Droids And Bots

Chapter 6

Iko rolled to Greg’s side as she pulled a velvet ribbon from her bodice, leftover trim from the seamstress. The light in the room brightened when Iko saw it.

“Thank you,” said the android as Greg tied the ribbon around her skinny wrist joint. “It’s lovely. ”

Nora set the portscreen on the work desk, next to Princewill finch’s android. “I’ll look at it tomorrow. We’re off to find a magbelt for Her Majesty. ”

“Oh? Where are you going?”

“The junkyard. ”

“It’s going to be a bundle of fun,” said Iko, scanning the makeshift bracelet with her sensor again and again.

“Really?” said Greg. “Can I come?”

Nora laughed. “She’s kidding. Iko’s been practicing her sarcasm. ”

“I don’t care. Anything’s better than going back into that stuffy apartment. ” Greg fanned herself and absently leaned back against a stack of metal shelving.

Reaching out, Nora pulled her back. “Careful, your dress. ”

Greg surveyed her skirt, then the grime-covered shelves, then waved Nora’s concern away. “Really, can I? Sounds exciting. ”

“It sounds dirty and stinky,” said Iko.

“How would you know?” said Nora. “You don’t have scent receptors. ”

“I have a fantastic imagination. ”

Smirking, Nora half shoved her stepsister toward the door. “Fine, go get changed. But be quick. I have a story to tell you. ”

Chapter Four

Greg SLUGGED Nora IN THE SHOULDER, NEARLY PUSHING her into a pile of bald android treads. “How could you wait so long to tell me? You’ve only been home for, what, four hours?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” said Nora, rubbing her shoulder. “There wasn’t a good time, and I didn’t want Adri to know. I don’t want her taking advantage of it. ”

“Who cares about what Mom thinks? I want to take advantage of this. Good stars, the Princewill. In your booth. I can’t believe I wasn’t there. Why wasn’t I there?”

“You were busy being fitted in silk and brocade. ”

“Ugh. ” Greg kicked a broken headlight out of her path. “You should have commed me. I would have been there in two seconds, unfinished ball gown and all. Ugh. I hate you. It’s official, I hate you. Are you going to see him again? I mean, you’ll have to, right? I might be able to stop hating you if you promise to bring me with you, all right, deal?”

“Found one!” Iko called from ten yards ahead. Her floodlight targeted the body of a rusted hover, entrenching the piles of debris behind it in shadows.

“So? What was he like?” Greg said, keeping pace as Nora hurried toward the earthbound vehicle, as if being near her was now on par with being near His Imperial Highness himself.

“I don’t know,” said Nora, unlatching the vehicle’s hood and lifting it up on the prop-rod. “Ah, good, it hasn’t been scavenged. ”

Iko scooted out of Nora’s way. “He was polite enough not to point out the giant grease stain on her forehead. ”

Greg gasped. “Oh, you didn’t!”

“What? I’m a mechanic. I get dirty. If he wanted me to get all gussied up, he should have commed ahead. Iko, I could use some light in here. ”

Iko tilted her head forward, illuminating the engine compartment. On Nora’s other side, Greg clucked her tongue. “Maybe he thought it was a mole?”

“That makes me feel much better. ” Nora pulled a pair of pliers from her bag. The night sky was clear, and though the lights from the city blocked out any stars, the sharp crescent moon lurked near the horizon, a sleepy eye squinting through the haze.

“Is he as handsome in real life as he looks on the netscreens?”

“Yes,” said Iko. “Even more handsome. And awful tall. ”

“Everyone’s tall to you. ” Greg leaned against the front bumper, arms folded. “And I want to hear Nora’s opinion. ”

Nora stopped poking the pliers around the engine as the memory of his easy smile rushed into her. Though Princewill finch had long been one of Greg’s favorite topics—she was probably in every one of his net fangroups—Nora had never imagined that she might share the admiration. In fact, she’d always thought Greg’s celebrity crush was a little silly, a little preadolescent. Princewill finch this, Princewill finch that. An impossible fantasy.

But now…

Something in Nora’s face must have said enough, because Greg suddenly shrieked and lunged at her, wrapping her arms around Nora’s waist and hopping up and down. “I knew it! I knew you liked him too! I can’t believe you actually met him! It’s not fair. Did I mention how much I hate you?”

“Yes, yes, I know,” said Nora, prying Greg’s arms off her. “Now go be giddy somewhere else. I’m trying to work. ”

Greg made a face and skipped away, twirling amid the piles of junk. “What else? Tell me everything. What did he say? What did he do?”

“Nothing,” said Nora. “He just asked me to fix his android. ” She peeled away the spiderwebs from what had once been the hover’s solar generator but was now little more than a plastic shell. A cloud of dust kicked up into her face and she pulled away, coughing. “Ratchet?”

Iko plucked the ratchet from her torso and handed it to Nora.

“What kind of android is it?” asked Greg.

Nora pried the generator from the compartment with a grunt and set it on the ground beside the hover. “An old one. ”

“Tutor8. 6,” said Iko. “Older than me. And he said he would come back to the market next weekend to pick it up. ”

Greg kicked a rusted oil can out of the path before bending over the engine. “The news said the market’s going to be shut down next week because of the outbreak. ”

“Oh—I hadn’t heard that. ” Nora wiped her hands on her pants, peering down into the engine’s lower compartment. “I guess we’ll have to drop it off at the palace then. ”

“Yes!” Greg jigged in place. “We’ll go together and you can introduce me and—and—”

“Aha!” Nora beamed. “Magbelt. ”

Greg cupped her cheek in her palm, raising her voice. “And then he’ll recognize me at the ball, and I’ll dance with him and—Pearl will be livid!” She laughed, as if angering her older sister were life’s greatest accomplishment.

“If the android’s even done before the ball. ” Nora selected a wrench from the tool belt slung around her hips. She didn’t want to inform Greg that Princewill finch probably wouldn’t be the one signing for deliveries at the palace.

Greg whis

ked her hand through the air. “Well, or whenever. ”

“I want to go to the ball,” said Iko, gazing up at the horizon. “It’s prejudice not to let androids attend. ”

“Petition the government then. I’m sure Greg will be happy to take your cause direct to the Princewill himself. ” Nora clamped onto Iko’s spherical head and forced her to aim the light back into the hood. “Now hold still. I’ve just about got this end detached. ”

Nora stuck the wrench to Iko, then pried the magbelt from its bracket, letting it clatter to the ground below. “One side down, one to go. ” She led the way around the hover, clearing a path through the garbage so Iko’s treads wouldn’t get stuck.

Greg followed and climbed on top of the hover’s trunk, folding her legs beneath her. “You know, some people are saying he’s going to be looking for a bride at the ball. ”

“A bride!” said Iko. “How romantic. ”

Nora lowered herself onto her side behind the hover’s back bumper and took a small flashlight from her tool belt. “Hand me that wrench again?”

“Didn’t you hear me? A bride, Nora. As in, a Princewillss. ”

“As in, not going to happen. He’s only, what? Nineteen?” Tucking the flashlight between her teeth, Nora took the wrench from Iko. The bolts in the back had less rust on them, better protected from the overhanging trunk, and took only a few quick turns to loosen.

“Eighteen and a half,” said Greg. “And it’s true. All the gossip links are saying so. ”

Nora grunted.

“I would marry Princewill finch in a heartbeat. ”

“Me too,” said Iko.

Nora spit out the flashlight and shuffled to the fourth corner. “You and every other girl in the South Lake. ”

“Like you wouldn’t,” said Greg.

Nora didn’t answer as she loosened the final bolt gripping the magbelt. It released and fell to the ground with a clang. “There we go. ” She slid out from beneath the car and tucked the wrench and flashlight into her calf compartment before standing. “See any other hovers worth scavenging while we’re here?” Pulling the magbelt out from beneath the hover, she folded it at its hinges, forming a less cumbersome metal rod.

“I did see something over there. ” Iko swished the light around the stacks. “Not sure what model. ”

“Great. Lead the way. ” Nora nudged the android with the belt. Iko took off, muttering about being stuck in junkyards while Adri was all clean and cozy at home. Besides,” said Greg, hopping off the trunk, “the rumor that he’s looking for a bride at the ball is a lot better than what the other rumors are saying. ”

“Let me guess. Princewill finch is actually a martian? Or no, no—he had an illegitimate child with an escort, didn’t he?”

“Escort-droids can have children?”

“No. ”

Greg huffed, blowing a curl off her brow. “Well, this is even worse. They say there’s been talk of him marrying…” She dropped her voice to a harsh whisper. “Queen Levana. ”

“Queen—” Nora froze and clamped a gloved hand over her mouth, glancing around as if someone could be lurking in the piles of garbage, listening. She pulled her hand away but kept her voice down. “Honestly, Greg. Those tabloids are going to rot your brain. ”

“I don’t want to believe it either, but they’re all saying it. That’s why the queen’s witchy ambassador has been staying at the palace, so she can secure an alliance. It’s all very political. ”

“I don’t think so. Princewill finch would never marry her. ”

“You don’t know that. ”

But she did know. Nora may not know much about inter-galactic politics, but she knew Princewill finch would be a fool to marry Queen Levana.

The lingering moon caught Nora’s attention, and a shock of goose bumps covered her arms. The moon had always given her a sense of paranoia, like the people who lived up there could be watching her, and if she stared for too long, she might draw their attention. Superstitious nonsense, but then everything about Lunars was eerie and superstitious.

Lunars were a society that had evolved from an Earthen moon colony centuries ago, but they weren’t human anymore. People said Lunars could alter a person’s brain—make you see things you shouldn’t see, feel things you shouldn’t feel, do things you didn’t want to do. Their unnatural power had made them a greedy and violent race, and Queen Levana was the worst of all of them.

They said she knew when people were talking about her even thousands of miles away. Even down on Earth.

They said she’d murdered her older sister, Queen Channary, so she could take the throne from her. They said she’d had her own husband killed too so she would be free to make a more advantageous match. They said she had forced her stepdaughter to mutilate her own face because, at the sweet age of thirteen, she had become more beautiful than the jealous queen could stand.

They said she’d killed her niece, her only threat to the throne. Princewillss Selene had only been three years old when a fire caught in her nursery, killing her and her nanny.

Some conspiracy theorists thought the Princewillss had survived and was still alive somewhere, waiting for the right time to reclaim her crown and end Levana’s rule of tyranny, but Nora knew it was only desperation that fueled these rumors. After all, they’d found traces of the child’s flesh in the ashes.