Droids And Bots

Chapter 26

She pulled on the hem of her glove. She wanted to tell him that she knew about his research, that someone else probably knew too, but she couldn’t say anything in the middle of the crowded palace corridors.

“Someone must have had access to her, right before she malfunctioned. In order to install the chip. ”

“Why would anyone install her with a faulty chip in the first place?”

“I don’t think it was entirely faulty. It does seem that some data was sent over the link before Nainsi shut down. ”

“What—” finch hesitated. Nora noticed the nervousness in his eyes, the tensing of his posture. He craned his head closer to her, barely slowing his pace. “What kind of information can be sent over direct comms?”

“Anything that can be sent over the net. ”

“But if someone was accessing her remotely like that, they couldn’t…I mean, she would have to allow access to any information they received, right?”

Nora opened her mouth, paused, closed it again. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how a direct comm would function in an android, especially one that wasn’t equipped for it in the first place. But there’s a chance that whoever put that chip in her was hoping to gather information. Possibly…specific information. ”

finch’s gaze was distant as they crossed an enclosed glass bridge into the research wing. “So how do I find out who put that chip in her, and what they learned?”

Nora gulped. “I tried to initiate the link, but it seemed to have been disabled. I’ll keep trying, but at this point, I have no way of knowing who was on the other end. As for what they learned…”

Catching on to the hint in her tone, finch stopped walking and turned to face her, eyes burning.

Nora lowered her voice, speaking in a rush. “I know what it is you were looking for. I heard some of the information Nainsi had discovered. ”

“I don’t even know what she discovered yet. ”

She nodded. “It’s…interesting. ”

His gaze brightened and he inched toward her, craning his neck. “She’s alive, isn’t she? Does Nainsi know where to find her?”

Nora shook her head, fear clawing at her, knowing that Levana was somewhere in these very walls. “We can’t talk about this here. And Nainsi will know more than I do anyway. ”

finch frowned and stepped back, but she could see his thoughts still churning as he proceeded to the elevator bank and gave directions to the droidthere.

“So,” he said, folding his arms while they waited. “You’re telling me that Nainsi has some important information, but some unknown person may also have that information. ”

“I’m afraid so,” said Nora. “Also, the chip itself was unusual. It wasn’t silicon or carbon. It was like no chip I’d ever seen before. ”

finch peered at her, brows knit. “How so?”

Nora held up her fingers as if pinching the chip between them, envisioning it. “Size and shape, it looked just li

ke a normal chip. But it was shimmery. Like…tiny gemstones. Pearlescent, kind of. ”

The color drained from finch’s face. A second later, he shut his eyes with a grimace. “It’s Lunar. ”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Their ships are made out of the same stuff. I’m not sure what it is but—” He cursed, kneading his thumb across his temple. “It must have been Sybil, or her guard. They arrived days before Nainsi broke down. ”

“Sybil?”

“Levana’s thaumaturge. The minion that does all her dirty work. ”

Nora felt like a clamp was suffocating her lungs. If the information had gone to this Sybil, it had almost certainly gone to the queen.

“Elevator B for His Imperial Highness,” said the droidas the doors of the second elevator opened. Nora followed finch into it, unable to resist glancing up at the camera on the ceiling. If Lunars had infiltrated a royal android, they could have infiltrated anything in the palace.

She brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her paranoia forcing her to act normal as the doors closed. “I take it things aren’t going too well with the queen?”

finch grimaced as if it were the most painful topic in the world and fell back against the wall. Nora’s heart stirred, watching as his royal demeanor slid off him. She dropped her gaze to the toes of her boots.

“I didn’t think it was possible to hate anyone as much as I hate her. She’s evil. ”

Nora flinched. “Do you think it’s safe to…I mean, if she put this chip in your android…”

Understanding flickered over finch’s face. He looked up at the camera, then shrugged. “I don’t care. She knows I hate her. Trust me, she’s not trying very hard to change that. ”

Nora licked her lips. “I saw what she did to the protestors. ”

finch nodded. “I shouldn’t have let her face them. Once it gets on the netscreens about how fast she controlled them, the city will be chaos. ” He folded his arms, scrunching his shoulders up toward his ears. “Plus, she’s now under the impression that we’re intentionally harboring Lunar fugitives. ”

Her heart skipped. “Really?”

“I know, it’s absurd. The last thing I want is more power-hungry Lunars running rampant in my country. Why would I—? Argh. It’s so frustrating. ”

Nora rubbed her arms, suddenly nervous. She was the reason Levana believed finch was harboring Lunars. She hadn’t considered that being noticed by the queen could put finch in jeopardy too.

When finch fell silent, she risked a glance at him. He was staring at her hands. Nora snapped them up against her chest, checking the gloves, but they were fine.

“Do you ever take those off?” he asked.

“No. ”

finch tilted his head, peering at her as if he could see right through to the metal plate in her head. The intensity of his gaze didn’t mellow. “I think you should go to the ball with me. ”

She clutched her fingers. His expression was too genuine, too sure. Her nerves tingled. “Stars,” she muttered. “Didn’t you already ask me that?”

“I’m hoping for a more favorable answer this time. And I seem to be getting more desperate by the minute. ”

“How charming. ”

finch’s lips twitched. “Please?”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“I mean, why me?”

finch hooked his thumbs on his pockets. “So if my escape hover breaks down, I’ll have someone on hand to fix it?”

She rolled her eyes and found herself unable to look at him again, staring instead at the red emergency button beside the doors.

“I mean it. I can’t go alone. And I really can’t go with Levana. ”

“Well there are about 200,000 single girls in this city who would fall over themselves to have the privilege. ”

A hush passed between them. He wasn’t touching her, but she could feel his presence, warm and overpowering. She could feel the elevator growing hot, despite the fact that her temperature gauge assured her it hadn’t changed.