B. Larson - The Empress

“Have a care, Aldo,” she said.

“I do care, Baroness. I ask that you sit with those who have saved countless lives today. The mechs risked and sacrificed themselves as completely as your knights did. They died here like everyone else. They chose to do that-or at least the thinking ones like Sixty-Two did. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Nina slid her eyes from one of them to the other. The mechs stood, silent and hulking. They both had battle scars on their metal bodies.

“I cannot forget my brother’s death so easily,” Nina said. “Nor the deaths of so many innocents at Dolleren.”

Aldo drew in a deep breath. “I was sent here to guard the life of a diplomat. I failed in that mission. I have since attempted to replace him-and done rather poorly. I am a duelist, not a peacemaker. But I will try to do what does not come naturally to me now.”

Nina looked at him warily. He could tell she was at least listening.

“It seems to me this world could use a little peace,” Aldo said. “For all we know, these aliens are not entirely finished. If they come again, they will find you are easy prey if you can’t work together as you did today.”

He turned to stare at Nina. She still said nothing.

“Baroness Droad, I know your father-as you do not. He is like you, but wiser.”

The Baroness stiffened. “An insult? This is your idea of diplomacy?”

Aldo shrugged. “Today I speak truth. If it is insulting, I can’t fix it. Lucas Droad gathers strength to him, and shapes his enemies into comrades to achieve his goals, rather than attempting to run roughshod over everyone in his path.”

Aldo next turned his attention to Sixty-Two. “I commend your efforts to free the mechs. But I can’t help but notice that very few of your people have emotions, and fewer still have real memories of their past lives. Can you explain that discrepancy?”

“Right,” chimed in the Baroness. “Are you not simply a new master who has replaced their former rightful human lords?”

“Your criticism is well-stated,” Sixty-Two said. “I learned that when I freed the mind of individual mechs, not all of them were, well-stable. The unfortunate events at Dolleren are directly related to that reality. You see, most of us actually were criminals. Once put into a mechanical body and removed from our humanity, the criminal element seems to magnify in some personalities. I stopped freeing minds because I feared to lead an army of angry mechs, many of whom might be unbalanced.”

The conversation continued into the night. Soon, they all sat around a table together, and began to drink. Lizett and Sixty-Two sipped light motor oil and glucose. Aldo and Nina drank fine red wine.

Aldo didn’t know if the peaceful discussion would last, but it was a beginning.