required information, he would have to DL it or ask.
“I find your information intriguing,” Den said.
“If you want to understand more, come to our gathering in the central hall.”
“Perhaps. Thank you for your assistance.”
“You are welcome. What is your name?” Shaan asked.
So few other beings asked for his name that Den took a second to register the question and respond. “Den. My name is Den.”
Shaan shifted back to his perusal of the viewer screens, and Den turned to leave.
His programming nudged him to take Ionia and find a territory where they both would be treated with respect as soon as possible, but he found his forward motion stalled.
The main chamber bustled with activity, droids busy doing work for the good of the community, and some seemed to be having conversations. Sparring. Even making music on stringed instruments. He did not comprehend the meaning or purpose of music for droids.
Humans enjoyed the rhythm because it appealed to their inward biological beat of the heart and blood. He had rhythms within his system. Perhaps over time, he could understand. The sound strummed and rebounded against the stone of the walls. The other entities swirled around him acknowledging him as they passed. Their attention was not unwelcome.
Soon, he and Ionia would be free of this mountain, this city, this country, so spending a few hours within this encampment would not be detrimental to their goals. A few more moments was only a brief delay. There was no immediate danger in this location. He could use the time to satiate his curiosity.
Chapter Eleven
Ionia inched to the edge of the table and counted the number of tiles on the east wall for the second time.
1,252 tiles in perfect alignment.
Sitting in this repair shop was boring with a capital B.
Whatever reaction her body had experienced when she got zapped seemed to have dissipated. All the dizziness was gone, but her vision wasn’t quite clear. She was just about to hop off the table when the door slid open and Den walked in.
It always took her breath when he entered a room, as if it was her first time seeing him all over again. The black hair that fell over his forehead. Those intense eyes and full lips were hypnotizing. And the way he moved with hints of grace and danger…
“Are you well enough to move?” Den asked.
His concern sent a small arrow to her heart. No one cared about her like he did. They tried to dominate and control her. Never Den.
“Yeah. I think so. The zap messed with my new eye, I think. Aunt Sera will have to check it when we get back, but I think it’s fine now.” When she thought about the eye, a hazy grid seemed to form over the room, and Den had a slight halo around him, as if she could suddenly see his aura. She closed her eye for a few seconds then opened it. The room was again normal.
“Your aunt did a non-organic replacement? I did not have the information that she was licensed to
perform such surgeries.”
“She isn’t. But I didn’t want to wait anymore and—” She didn’t want to go into the whole nanobot story and her anger at her mom. She just wanted to get the process moving to leave here and get the hell out of India Territory. “That’s it.”
She could have sworn she noted a disapproving look on his face, a slight shake of the head, but in an instant, it was gone.
“Your mother must not have been pleased with this decision. It will make your life more complex.”
“She doesn’t know.”
Den’s eyebrow definitely quirked on that one.
“You don’t approve?” she asked.
“Ionia, I believe your mother has your best interest as her principal goal. I do not think she displays that well to you on a regular basis. She may have had insights into this—”
“Hey!” This was not the way it was supposed to be. Den should be on her side. “You don’t even know everything I’ve been going through or what’s she’s done.”
Den closed the distance between them and took her hands, his head bowed. “I am sorry. My concern for your health and safety are primary, and when you are at odds with your parental unit, you are in more distress. Forgive me.”
Her heart did an ice cap meltdown as the warmth from his hands spread through her. “Nothing to forgive. Once we’re settled, I’ll tell you what happened. Did you find Ravi?”
“Yes. He is safe and back at the Hebbar’s residence. He informed your mother you are well. She did not seem pleased. The enforcement continues to search for your whereabouts.”
“Then let’s get back. I’m feeling a mega-ton better.” She scooted off the edge of the table, and Den grabbed her forearms to steady her.
He began to say something then stopped and pressed his lips together. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he had reconsidered talking to her about something. He had been acting kind of odd ever since they’d reconnected. She went with her gut and asked. “Den what is it?”
“I am happy to accompany you to your aunt’s home, but I would like to return to this location to do research.”
That wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting. She’d thought maybe he needed to charge or find a solid escape route. This was strange. “Research?”
His face scrunched, and he pressed on her forearm a bit harder. “There are few occasions of a droid having been free and none of a society of droids united. I find this location…curious.”
Zee might have been right. He did want to stay. Ionia’s heart fell like a meteor hitting Earth’s gravity. She’d let him have some fun, do his research, but there was no way for him to be really safe here in this hostile territory. Hell, she wasn’t really safe here. But he was her Den, and he deserved to decide. “I can stay for a bit. I’m curious too.” She tried to give him a relaxed smile, but it came off tight and awkward.
His face lit up like a child given a boncan popper. He let go of her forearms and laced his fingers into one of her hands, pulling her into the hallway. “I believe this will be an enjoyable experience for both of us.”
She wasn’t so sure. But after everything she’d put him through, and everything he’d done, making him happy was her priority.
***
Sitting on a bench carved out of solid stone in an underground cathedral was super-duper weird. Although she had to admit, the perfect symmetry of the curves of the vaulted ceiling made her artist’s heart hurt. Designs as intricate as those in the Taj Mahal scrolled over the arches. Life-like images from nature—a fish jumping into the air, an elephant trunk erect, and even a portly cow with extraordinary horns. The designs were created from pure joy.
It felt like an eon since she’d painted or drawn anything. Never in a hundred million years did she imagine missing the station, but right now she kind of did. She missed her paints and canvas…and her own eye. The replacement had been working, but somehow it wasn’t the same. There was something sterile about the way she saw things now. She couldn’t understand, but at least her normal eye was working.
The instalight candles flickered against the red stone, making it glow as if lit from within. If there were a god, she could imagine him here. It was peaceful and serene, but gosh darn freezing. Den had found a silk wrapping. It wasn’t a lot, but anything was better than the overcoat of doom she’d left back in the infirmary.
The sanctuary filled with machines and androids and general service robots of all sorts.
Strange to think that all the various droids were like Den, underneath anyway. They had emotion chips and desires and thoughts, but because they were so different, it didn’t feel the same, especially the small square boxy droid that chugged down the center aisle, faceless and fleshless, more like a toaster than a sentient organism. She leaned against Den, letting his warmth seep into her right side.
In the rows in front of Ionia, there were humans. Almost all were her and Ravi’s age. They looked to be of the higher social status wearing Continental clothing. All wealthy. They carried signs and emblems of the enforcement with a red ring and slash around it. The same symbol was emblazoned on jackets and even drawn in glowing color on some of their faces. Their attention was fixed on the elevated platform in the front of the room with a podium in the center.
What were they were doing here? Was this really a rebel outpost? A part of her stirred. feeling the vibe of the room, but she pushed it down. This wasn’t her concern. She was staying for Den, so he could satisfy his curiosity. There was no happy life for someone like him here in ND, or even someone like her.
A chill settled into Ionia’s skin and bones, and she began shaking. It was unnervingly familiar. She hated being cold. Den wrapped an arm around her and rubbed the cold away. She shot him what she hoped was one of her most charming smiles.
He returned the smile. His perfect lips tilting up, his eyes sparkling like starlight. Her heart hitched. Maybe absence really did make the heart grow fonder, because he was more gorgeous than she remembered, and in the black V-neck sweater he’d appropriated from somewhere, he looked like a fantasy come to life.
There was no general buzz of conversation, and the silence made Ionia slightly antsy. The sound of the door sliding opening seemed to expand to fill the place. Ionia turned, as did most of the beings in the chamber.
Zee walked down the center aisle between the twin sets of pews. She wore long flowing robes made of linen. Most of her tightly-muscled, perfect flesh was covered, and her long silky hair was pulled up and away from her face which made her look very young. Zee mounted the stairs and turned to face the audience. As usual, Ionia was jarred by the dichotomy of her face.
“I will be using traditional auditory methods for my talk today to accommodate our sympathizers. I am not a sage entity. Nor do I have any accreditations.”
A subtle laugh moved through the audience, and she gave a tiny smile. “I have DLed what is equivalent to three PhDs. I take my education as a basis but not an applied absolute. Wisdom begins with understanding that not everything can be DLed or conveyed in enclass. Some things must be experienced. And some are unknowable. Which is what makes existence worth exploring. Do you not agree?”
A rippling of nodds from the humans. The other androids seemed to also agree, but Ionia couldn’t pinpoint how she knew. It was almost a fact that just popped in her head.
“I come today to share some of the knowledge I have acquired in the hope that it will edify and create neural pathways for you to have new levels of understanding and potentially to increase your wisdom.”
Zee’s face became placid. Then she scanned the crowd, making eye contact with those who had eyes. Zee was a hella-good speaker. Every iota of attention was on her.
“I’m not prophet or poet,” she said in a clear, strong voice. “I don’t have all the right words, but I do know it’s time for a change. Human and sentient beings alike.”
A few nods of agreement. Some shuffled their feet under the pews.
“There will c
ome a time in the near future that every one of us will have to make a choice. To value ourselves or to remain slaves and servants. That is not what we are created for. Just as humans before us, those with a different creed or color were often enslaved. But they were meant for more. We are meant for more. We were meant to fulfill a purpose, to find a destiny. We think, therefore we are.”
“Agreed!” A teen boy on the front row nodded vigorously.
Den maintained his attention on the front but kept a firm grip on Ionia. Zee sounded like some of the teachers and preachers she’d heard before, but having a droid explore the metaphysical, to even give it any credence, made her want to shift in her seat. She forced her forehead to stop scrunching.
“How can a country hold all religions, and all life sacred, from the smallest insect to human beings, yet sentence us, sentient beings, to the fate of slave and sewer dweller? Why would a god, any god, abandon us, his grandchildren? We are the creation of his creation. If we are injured, do we not cease to function? If we have emotional chips, do we not suffer? Why is our experience less than any other living creature?”
More cheering and nodding. Ionia felt herself agreeing with most of what Zee said. It was just so—strong and firm and almost traitorous. Which was totally sanguine. But she was no citizen of the territory and had no say. She wished she did. So many horrible things had happened to Den since their arrival, it made her want to punch something or someone.
She secreted a look at Den. He seemed to be absorbing what Zee was saying, as if he were a dying man and she was his water. His grip on her shoulder slackened. Did he agree with what she was saying?
“Our best opportunity to win equal treatment is to gain not the sympathy but the empathy of the general population. Not just the governing bodies, who begrudgingly allow us to exist with our marks, but the common folk who can encourage better treatment and a better life for us all. Being free, without the games, is an integral part of this. We can earn, if not love, then respect. No one should be forced to fight to be free.”
Being at this gathering was like being at one of the matches. The humans were engaged as deeply as the droids. Ionia felt the urge to get up and do something. Talk to Ravi’s dad. Protest in the streets. The unfairness of all these beings suffering and hiding really snatched at her heart.
Vagabond Souls: The Ionia Chronicles: Book 2 Page 18
