Pine, Alive: A Science Fiction Romance Pinocchio Retelling (Foxwept Array Book 1)

by A. W. Cross

  She spoke casually, but something more than simple curiosity bubbled below the surface. James’s mind raced ahead. What could she be fishing for?

  “What do you mean?” Pine asked, and James was sadly proud of the suspicion in it. She was learning. “James probably told you everything.”

  “He told me that a couple—well-known to us, I might add—convinced you to go to the Field of Miracles with them. And then they beat you.”

  “That’s pretty much it. What else would there be?” Her expression was impassive.

  “Well, for starters, what did they want from you? It wasn’t you, because they wouldn’t have dared to…damage you.” She fused another seam and nodded approvingly as she checked it under the light. “Which leads me to think you had something they wanted. And that they didn’t get it. So what was it?”

  Pine glanced at James, and he groaned inwardly. Knowing Blue and trusting her were two different things, and although she’d never given him reason to doubt her, she always seemed to know more about things than she should. Still, she was doing them a favor. A big one. If Pine had ended up in the hands of the authorities…who knew what would’ve happened? Joseph would never willingly let them take her away, but he may not have had the choice. “It’s okay, Pine. We can trust her.” He made sure to catch Blue’s eye as he said this, and her mouth twisted in knowing amusement.

  “I got some…some components from The Showman. I was supposed to give—”

  “The Showman?” Blue asked, her voice sharp. “Who’s The Showman?”

  “The Fire-eater,” James clarified. That name she would recognize. They’d both known him by his other name for years.

  Blue gaped at James. “The Fire-eater got involved? Oh, this is good. Sorry for interrupting you, Pine. Please, keep going.”

  James pressed Pine’s fingers in encouragement.

  “I was supposed to give the parts to Joseph. But as I was leaving, I ran into a man and woman—”

  “The Fox and The Cat?” Blue interrupted before she caught herself.

  Pine looked askance at James. “Does everyone have one of these nicknames? How does anyone know who anyone is?”

  James snorted. She was right. From the inside, it didn’t seem strange to him, but to her… “No, but it does seem that way, doesn’t it?” No wonder Pine thought humans were all duplicitous.

  “Does Joseph have one?”

  Now that was an interesting story. “Yes. We call him The Wood Carver, because he makes—”

  “Can we please get back to the story?” Blue shifted from one foot to the other, impatient.

  Pine acquiesced. “I bumped into Ta— The Cat and Fox in The Red Dove, and I dropped my bag. They saw what was inside. They said they were friends of Joseph’s and offered to help me.” She hesitated. “I feel so stupid, now.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Blue said. “They’ve hoodwinked all of us once or twice. Right, Cricket?” She looked pointedly at James and prodded Pine’s shoulder. “Sit up.”

  “It’s true.” Even though it wasn’t, he appreciated Blue’s kindness.

  Pine continued. “They said…they said that if I went with them to the Field of Miracles, they’d be able to get even better components or more money than I could’ve gotten otherwise. And since The Showman said that Joseph could use or sell them as he liked—”

  “Ah, yes. I know how that one goes.” Blue shook her head. “One day, they’ll get what’s coming to them.”

  “I-I thought that if I could get something better, or more money for the ones I had, I could give it to Joseph, and…maybe he would forgive me for being so difficult and wouldn’t send me away.” She dropped her head to her chest. “It sounds so ridiculous.”

  “Pine, listen to me.” James seized her other hand. “Joseph would never do that to you. Ever. No matter what you did. He loves you, Pine.”

  “He doesn’t really know me,” Pine said, looking away.

  “He doesn’t need to. He loved you before he even met you. And he’ll do so forever.” He treaded carefully over the next part. “I don’t know if synadroids have families.” If he was honest, he’d never cared enough to learn. “But Joseph truly sees himself as your father. And for a man like Joseph, that won’t change. Unlike most people, his love for you is unconditional.”

  “You mean he won’t be upset?” Her hope was almost childlike.

  “Oh, he’ll be upset. But not at you.” James glanced down at Pine’s partially reformed skin. “He’s going to be all kinds of upset.”

  “What did you do with the components?” The Blue Fairy looked straight at Pine.

  Pine avoided her gaze. “They must’ve gotten them.” She’d barely spoken when her body went as rigid as a piece of oak.

  “Still don’t trust me, I see.” Blue’s disappointment was clear.

  “Pine! What’s happening, Blue? What have you done?” James was halfway out of his seat. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it right now.”

  “I’m not doing anything,” The Blue Fairy said. “She’s lying.”

  “What?” James peered down at Pine, but her expression was fixed, doll-like. Only her mouth and eyes could move, and they were wide open in surprise.

  “She’s lying. It’s a mechanism they put in the synadroids to better control them. Like those ridiculous safe words.” Her face darkened. “Bloody hypocrites.”

  The force of her anger was a surprise. He’d never really known how Blue felt about sentient androids. He’d always assumed she did what she did only for the profit. Well, shame on him.

  “Can you…fix her?” James hated using that word. Pine wasn’t broken, just…well, James didn’t know how to describe it.

  “If by ‘fix’ you mean mobilize her, then no. She must tell the truth to do that. But I can tweak that part of her programming afterward.”

  It wasn’t legal, but for the first time, James didn’t care. Everybody had secrets.

  “Pine, please. You have to tell her what happened to the bag.”

  It took some effort, but Pine was able to close her mouth and speak between gritted teeth. “I hid it. While I was running away.” Her body relaxed, her fingers once again pliable in James’s hand.

  James didn’t know whether to laugh or grab her shoulders and shake her. Even as she was being chased by the same people who’d just beaten her, she’d still thought to hide the bag. But she’d also put herself in even more danger by risking it. If she hadn’t, would she have managed to get away? He opened his mouth then shut it.

  It’s done, James. Saying that now isn’t going to help the situation.

  “Where did you hide the bag?” Blue asked. She put down her tools and gripped the sides of the table.

  James narrowed his eyes. Why was she so interested in that bag?

  Blue caught his look and laughed. “Oh, for goodness sake, Cricket, use your common sense. If I wanted that bag for myself, I’d simply hack one of the city drones to find it for me. Not to mention I’m sure it doesn’t hold anything I couldn’t readily get my hands on.” She shook her fingers at him. “I just figured it might be safer to send Owl or Crow to retrieve it. Since Pine didn’t give them what they wanted, I’m sure they’ll be scouting the area, waiting for one or both of you to come back.”

  Of course. “Sorry, Blue. I know better than to doubt you.” And he meant it. “I’m not sure why I’m so out of sorts these days.”

  “Hm, yes, I wonder.” Blue turned away, but not before James saw the tickled look on her face.

  “There was a hole in the trunk, very high up,” Pine said. “A rat came out of it as I ran up. I slipped the bag in there when I saw them coming. They didn’t notice—they thought I’d dropped it and was in the tree trying to hide from them.” She pulled a face as she remembered.

  “Why didn’t you just stay in the tree, then?” He doubted the two old crooks would’ve dared to climb the tree after her.

  “While one of them went off to find the bag, the others threatened to burn
the tree down to get me.” She shrugged. “It didn’t seem fair—to the tree, I mean.”

  James burst out laughing, startling Pine. He didn’t blame her—he wasn’t sure why he was laughing himself. “You were worried about the tree?”

  “It’s alive, isn’t it?”

  James sobered and squeezed Pine’s hand. She was unlike anyone he’d ever known, and not because she was a synadroid.

  “Pine, I— Well, I don’t know what to say, to be honest. I think I’m the one in shock.” Giddiness rushed through him and he chuckled against the smooth skin of her hand. When he glanced up at her, she was gazing it him with a half-smile, and a look that was… Was it warm?

  “I think that should just about do it,” Blue said, and she packed her devices away.

  “Already? That was so quick.” Pine dropped James’s hand and stretched her arms out in front of her, turning them over as she examined the reconstructed skin.

  His fingers felt strangely empty without hers.

  “I did the metal work while you were still out of it,” Blue replied.

  “How long have I been here?”

  “Almost a day and a half.”

  No wonder James was so tired. Blue, Owl, and Crow had taken turns working on Pine, but James hadn’t slept; he’d refused to leave her side while she was out, afraid she would disappear again.

  “What’s Joseph going to say?” Pine asked, her expression apprehensive.

  “We’ll find out soon enough,” James said. “He’s on his way here now.”

  When he’d slipped out earlier, James had finally called him. He’d kept Joseph in the loop, but he’d refused to give him their location until Pine was in reasonable shape. Joseph had been incensed, but James insisted. He knew how badly it would’ve shaken the older man to see Pine in such a state.

  “Really? Can I go and meet him?” Pine swung her legs over the edge of the table and stood.

  “Pine—” James was in a bind. He didn’t want to crush her enthusiasm, but after what had just happened to her…

  That decided it for him. No way am I letting her out of my sight. “Okay, but I’ll come with you.” He waited for her to protest.

  “It never occurred to me that you wouldn’t,” she replied. “Now let’s go see my father.”

  Pine could hardly wait to see Joseph. She had so much she wanted to say to him. Although she had no idea where she was going, she darted ahead into a narrow corridor. At the end of the hallway, a set of stairs led up out of view. Sunlight fell down the steps, swirling with tiny motes.

  She ran up them two at a time then stopped dead.

  They were in a large cemetery. Rows of sculpted tombstones fanned out from where they stood, lining the stone path and cresting gently undulating green hills. Several hundred meters away, a timeworn bell tower soared into the sky.

  Turning back, Pine gazed up at the building they’d just left. Constructed from large rough-hewn blocks of stone, it sat back from the rest of the cemetery, discreetly screened by a copse of leafy trees. A bas-relief angel had been carved into the stone above the doorway, her wings outstretched, and her eyes raised imploringly to the heavens. A mausoleum. Blue lived in a graveyard?

  The landscaping across the cemetery was meticulous and eerily enchanting, verdant with bright flowers and fruit trees, and thick close-leafed hedges fashioned into animals and people that, rather than feeling incongruous, gave the cemetery a peaceful, gently cheerful air. Someone obviously cared a lot about this place and its inhabitants. Were all graveyards like this?

  “James—”

  A large black shape dove from the top of the mausoleum, narrowly missing Pine’s face. Caught off guard, she stumbled backward and would’ve tumbled back down into the maw of the crypt had James not wrenched her back and crushed her to his chest.

  “Pine? Are you all right?” His chest rose and fell in rapid succession, his heart thudding deafeningly against her ear. He dragged her away from the sepulcher entrance and onto the grassy lawn. “What happened?”

  “That enormous black bird almost took my head off. Didn’t you see it?” She craned her neck to peer at him.

  James frowned. “No. I didn’t see anything. Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. It was huge. I—” I’m still standing here in James’s arms.

  He noticed at the same moment she did, and they broke apart self-consciously.

  “Are you…are you okay now?”

  “I’m fine. Let’s just go find Joseph.” She waited for him to take the lead, and when he didn’t move, she stepped forward.

  At the same times as James.

  “Sorry. You first.”

  “No, you go.”

  They both stepped forward again. Why was it so uncomfortable?

  After all, he just spent nearly two days holding my hand.

  He must be exhausted, and she must still be recovering. Why else were they bumbling around like a pair of idiots?

  “Okay, I’ll go.” She marched back onto the nearest path. “Which way is out?”

  As they followed the widest stone-lined path toward the exit, they passed a couple kneeling beside one of the headstones, heads bowed and lips moving.

  “What are they doing?”

  “They’re speaking to their loved one.”

  “Speaking to them? Why talk to someone who isn’t there?”

  James’s brow creased as he tried to explain. “It makes people feel…closer to those they’ve lost. Like they still have a connection with them.”

  “That’s very sentimental.” And surprising, considering how many humans tended to treat other beings, including their own kind, so badly when they were alive. To be so emotional about people that no longer existed…it was a strange paradox.

  “We humans are a sentimental bunch,” James said. “It’s one of the reasons sentient androids were created.” He winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s fine.” He hadn’t meant anything by it. Besides, when did we get so polite?

  It was odd walking amongst the human remains. If one of the synadroids Pine worked with broke—physically or emotionally—they were perfunctorily carted away. Sometimes they came back. Sometimes they didn’t.

  Lost in thought, Pine brushed her hand against James’s, and discomfited, jerked it back. What’s wrong with me? Did he notice? “Do you…do you know anyone buried here?”

  “No. My parents were cremated, like everyone nowadays. I have their ashes at home.” He gestured to the rows of headstones. “There simply isn’t space to dig anymore. Older cemeteries like these are only kept for their historical value.” His mouth twisted. “Mind you, if the Perimeter keeps shrinking, this one may go as well.”

  Fascinated, Pine read the different inscriptions to herself as they passed by. “You said people cremate their loved ones? And you keep the ashes at home?”

  James nodded. “That’s right. Why?”

  “Why doesn’t Joseph have Mara’s ashes? He’s got everything that belonged to her, there are pictures of her everywhere…but I don’t remember ever seeing any ashes. I thought she died only a few years ago.” Mara’s ashes should’ve had a place of honor in his house. Maybe he kept them in his bedroom.

  James stopped so suddenly Pine ran into the back of him. “You’re right. I’ve never noticed that before.”

  “Did you know her well?” Pine had long been curious about Joseph’s deceased wife, but too shy to ask him, although he lit up whenever he talked about her.

  “No. I only met her a couple of times,” he mused. “But she was always friendly. She seemed like a very kind woman. Her death hit him hard.”

  “What happened?” Why did she want to know? Was such morbid curiosity part of her programming?

  “That part I’m not really sure about. Joseph’s happy to talk about her life, but… I think it was some kind of illness. It happened very quickly, but there was no mention of an accident or anything. Whatever it was, it must’ve been very advanced if the doct
ors weren’t able to treat her.” He continued walking.

  It had to have been very difficult for Joseph, to lose someone he’d been so close to. Pine had lost synadroids she knew, but they’d been moved in rotations so that the same synadroids were never together for longer than a few weeks at a time, though they might see familiar faces year-to-year. Romantic relationships were severely discouraged, and Pine had known of only one couple to spurn the rules. She’d never seen either of them again.

  Imagine waking up one day to find your life partner gone. Was that why Joseph wanted a synadroid daughter? Because they were more resilient than humans?

  They continued in silence. Outside the front gates of the old graveyard, they turned onto the sidewalk and Pine spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Joseph.

  “Pine, before we… I just wanted to—”

  But Pine couldn’t wait. She pushed past James and started to run. What was Joseph feeling? Was he angry? Would he send her away? She wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

  But I don’t want him to.

  When he was close enough to see her, he didn’t react other than to raise a hand in acknowledgement.

  Pine slowed. He was angry. Well, she deserved that and would face it head on.

  As she drew closer, however, he broke into a grin. Warmth flowed over her like the gentle south-Ghostlight current. Joseph barely had time to raise his arms before Pine threw herself into them, slamming so hard against his chest that he staggered.

  “Joseph, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  Joseph patted her back and pressed her to him. “Pine, James explained everything. Please, don’t let it trouble you. I’m just so thankful you’re all right.”

  His kindness tore at Pine. His anger would’ve been easier to bear than this unconditional, undeserved compassion. “I’m so sorry,” she said again.

  His shaking arms rocked her gently, and he murmured in her ear. “Pine, you don’t have to be sorry. I knew things would be a bit difficult for you at first—” His arms stiffened.