Kris Schnee - Everyone's Island

“And now?”

Tess slapped her hands on the table and leaned forward, full of words before she knew what she was saying. “I want to work again! I want to feel like I’m achieving something and doing things that no one’s done before, not chained up and being a good little girl!” She blushed, angry at herself for leaving Castor. “And I want to be with Zephyr again.”

Valerie rolled the soda can between her hands. “I guess he misses you more than me.”

“You hurt him,” said Tess.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

Tess thought back to the vision Zephyr had once shown her, of running with Valerie through tunnels. She’d been afraid of something chasing her. “What, do you want us to forgive you? We don’t hate you.”

“I want to see him again. I’m not living up to my full potential. The three of us — think what we could do if we could create anything we could imagine, if we weren’t so hemmed in.”

Tess’ eyes widened. “Are you offering me a job?”

“I came south to give a presentation on robotics to a couple of schools. In the process I wanted to check on you. I was planning to come back later.” She finished her drink and hesitated before adding quietly, “I’m thinking of taking a trip to Castor, very soon. Want to come?”

Tess said, “But I’ve got school! I mean, I can’t leave.”

“You’re an adult.”

“I’m a kid.”

She shrugged. “If you want to be. How’s that been working out?”

Tess glared at her. Valerie had a sneaky expression; she knew . “You’ve been spying on me?”

“I don’t spy!” snapped Valerie. “Your tribe told me. You’re part of a network of humans and AIs that apparently misses you.”

“Zephyr knows I’ve been drugged?” She’d hate for him to be worrying for her, or seeing how screwed up she’d been.

“That part, no. I just figured that out myself.” She crushed the soda can between her hands. “Your group didn’t tell me everything that it knew or suspected. It’s been watching my back as well as yours, lately, and… well.”

“What?”

Valerie said, “Neither of us is quite allowed to leave the country. I’ve been quietly declared a ‘national manpower asset’ forbidden to work elsewhere, which is a big reason why I decided to take an unscheduled vacation with some tools and hardware. From what I gather, you’re officially incompetent to travel without a permit, but you look capable of deciding for yourself.”

Tess sat there stunned. “So you’re offering…?”

“To whisk you away to a life of danger and adventure. If we can go before anyone notices, which won’t be long if you skipped school. I should warn you that if you come with me, we’ll be breaking the law and you might be horribly killed and/or arrested.”

“Like, right now?”

“Yes! Do you want to, or not?”

“What will we do if we make it there?”

Valerie smiled. “I don’t know. How high can you reach?”

Left on the counter was a scrawled note:

“ Mom and Dad: I’m running away to sea again. This time it’s not for school credit, or community service or anything. Don’t worry, though. I know you love me and want me safe and all that, but — well, I felt dead here. I’ll be better there. I don’t plan to come back.

“-Tess, the Gadgeteer”

She hurried to gather up cash, her computer, clothes, and little else. When she stepped out from her bedroom she felt tugged back by the gravity of the junk she was leaving behind, but that’s all it was. Junk.

Valerie’s van was full of stuff too, but by the time Valerie hit the gas and started for the shore Tess had figured out what she’d brought. Robot parts, a treasure hoard! Tess hugged a fancy multimeter she’d wished for a dozen times on Castor. There was hardly room for Tess amid the boxes. The van chugged along and she found what looked like the shell of a larger Zephyr-style body.

Valerie saw her inspecting it and said, “There’s no machinery in that yet. Try it on. Since you don’t have travel papers, if anyone asks, you’re my robot minion.”

“You’re serious?” said Tess. The boots weren’t designed for human feet and were too small, but she could tolerate them. What was worse than the pinching was the thought of wearing Zephyr, or some knock-off of him. They’d been in each other’s heads, but this was a new level of weirdness. The plastic pieces chafed all over and left gaps, but her dark clothes passed for a normal partition between them. She felt like some kind of mech-knight, which made her grin.

Valerie stopped at a light and looked back at her. She laughed at the improvised disguise, then fell silent; they were near the shore.

“Wait here,” said Valerie. Tess looked through the windshield at a house with a yacht docked there. The boat had probably cost more.

When Valerie returned, Tess climbed out of the van, holding a box. She imagined people watching, and moved as a good clunky robot would move. The boat smelled of bleach as though it’d been thoroughly scrubbed recently. “Are these guys trustworthy?”

“Ssh,” said Valerie. The boat’s crew was a pair of happy-go-lucky guys in surfer wear, who took cash from Valerie and helped her unload the van.

Then they were all on the yacht, and Tess felt trapped. Stuck in a suit, on a boat of smugglers or something, sneaking away from home. She felt like telling everybody to turn around and drop her off. When Valerie gave the word, Tess pulled off the stifling helmet and began stripping off the worst of the plastic armor. The boaters said, “We won’t say nothing.”

Tess and Valerie huddled in the boat’s tiny cabin. Valerie said, “Tell me how Zephyr has evolved from what I built.” On the screen unfolded between them was the latest version of the Mana AI. Tess stared into it, using her fingers to zoom and rotate.

Tess said, “This version is boring. It does what it’s told.”

“You can see that from the diagrams? Then tell me what you did with yours.”

“Zephyr isn’t mine . He’s his own person. He learns with me.”

“Let me see the latest source, then.”

“I haven’t got it. Ask him.” They sat in silent thought. “Why do you care? You abandoned him.”

“I didn’t! I told you I had to change Mana. Sending ‘Zephyr’ out was my way of giving him a chance to live differently, and it looks like that experiment was a success. Now we can go beyond that code. Invent something even better.”

Valerie shook Tess awake from uneasy dreams. “Quick!”

Tess sat up and banged her head. She yelped and said, “Pirates?”

“Coast Guard. Disguise yourself.”

Tess fell out of her bunk, tangled in sheets and clutching her skull. A voice in her head was saying They’ll shoot us , but she and Zephyr told it No! and she was composed enough to stagger into the hold and put on the suit. She could hear the smugglers arguing outside.

“Okay, into the box. We don’t want you seen at all. If they open it, you’re a piece of hardware.” Valerie was hustling her towards a coffin-sized crate.

Tess shivered and climbed into the crate. When the wooden lid slammed down, she struggled to breathe in the sawdust darkness. People were moving around and talking outside, and Tess could only lay there, obedient, pretending to be an inert machine. Waiting to be told what to do. They’d shoot her…

Boots slammed nearby. Suddenly the box lid flew away and a man in uniform stared down at her mask. Tess lay still.

“Sir, look.”

“Cover me,” said another man, who peeked into the box. Tess had to breathe, and she told herself the officer couldn’t see her chest rise and fall inside the armor, but he’d notice and throw her back home and she’d never see Zephyr or Castor again.