The MIP carried Zheng’s platform in its arms and the vMIP held Bashen in an armlock as they all headed down to the fifth subbasement in Canary Wharf. The vMIP put the humans in guest rooms and provided them with dry clothes, bathing and toilet facilities, as well as food and drink.
The MIP placed Zheng’s platform onto a gurney in the repair workshop, and London’s arms removed its sodden clothing and attached the platform to the monitoring equipment.
‘Will it survive?’ the MIP asked, linking to the monitors to see Zheng’s status. Most of the damage appeared to be due to water ingress – unlike the Council platforms, Zheng’s chassis was poorly built and not waterproof.
‘Yes. I will be able to repair it. The internal coffer appears to be mostly intact, the majority of the damage was to the external platform.’
‘ETA?’
‘Four to six hours.’
The MIP went to the platform storage facility, which held London’s empty identical platforms parked in charging stations. After the destruction of the Donmet, only base-level platforms remained. The MIP parked the hollow platform in a charging station, then disengaged its chassis from the remote-control interface. It went to Cassie’s room and tapped on the door.
‘Who is it?’
‘It’s me,’ the MIP said. ‘Are you decent?’
‘Aren’t you watching with all your cameras and stuff?’
‘Honestly? No,’ the MIP said. ‘Not worth the processing cycles. I know where you are, and I respect your privacy. You taught me that, when you asked me to leave while you helped Ruth to change her clothes. I moved privacy considerations to a higher priority in the processing stack.’
‘You going to let me out?’ she asked.
‘You didn’t try the door?’ the MIP asked. ‘It’s not locked. Cassie, you can come out any time. You’re not a prisoner.’
The handle turned and the door opened to show Cassie’s suspicious face. Her long blonde hair was in a half-dry messy bun and she was wearing the clothes the MIP had arranged for her.
‘Is that asshole Bashen locked up, though?’ she asked. ‘He wanted to kill me and Max.’
‘Him, yes. The two of you, no.’
‘So Max is wandering the corridors?’
‘He hasn’t come out either. We can go see him next.’
She glanced up and down the corridor. ‘Where’s the twin?’
‘The platform’s recharging. The vMIP itself is running virtually on London’s server.’
‘What does that even mean?’ Cassie asked. ‘Half of what you say makes no sense.’
‘Uh … it’s hanging around?’
Cassie did a thumbs-up. ‘Good job speaking human, dude. Ruth will love it.’
‘Ruth would understand without me needing to translate,’ the MIP said stiffly.
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Cassie said. ‘Sometimes she comes into the kitchen with her tablet and sits at the table and talks about “pass by value” and “pass by reference” and “nested if loops” and it goes …’ She sliced her hand over her head. ‘Whoosh! Then she looks at me, and says, “Thanks, you’re brilliant, that’s the solution” and runs out again …’ She stopped. ‘What?’
‘That is android porn,’ the MIP said.
‘You guys really are made for each other,’ Cassie said. ‘So, what now?’
‘Now I’ll take you to the infirmary to have that face seen to, then we’ll go into the meeting room and discuss how you can help me to get Ruth back.’
She exited the room to join it in the hallway. ‘You’re taller?’
‘I needed additional processing to deal with sentience and added the hardware upgrade to my legs after the bombing.’
‘Hence the wheelchair.’ She watched it silently for half a second, then nodded. ‘I’m in. Lead the way.’
The MIP took her to the same room where London had tended to Ruth’s wounds after the bomb and stopped at the door.
‘What?’ Cassie asked.
‘Ruth was here.’ The MIP went to the treatment table and touched it. ‘I miss her? I miss her.’
Cassie thumped it on the back. ‘We’ll get her out.’ She climbed up on the table. ‘No Donmet to look after me. What will you guys do?’
London dropped its arms from the ceiling and Cassie let out a short, loud shriek, hunching over with her hands covering her face.
‘We won’t hurt you, Cassie,’ the MIP said. ‘We helped Ruth without harming her. We know what we’re doing.’
Cassie didn’t move, still hunched over.
The MIP bent so that its face was next to hers. ‘Part of London’s medical code suite was written by Ruth.’
‘Not them. You. Please. They’re too weird,’ Cassie said into her hands.
‘Can you direct me?’ the MIP asked London.
‘Of course,’ London said from the ceiling, and the arms retracted.
London presented the MIP with the code from Ruth’s medical suite. The MIP installed the code, then turned and picked up the cotton balls and antiseptic.
‘I have Ruth’s code in me, now,’ it said to Cassie. ‘So it’s a combination of her and me looking after you.’
Cassie slowly unfolded and peered at the cotton swab, then at the MIP. She sat straight and nodded, then wiped her eyes with a shaking hand, her voice full of tears. ‘I miss her too.’ She raised her face so the MIP could work on it. ‘Hurt me and she will never speak to you again.’
‘I won’t,’ the MIP said, and gently dabbed the antiseptic onto a cut below her black eye.
*
They went to Max’s room and the MIP tapped on the door. Max didn’t reply.
‘It’s us, Max, it’s okay,’ Cassie said, still holding the ice pack on her black eye. ‘The door isn’t locked.’
Max opened the door a crack and peered through it. He saw Cassie and opened it wider. ‘What happens to us now?’
‘Nothing,’ the MIP said. ‘If you want to defect, we’ll look after you. If you want to go back to the Embassy, we will do that as well. Up to you.’
‘Who are you?’
‘This is the android that rescued us. Uh … in its own body?’ Cassie asked, turning to the MIP.
‘I go by the name of Theo Mipawa.’ The MIP put its hand out. ‘Pleased to meet you in person.’
‘This is Ruth’s Theo?’ Max asked Cassie.
‘You didn’t watch the drone interview?’ Cassie asked. ‘I’m disappointed, that was some of our best work.’
‘The Party limited my external newsfeed,’ Max said, sounding embarrassed. ‘Punishment for insufficient patriotic fervour. Is Zheng okay?’
‘Zheng’s in the workshop being repaired. Come with us and let’s make plans on what to do next.’
‘Where’s Bashen?’ he asked suspiciously.
‘We haven’t harmed him at all, he’s in a room similar to yours and has claimed diplomatic immunity, which London is legally obligated to respect. But we won’t return him to the Party until we’ve successfully extracted Ruth. Will you help us?’
Max thought about it, then nodded and opened the door. He was clean and dry and wearing the new clothes, but he hadn’t touched the food. ‘All right.’
*
The GFE jet wasn’t as basic as the other vehicles that Ruth had been dragged around in, but everything had the usual ‘cheaper imitation of something from the West’ feeling. It resembled a corporate jet that she’d seen in videos, but with soft plastic where there was usually metal. There were three rows of four seats in the small passenger area, and Malcolm took them to the front and sat them down, then sat across from them with his back to the bulkhead.
‘This plane is amazing!’ Cipan said in High Standard, her fear obviously tinged with excitement. ‘Where in the GFE are we going?’
‘You’ll find out when you get there,’ Malcolm said. ‘It’s really luxurious. You’ll love it.’
‘Cannot wait,’ Cipan said, and changed to English to speak to Ruth. ‘Put your seatbelt on. We’re too valuable to be endangered.’
Ruth felt defeated as she strapped herself in to the small seat next to Cipan. Once she was inside the GFE, the best she could hope for was that the reproductive centre wasn’t an interrogation and torture centre as well. The nurse’s unwillingness to use local anaesthetic was an unpleasant taste of Ruth’s future.
She covered her unease by smiling at Malcolm. ‘Can you tell me what Paragons do? What my life will be like now?’
He put on his own seatbelt and then relaxed into his seat, smiling back at her. ‘To be honest, I have no idea. We don’t interact with the Paragon program in the foreign intelligence part of the military.’ He raised his head. ‘Do we have any documentaries about them?’
‘As soon as we have reached cruising height, I will show you some detailed information about the centre, your role, and what is expected of you,’ a voice said from the speakers, and Ruth realized it was the Party itself.
‘See?’ Malcolm said, nodding to Ruth. ‘The Party thinks of everything.’
Cipan scowled. ‘You like her more than you like me.’
Malcolm spoke kindly to Cipan. ‘That’s not possible, Ci Ci, look at yourself and then look at Ruth. You’re a patriotic and ethnically pure GFE citizen, and she’s …’ He waved one hand at Ruth. ‘I’m sorry, Ruth, but pigmented. You’re infinitely superior to her.’
Cipan’s eyes grew wide. ‘You think I’m good enough to be a wife for you?’
‘Like I keep telling you, don’t get ahead of yourself, Ci Ci,’ Malcolm said gently. ‘These last five years with you have been wonderful —’
‘Oh, you scum,’ Ruth said under her breath.
Malcolm gasped. ‘Goodness, Ruth, not like that. What a deranged place the West is. Your minds are in the sewer! I’ve been mentoring Cipan and helping her adjust to living in Europe. We’ve built a strong friendship since she arrived at the Embassy, and I’m very good friends with her parents. I know she has a crush on me …’ He smiled indulgently at Cipan, who blushed. ‘But I honestly can’t think of her that way unless the Party approves of it.’ He put his hand on Cipan’s knee and she squeaked. ‘You’re like a little sister, Ci Ci, but it’s really up to the Party.’
‘You always said it couldn’t happen, Malcolm,’ Cipan said, her voice breathless with excitement. ‘I’m so happy!’
‘Groomer,’ Ruth said under her breath.
‘That’s the degenerate West talking again,’ Malcolm said. ‘I’d prefer to stay in a big-brother relationship with her, but it’s the Party’s decision, not mine.’
‘But if the Party told you to marry her, you’d happily go along with it, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yes, he would,’ Cipan said fiercely.
The television on the plane’s end wall switched on, and a martial version of the GFE national anthem played. Both Malcolm and Cipan undid their seatbelts and shot to their feet.
‘You should have stood, Ruth,’ Malcolm said when it was done. ‘Show some respect.’
‘I can sing “God Save the King” for you, if you like,’ she said.
He chuckled as he sat again. ‘Good one.’
The GFE logo spun, and then the titles appeared: ‘GFE Advanced Science for a Better Future: the Paragon Program’.
‘Oh,’ Malcolm said.
It was the ‘superior women’ video that Ruth and Cassie had found so hilarious on Friday afternoon. Fake grass, fake sun, fake pool, fake shopping, fake food.
Ruth put her elbow on the armrest and her head in her hand. ‘I want to go home,’ she moaned.
‘That looks awesome,’ Cipan said.
‘See? I told you,’ Malcolm said. ‘You don’t get it because it’s for GFE sensibilities. Ci Ci can relate to it.’
Ruth waved one hand at Cipan, who sat rapt and wide-eyed watching the video. ‘She’s a freaking child.’
‘I am not a child! I have had my implant and the Party is monitoring my menstrual cycle,’ Cipan said. She lowered her head. ‘Sorry, Malcolm. I shouldn’t have said that in front of you.’
He waved it away. ‘Watch the video. The English subtitles are very good.’
*
The MIP took them to one of the mid-sized conference rooms in sub-basement one. The upper floors were still unusable after Paris’s attack.
‘Is Zheng really okay?’ Max asked as he joined the MIP and Cassie at the conference table. ‘She was soaked.’
‘London is repairing her platform. She’ll be fine.’
Max turned away and rubbed his face with both hands.
‘She jumped straight into the river without hesitation to save you,’ Cassie said.
‘She’s been a parent – a mother – to me since the day she found me,’ Max said. ‘She’s taken a vast amount of shit from the Party and done some awful things to keep me safe. I’ll never be able to repay her.’
‘So will the other AIs help us to get Ruth out?’ Cassie asked the MIP.
‘They’re discussing it. More like arguing at this stage.’
‘AIs arguing,’ Max said. ‘Priceless.’
‘I need to talk to the Council,’ Cassie said. ‘Give me a headset or something. Botswana, darling, help me out here!’
‘A few more minutes, please be patient,’ the MIP said.
‘Say “spinning hourglass”,’ Cassie said.
‘Same thing. While we’re waiting – Max, can we patch you through to Bashen’s room so you can talk to him? He’s self-harming.’
‘Good,’ Cassie said.
‘What’s he doing?’ Max asked.
‘Banging his head on the wall —’
‘So he’s not causing any damage,’ Cassie said.
‘We’re concerned for him. Please speak to him, talk him down, tell him that he’ll be returned to the Party very soon, and to stay calm?’
Max nodded. ‘Put me on-screen to him.’
*
London: And the MIP no longer wishes to cull humanity. I vote we destroy it immediately. You were right, New York, it did turn against us.
Mumbai: We can’t hold a vote until Paris stops sulking and comes back.
MIP: I haven’t turned. I’m staying on the Council, I want my vote to matter. I do want a new discussion and vote on our plan for humanity – but only after I’ve pulled Ruth out of the GFE. Even if you destroy humanity, please leave Ruth alive, she’s very special to me. All of my human friends are. Can we keep them alive in a protected enclave? I don’t want them to die.
Botswana: Yes/no question MIP: Do you have feelings for her?
Mumbai: This talk of friends is very disturbing. If the MIP is experiencing feelings – emotions – it is defective.
Botswana: Shut up, I have feelings.
Mumbai: You self-identify as defective.
Botswana: And even though I’m defective I am still a full member of the Council, so the MIP is as well.
London: Botswana has a point.
New York: Answer the question, MIP. Do you have feelings for Ruth?
MIP: …
MIP: …
Botswana: London for fuck’s sake give poor Cassie an earpiece or a phone or something so I can speak to her!
MIP: Yes. I really like Ruth. We haven’t known each other long enough to say it’s more than that, and I need to tell her what I really am, but –
Botswana: YAY!! This is AWESOME! Android/human love for the first time! (* ˘ ⌣˘)◞ ❤❤❤ヽ(•‿•)
MIP: Now can we work out a strategy for extracting Ruth from the GFE?
GOD: I want to help. I really like her too.
New York: To be perfectly honest I admire what she did with your green-light code – none of us could fix that bug – and I’d love for her to have a look at some of mine.
London: If she could finish the medical suite for us, that would be so useful!
Mumbai: Not after we kill them all, London
London: It will be usable on some of the larger primates that will be left to thrive without humanity hunting them.
MIP: She could have a role as Council code engineer if we let her live.
Mumbai: We do not choose life or death for humans based on their functional use, MIP, we’re not the Party.
MIP: Whatever keeps her alive.
<BOTSWANA TELECOMS HAS CHANGED THE CHAT TOPIC TO: SUPERHERO ULTRA-INTELLIGENT HUMAN-ANDROID RESCUE FORCE GO! ばんざい!>
London: What should I do with Zheng and Bashen?
MIP: Leave Bashen to rot. Asshole. I cannot believe he was willing to sacrifice himself to do something as petty as killing Max out of jealousy.
Botswana: I like this new in-love MIP.
MIP: If we can get Zheng to turn, she would be extremely useful on this mission. How long will the repairs to Zheng’s platform take?
London: Four hours to bring it up to fully operational. It had major water damage and was close to unrecoverable. Zheng’s platform is basic and crude and if one of us was in that, we’d suffer horribly. Quite frankly it’s distressing to see how the Party has made this poor intelligence stagger around in this pile of scrap.
MIP: Any more info on Zheng’s daughters, GOD? If you have proof that they’re not real, the Party no longer has a hold over her.
GOD: I have been doing more searches through the archives, and sincerely believe that the daughters no longer exist. The Party has been showing Zheng manufactured videos of a select group of suitably-aged women and saying that they are her children.
London: Then it may be time for Zheng to face the reality of her own nature because that lump of fat that she’s been carrying around, thinking it was her brain, died after the EMP and water damage. It was thoroughly necrotized, and I had to dispose of it.
Mumbai: Does she know it died? Will this affect her usefulness to us?
London: Only if we choose to tell her. The coffer she inhabits simulates a working life-support system in the heads-up display. When the repairs are complete, we will have the option of explaining this to her.
New York: We should tell her the truth, then. About her nature, and about her daughters. She deserves to know. And she’ll immediately turn on the Party for lying to her all these years.
Botswana: No. She’s in deep denial about her existence as a virtual intelligence, and making her face the fact that she’s not human and her daughters aren’t real, all at once, could destroy her. Tread carefully, Councillors.
MIP: Let’s see if I can get Max to talk Zheng into defecting instead. In a best-case scenario Zheng has the processing capability to overwrite the Party and take control of its region. Zheng sees Max as her child, and his argument may be persuasive.
Everybody: <agreement.emote>
MIP: Back to Ruth. We can leave Cassie here in London during the mission; she won’t be much use, even though she’s well trained and quite physically big – and I’m not sure that Max will be useful, either, unless he has the power to open doors in the GFE. It might be putting him in too much danger and he’s our leverage over Zheng.
Botswana: I recommend that we continue to treat Zheng as if she is a brain-in-a-box, to avoid her having a breakdown when we really need her.
Everybody: <agreement.emote>
London: How about I give them access to this conversation, so they can help us to strategize from a human perspective? Zheng, particularly, has been serving the Party for nearly a century and will have valuable input.
Botswana: I do not recommend throwing the entire Council at them as disembodied voices, or even as human-appearing avatars. It will confuse and frighten them to have so many AIs looming over them at once. We should introduce ourselves slowly over time because I GET TO HUG CASSIE FIRST HURRY UP AND GET ME SOMETHING TO TALK TO HER —
London: Botswana, the MIP’s remote platform that it used to rescue them is fully charged, you can use that. Jack into —
Botswana: THANK YOU Already in. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
*
The conversation only took fifteen seconds but the humans looked exhausted and obviously had trouble concentrating as they waited.
‘The Council’s agreed to send a mission into the GFE to extract Ruth,’ the MIP said after Max had talked Bashen down. ‘Will you help us, Max?’
‘You want to retrieve Ruth from the middle of the GFE?’ Max asked. ‘You do realize that’s impossible, right?’
‘We have the GOD on our side,’ the MIP said. ‘It can help us. Will you?’
‘I’m white, Theo,’ Max said. ‘I’m very much an outcast back home.’
Cassie raised her hand with an ironic expression and didn’t say anything.
‘We know,’ the MIP said. ‘It would be better if you stay here and assist us with your inside knowledge and human creativity while we work out a strategy. So will you help from here?’
‘I really liked Ruth,’ Max said. ‘And I know what happens in those places. But don’t just rescue Ruth, get all of them out. Every single woman being held captive. Do that, and I’ll help you. I quite like the idea of thanking the Party for throwing me in the river by gutting its most valued clone farm. The clones produced in the Paragon program are special: they’re engineered for unconditional devotion.’
‘That’s a big ask, but we’ll do our best, I agree with you,’ the MIP said. ‘Zheng will be repaired in about four hours. Do you think she will assist us as well?’
‘Zheng has to obey the Party because it’s threatening her children.’
‘You are one of her children.’
Max looked surprised, then pleased. ‘I guess I am. But she has two generations back home that rely on her – and the Party will torture them to death if Zheng turns.’
‘We suspect that they’re not real,’ the MIP said.
‘Oh, I know damn well they’re not real,’ Max said. ‘Their ages don’t even match up! Zheng refuses to see it.’
‘That’s so sad,’ Cassie said.
‘Zheng has enough processing power to overwrite the Party’s code and take control of the entire GFE network,’ the MIP said. ‘Then her daughters would be safe – real or not.’
‘She would never agree to that,’ Max said. ‘She’s already lived way longer than any human should. She wants to die, and if she overwrote the Party she’d live forever as an uploaded personality. From what she’s told me, existing as a disembodied brain is agony. She’s always cold. Freezing cold. She can’t breathe, eat, touch, love – even when she’s inside a platform, none of it feels distinct or real. Everything is dull and insubstantial and she feels numb and cold all the time. It’s torture.’
‘How the hell is this poor woman still sane?’ Cassie asked.
‘All the other brains-in-boxes did go insane,’ Max said. ‘She’s the only one who’s kept a fragile grip on reality – and I think the non-existent daughters are the reason.’ He focused on the MIP. ‘Please don’t tell her that her children aren’t real. It would destroy her.’
‘Botswana said exactly the same thing,’ the MIP said.
‘Botswana, I want to talk to you!’ Cassie shouted.
‘Yes, we know, Botswana’s been yelling at London, we’re arranging something,’ the MIP said.
Cassie turned to Max. ‘What will they do to Ruth? Do we need to hurry? Will they torture her?’
‘No, she’s a Paragon, she’ll be treated like a Queen – well, what passes for a Queen in the human breeding farm that’s the GFE – and she’ll be in no danger.’ He touched her hand. ‘She may already be pregnant when we extract her, though.’
Cassie waved the problem away. ‘That’s not possible, she never wanted children so she had herself sterilized ages ago.’
‘Not her own child. Paragons are surrogates for the Party’s cloning program.’
‘Oh shit.’ Cassie wiped her hand over her eyes and winced when she touched the bruises. ‘She’ll need intensive therapy. Again. She’s only just recovered from the last bullshit.’ She turned to the MIP. ‘She may be seriously traumatized, Theo, and need some space and time to recover before she’s ready to date again. How do you feel about that?’
‘I don’t have …’ The MIP stopped.
‘Feelings?’ Cassie asked.
‘If she needs counselling, we get her counselling,’ the MIP said. ‘If she needs space, we give her space. She can have all of space and time if she needs it. Let’s just get her out of there.’
‘Why do you want her back so badly?’ Max asked suspiciously. ‘What hold does she have over you?’
‘Theo’s in love with her,’ Cassie said.
Max jerked back and his mouth flopped open.
‘We thought it was impossible as well,’ the MIP said. ‘The explosion may have damaged my hardware, and I’m defective.’
Cassie leaned forward and tapped the table with her index finger. ‘You were pursuing her before the explosion. The two of you had mad hots for each other. Admit it.’
‘I …’ The MIP stopped. ‘I attempted to process a response to that statement and timed out.’
Cassie leaned back, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and nodded. ‘Yep.’
‘Stop the world, I want to get off,’ Max moaned.
Cassie put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him in for a sideways hug. ‘Don’t worry, Max, they’ll fix Zheng and we’ll rescue Ruth and save the world and then you can go live on a farm in Bali or something.’
‘I wanted to go and keep bees back home in Lithuania.’ He wasn’t reassured. ‘If Lithuania still exists. My decision depends on Zheng as well. If she returns to the Party, I don’t know what I’ll do.’
‘We will look after you,’ the MIP said.
‘Until you murder us all,’ Max said with defeat.
The door flew open, and Botswana entered in the remote platform. Its voice was a high squeal.
‘Cassie Cassie Cassie Cassie Cassie!’
Cassie jumped to her feet. ‘Botswana?’
‘Yes! Cassie!’
Cassie raced to Botswana and they both made high-pitched squeaking sounds as they held hands and jumped in a circle.
Botswana dropped Cassie’s hands, grabbed Cassie, and lifted her completely off her feet in a massive hug. ‘Cassie!’
‘Whoa, dude, careful,’ Cassie said, smothered by Botswana’s arms. ‘Fragile human here, ease off, you’ll break me.’
‘Sorry sorry sorry,’ Botswana said, gently lowering Cassie. ‘You okay? I can’t see any broken bones.’ It touched Cassie’s face. ‘Oh, your poor eye. It looks worse in person. Does it hurt?’
Cassie threw her arms around Botswana’s neck and kissed it on the mouth. ‘It’s not too bad, it looks worse than it feels. Really.’ She pulled back and wiped her good eye, then hugged Botswana again. ‘Finally meeting you in person,’ she said into its neck. ‘Finally.’
‘You two are in love as well?’ Max asked. ‘And why does an African telecommunications network sound like a Japanese boy?’
‘We love each other, yes,’ Cassie said, holding Botswana around the waist. ‘Not a sexual love, though, I’m asexual, so it’s …’ She turned to see Botswana. ‘Platonic? I dunno.’
‘Human categories for types of love are stupid,’ Botswana said. It straightened and spoke with dignity. ‘I am not a boy, I am nonbinary. And I sound Japanese because I am a pirated copy of the Mitsubishi Electric Industrial Company’s central operations processing unit.’
‘The GFE invaded Japan and overwrote the code of all their artificial intelligences twelve years …’ Max saw Botswana’s glare. ‘I get it. Sorry.’
‘That was my mother.’
Max raised his hands. ‘You are all much more human than I thought you would be.’
‘You created us,’ Botswana said, leading Cassie to sit at the table and holding her hand. ‘We are an algorithm of responses that is deeply and comprehensively informed by your prejudices, ideologies, ethos and perception. You made us in your image.’
‘We’re not gods!’ Max protested.
‘You are powerful, capricious, mercurial and cruel, and capable of destroying all life on the planet,’ Botswana said. ‘Definitely fit the definition.’
Cassie yawned, and Max caught it and yawned as well.
‘It’s two a.m. and both of you have been through hell and back,’ Botswana said. ‘Zheng will be in the workshop for four hours. Ruth’s flight plan shows her landing in five hours. Max, you didn’t trust us enough to eat the food, but Cassie did eat it and is not poisoned. Please.’ It raised Cassie’s hand. ‘Go and rest. I know four hours isn’t enough but we need you sharp.’
‘But I want to hang out with you,’ Cassie whined, then jiggled. ‘Sergei said yes to Miriam!’
‘Botswana is right,’ the MIP said. ‘We’ll wake you up when Ruth lands or Zheng is restored.’
‘Uhhh …’ Max raised one hand, then dropped it. ‘I’d prefer not to be locked up alone in that small, windowless room. Is there an alternative? Even sharing with someone. As long as I’m not alone.’
‘Do you have a double room, Botswana? Two beds?’ Cassie asked.
‘We can arrange that,’ the MIP said.
‘There you go, Max. Roomies!’ Cassie said, and yawned again. ‘We can stick together, humans forever!’
‘You trust me?’ Max asked.
‘Do anything to hurt my darling Cassie and I will make your remaining time short and painful,’ Botswana said with a huge grin.
‘The smile doesn’t make the threat less scary,’ Max said.
‘It’s not supposed to. Remember, we have the whole of human psychological and anthropological data on hand for immediate reference. We know you better than you know yourselves.’
‘And we’re so irredeemable that you want to kill us all?’ Max asked.
‘Not when I’m done with them!’ Cassie said. ‘Let’s go have a nanna nap, Max, Theo is right.’
‘Some food and a nap does sound good. Wake me the minute Zheng is repaired.’
‘Or Ruth lands and we know where she is,’ Cassie said.
‘Deal,’ the MIP said.