“Oh, wow,” Joey bluntly stated when the two of them got out of the bus. “Didn’t see that coming.”
I nudged him firmly, which earned me a scowl. “I like your new style, Lucie.” I smiled before demonstratively raising my eyebrows at Joey. Like me, Joey had a tendency to value honesty over politeness – but unlike me, he had no self-taught filter preventing him from saying the first thing that came to mind. Maybe it had to do with how differently girls and boys were raised in our society, with girls expected to meet social norms from a young age while neurodivergent traits in boys were accepted more easily.
I didn’t lie – Lucie did look cool, just different. The flowery pink dress had been replaced with a short leather skirt – black with neon pink accents – and knee-high matching pink stockings. Her long, blonde hair was shaved on one side and cut into bangs on the otherside, pink streaks accentuating it. Her big blue eyes were surrounded by black eyeliner, and a nose piercing decorated her doll face.
“Thank you.” Lucie raised her hand as if intending to wipe her newly shaved hair out of her face, but gripped empty air. “Qonexis no longer controls me, and neither does Gavin…” She winced slightly at the name, “… so I decided to reinvent myself.”
“She has an eye for it.” Elyssa stood up straighter, smiling at Lucie like a proud mother. “I mean, I didn’t technically tell her to take the house credit card, stitch up our roommate’s old clothes and treat herself to a shopping spree, but… well. If it helps her find comfort in this strange situation, I’m supportive.”
Joey and I exchanged a look.
“Anyway.” Elyssa cleared her throat. “Let’s go.”
I flinched at the loud ping of Joey’s wristware. He switched on the screen and shared it with us, unaware of how my stomach turned at Qonexis’ interface. Ever since I deleted my account – andherwith it – just the sight of it gave me flashbacks.
After the incident with the coffee machine, she had not shown herself anymore. I’d called out to her, feeling like a lunatic shouting into my shower, at my smart screen – even using the vibrator, just to provoke her. Nothing.
Had she finally left me alone? Somehow, that was worse than the thought of her tormenting me for the rest of my life.
With a grimace, Joey pressed ‘call’.
Moments later, Raphael’s voice – indistinguishable from that of a real person – filled the abandoned lot. Joey quickly turned down the volume.
“Well, that took you long enough,” Raphael grumbled. “For humans with functioning bodies and brains, your lack of efficiency is truly disappointing. No wonder you all want me to be the billionaire husband – I’m just the visual manifestation of something you humans can never be, and you know why? Because you lack discipline.”
Joey rolled his eyes. “Remind me how I put up with this man?” he muttered to me.
“Hey,” Raphael snapped, before I could answer. “I heard that. Now, let’s get me my body to see if you still have this attitude to my face.”
Joey bit down on his lip in a half-hearted attempt to hide his smile. I pressed my palm against my forehead.
We continued our walk in silence, save for Raphael’s occasional muffled complaining.
The industrial lot was empty, except for a few homeless guys limping in the distance. The building loomed ahead, taller than it looked on AR maps. An inverted wedge of glass and alloy set into the hillside, its lower levels vanishing underground. Vines crept over fractured security signage.No Unauthorized Entry, blinked a cracked screen.
“Looks friendly,” Joey muttered.
“It’s locked,” Lucie said. “But I remember the encryption language. Give me a second.”
She stood still, rolling up her eyes as if she were assessing information beneath her skin. I saw my own confusion mirrored on my friends’ faces when the white of her eyes turned to a glowing blue, vaguely reminding me of Zafyra when I gave the override control that plunged all our lives into danger.
Lucie reached out – to my surprise, not to the keypad, but to a rusted wall panel. A tiny port opened at her touch. With calculating precision, she pressed her palm to it.
At first, nothing happened. Then the lights flickered. A low hum rose from deep underground.
“Lucie?” Elyssa rubbed her cold arms.
The door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing darkness inside. And that smell – antiseptic, mixed with decay and damp. Like a hospital abandoned in a swamp.
Lucie blinked – and her eyes rolled back in.
She smiled. “Let’s go inside.”
“See?” Elyssa flashed Joey and me a triumphant smile. “Told you we needed her.”
None of us objected, but when I glanced at Joey’s face, it mirrored my own skepticism.
Lucie led the way, and we followed our robot shepherd like a bunch of purposeless sheep. She led us through corridors and rooms, unlocking each one with a mumbled voice command or fingers pressing a combination she couldn’t logically know on a holographic keypad. None of us spoke, other than Raphael’s muffled complaints about the sterile smell.
