The question had occurred more and more frequently over the last few years. ARIS always had an answer—the jungle was dangerous, the wildlife unpredictable, her immune system not prepared for exposure to outside pathogens—the list went on and on, reasonable and logical and utterly suffocating.
She was safe here. Protected. Cared for.
But she was also alone.
“Thank you, Ari. That’s enough.”
The screen faded back into a normal wall. Pip finished his breakfast and began grooming himself fastidiously as she collected the dirty dishes and placed them in the sanitizing unit, then headed for the stairs. As she ascended, she ran her hand along the smooth stone wall, tracing the spiral pattern that wound along the outside wall of the tower. The tower was bothher home and her prison, and she loved and resented it in equal measures.
Finished with his grooming, Pip scampered after her, occasionally taking short gliding leaps from banister to banister, until she reached the narrow walkway that ringed the tower just beneath the roof. She leaned against the sun-warmed stone balustrade, watching the jungle canopy spread out below her like a living carpet, rippling in the morning breeze. To the west, she could see where the trees thinned near the river, bright water glinting through gaps in the foliage. To the east, the coastline curved around a sheltered bay where the deep turquoise water was calm and placid. In every direction, the endless mystery of a world she’d never touched.
“Liora.”
ARIS’s voice cut through her reverie.
“Yes?”
“I am detecting an anomaly.”
She turned away from the wall, suddenly alert. ARIS didn’t use words like “anomaly” casually. In fact, she couldn’t remember the AI ever using that particular word at all.
“What kind of anomaly?”
“An unknown lifeform is approaching the tower from the northeast.”
Her heart stuttered in her chest. “What do you mean, unknown? What kind of lifeform?”
“Processing available data.” A pause, unusual for ARIS, who normally responded instantaneously. “Bipedal. Approximatelytwo hundred centimeters in height. Mass estimated at one hundred to one hundred and ten kilograms. Thermal signature consistent with?—”
ARIS stopped.
“Consistent with what?”
Another pause, longer this time. “An adult male.”
Her legs went weak. She grabbed the nearest wall to steady herself, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Pip launched himself to her shoulder, chittering anxiously.
“An adult male,” she repeated, as if saying the words would make it real. “You’re saying there’s a human coming here.”
“That is the most likely interpretation of available data. I am continuing to monitor.”
She stumbled to the northeast side of the tower, scanning the jungle canopy. Nothing. Just the endless green, same as always, same as every day of her twenty-one years. But somewhere out there, beneath that canopy?—
“Can you show me the satellite imagery?”
“The canopy is too dense for real-time visual confirmation. However, the motion sensors embedded in the perimeter are tracking the lifeform’s movement. Estimated arrival in forty-seven minutes at current pace.”
An hour.A human would be here in less than an hour.
Who could it be? Where had he come from? How had he found this place that wasn’t on any maps, in the middle of a jungle that was too dense and dangerous for casual travelers?
Why was he coming?
“Ari, what should I do?”
“I am engaging additional security protocols. The ground level will remain sealed. You should continue your normal routine and remain in the upper levels until I have assessed the potential threat.”
“Threat?” She shook her head, still struggling to process. “Why would he be a threat?”
