He crowded Amy into what she'd previously assumed was the RV's sleeping cabin, but was in fact populated by two big steel crates like the ones for housetraining dogs. One yawned open emptily. The other one contained Javier and Junior. Javier sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor with his son in his arms. Upon seeing Amy, his eyes burned.
"What's going on, here?"
"Cool it, Tin Man." Rick pushed Amy into the crate and locked the door. He reached over and flicked a switch embedded in the faux-pine panelling. An audible hum filled the air. "Watch the fence, OK? We lose the bounty if you're corrupted."
Amy glanced over at Javier and Junior. "Please let them go. They haven't done anyth–"
"Your friend here is guilty of armed robbery as of last night," Rick said.
"But the baby–"
"The baby will be taken care of," Melissa said. She crossed her arms. "It's not as though he really spends a lot of time with them anyway, is it?" She glanced into Javier's cage. "I know your M.O. You're not exactly Father of the Year."
Javier smiled. "Still more fertile than you."
"Watch it," Rick said.
But Javier was showing teeth. "How old are you? Thirties? You look like it. You know your eggs are rotting inside you, right? Just sitting there, going past their expiration date. By the time the two of you scrape together enough cash to afford a kid, you'll probably crap out something defective–"
"Hey!" Rick lunged for the cage. A spark shot between it and his hand; he gasped and cradled the hand against himself.
"Stings, huh?" Javier asked.
"Stop. Don't make this any worse." Amy hugged herself. "May I please have my clothes?"
"No," Rick said.
"Rick, come on."
"No, Melissa. We are not playing dress-up with the dolly. OK? She creeps me the fuck out."
In the cage beside her, Javier was wrestling with his shirt. He pulled it off and started stuffing it between the links in the fence. The smell of scorching cotton rose inside the room. She was just about to thank Javier when Rick said: "I'd watch out if I were you, buddy. She's a zombie."
Javier paused. "What?"
"Cannibal. Ate her own grandmother."
Javier frowned at Amy. "Is that true?"
"All the graphene. All the memory. Every last drop," Rick said.
Amy blinked. "She… she was fighting with my mom…"
Rick snorted. "Tell him the whole story, Amy. Tell him about the boy your grandmother killed."
"She was hurting people," Amy said, hearing desperation climb into her voice.
"You hear that, Javier?" Rick bent down at the waist and got nose-to-nose with the cages. "She was hurting people."
Javier lifted his chin. "You're lying. The failsafe–"
"Failed," Rick said. "Amy's grandmother killed a kindergartener. And then Amy ate her all up." He grinned at Amy. "You been hearing voices, kiddo? Feel like your skull's a little more cramped than usual?"
Amy backed up against the wall. She tried holding the towel closed, as though his seeing her naked still mattered somehow. But she didn't answer. Couldn't answer.
"Is he for real, Amy?" Javier asked. "Did you eat her?"
All of me, Granny said. Every last little bone and tooth.
Amy clutched her head. "Shut up," she whispered. "Shut up, get out, leave me alone…"
"There's your answer." Rick looked over at Javier. "What happened to your thumb, buddy?"
Javier closed his eyes. "Chingadera."
"You know how she works, now, right? Her OS just opens up for any old code that wanders in," Rick said. "Her skin's already a little darker. Maybe her little ankle-biters would have had your eyes, too."
I would have warned you about how this worked. But you were busy biting out my throat.
"I'm sorry." Amy covered her face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Javier muttered something in Spanish. He pulled his shirt back. "I wondered what you were really in for. I thought…"
"You thought it was all some big mistake, right?" Rick folded his arms. "You thought anything so sweet and cute couldn't possibly be that bad." Grinning, he shook his head. "Sucker."
Javier looked away.
Amy sat up on her knees. "It's not like that! I didn't mean to lie, I just thought…" She swallowed. "I just thought you wouldn't be my friend if I told you what I'd done."
Javier's face whipped around. "You were right! I wouldn't have!" He curled his arms around Junior's little body and turned his back to her. "I'm lucky you didn't eat my kid."
"Take me away," Amy said after a moment. "I don't want to hurt anybody else."
You're giving in? You don't care what happens to you?
"I don't care what happens to me," Amy said.
You won't mind this, then. I'll even let you watch.
Cold rippled across her skin and stiffened her limbs. It frosted her resolve. She felt herself standing up. She felt the towel sliding down. Rick backed away.
"What are you doing?"