Inhuman(84)

“What would 1 do if she knew you had these beliefs?”

“Nothing,” Jules replied. “We’re allowed free thought. Our feelings are our own, as long as we don’t act out—”

“Feelings are never wrong,” Old-timer suddenly blurted out, remembering the wisdom Alejandra had imparted on him in what felt like a different life.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jules replied. “Only actions can be wrong. So, how about you, Craig? What do you think?”

“About what?”

“You cut off Anisim’s head. Are you a murderer?”

Old-timer could barely breathe. He’d thought of the action as being akin to turning off a machine. What if Jules is right? he wondered. Then Daniella is dead…and I’m just reviving a…no. “No. It’s the pattern that matters,” Old-timer asserted. “The molecules don’t matter.”

“Heh,” Jules replied. “Interesting.” She looked down. “Hang on, we’ve arrived. We’re going to drop.”

The duo suddenly dropped straight down, skimming past a series of catwalks, deeper and deeper down what truly appeared to be a bottomless pit.

“Straight into Hell,” Old-timer whispered to himself.

Jules nearly laughed, but stifled it. “The big H-E-double-hockey sticks, eh? Don’t be so dramatic. It’s just a big factory.”

They landed on a catwalk in front of a black pod, positioned on the outside of a pillar that stretched endlessly both up and down. It appeared to be only one of many thousands of pods on that pillar alone. Old-timer looked at the structure and thought of how easily it dwarfed the Zeus that they’d built on Venus—his days as a terraformer were yet another collection of memories that felt like they were from another life, the distance from his reality so great that it was surreal.

“Admittedly,” Jules added, “it is one big damn factory.” She looked around herself. “And it could be a bit cheerier.”

Old-timer couldn’t take his eyes off the pod. “Who is this?”

Jules opened the screen in her onboard mental computer, and Old-timer read the name in his mind as Jules spoke it aloud. “Daniella Emilson.”

He put his hand out to it and touched the black shell of the pod. “Open it. Open it right now.”

“Okay,” Jules replied, “I’m going to assume asking for a ‘please’ would be a wasted effort.”

The door slid to the side, tucking inside the pillar, revealing Daniella’s unconscious body. She was standing, dressed in the same black garb as every other new android. Her new body was a perfect re-creation of her human form—at least from the outside.

“Wake her,” Old-timer said, unable to contain his emotion as he began to choke back tears.

Jules turned to him, surprised to see a man that she’d regarded as unreasonably rough in his demeanor actually moved to tears. She instantly realized the reason. “She’s your wife.”

“Yes,” Old-timer nodded. “Wake her, please.”

Jules’s head jolted back ever so slightly with surprise when she heard Old-timer’s words. “There it is,” she said, as she input the wake command. “The magic word.”

Daniella opened her eyes.

“Craig?”

“Oh thank God!” Old-timer exclaimed. He instantly reached out for his wife and took her into his arms, pulling her out of the pod and holding her tight, rocking her back and forth as he held her body, her feet dangling several inches above the catwalk.

“Craig? Where am I? Was I...assimilated?” Daniella asked, her voice weak as she remained shocked by her new surroundings.

“You were, baby. You were, but you’re okay. I got you now.”

“You ready for me to bring your other friends back?” Jules asked, interrupting the happy reunion  .

Old-timer looked her in the eye, his expression one of gratitude. “Yes. Yes please.”

“Wow,” Jules replied. “Magic words all over the place.” She uploaded the patterns into the collective. “And in return, I’ll work a little magic for you.”

“Craig, who is she?” Daniella asked in Old-timer’s ear.

“She’s here to help. She’s a friend. Don’t worry. I’m going to get us out of here.”





13



“My word,” Aldous said as he watched the sun sparkle and dance across the endless ocean over which their craft skimmed through their front view screen. “This is extraordinary.”

“This is your first time seeing Venus terraformed, isn’t it?” Rich responded. “I’ve been here a couple times,” he added, enjoying the feeling of superiority it provided for him. “The whole thing’s gorgeous—unspoiled.”