by D Miller
'Will you ask the children's mother to come to the capital with us?'
Adrienne put her hands in her lap and linked her fingers. She raised her eyes to the ceiling, and was still.
'Will you ask… Gillian to come to the capital with us?'
'Yes, I will talk to Gillian. Well done, that wasn't so bad was it?'
'God damn you are annoying.'
Robbie let himself back into the bedroom. He had received a message from Omo suggesting that he might like to come back to bed.
'You've been asleep a really long time, nearly five hours,' he told Omo.
'I didn't really sleep while you were away dude.'
Robbie threw off his clothes, and was about to get into the bed when he saw the tiniest of frowns crease Omo's forehead. As soon as it appeared it was gone. Robbie picked up his clothes from the floor and folded them, placing them on a wicker effect chair that sat by their wardrobe. He stroked creases out of his jeans and smiled at Omo.
'Dude get into bed!'
'Are you sure, because the bedside cabinet has all kinds of crap in it. I could tidy it. I could slowly empty it out, scrub it inside and out, throw away the junk and put everything else back neatly. I could do all of that, and you could watch.'
'Oh dude you are driving me crazy.'
'Really? Oh dear, because that wasn't my intention at all.'
Chapter 36 – The dogginess of the dog
Robbie was at the refinery, sat on the ground cross-legged, sharing a joint with Amber. Rex lay on the ground sleeping in front of them. The fire had changed so much in the refinery complex that they were unsure of the new geography. Omo was searching for his Reverend Billy mask, poking through a pile of rubble in front of a half collapsed building that they thought was the one that had once contained the meeting room and the old bot. It was 3am and the low sun cast long shadows from a clear blue sky. Amber and Robbie had been watching small bots zipping into and out of the fire-gutted building on their mysterious errands and were now watching two small bots who looked like they were having a tug of war over a scrap of red plastic.
'My money's on the little guy,' said Amber. He handed the joint back to Robbie saying, 'Dex says that in the capital humans think the small bots are a problem. They escape and form colonies. Humans call it botfestation.'
'Typical humanity, everything has to be arranged for their convenience and it's so unfair when they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.'
Amber broadcast, 'Have you made a decision about your… issue?'
'No.'
'Didn't talking to Adrienne help?'
'I like Adrienne. But sometimes I think that one day a dwarf, an elf, a warrior king and some hobbits are going to turn up to reclaim her saying it is time she was cast back into the fiery pit in which she was forged.'
Amber laughed out loud, then glanced over to where Omo was searching through the rubble.
Robbie took a drag and handed the joint back, watching Omo as he did so. 'I hope he's going to give up soon,' he broadcast.
'Perhaps we should help him.'
'Perhaps we should smoke another joint.'
'What did Adrienne say?'
'We did some gestalt.'
'What?'
'It's this idea that all the different parts of you have their own existence, and make up a whole, and you can have conversations with the different parts of yourself. So Adrienne talked to my jealousy. And it turns out I don't think I deserve to be loved.'
'Oh Robbie, of course you deserve to be loved.'
'I'm afraid. I'm afraid if I try and change things it will all fall apart. I'll lose both of them.'
'If you are honest with both of them it will be fine. They're not going to stop loving you.'
'Omo says love is the only real thing in the universe.'
There was a slithering noise from behind them, a shout and then a roar. Robbie was on his feet and sprinting towards Omo before the shout had ended, but Amber still got there first. The building had crumbled again, changing the broken landscape; Omo had disappeared. Amber and Robbie pinged for his signal; Amber picked up some misshapen black plastic blocks that might once have been wall panels, Robbie took them from him and flung them to one side. Rex jumped onto the debris and dug with his front paws, sending dust and small particles up into the air. A hand shot up in front of his paws and waved around, Rex barked. Robbie grasped it and pulled, Amber pushed aside some larger pieces of rubble, Omo's head appeared. There was a creak, a pause, then another longer creak.
'It's going,' said Rex, 'the whole thing is going.'
Between them they quickly exposed Omo's shoulders then Amber grabbed him under his arms, Robbie got hold of his legs as Amber lifted and they carried him, running a few steps then depositing him on the open ground. Rex ran with them. Robbie knelt by Omo and swept dust out of his hair. From behind Robbie could hear a loud crack, followed by a final-sounding crump, a cloud of dust rolled over them, slowly settling in the unusually still air. They all coughed and spat the dust out of their mouths.
'Are you OK?' Robbie asked Omo.
Omo coughed again, he held up something white. 'I found it,' he said.
Robbie, Omo, Amber and Rex were on the shingle beach that was just past the ruined refinery complex, going away from Toytown, rather than towards. The sun sparkled on the ocean. They all rinsed their face, hair and hands in the cold ocean, apart from Rex who jumped right in, then climbed out and shook himself, sending drops of very cold water at his protesting friends.
'Ball please,' said Rex.
As they were leaving the hotel Rex had asked Amber to put in his pocket a ball that George had given him, so they could play fetch on the beach. Amber had readily agreed.
Amber took the ball from his pocket, it was rubber but with a soft yellow covering guaranteed to soak up saliva, and small enough for Rex to pick it up in his mouth. Amber casually flicked the ball into the air, it flew along the beach and disappeared behind some rocks about half a kilometre away. Rex set off in hot pursuit, bounding along the shingle with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.
'Dude sure loves that ball,' said Omo.
They watched as he disappeared behind the rocks, then appeared again, flying back towards them with the ball lodged in his mouth.
'You throw the ball, he brings it back, you throw it again, he finds it and brings it back so you can throw it – why does he like it? He's not stupid, he writes brilliant programs,' said Robbie.
Rex came running up with the ball in his mouth. The fur on his legs and under his belly dripped water, his eyes were shining. 'Eye ha he oo ooo no!'
'Hey dude,' said Omo, 'how about you say that again, with words this time?'
Rex spat out the soggy ball. Amber bent and picked it up. 'I can hear you, you know.'
'I'm just wondering why you like this?' Robbie said. 'Isn't it a tiny bit incredibly repetitive?'
'I need the exercise.'
'You're a robot, you don't need exercise.'
'It's good for my brain right, it's mental exercise.'
'Thinking goodness me, Amber just threw my ball into the sea, I wonder where my ball is? Yeah that does sound mental.'
'You wouldn't understand, it's about the world of ideal forms and the dogginess of the dog. Plato, innit.'
'Plato was a big fan of fetch, was he?' Robbie said. 'Did Socrates throw his ball for him in the Academy?'
'Peasant,' said Rex.
Grinning, Amber wound back his arm and threw the ball again. It blurred out of his hand. Rex sprinted away.
'Dude I think that thing went into orbit,' said Omo.
'You'd better hope robot dog saliva isn't a hazard to our friends in space,' said Robbie.
Omo broadcast on very low power, 'Have you dudes noticed how much more like a dog Rex is since he lost his parasite?'
'Yeah,' broadcast Amber, 'he's just…, he's like…, he's just…, he's a dog now.'
'He's not ashamed to be a dog anymore,' broadcas
t Robbie. 'I think he might have been before, because it was, you know, um, a punishment.'
'That's all over now dude,' said Omo.
'Those guys are dead, Robbie,' said Amber.
'Oos ed?' said Rex, bounding back up the beach with his ball. Amber bent and took it from him.
'Dobbs and boyboy are dead,' said Robbie.
'Yes, them and their faulty logic units have gone into permanent shutdown,' said Rex. 'And I never sent any flowers to the funeral. Do you think it was a joint one? Do you think anybody cried?'
'I think they escaped,' said Robbie, 'if they had lived the police would have had questions for them about the old man's avatar and the death of his wife in the President's mansion.'
Just as Robbie had feared the police had searched the mansion by the pools and found the oligarch's grotesque avatar, quietly rotting. They had questions for Robbie, and Sheena, Shauna and Sharon. So far they had all refused to cooperate, mostly for the thrill of knowing that they could. It was a different world.
Later, after Amber had called a halt to ball throwing, they made their way along the beach, coming to a stop in the shadow of the hulking derelict ship.
'We met here,' said Robbie to Rex.
'Well, yeah, er, sorry about that chief,' said Rex.
'This place gives me a strange feeling,' said Robbie, 'there could be people living inside, watching us.'
'But Rex you would know, wouldn't you?' said Amber.
'Well, there could be people in there, if they were careful about their heat signature.'
'But they would have to come out sometimes,' said Amber.
Rex hung his head. 'I lost my eyes,' he said.
'They're in your face dude,' said Omo.
'Not my eyes, my eyes,' said Rex. 'Those fucking mutants took them, they don't play fair, they never give the ball back.'
'The small bots took them?' asked Robbie. 'Damn. So you never saw anything?'
'Once,' said Rex, 'I thought I saw something, I thought I was picking up a broadcast from an eye that was circling the refinery and possibly streaming to the ship, but it was a very weak signal and I lost it. And more likely the eye belonged to the police or the corporation and had been blown off course. Hopefully the fucking mutants got that one too. Anyway nothing ever came of it.'
They continued walking along the shore, back towards Toytown. 'Are you going to work today?' Robbie asked Amber.
'Yes, we're packing up the ride. Max says his cousin can get him a good pitch in the capital.'
'You're packing up already?'
'We're not getting much business. The mine is closed, half the town was smashed up by the storm. Lots of people have left.'
'Yeah dude, because of that storm that we caused,' said Omo.
'I hope you won't be too long, you remember that Shauna wants a technical rehearsal this evening.'
In the three weeks since Robbie had been freed from the mansion, he had moved forward with his plans. He had persuaded George to open up the wall in the hotel lobby which hid the main entrance to the ballroom. Jane and Rex had disconnected the smart mirrors from the network, and then turned them off. They assured Robbie that they could not be turned back on remotely by the hotel or anyone else.
Robbie and Sheena, Shauna and Sharon had written a show, they had advertised for performers, they had auditioned, they had selected and rehearsed. Omo had designed the sets, the set decor, and the lighting, Jane and Rex were taking care of the sound, the queens had worked on the costumes (while also pining for Lucretia since April had gone to the capital with Nurmeen) and Jon and Flo were taking care of the props. Which meant, thought Robbie, that Flo was taking care of props, seemingly oblivious to how Jon talked as if he were central to everything and busy, busy, busy, but in reality he let other people do the real work. Shauna had directed the rehearsals, Sharon was stage managing, Sheena took the lead on writing and arranging, and Robbie was the compère. Tomorrow was the day of their first dress rehearsal, and the day after was the final dress rehearsal and the night of the show.
'Oh Robbie, I will be there. I'm so excited. Darren and Dex don't know. I hope they like it.'
When Robbie had had the chance to interrogate Amber privately, he had confessed that when they were off shift, miners often entertained each other, most of them could perform something, and a few, like Amber, took it very seriously and really worked on their acts. The miners had nick-named Amber "MT" in tribute to his popular routine. Dex was not so keen, he thought Amber's act was dangerous.
'Oh so do I,' said Robbie. 'Although do you mean that Dex will be there?'
'Yes, sorry, I meant to tell you before, he's going to fly in, then we can all fly out with him after the dance.'
'We're really going to the capital. I've never flown before, not that I remember that is.'
'I hope we never come back,' said Omo.
'I won't,' said Amber, 'if the citizen's council decides to re-open the mine they will have to ask for volunteers to work in it. I'm never going back down the mine. All the miners feel the same.'
'No one is going to want to look at repairing the storm damage unless the mine is going to re-open. Without the mine the town will die,' said Robbie, turning to look at the ocean. He started to clamber closer to the water's edge, followed by Omo, Amber and Rex.
'I see it dude,' said Omo. Robbie and Omo stared out at the ocean, Amber stood between the two of them and put his arms around each. Rex sat in front of Robbie while they watched in silence as a massive tail smacked the shining, unresisting water.
'Well, well, well,' said a new voice, 'isn't this lovely. Four friends whale watching in the summer sun beside the peaceful sea.'
'Touching,' said another voice.
'Life affirming,' said the first voice. 'I think I'm going to cry.'
Robbie turned round. 'Boris, Ibrahim,' he said, 'I can explain.'
'Yeah dudes,' said Omo, 'we didn't want to wake you up, you looked so peaceful.'
'You had your arms around each other and everything,' said Rex.
'You didn't wake us up because we looked adorable,' said Boris shaking his head. 'Robbie I would expect this of you. You don't want us following you around, listening to all your most private moments.'
'You have quite a lot of private moments,' said Ibrahim.
'Ooooh oooooh ooooooooh yes you do,' said Boris. 'We're shocked by Omo, surprised by Rex, but worst of all is you, Amber.'
'You were our leader in the mine,' said Ibrahim.
'We looked up to you,' said Boris.
'Guys please–' said Amber.
'No, not a word,' said Boris holding up his hands. 'Let's just all go back to the hotel and we'll never speak of it again.'
'Some things cut too deep,' said Ibrahim.
'I'm sorry,' said Robbie. 'We shouldn't have sneaked away. But it's good that you're dealing with it so professionally.'
Boris and Ibrahim looked at each other and laughed.
'Yeah alright you got us,' said Boris. 'But seriously if you try a stunt like this again Robbie, we are going to chain you up. This time I'm not joking.'
'Fair enough. And I am sorry.'
'We're all sorry dude,' said Omo.
'We got really close to you before you knew we were there. Remember that next time you're tempted.'
'Dude is there someone up ahead of us?'
Robbie, Omo, Amber, Rex, Boris and Ibrahim were walking through the tunnels, heading back to the hotel.
'Yes Omo,' said Boris, 'there's someone behind us too, there has been for a while. From the heat signature robot but I'm not getting any response to my pings.'
'Avatars,' said Robbie.
'Dude I thought you said you locked up the avatars you found?'
'We did, they couldn't have got out,' said Amber.
'Fuck,' said Rex, 'it's them. I knew they couldn't really be dead.'
'Turn here,' said Boris, 'head for the hospital exit. Except Rex, you run back to the hotel, I'm gambling they won't follow you, get he
lp, wake up George. Now, when I say run, we all run.'
Robbie stood below the exit for the hospital, looking up at the opening just above his head. Boris had sent Ibrahim and Amber out first. Amber poked his head through the opening, 'All clear,' he said, leaning through further and holding out his hand.
'Go,' Boris said to Robbie. Robbie reached up and Amber grasped his hand; he was swiftly pulled through the opening. Boris followed, while Amber helped Omo out and Ibrahim kept watch.
'Darren is coming,' said Amber. 'He's nearly at the back door around the corner.' Amber pointed.
'Let's move,' said Boris, 'we'll meet him halfway.'
They set off up the steps that led from the tunnel entrance to the grounds of the hospital, walking single file with Robbie in the middle, Ibrahim and Amber leading, with Omo following Robbie and Boris last. Ibrahim and Amber rounded the corner of the hospital, heading for the back door, as Amber disappeared from view Robbie heard a noise.
'Stop,' ordered Boris. Robbie looked behind him, Omo was frowning, Boris strode past Omo and Robbie and peered cautiously around the corner. He turned to face Robbie and Omo. 'They're down,' he said. 'Omo, you and Robbie head for the main entrance, go, now!'
Omo grabbed Robbie's arm and pulled him to face the other direction, Robbie took one step, then another, then he was running. They had reached the corner of the building, and ran round it when something tripped Robbie and he fell. He was now on the street of Toytown, the main entrance to the hospital was twenty five metres away. A hand slid under Robbie's armpit and lifted him to his feet, he turned to face Omo, but it wasn't him, it was one of the avatars that had accompanied boyboy into the refinery tunnel. He took a step back, and bumped into someone, turning he saw that there were three avatars, they surrounded and crowded him. They still wore their black military uniforms, although rather more wrinkled and rumpled than the first time Robbie had seen them. They all had fine, straight black hair, unlined somewhat unformed faces, and were a few millimetres taller than him. One of them offered him a jack, he shook his head.
