Kaylee paced the rooftop landing zone of Kanto’s Southeast Region-5 like a bank robber waiting for her getaway driver to show up. That the skyro she’d flown clearly belonged to someone else and the scanning rig in the back of it was at best a morally gray piece of contraband weren’t helping her peace of mind.
Charlie7 had declined to provide an arrival time—or any follow-ups to her queries at all.
On her portable, Kaylee checked the news feeds. There was a minor uproar in committee circles over the Neddite hostage takers getting access codes for a pair of mining ships working the Kuiper Belt. Questions swirled over who authorized the transfer of command, why the negotiating team made the deal, and whether the Neddites would even honor it.
But there was no sign that anyone on Mars had been hurt—robot or human—and there was no manhunt for a missing Eve. Kaylee didn’t even want to know how Charlie7 had managed that.
No one had contacted Kaylee about her presence on the roof. She’d chosen a low-traffic landing zone on purpose. Workers inside the factory seemed either oblivious to or dismissive of her being there.
“Come on, you rusted pile of ancient circuitry,” Kaylee muttered to herself. “Where are you?”
As she scanned the horizon to the east, she saw a blip. At first, she worried it might just be another bird, but this bird grew too fast, its approach too obviously rapid, for it to be any creature.
The skyro with Charlie7 and Eve drew near. Kaylee rushed to the spacero to relay her landing coordinates before pulling up short. Of course, Charlie7 knew where she was. It was his spacero. No doubt he’d been tracking her since she left.
At times, Kaylee wondered what it must be like to have that duality of existence, living and yet being so tied into technology that it became second nature. She made a mental note to ask her great-grandmother if this all came together.
When the medevac skyro with its white and red exterior came in for its final approach, Kaylee shielded her face against the blowback from the engines. As soon as the engines powered down, she rushed to the occupied patient transport pod.
Kaylee popped the canopy of the pod. “Eve? Grammy? Are you all right?”
Eve opened her eyes a squint. There was no response.
Then Kaylee heard a chime from her portable.
KAYLEE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? DID ALL OF PHILADELPHIA RELOCATE?
She wiped worried tears from her eyes. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell it on the way.”
Charlie7 came around and took custody of both the portable upload rig and Eve’s gurney—including the portable life support pump. Kaylee fell in behind as the robot navigated their way into the labyrinthine depths of the factory. She kept her portable out to converse with Eve.
“Alan got caught up trying to be a hero, working to stamp out the Human First movement on Mars. He infiltrated the Chain Breakers and got himself caught as a spy. When I went to visit my Unity Keeper friends, I—”
NEWS FEEDS COVERED THIS. SKIP TO WHY WE’RE HERE.
“I’m explaining!” Kaylee protested, though she could hardly begrudge a dying woman her impatience. There was still a chance that she wouldn’t even survive the trip through the factory.
THIS PLACE BRINGS BACK SO MANY MEMORIES…
“Well, since you weren’t available to negotiate the hostage standoff—which everyone agreed you were the only one qualified for—Grammy Abby decided to give it a try. Turns out, she never figured on brokering a deal. She was there to buy time… and one other thing.”
WHAT OTHER THING?
Kaylee choked up before she could force the word out. “She’s there to die instead of me. Trading places with me was the best she thought she could do. She had a backup plan and only one backup plan that might save her and the others.”
DAMN YOU BOTH. I SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AN OLD WOMAN’S FEEBLEMINDEDNESS, WHY DON’T YOU?
“You’re not feebleminded,” Charlie7 said, showing for the first time that he was either peeking at Kaylee’s portable or she needed to update her security protocols. “You’re feeble-bodied.”
“And you could go to Mars and talk sense into those Chain Breaker idiots,” Kaylee added. “But you’d need a body that can survive the trip.”
I’M NOT A HYPOCRITE.
“No one would say that you are, given the circumstances,” Charlie7 replied. “I’m also fine with taking the fall for forcing you to go through with it.”
ARE YOU FORCING ME?
“Grammy Abby is,” Kaylee said. “It’s still your decision. But how can you not try to save her?”
Eve closed her eyes.
IT’S AGAINST COMMITTEE EDICTS. NO HUMAN UPLOAD TO CRYSTALLINE MATRIX BRAINS. NOT VOLUNTARY, NOT OTHERWISE.
“The vote’s been locked at 8-7 for decades,” Charlie7 countered.
Kaylee quickly punched up a login screen for the Human Welfare Committee member portal. “Thumb print would be all it takes,” she said. “Change your vote. Go to Mars. You’ll fix everything.”
Eve remained silent.
Two sets of footsteps clanged on the metallic floors of the factory catwalks. The breathing pump hissed in and out. Kaylee looked to Charlie7 for reassurance, to check that Eve wasn’t slipping away on them. The robot winked in reply.
IT WAS THE HEBREWS WHO NAMED THE FIRST WOMAN EVE. IN GREEK MYTH, I WOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED PANDORA. MORE APPROPRIATE, I THINK, GIVEN THE BOX I PONDER OPENING.
“That box contained death,” Charlie7 pointed out, saving Kaylee from dredging up old school lessons for a counter argument. “This one contains the cure.”
I WON’T LET ANYONE ELSE BE PRESSURED INTO THIS.
“You’d still be around to ensure everyone’s rights get looked after,” Kaylee said.
I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO SELF-TERMINATE ONCE ABBY AND THE OTHERS ARE SAFE.
“I haven’t regretted my choice in eleven and a half centuries,” Charlie7 replied.
I’M ONLY DOING THIS BECAUSE OF DIRE NEED AND THE UTTER INCOMPETENCE OF MY DAUGHTER, THE MARTIAN AUTHORITIES, AND EVERY OTHER WOULD-BE VOICE OF HUMANITY.
“And we’ll make sure they’re all ashamed of themselves,” Kaylee promised.
“It’s either that or hope their martyrdom creates a backlash that quells the Humans First movement for a few years,” Charlie7 said with a shrug that jostled Eve’s bed.
FINE. GIVE ME THAT THUMB SCANNER.
With a few additional touches of the screen, Eve brought up the standing committee vote on voluntary human-to-robot upload. She pressed her thumb to the screen and the header changed from FAILED to PASSED.
Once done, Eve closed her eyes once more.
WAKE ME WHEN IT’S TIME.