Spurred on by his thirst for revenge, Macha hadn’t lifted his eyes from the documents since leaving the oasis. During the whole journey to Bandanii city, he barely ate, or slept. Immersed in his study, it seemed that not even the jolting of the cart could break his attention. He didn’t divert from his task neither when the city appeared as a dot on the horizon, nor when the majesty of its walls interrupted the rays of the sun. Now and then, only when a paper had satiated his curiosity, he’d scratch his chin or frown for a moment right before shuffling it away to devour another one.
“Interesting,” he’d say, or: “Plausible, but…”
“What is it this time?” Robert asked.
Before Macha gave an answer, the gate guards meticulously inspected every corner of the wagon. Kishnet handed one of them a forged document, mimicking the handwriting of the city’s head of security, which allowed them to pass without question. Once inside, Macha put the papers aside and moved to the edge, checking each detail of the bustling slave trades around them.
“Vega’s side seems solid,” Macha finally said. “And with a lot of work I might learn to behave like a Count. But no matter how well I learn, without funds, no one will believe me. I don’t want to appear as I’m exploiting this opportunity to squander resources, but the rich spend lavishly, and the wealthier they are, the more they do it. Same problem with the plantations’ security. Numbers are not enough. We will need to prove the business proposal has capital.”
Robert gathered the documents and carefully tucked them into his side bag. “Leave that to me,” he murmured before stepping down the wagon. “I bought gold from the initial investment and arranged a meeting with all the investors. I’ll use that gold to lure in more capital and cover your needs with that.”
Macha chuckled. “That side of the mountain is completely dry. You know that, right? I hope when they find out, the sickness has taken Kumar. I’d be way more compassionate than what such scum may do to him.”
“I am the sole owner of the prospecting company, all blames will land on me.” Robert skipped to the street side to let through a long line of slaves dragging chains over the cobblestones. The bulging crowd pushed them towards the shops, and Macha took the break to check the merchandise piled up behind the glass.
“Those people are the filth of this city, mate,” he said, eyes drifting around elegant, yet useless prosthetics.
“I’ll handle it.”
As much as Macha pretended he didn’t care about having a new arm, his expression tilted to the opposite. Robert stepped closer, pulling his side bag at the front to avoid sneaking hands so common to those streets. “Those are as effective as a peg leg. Do you see the copper arm? Those wires on the side are used with the other hand. Cumbersome. Donna’s pieces connect to the muscles and nerves. And even though you won’t have any tact, it will be like having a new arm.
“As soon as we arrive and she gets the correct measurements, we can begin the procedures. It will take you a little while to get used to it, but the process is quite fast.”
Macha stroked his stump. “Once, while we were sailing in Southern Wei, I made a mistake that left Em limping for a month. He never complained once. He always said that after his prosthetic operations, nothing seemed to hurt too much.”
“He was not wrong. The pain is excruciating, although something tells me such penance will not bother you.”
“Nay, it won’t.”
Kishnet, who had delayed getting rid of the wagon, rushed to join them. “I’ll head to the office first, start preparing the papers for the new deals. Meet you later.”
Robert nudged Macha, and they resumed their walk in the opposite direction of the lawyer. Macha seemed more uplifted now, his eyes wandering to every strange animal, flamboyant outfit or each prosthetic user navigating the vibrant streets of the merchant’s quarters. It took a little more to reach Donna’s shop. The tingling of the bell amused Macha greatly, and he crossed the door with a gaze fixed on the golden bell. Robert announced their arrival, but no one responded to the calls. After a few moments, Robert dragged a stool and invited Macha to wait comfortably.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“They must have gone somewhere nearby,” Robert said, his tone measured. “Wait here.”
“I want to see Lim.” Macha stepped forward, ignoring the stool on his feet. “Where is she?”
Robert dragged the stool back to Macha’s side. His insistence pushed the young man to a corner. “First Lim, later the rest,” he repeated.
“Since she left the Ballerina, her health worsened and nowadays she is very weak. Give me a moment to prepare everything, please.”
Submitting to Robert’s wishes, Macha accepted the seat without leaving her corner. A strategic place where he could see the entrance and no one could surprise him from behind.
With the big-headed boy convinced, the machine headed towards the store’s end. He retrieved a small key hidden in a pocket’s fold and unlocked a door hidden behind a rag. Macha’s eyes followed his moves, frustration and scrutiny overflowing his features.
He would have to wait. Lim needed to be told first.
Robert closed the door quietly behind him and climbed the stairs with deliberate care. He didn’t want to make any noise. Lim was indeed frail, almost at the break of death. He had not lied. Her choice to abandon the power of the sphere had taken a severe toll on her human side and despite their repeated attempts to reconnect her to it, nothing worked. Age had run its course. An unnaturally long life turned into a baggage her humanity could no longer bear in any other way than stranded on a bed.
Her condition was delicate. The last time Rober had seen her, she was hardly awake, and when she was, she spoke nonsensical or without reason. It was now essential to wake her with care and conscientiously prepare the visit to avoid an emotional shock.
Donna’s upper floor, usually where she slept when work, kept her late into the night, had been the old anthropoid home. Her sanctuary. A place where she had been reading adventures in old books before falling even more ill. Since she had arrived, she asked very little about Robert. In truth, she asked almost nothing about anyone, and it didn’t take long for her to forget about herself too. But even on her last visits, when her mind turned to the worse, few names repeated in her lips. Ivy, Em and Macha. Names, not even she knew who their owners were.
Robert knocked and slowly opened the door. He didn’t feel the freeze of his shock, although his body stopped suddenly, as any human would have done. The bed where Lim had listened to Donna read her the old adventure tales she enjoyed the most, was empty. Robert’s eyes dropped to the floor. Any human would have realized what had happened in a short time, but he did it in an instant.
He returned to the lower floor even more slowly and quietly than his ascent, grateful for not really having to sustain the frailties of human feelings. What he wanted most in the world, the power to feel, was now what he most wanted to avoid.
‘It was to be expected,’ Claudia said. ‘The probability of-’
‘Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything about probabilities, or expected outcomes, or the damn circle of life.’
‘I’ll miss her too, but we need to think about-’
‘You won’t.’ Rob halted at the door. ‘So won’t I. That’s what we are. Heartless machines. We need no heart for the mission ahead, right? That’s what you said. That’s what you wanted. So be it. No heart, no pain, no grief. And no more pretending we do. Let me blow more bad news to the kid and move on.’
The news had blew on Macha’s face indeed, but not from Robert. In his absence upstairs, Donna had arrived and done the job. He was curled on the floor, head down, hidden between his legs and arms. Donna turned, her eyes red. She embraced Robert. He didn’t need it but it felt clear to him she did it for herself.
“When?” Robert asked, his voice cold.
“A few days ago,” Donna replied through sobs. “I finished reading her and then she spoke. I was so surprised! She didn’t speak for a while and she felt so full of energy. Then she talked about Em and her ship. I…I was so happy she remembered. She said she wanted to sail to an island where they once had a house. And Ivy would fish the dinner and Macha would help Em repair the ceiling while she’d walk down the shores until dawn. Then she went to sleep and took her last breath.”