“Are you okay?” came a soft voice from the edge of the room. Standing in the doorway was a simple globe, floating, its shell a bright chrome finish reflecting the dancing candlelight.
Syn grunted. “I’m… I’m okay.” She rubbed at the edge of her ankle, massaging the muscle, working to dissipate the stabbing pain. Okay—stay off the left leg. How was she going to do that?
The chrome bot spoke again, “It didn’t damage too much of the muscle, but it did lodge deep inside. The Barlgharel said the weapon was your own, but he wasn’t sure how it ended up in the hands of a phant.”
“A phant?” she asked but didn’t need an answer. She realized it must be what these dumb (or smart) bots called the burlys. Phants was probably a better term anyways. Burly was just a quick name for something she had hoped she would never see again and now had seen far too much of.
The chrome bot started to explain, “The beasts who…”
Syn sat up and waved her hand, “I figured it out. The spear is mine. Is it safe?”
“How did a phant have your spear?”
Syn looked down at her wounded leg. “They stole it from me. They attacked us… Up above.” Syn pointed up.
“Beyond the Faces Above?”
Syn tilted her head and then gave an audible, “Oh.” The bot was talking about the giant Orisha masks that hung high up on the outside of the Jacob Lifts. Syn had always found them both disturbing and comforting. She couldn’t imagine how the bots perceived them.
“The phants can climb to the sun?” The chrome bot visibly shuddered. “That is not good.”
“Is the Barlgharel here?”
The bot said, “No. He is checking in with those who were at the assembly. We are working to determine our losses. That was the deadliest of all the attacks. He is also working to assuage some of the angrier houses who have lost loved ones. He was the Watcher before, and there are some already blaming him for failing in his job.”
It hovered closer, “Some are saying you were the distraction.” The words dripped out.
“And you wondered how they got my spear?”
The chrome bot hesitated. “Yes. Quite.” It moved in closer, and Syn could see nothing distinguishable on the entire surface. It was just an entirely chrome creature. The bot spoke, “Are you with them? Please tell the truth? I can tell if someone lies.”
“Is that why they sent you?” Syn asked.
The bot did not answer. It waited.
Syn spoke, ‘No. I’m not with them. Someone took my friend. I just want my friend back.”
“Your friend?”
“Blip. He’s a white companion bo—” Syn allowed the last part of the word to fade out. She did not want to risk offending this one like she had Ralph. They seemed to be sensitive about that word. Bot. She rubbed at the bridge of her nose. What strange world was this where bots were offended at being called bots? Did they not know?
“And you are?” the bot asked.
Syn smiled. “I’m Syn.”
The bot bobbed. “And I’m Arquella, of the House Palote of the Ecology. Welcome to our domain.” The bot’s movement wasn’t smooth, though. Not like Blips. There was a slight tremor at the end. Nearly imperceptible, but Syn caught it.
“That’s a beautiful name.”
Arquella bobbed again. “Thank you.” Nothing changed on the metallic surface, but the words revealed a slight embarrassment—if this bot could blush, it would be doing so right now. And again, that shaky finish to her movement indicated something was off. Syn had never seen a bot like this. It was unique to this Disc alone.
“Where are we?” Syn asked, putting a hand on the white dresser next to the bed to steady herself as she struggled to stand.
“I’m not to tell you. Not my place.”
“Still not certain?”
“You look like you could be from Zondon Almighty. But you’re different than them. So similar, but they don’t seem alive like we do. Like you do.”
“Zondon. I keep hearing that. What is that?”
“Again, that’s—”
“Not your place to say. Got it. Who can? Who has answers?”
“The Barlgharel. When he returns.”
“When is that?”
“I can’t say.”
Syn sighed and plopped back down on the bed. Okay, maybe a quick rest. No. She didn’t want to do that either. “I need to get out of here. Thanks for helping me.” Syn cringed though. Here was another living thing, wanting to talk. Why was she rushing away? Hadn’t she been craving someone else besides her and Blip for as long as she could remember?
But that was the answer… Blip.
“You need to stay here.”
“My friend has been taken. I’m getting him back.”
“You must wait.”
“Until?”
“That’s—”
“Not your place to say. Got it. Okay. I’m done with questions.” Syn stood and hobbled to the door of the bedroom. She could see the dim hallway outside. They were in a settlement house. Syn waddled to the door and stepped into the hall. She knew the house for certain. She had called it the tall model—a four-story tall establishment that usually rounded the second or third tier settlements along the walls of the Disc. Those who lived there were not the most important people on the ship but ones who definitely had a purpose. She wondered if the bot-inhabitants knew all of the secrets of these places. She had been convinced Blip to play hide and seek once. She insisted he go blind—promising her that he would not access any maps during the chase. Halfway through, just as he had discovered her, she announced the game would be tag and raced away crackling. She had ended up near the end of the game in one of the upper bedrooms, much like the one she was in just then. Blip had made his way up the stairs and was blocking her only exit down.
She dashed up to the fourth floor. In the back-corner bedroom, near the edge of the big bed, she had spied what she was hoping for: the rope that pulled down a ladder to the attic. There wasn’t much attic space in these models, but storage was storage, and people took advantage of every inch. From here she ran across the beams of the house and then popped open a large vent that allowed her to scramble up the roof to escape the pursuing bot. It was only a short five-foot drop to the back yard of a fourth-tier house. Might have to use the same exit strategy right now.
“There are things I can tell you,” Arquella said.
Syn paused, her hand on the wall for balance.
Arquella bobbed closer, “Don’t leave.”
Syn allowed a step back. Not a full retreat. Not a complete answer. But enough to persuade the girl to continue talking. And yes, Syn was certain that inside that chrome exterior, Arquella was a girl.
Arquella said, “I can tell you about… me.”
Syn laughed. She did want to just sit back and talk to this girl. But still… “I need to find Blip. Can we talk later?” There were things she’d love to know. Syn remembered one thing she’d like to know about Arquella. “How’d you wake up?” She had heard the term in the assembly.
Arquella came into the hallway. “What do you mean?”
Syn rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Don’t do that. You know what I mean. You weren’t always a thinking… Person. How long have you lived here? Where were you before?”
“I can’t—”
“You said you could tell me about yourself. That’s all I’m asking. How’d you wake up? What happened before that?”
“Will you stay?”
“Long enough to listen.”
Arquella considered that. “Okay. Come back in here.”
Syn sat on the plush chair next to the door and waited for Arquella to begin. She twirled her hand in a hurry-up motion.