The door squealed a little and Amy stumbled in. She dragged herself through on trembling knees and shut the door with shaking hands. It was mercifully dim and cool inside the storage pod. Amy caught herself staring almost fondly at the accumulated wreckage of Shari's life. This would be the last time she ever saw it. It would probably be the last time she saw clutter of any sort. She had the feeling that Redmond would be very clean and spare. Like a prison.
She lurched forward to the bin marked "MANUALS" and prised off the lid. It came away with a sucking sound. Portia opened her mouth and Amy closed it so tight she bit her tongue. This caused her no pain, but she whimpered anyway.
Junior was gone.
7
Tuo Spirito Familiare
Damn. I was looking forward to eating the rest of him.
Amy tore the lids off more bins. She pawed though plastic-coated vintage editions of Playboy and Hustler. Who would take Junior? Why? She had hidden him so well. Maybe someone had tracked her through Rick's reader. Maybe it was Rick and Melissa themselves. Maybe they came here for revenge. Maybe they sold Junior to some freak like Q.B. Maybe–
A familiar voice said, "Let me guess. You put him in with the manuals because no one would ever look there, right?"
Slowly, Amy looked over one shoulder. Atop the stacked bins, wedged against the ceiling of the pod, lay Javier and Junior. As she watched, Javier carefully slid free from the sliver of space and stood upright. He had new clothes. The jeans had no loose threads at the cuffs. The shoes had no creases between the toes and ankles. He even wore a nice shirt, and only a single pine needle poked free from his curls.
"You should–"
"We have to–"
They quieted, and in the lull a knock sounded at the door.
"Miss?" It was Harold. He was being so nice. "You're gonna have to come out pretty soon, now."
Javier shut his eyes. He whispered, "I'm too late. Right?"
Amy nodded. She looked at the door. "If you wait until the truck leaves, you can probably get out without being noticed."
Javier's eyes opened. He grabbed her shoulders and leaned over her until she had nowhere to look but his eyes. "What the hell is going on, Amy?" His grip tightened. "In case you've forgotten, you're the one who broke me out of a dumpster, delivered my son, annihilated your aunts, and took out two bounty hunters. This should be nothing to you." He swallowed. "What happened? Did you short-circuit when you t-touched the f-fucking f-fence?"
Amy frowned. "How do you know about the fence?"
"There was video–"
Another knock, louder this time. "Amy, honey, I know you're probably scared. But I've talked it out with Harold, and he says it's very humane, the holding facility."
"Jesus Christ," Javier whispered.
Gently, Amy detached his hands from her shoulders. "I was going to take Junior with me. He's bluescreened, and I don't know how to help him. I thought the people in Redmond might. There's a lab, with specialists. But if you'd rather–"
"If I'd rather? I'd rather you snapped the fuck out of it–"
"They have my mother, Javier."
That silenced him. His hands fell to his sides. His gaze dropped to the floor.
"I thought I had saved her, but I was wrong. All I did was make things worse. And now she's in a cage, and I have to get her."
Javier's face rose. Something in his face changed. It was an expression she'd never seen on a vN, before. It was the same face humans made when they finally understood a joke told to them years ago.
She wanted to ask him about it, but then Harold opened the door.
"Miss, you're gonna have to… shit." He drew a taser. He seemed confused about who to point it at, Amy or Javier. "Shit," he repeated. "God damn it."
"It's OK," Amy tried to say. "I'm coming with you–"
"Oh my God. It's you. It's both of you." Shari held one hand over her mouth. The other she used to point between the two of them, drawing an invisible line in the air that linked them. She backed away on unsteady legs. "Oh, my God. Oh my God!"
"Which one are you, right now?" Harold had the taser trained on Amy. "Which one, damn it?"
When will they learn? You're the whining crybaby, and I'm the one who actually gets things done.
Amy put her hands up and opened them wide. Carefully, she stepped around and in front of Javier. "It's OK, Harold." She tried to sound as calm and reasonable as possible. She watched the taser as she spoke. "I'm Amy. I'm the one you want. I'm going to get out, now, and then you can handcuff me and we can go. Just leave Javier out of it–"
"This is bullshit." Javier yanked her arm down and marched them both out into the light. He held Junior in one arm and curled the other around her waist. Under his breath, he said: "When I say jump, you–"