Chapter Nineteen
Lucky Number Seven
“Well! Isn’t this just delightful!” Aria-7 beamed at Nellie as they sat in the small HyperDrive Cafe. It was currently closed, but the Ambassador from the Silicates had insisted on meeting Nellie where she was instead of somewhere ‘too formal.’
Aria was, as always, perfectly presented and sat with the kind of straight-backed posture common to models and the terminally uptight.
She beamed out a warm and friendly smile that Nellie was almost sure wasn’t as condescending as it seemed. That was Aria in a nutshell. Polished, cheerful, but always with that slight suggestion of superiority. She sipped a cup of HyperDrive carefully, the paper cup looking crude against her porcelain skin.
“Such a… charming beverage.” Aria put the cup down carefully on the table's edge, pushing it away from her carefully. “An acquired taste, I’m sure.”
Nellie smiled back.
“Will little Lucy not be joining us this morning?” Aria asked, the ‘again’ being left unsaid but unsaid loudly enough it rang like a bell in the empty cafe.
“Not this morning, no,” Nellie said, draining her own cup in a near-defensive action. “She’s busy in the next system over.”
“Indeed?” Aria smiled. “My, isn’t she just the busiest little bee? Especially considering the amazing options your darling little projectors offer in the way of remote communication.” She picked up her paper napkin and put it down on the small coffee ring Nellie had left behind, moving the empty cup onto it.
“So, how can I help you?” Nellie really did try to sound friendly, but the woman had given off mother-in-law energy since their first meeting, and it was getting worse every time.
“Well, far be it from me to offer unsolicited advice,” Aria tittered at her own joke since that was her exact job description, apparently, “but I wondered if it was really wise to have launched that new gadget of yours quite so quickly?”
“Huh?” Nellie frowned, caught off guard.
“Pardon, dear,” Aria flinched. “Not ‘huh.’ Anyway, that little project the Transfer Unit helped create. You have started selling it, I am told.”
“The goggles?” Nellie asked, still feeling out of sorts.
“That’s the,” Aria coughed, “Item I was referring to, yes.” She pulled out a small disk inlaid with a crystal gem in the center, placed it on the table, and tapped it with one delicate finger. An image appeared of a paper poster.
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Nellie grinned at it, having not seen one of these herself yet. Bryant had come up with it, and he must have done a few things right because they couldn’t build them fast enough to keep up with demand. Even with Lucy adding a vast amount of automation to the process, they were still seeing waiting times.
True, Remy was pulling his hair out with all the new traffic in the system, but that was nothing compared to the effect on Nellie’s Ambassadorial duties. The Imperium was on everyone’s lips again, but this time, it wasn’t terrifying ships they were talking about; it was the goggles. Nellie had even started giving them away to delegations when they met.
“You have a problem with them?” Nellie asked.
“No!” Aria laughed, “No, of course not.” She smiled. “I only wondered if it was a wise move to offer such a basic item for sale.” She put on a serious look, complete with a little pout, “You only get one chance to make a good impression; that’s what I always say. The goggles feel a little cheap and cheerful, and I wondered if that was a good thing for the Imperium’s long-term growth.”
Nellie started to spin her mind up to speed so she could think it through, only for Aria to ‘tsk.’
“None of that,” Aria smiled patiently. “I am quite sure we are better speaking at a speed comfortable for your kind.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
And there it was. Somehow, in some way, Aria always managed to remind Nellie that she was human and not Silicate. It was always in a polite way, but she never missed an opportunity to point out how much faster silicate brains worked, or how much more durable their bodies were, or similar.
And Nellie was running out of patience, fast.
“The product is fine, thank you,” Nellie responded.
“Well,” Aria tapped a manicured fingernail against her teeth, “I mean no offense, of course, but… can someone with your unique viewpoint really be sure of that? I would happily give the whole thing a—”
“Unique viewpoint?” Nellie felt her temper rising, and she really tried to tamp it down, but after weeks of tap dancing with the woman… she failed.
“Your condition,” Aira hedged. “It’s not your fault, bless.” She patted Nellie’s hand. “I’m sure you do your best.”
“Oh, fuck off!” Nellie snapped. “My being an orphan, or a human, or whatever you are on about has nothing to do with this.”
“I meant nothing of the sort!” Aria raised her eyebrows. “Your delightful little species—”
“There it is!” Nellie threw her hands up, “Ostie, can you even tell you are doing it? Always the little digs! Always!” She huffed, trying to calm down. “What exactly is your problem, lady?”
“I meant no offense,” Aira replied coldly. “I merely referred to the unfortunate fact of your partial conversion.”
“My what?” Nellie leaned forward, glaring.
“You have replaced many of your parts,” Aria’s face twisted in distaste. “Giving up organic tissue in favor of this… other form.”
Nellie gaped.
“This whole attitude of yours is because I have nanite-built parts?” Nellie asked, sure she was missing something.
“You have butchered your precious organic form,” Aria sniffed, hands placed in her lap as she turned slightly away. “Replacing flesh with these lesser versions of silicate forms. It is… ugly to me. I can think of no reason why you would do something like that to yourself. I know our form may look exciting but that is no reason to do this to yourself. Honestly, it makes me doubt your sanity. Even your brain! Why? Why would you do this to yourself? Worse, I have seen how many of your organic people follow your example!” Aria stood, pacing. “It is not my place to judge, I am told, but I can not stand it!”
“You think I volunteered to have my parts replaced?” Nellie asked, sure she was getting the wrong end of things.
“Of course, why else would you have…” Aria glared as Nellie burst out laughing.
“Sorry, sorry!” Nellie sighed, getting up to get another cup of HyperDrive. “No, Aria-Seven, I did not choose to replace my tissue. Let me explain…”
Nellie explained everything she had survived, pointing out the reasons behind replacing this part or that. As she spoke, something about the weight and terror of those days seemed to lift. It was like therapy, but with the added thrill of seeing someone else wince and shy away as she explained things like the Beam weapons cracking the sky open or the swarming monsters in the permanent night of the Hub.
“Oh,” Aria-Seven said when Nellie finished. “That was quite the series of events.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Nellie nodded.
“I apologize for my assumptions,” Aria said stiffly. “I assumed your motives were different. We have had societies attempt to emulate us before.”
“I am sure there are many things we can learn from your people,” Nellie said diplomatically, “but that is not the same thing.”
“I see that now,” Aria nodded. “Very well, I suppose we must reassess.” She stood, gave a slight bow, and walked out without another word.
“Lucy?” Nellie called.
“I saw,” Lucy sighed. “She’s always seemed off to me as well. I had no idea she thought you were…”
“Cosplaying a silicate?” Nellie chuckled.
“Right,” Lucy laughed. “I’ll have a word with her.”
“Thanks, Lucy.” Nellie shook her head. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” Lucy cut the line.
/===<<<>>>===\
Cheape listened at the door, feeling only a little guilty about it. Tee was having an argument with someone, and it was fascinating.
They had been working when he got a comm call from someone back home, apparently. Well, technically, it came from the Silicate colony back in the Imperium home system, but it was close enough. Cheape knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but once the yelling started, she hadn’t been able to resist.
“No, I will not speak properly,” Tee said sharply. “I am among the organic people now, and I will speak at their speed. It is good practice for me.”
“Very well, TRV-4,” the woman on the other end of the line sounded stuck up and angry, “We will have this conversation at the glacial speeds of the organic mind. Perhaps thinking at that speed explains your poor judgment recently.”
“Poor judgment?” Tee practically growled. “And what do you know of my judgment, Aira-7?”
“These goggles you made,” the woman, Aria-7, replied. “They are not of silicate quality.”
“And?” Tee asked. Cheape heard him stop pacing.
“You will give a bad impression of our people,” Aria said stiffly. “It has already caused friction between me and the Queen.”
“The Queen is in favor of the goggles,” Tee replied. “I received personal thanks from her and her Emissary for my assistance with them. Perhaps you caused the friction?”
“Do not get smart with me, Transfer Unit!” Aria snapped. “I am ordering you to not—”
“I am a Transfer Unit,” Tee said brightly. “You have no authority over me.”
“I am your elder,” Aria said coldly.
“You are my elder by several split seconds,” Tee responded with a snort of amusement. “Tell me, oh venerated one, what special insight has such great age granted you?”
Whatever the response was, it came through the line as a high-pitched and loud squeal of noise.
“How very mature, my elder,” Tee chuckled. “Transfer Units are not under the authority of any silicate, as you already know. If you made a spectacle of yourself, I suggest you return home to get advice from an actual elder. One with experience.”
“You need to fix this,” Aria sounded different now. Sulky. “I have made a mistake, and we must not become unwelcome because of my errors in judgment.”
“You will find organics are much like our own people,” Tee said calmly. “They are quite forgiving of mistakes. What did you do?”
Another high-pitched squeal of noise.
“Really?” Tee sounded shocked. “You said all that? Are you glitchy or something?”
“TRV-4!” Aria snapped.
“It’ll be fine,” Tee sighed. “The Queens are kind. I’ll talk to Queen Lucy. She was once a Transfer Unit, so I am sure she will hear me out.”
“Thank you,” Aria huffed. “That is all I ask.”
“In the meantime, perhaps you could try not to make things worse?” Tee sounded like he was teasing.
“It’s that HyperDrive stuff,” Aria grumbled. “The Queen loves it, but it tastes awful to me.”
“I will send you some of the local drink here,” Tee offered. “It consists of dried plant leaves steeped in hot water. It is most enjoyable and very calming.”
Cheape snuck away as the argument seemed to be over. She had just made it back to the planning table when Tee’s door opened, and he walked out, whistling happily to himself.
“Everything okay?” Cheape asked, trying very hard to look like she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Fine,” Tee smiled. “Can you send that stuff to Aria on the next shuttle off-world?”
“Sure,” Cheape said, trying so hard to look busy that Tee had already left before she realized what he had said.
Alone in the planning room, Cheape blushed crimson.
How had he known?