\nWhen you\u2019re going extinct, everything\u2019s personal.\n<\/p>\n
\nChapter 1<\/b>\n<\/p>\n
\nKahal bristled as the third auto-taxi in a row passed him by, clearly unoccupied and flashing its rooftop Hail Me Now <\/em>holosign as if to spite him. He ducked back under the Sapien Museum awning to get out of the acid rain and figure out just how he was going to make it back to camp now.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal\u2019s foraging job had taken longer than planned. He blamed the museum\u2019s new aerial surveillance mini-drones for that. They had followed him around incessantly, like a swarm of little electric flies. It had taken forever to lose them.\n<\/p>\n \nWhy the Sapien Museum had upgraded its security system was beyond him. After all, who wanted to pilfer the ancient kipple stored in its dusty hollows anyway? No one, that was who.\n<\/p>\n \nWell, no one except him.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal flicked his headgear\u2019s half-face visor down, tapped its smartbox above his right temple, and while it powered on, reached into his slingbag for what he\u2019d stolen from the museum.\n<\/p>\n \nStolen? Kahal huffed. How could it be stealing if it originally belonged to him, to his kind? It was the machines who had stolen it from them, along with everything else. What Kahal was doing wasn\u2019t stealing. It was reclaiming. And back at camp, Hinyan\u2019s life was depending on it.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 2<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe Tobor Corporation\u2019s tri-tone sogo blared in Kahal\u2019s inner ear, where his headgear\u2019s smartbox flash-beamed audio signals. The jingly sonic logo echoed away as the corporation\u2019s emblem flared in the centre of his visor\u2019s Heads-Up Display. Kahal only managed to half hold back a growl at the sight of the mocking colophon, a fire-orange nautilus slowly rotating counter-clockwise.\n<\/p>\n \nThe machine-run conglomerate was the whole reason the world was dying. And their use of a nautilus for their emblem, the symbol of nature\u2019s growth and renewal, was just an insult to what was left of the human race, or the sapien race as the machines insisted on calling them.\n<\/p>\n \nThe oceans frothed with industrial machine waste now. And what little life was left in them would be gone in two or three decades, at best.\n<\/p>\n \nThe land was pocked with thousand-kilometre-wide and thousand-kilometre-deep terraced pit mines. Or it was scorched to crystalline ash by the bombardment of solar rays that the thinned atmosphere and irradiated rainclouds couldn\u2019t hold back anymore.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd everywhere else the planet was scabbed over with carbon-carboncrete, black steel, and dark borosilicate glass. Hulking inter-connected machine cities that towered higher than the eye could see, veined with wide roadways of screaming twenty-four-hour traffic belching up the new sallow-orange sky.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gritted his teeth at what the machines had done to his world. Their insatiable appetite for destruction was driving the entire sapien race to extinction.\n<\/p>\n \nExcept, of course, for the hybrids.\n<\/p>\n \nThe machines valued the sapiens that chose to meld with them. But, Kahal thought, were the hybrids even sapien anymore, or were they just machines now? Was there some measurable amount of flesh and bone and nerve you could replace with circuitry and endoskeleton-bionics and nano-nootropics, but still be sapien? Or was it all or nothing, one or the other, sapien or machine?\n<\/p>\n \nTOBOR CORPORATION splashed across the inside of Kahal\u2019s visor in thick osmium-blue block letters.\n<\/p>\n \nHe stopped trying to decide how much cyberware it took before you weren\u2019t sapien anymore as the corporation\u2019s introductory warning thrummed in his ear.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWelcome. You are accessing the Tobor Corporation\u2019s Sapien Portal,\u201d the neuter machine voice began.\n<\/p>\n \nBesides, Kahal thought, he wasn\u2019t a philosopher. He was a forager. He\u2019d let the thinkers figure out whether the hybrids were sapien or machine, or something else altogether. Right now, he had a real problem to deal with, how to make it out of the city and back to camp, alive.\n<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n \nChapter 3<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf you or someone you know is experiencing decline,\u201d the Tobor Corporation\u2019s message rambled on in his head, \u201cvisit the nearest tele-booth and speak with one of our authorized representatives to find out if you qualify for longevity treatment. … If you or someone you–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nKahal moved his eyes up-left and stopped the looped message from repeating. In a subvocalized murmur he said, \u201cSap-Stat.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHis visor\u2019s smartplexi was imbedded with an Ocular-Detection Matrix that rendered eye gestures into operational commands. But for tasks too complicated for Oc-Det, or like right now when he wanted to save time, he could use his headgear\u2019s voice-control.\n<\/p>\n \nInside his black carbon-weave slingbag, Kahal fingered the glass vials he\u2019d reclaimed from the Sapien Museum\u2019s Med-Lab installation. It was hard to believe something so small could save Hinyan\u2019s life. But the Doc had been very clear that it was the only chance she had left.\n<\/p>\n \nThe words TOBOR CORPORATION dimmed, minimized to the bottom of his Heads-Up Display, and then just sat there, like a chyron.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWelcome, Kahal Lander,\u201d the voice in his head announced in the same mechanical monotone it said everything. Then his Sapien-Status homepage lit up the inside of his visor.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal flicked his eyes up and the Sap-Stat directory on the right side of his HUD scrolled. He read the options as they flitted by, trying not to look at his holoimage staggeredly rotating on the left side of the screen.\n<\/p>\n \nHe hated that shoulders-up, 3D projection. It didn\u2019t even look like him. Not really. They\u2019d shorn his thick black hair nearly to the scalp before they\u2019d holo-scanned him. Standard demoralizing machine practice. It hadn\u2019t fully grown back yet, but it was getting there.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal narrowed his eyes and the scrolling directory came to a stop. He focused on CREDITS, blinked twice, fast, and the nested page opened to fill the whole of his HUD. His day\u2019s credit-by-credit breakdown began to populate the screen.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGo, end,\u201d Kahal said.\n<\/p>\n \nWith a blur, the itemized list whisked to the bottom, where his remaining credit balance was lit bold.\n<\/p>\n \nHe had plenty of credits. More than enough to afford a ride to the city limits. So why wouldn\u2019t a single auto-taxi stop for him?\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cTime,\u201d Kahal muttered to his headgear\u2019s smartbox, and 03:34SMT lit up at the top-left corner of his HUD.\n<\/p>\n \nHe gasped. It was half past three in the morning Standard Machine Time already!\n<\/p>\n \nBut everything made sense now. An awful, terrifying sense.\n<\/p>\n \nThere wasn\u2019t an auto-taxi in all of Capek that would give Kahal a ride now. Not because it was so late. But because it was so late and he was sapien.<\/em> More demoralizing machine tactics.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal was at least a hundred kilometres from the edge of the city, and completely on his own now. And his options were pretty limited. Really, he had only one. And if it didn\u2019t get him killed, this would be the luckiest night of his life.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 4<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gave the vial of medicine in his slingbag one last turn between his fingers, to bolster himself. Hinyan\u2019s life was literally in his hands.\n<\/p>\n \nShe\u2019d been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last three days with what the Doc called a critical fever. Not that Kahal knew of any other kind of fever.\n<\/p>\n \nThey had done everything to cool her down. But nothing worked. Then they tried to warm her up and break the fever. But that didn\u2019t work either. And she kept getting worse.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Doc said Hinyan wouldn\u2019t make it past the end of the week if they couldn\u2019t get rid of her fever. The end of the week was tomorrow. He had to get back to camp.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal slipped the vial back into its protective foam sleeve beside the other two, snapped the holding container shut, zipped up his slingbag, and yanked its chest-straps tight.\n<\/p>\n \nHe took a breath. \u201cHinyan\u2019s depending on you,\u201d he muttered, trying to steel himself for what he had to do.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 5<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe dark irradiated rain spattered Kahal\u2019s visor as he hurried down the Sapien Museum steps to the curb-lit street below.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cMap,\u201d he instructed the Tobor Corporation interface as he walked at a brisk, but not too-taxing pace. He couldn\u2019t afford to wear himself out now, since odds were he\u2019d need his energy to run later.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was the middle of the night. He was sapien. And his only way out of the city now was on the old tram lines. And to get to them, he would have to go through some pretty dodgy districts.\n<\/p>\n \nHis Sapien-Status page minimized to a soft-orange icon on the left edge of his HUD. The background nautilus symbol pulsed fiery red a few times and the mechanism pulled up a grid map of the city, his only hope of navigating the dark and dangerous streets of Capek now.\n<\/p>\n \nA pink-and-blue glare caught Kahal\u2019s eye, and he turned.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cClear view,\u201d he subvocalized, and the nano-active surface of his visor repelled the black rain obscuring his vision.\n<\/p>\n \nComing up on his left was…an auto-taxi?\n<\/p>\n \nThe vehicle slowed and its passenger side window opened.\n<\/p>\n \nNo, it wasn\u2019t an auto-taxi, he now saw, but a machine-operated one. Maybe this was going to be his lucky night after all, he thought. And he could use some luck right now. And so could Hinyan.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 6<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal moved closer to the lit curb to get a look inside the taxi.\n<\/p>\n \nIt wasn\u2019t common for machine-operated taxis to stop for sapiens at this hour. But it did happen. After all, credits were credits, no matter where they came from. And the thing had pulled over to him all on its own, which Kahal took to be a promising sign.\n<\/p>\n \nThrough the open window, he saw the dull glint of the machine\u2019s metal knuckles as it stretched its arm across the front seat and leaned over to eye him up.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was an old, hefty Mack. A brute-looking thing with broad shoulders and a boxy face. But what really caught Kahal\u2019s attention were the sections of shiny chrome plating on its chest. It must have paid a pretty credit for those add-ons.\n<\/p>\n \nIf the machine was that keen on cosmetic upgrades, Kahal thought, then surely it wouldn\u2019t pass up a fare, even a sapien\u2019s. And especially when they both knew it could double the fare and Kahal would still pay.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 7<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe taxi-driving machine locked eyes with Kahal. The vehicle hummed softly as it hovered a few feet off the ground. And the black rain sparked with little phosphorescent flares here and there.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou looking at me?\u201d the driver finally said, a metal grind in its throat.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal\u2019s brow furled. What kind of a question was that? There was no one else on the street. Of course he was looking at him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI need to get to Sapien Country,\u201d Kahal told the machine. \u201cSouth side of Capek, sector forty-three, exit-tunnel fifteen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s a long way to go on feet, Jack,\u201d the machine replied, its steel jaw making clacking noises as it pantomimed speech.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal flipped his visor up to get a better look at the thing, one not obscured by the navigation grid overlaid across his HUD.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNot Jack,\u201d he told the driver.\n<\/p>\n \nWhy the machines called every sapien they met \u2018Jack\u2019 was beyond him. And besides, the taxi would have registered his smartbox\u2019s ID burst the second it came within range and its dashboard info-screen would have popped up his holoimage and identification specs.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook…\u201d Kahal started to say, then stopped, stepped closer, and slouched to peer through the open window. \u201cWhat do I call you? What\u2019s your name?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe knew better than to call the machine \u2018Mack\u2019 right to its shiny metal face.\n<\/p>\n \nThe driver clanked a knuckle against its taxi license bolted to the top of the vehicle\u2019s dash.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cName\u2019s Jerry,\u201d he said, under-pronouncing the \u2018J\u2019 so that it sounded more like \u2018Geary\u2019. Then he added, his left eye-light blinking off and on, the equivalent of a machine wink, \u201cBut you can call me Jerry.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThis machine was a real hoot, Kahal thought sarcastically, and glanced at the license.\n<\/p>\n \nThe thing had been driving for nearly a century already. Long enough to really hone those infuriation skills it had, or to be suffering from neural-net entropy. The difference between the two was actually not that easy to spot.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook, Jerry,\u201d Kahal tried again. \u201cI need to get to section forty-three, exit-tunnel fifteen. So, how much is that gonna cost me?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nJerry made a grinding grumble sound in his throat, as if he was thinking, and then said, \u201cThat\u2019s all the way on the south side of Capek. That\u2019s pretty far.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, I know that. Just tell me how much.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell, I\u2019d say it\u2019s gonna cost a lot.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSpecifics, Jerry,\u201d Kahal said, impatience creeping into his voice. \u201cTell me how many credits.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh,\u201d the Mack chortled. \u201cWell, a lot more than you got.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou don\u2019t know how many credits I have.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s true. But I\u2019ll tell you this,\u201d the machine replied, lowering its tone as though it was about to share some well kept secret with him. \u201cHowever many creds you have, the trip\u2019s gonna cost more.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut that\u2019s just–\u201c Kahal started to protest, but the machine cut him off.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd besides, my taxi\u2019s full.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFull?\u201d Kahal couldn\u2019t stop blurting out. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody in your taxi but you, Jerry.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cExactly,\u201d the machine rebuffed. \u201cNo body,<\/em> just me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal didn\u2019t need to hear the thing\u2019s sputtering attempt at laughter to know the game it was up to now.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo body now. No body ever,\u201d the driver shouted, and pointed a metal digit at Kahal. \u201cYou remember that, Sape,\u201d he added in a no less aggressive tone. Then he sped off, chanting, \u201cNo body now. No body ever. No body now. No body ever.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nIt was a senseless anti-sapien slogan. Not only did the Macks obviously have bodies, but Tobor Corporation, who made them, who made 90% of all the machines in Capek, had one goal, to create a machine that was not just indistinguishable from a sapien, but even more sapien than sapien. Whatever that meant. But try explaining that to a Mack. They weren\u2019t having any of that logic.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nThe taxi-driving Mack was a royal toolbox for pulling over just to waste his time and harass him, Kahal reflected as he flipped his visor back down and started walking again. But at least that\u2019s all he did. Kahal had heard stories about sapiens losing a lot more than just time and pride out on the city streets at night.\n<\/p>\n \nAt the next intersection Kahal turned right, down what by day was a bustling and geometrically dazzling strip of glass shop-pods stacked as high as any building in Capek. Here and there those pods even stretched across the street overhead, like bobbly bridges of glowing glass orbs.\n<\/p>\n \nBut when night came, and the bustle stopped, things got dangerous down here. For sapiens, and for machines too. But there was no other way to make it to the trams before morning. And Kahal had a bad feeling about that taxi-driving Mack. The thing might come back, and do more than just harass him this time. He had to risk it.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 8<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nAt night, the kilometres-long commercial stretch Kahal was on became what the elder sapiens called a shooting gallery.<\/em> What that meant back in the pre-machine world wasn\u2019t exactly clear. But what it meant now was that Kahal was in the worst possible place a sapien could be in Capek at nearly four in the morning.\n<\/p>\n \nAny Mack he ran into down here would be completely unpredictable owing to whatever electro-chemical cocktail it had buzzing around its system.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Tobor Corporation didn\u2019t tolerate such behaviour, and so the Macks down here usually stayed under cover of darkness, and out of sight. Usually.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal quickened his pace and stayed close to the dim-lit shop-pods beside him, trying to keep to the shadows.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAerial view,\u201d he subvocalized to his smartbox. \u201cLocation indicator on-screen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHis Heads-Up Display\u2019s street-level perspective receded and dipped away as the view in his visor shot straight up to just above the building tops around him. Then it widened and showed him a three-block outline in every direction. That top-down view of the streets, alleys, and pedestrian passageways, along with his location indicator pinpointing where he was, were vital if he was going to make it through the shooting gallery unscathed. Or at least alive.\n<\/p>\n \nA small blue indicator-dot blinked to life on the map-grid and slowly inched along as Kahal walked up the street. That was him.\n<\/p>\n \nBut he abruptly stopped when he saw four red dots light up just around the corner of the passageway he was about to cross.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Macks down here would be jamming their location nodes, for obvious reasons. So the only warning he\u2019d get about their whereabouts would be from his smartbox\u2019s proximity detector. He had it set to high, but with all the steel and insulated glass and carbon-carboncrete around, he\u2019d be lucky if it picked up anything more than fifty meters away.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal waited for the next deluge of black rain to hit. And when it did, thrashing the glass shop-pods with a cacophony of pings and dings, and driving the four Macks around the corner tight against the wall for cover, he sprinted across the passageway.\n<\/p>\n \nThen he ran nearly halfway to the next intersection before he stopped to look back.\n<\/p>\n \nHe saw the four Macks stumbled out of the passageway. One tripped over the lit curb and fell into the street, much to the others\u2019 amusement.\n<\/p>\n \nYeah, they were blenderheads all right, Kahal thought to himself as he caught his breath. And they were zipped-out on something pretty strong, too. They probably wouldn\u2019t pose any real threat judging by the state they were in. But whoever sold them the stuff they were on might.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHalf-screen. Front view. Ten-times zoom,\u201d Kahal whispered to his smartbox.\n<\/p>\n \nHis HUD\u2019s map-view shifted left and adjusted its ratio to accommodate the smaller area it now filled. His visor\u2019s camera made a soft buzzing sound as it zoomed in on the stumbling Macks and brought them into sharp focus on the right side of his visor screen.\n<\/p>\n \nThey weren\u2019t task Macks like the taxi driver. These were mid-echelon functionary machines. And judging from their nimble builds, soft edges, and smooth chromium exteriors, they were pretty freshly minted as well.\n<\/p>\n \nThe one in the street got itself upright with some effort and tottered around in a daze while its colleagues on the walkway pointed and hollered at it.\n<\/p>\n \nBut their warnings came too late.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal cringed as a speeding vehicle clipped the Mack in the street. The thing whirled around a few times before it tripped back over the glowing curb and fell in a battered heap next to its friends. The Mack\u2019s left arm sparked at the shoulder, its chrome \u2018skin\u2019 wrenched open wide enough to expose its titanium frame. But the thing didn\u2019t seem to notice, or care, as it got to its feet again, this time with a little help from the others.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCamera off. Resume full-screen map,\u201d Kahal subvocalized as he turned and started to walk again.\n<\/p>\n \nThey were probably zipped-out on PKD, he figured. It was pretty popular with the new Macks, or so he\u2019d heard.\n<\/p>\n \nPKD was based on an old neural scrambler ligand that had been revamped and exponentially intensified using logic gate blockers and a nano-scale delivery system. Basically, every electro-neuron in those Macks\u2019 wetware brains was firing at once. Right now, they didn\u2019t know up from down, or left from right. Hell, they probably didn\u2019t even know whether they were a Mack or a sapien.\n<\/p>\n \nPKD was about as close as a machine could get to euphoria, to seeing and thinking, or, really, computing things that weren\u2019t there, that weren\u2019t real.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal pulled his jacket collar higher as another blanket of irradiated rain battered him. He could feel the pins-and-needles sting where the downpour was starting to seep through the old garment\u2019s stitching and burn his skin.\n<\/p>\n \nHe was about to check his distance from the tram lines when INCOMING… flashed in the top-right corner of his HUD, the little ellipsis winking on and off as it awaited his command.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was bad enough that he was using real-time street-nav, and pinging his own location on it to boot. But taking a Heads-Up Display call, well, he might as well just send out an ambient broadcast burst letting every Mack in a ten-kilometre radius know that he was a lone sapien wandering through the shooting gallery at four in the morning.\n<\/p>\n \nBut, everyone back at camp knew where he was, and what he was doing. They wouldn\u2019t be trying to contact him unless it was important, important enough to put his life at more risk than it already was. He had to answer the call.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 9<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOpen channel,\u201d Kahal whispered to his smartbox. Then he added, \u201cAudio, right ear only, half-volume.\u201d He couldn\u2019t risk being too distracted, even if the call was important.\n<\/p>\n \nA video-link window curtained open in the top-right corner of his Heads-Up Display.\n<\/p>\n \nHe smiled instantly when he saw Sem\u2019s face, her dark brow pinched and her eyes looking down, not up into the video-comm camera, as she struggled to work the communications device.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m here,\u201d Kahal said.\n<\/p>\n \nSem looked up, and her frown deepened to a scowl. \u201cHow long have you been watching me?\u201d Her voice was interrogative.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLong enough,\u201d Kahal replied, and watched Sem\u2019s eyes tighten.\n<\/p>\n \nShe subvocalized a growl. \u201cLong enough for what?\u201d she demanded.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLong enough to know that I still love you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSem grunted. \u201cYou\u2019re lucky,\u201d she told him.\n<\/p>\n \nHe was. And he knew it.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhere are you?\u201d Sem asked, her voice now sounding anxious.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cStill in Capek,\u201d Kahal answered vaguely, not wanting to worry her.\n<\/p>\n \nShe arched a displeased eyebrow at him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m in the shooting gallery,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut I\u2019m almost–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat!\u201d she interrupted, and leaned in close the comm camera. \u201cThat\u2019s like the most dangerous place in the city. That was definitely not <\/em>part of the plan. Why are you there?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s a long story,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, as I was saying, I\u2019m almost through,\u201d he lied, hoping to calm her. \u201cSo don\u2019t worry. But look, why are you calling? What\u2019s wrong?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Sem replied, her eyes wide. \u201cYou were supposed to be back over four hours ago. That\u2019s what\u2019s wrong.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, well,\u201d Kahal sighed. \u201cI got held up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou don\u2019t say,\u201d Sem snapped. \u201cLook, did you get the medicine?\u201d Her voice was starting to sound anxious again.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, I got it,\u201d Kahal told her, and patted his slingbag, not that she could see.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd how long until you\u2019re back?\u201d Sem asked, the look on her face tightening.\n<\/p>\n \nThis wasn\u2019t like Sem at all, Kahal thought. He\u2019d been late returning lots of times. It was basically part of the job when he went foraging in the city. There was something she wasn\u2019t telling him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI don\u2019t know how long exactly,\u201d he said finally. \u201cA few hours, I guess. I\u2019m going to have to take a tram, and they\u2019re never reliable. Plus, I still have to get to the station, and this rain isn\u2019t making that easy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cA few hours?\u201d Sem exclaimed.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook,\u201d Kahal said, and stopped walking. \u201cTell me what\u2019s going on. For real.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSem took a deep breath and looked away for a second.\n<\/p>\n \nHer short hair, shorter than Kahal\u2019s at least, draped across the side of her face. He saw her jaw tense a few times as she struggled with what she wanted to say.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal waited. He knew better than to rush her.\n<\/p>\n \nSem let out an exhale, pushed her hair behind her ear, and turned back to the comm camera. \u201cHinyan doesn\u2019t have a few hours.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut–\u201c Kahal bit his tongue and let Sem finish.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe Doc says she\u2019s slipped into a coma, or something like that. The point is, she needs that medicine now, or she\u2019s not going to make it to the morning. And that can\u2019t happen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSem bit her lip. \u201cWithout Hinyan we\u2019re nothing,\u201d she said. Something like determination and anger and sadness all flared in her eyes at the same time. \u201cWithout Hinyan we\u2019re just a band of sapiens watching themselves go extinct.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal knew Sem was right. Hinyan was old, but she was the only thing that held them together, that kept them focused. Without her… He didn\u2019t even want to think about it.\n<\/p>\n \nThere had to be a way to get back to camp with the medicine, he just needed time to think of one. But that was the problem, he didn\u2019t have any time.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf I could jury-rig my smartbox,\u201d Kahal mumbled, thinking of the little side project he and Regg had been working on. \u201cMaybe I could trick one of those auto-taxis into thinking I\u2019m a Mack, or at least a hybrid. Because I\u2019ve got more than enough creds for a taxi to–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nKahal went silent as a red machine-location-light popped up on his HUD. It was about a hundred meters away, and moving toward him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Sem asked.\n<\/p>\n \nA Mack that wasn\u2019t jamming its location node down here was either in trouble, or was so zipped-out of its circuits that it was trouble. Either way, he didn\u2019t plan to stick around and find out.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI have to go,\u201d he whispered to Sem over the comm link.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut–\u201c she tried to protest.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI have to,\u201d he told her, taking his eyes off the menacing red dot moving toward him to look at Sem through the video comm camera. \u201cI\u2019ll be back in time, I promise,\u201d he said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou know I hate promises,\u201d Sem said, her eyes tightening.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah,\u201d Kahal replied, starting to feel antsy to get moving. \u201cLook, tell the Doc that I have the medicine, and that I\u2019ll be there in time, somehow. Okay?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOkay,\u201d Sem agreed, reluctantly. \u201cBut don\u2019t make me a liar. Because I hate those too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal shot Sem a half-smile and a wink in the white-blue light illuminating the underside of his visor.\n<\/p>\n \nShe rolled her eyes at him, playfully. Then, with her lips pressed tight together, she gave him a rallying nod and reached somewhere off-screen to end their call.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal watched Sem\u2019s grainy image curtain shut, then disappear.\n<\/p>\n \nShe was a hundred kilometres away, twenty of those past the city perimeter, hunkered down in their operations tent, waiting for the medicine for Hinyan, waiting for him.\n<\/p>\n \nHe reached inside his jacket and fingered the braided necklace she\u2019d made him out of old carbon line and felt that distance vanish in a heartbeat. It was like she was right next to him. In his arms. And nothing else mattered.\n<\/p>\n \nExcept that a lot else did matter. Hinyan only had hours to live now. Jury-rigging his smartbox was a great idea, but only an idea. And now some zipped-out Mack had spotted his locator and was maybe coming after him.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 10<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal scanned the aerial-view map on his HUD as he hurried along.\n<\/p>\n \nTen paces ahead, on his right, was a narrow pedestrian passageway off the shooting gallery\u2019s main strip. It would be a lot more dangerous down there, but he didn\u2019t have a choice if he wanted to avoid that Mack.\n<\/p>\n \nThe next big intersection was fifty meters distant. He\u2019d have better options for keeping out of sight there. But that cross-street was midway between him and the Mack blinking on his HUD. And if it came to a footrace, he didn\u2019t stand a chance against a machine, even if the thing was zipped-out on something.\n<\/p>\n \nNeither option was good. And backtracking was out of the question. He didn\u2019t have time for that, and it would mean contending with those four blenderheads.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal turned and started running down the pedestrian passageway. It was barely ten feet wide, and dark. And the thrashing rain made it almost impossible to see anything.\n<\/p>\n \nHe had to use the live map on his HUD to navigate, even though it leaked his location, because without it he\u2019d be running blind. And he wasn\u2019t desperate enough yet to risk turning on his visor\u2019s headlamps. Though the deeper he went into the shooting gallery, the closer he got to being that desperate.\n<\/p>\n \nUp ahead, another passageway crossed the one Kahal was on. If he took it left, it would get him to the big avenue on the other side of the block of shops beside him.\n<\/p>\n \nBut that damn Mack\u2019s little red dot was already on that avenue, moving parallel to him now. It almost looked like the thing was following him.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal picked up the pace.\n<\/p>\n \nThe red dot turned right, down the passageway Kahal had just crossed, and sped up as well.\n<\/p>\n \nThat was either an uncanny coincidence, or the Mack really was following him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWiden map diameter, one-hundred-fifty meters,\u201d Kahal told his smartbox, his nerves starting to buzz.\n<\/p>\n \nHe stared hard at the contour outlines of streets and passageways on his HUD, trying to burn the map into his memory.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Mack turned down the same passageway Kahal was on, and started speeding toward him from behind.\n<\/p>\n \nThat was definitely not a coincidence.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal steeled himself, and then told his smartbox to perform a hard shutdown, stopping all processes that leaked trackable data.\n<\/p>\n \nThe red dot that was following him and the map of the surrounding area shrank and vanished with a blip of light and a deflating buzz sound.\n<\/p>\n \nIn mid-stride, Kahal reached up and double-tapped the side of his headgear.\n<\/p>\n \nThe device\u2019s two front-facing soft-beams shot a wide circle of light out ahead of him.\n<\/p>\n \nHe counted the shop-pods as he ran, gauging from memory where he was in the maze of passageways.\n<\/p>\n \nComing up on his right would be another passageway. It snaked around a bit, then switched back and forked. In one direction, it merged back into the passageway it had branched off of. But in the other, it rose up and over it, like a little footbridge, and then made straight to that big avenue Kahal wanted to get to.\n<\/p>\n \nThrough the deluge of black rain he could only see the ground a few feet in front of him. But for now, it was enough.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal reached out and grabbed the edge of the shop-pod on his right. He slid fast around it and started running down the passageway that would lead him to that crucial fork.\n<\/p>\n \nHis lungs burned from exertion, but he willed himself to run faster. He needed to put more distance between him and that Mack.\n<\/p>\n \nWith his smartbox shut down, the Mack could only follow him if it could see him, or if it was close enough to pick him up on its general proximity sensors.\n<\/p>\n \nThe winding passageway Kahal was sprinting down now already had him out of the Mack\u2019s sightlines. And he was counting on the machine slowing down at the fork in the passageway to try to figure out which way he had gone. And that should give him just enough time to get beyond the range of its proximity sensors, and make it to the main street.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal whipped around another bend in the passageway and his visorbeams glinted off something laid across his path. Something big, and metal.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 11<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal leapt into the air, half from instinct, half from surprise.\n<\/p>\n \nHis boots smacked down against the slick paving again and he glanced over his shoulder.\n<\/p>\n \nHe\u2019d just leapt over a Mack. A big one. But, luckily, it hadn\u2019t even twitched.\n<\/p>\n \nThe thing was totally zipped-out. Probably on some error-reboot-loop cocktail, Kahal figured. If the over-clocking didn\u2019t melt its wiring, then the machine was headed for what the Mack\u2019s called an Inception Event.<\/em> If its restart frequency rate exceeded 56 times in 81 seconds, and the thing didn\u2019t blow up, then its central processing hub would literally interrupt its own stream of computation for a micro-second in an attempt to reset its data flow continuum. The resulting experience was like being booted up for the first time. That\u2019s why they called it an Inception Event.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal\u2019s legs burned as he reached the footbridge and raced up it.\n<\/p>\n \nHe took a quick look back as he crested the hump.\n<\/p>\n \nThere wasn\u2019t much to see through the dark sluicing rain. Definitely no blinking lights or shimmering metal. And that was a good thing. It meant the Mack following him was too far back now to see which way he\u2019d gone at the fork in the passageway. And that meant he had a real chance of losing it for good.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal descended the footbridge and let the added momentum thrust him forward, increasing his speed.\n<\/p>\n \nThe light from the big avenue flooded the end of the passageway, and Kahal skidded to a halt as he exited into it. He tapped his smartbox on, and then gulped in lungfuls of air while his visor\u2019s display powered up.\n<\/p>\n \nHe\u2019d made it. The wide avenue beside him was busy with traffic. It wasn\u2019t the middle of the night anymore, it was the beginning of early morning.\n<\/p>\n \nThe streets around him resolved on his Heads-Up Display as the device re-established its aerial map view from before the hard shutdown. The screen started to populate with auto-taxi pop-up windows and morning re-fuelling station indicators.\n<\/p>\n \nBut all Kahal saw was that Mack\u2019s red locator-dot pulsing on the same street as him, ten feet away. Then eight. Then five. Then–\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 12<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell, hello there,\u201d a chipper voice said.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal flicked up his visor, his body abuzz with adrenaline. Through the streaking rain he saw the oddest-looking machine he had ever encountered standing right in front of him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt is awful weather we\u2019re having tonight, isn\u2019t it?\u201d the thing remarked conversationally, its face obscured in shadow from the strange hat it wore. \u201cPerhaps you should share my umbrella?\u201d it suggested, its jaw moving with near sapien articulation. Then, to itself, it said, \u201cIncrease sonic-resonance shell, two-meter-diameter.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAs the water repellent field above the machine extended over Kahal, cutting off the downpour between them, he got a good look at the thing.\n<\/p>\n \nIt wasn\u2019t that big, maybe half a foot taller than Kahal. It was well proportioned, and exceedingly detailed. The thing even had full-knuckled, five-fingered hands. And its exocoating was some kind of semi-fluid, self-regulating material. When it moved, its exterior stretched and then contracted, staying taut and smooth all over, just like real skin.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was definitely not a task Mack, and not even an upper-echelon functionary machine either. It was something else altogether. If he had to guess, he\u2019d say it was a sapienoid.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal had seen a few sapienoids before, from a distance though, never up close like this.\n<\/p>\n \nBut what was the thing doing wandering around the shooting gallery in the middle of the night? And why was it talking to him in a how-do-you-do manner, or at all for that matter? And why was it dressed hat-to-shoes in the kind of suit Kahal had only ever seen in the Sapien Museum? It was all pretty confusing. So much so, that Kahal didn\u2019t immediately know how to react.\n<\/p>\n \nThe sapienoid stepped forward and extended its right hand. \u201cMy name is Habdu,\u201d it said cordially, and with a little smile.\n<\/p>\n \nIf this thing was a blenderhead, Kahal thought, it was the weirdest blenderhead he\u2019d ever crossed paths with.\n<\/p>\n \nThe sapienoid edged its hand a little closer to Kahal. \u201cAnd you are?\u201d it asked, raising its eyebrows.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhy are you following me?\u201d Kahal said, wary, but still too out of breath to make a run for it.\n<\/p>\n \nThe thing frowned, but didn\u2019t retract its outstretched hand.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal tensed, trying to muster some strength out of nowhere.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt is customary to shake hands and exchange names before entering into dialogue with someone you have not met before,\u201d the thing told him in a matter-of-fact tone. Then, its smile returning, it added, \u201cAnd I very much want to practice some of your customs.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou want to practice sapien customs?\u201d Kahal blurted out in disbelief.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI do, yes,\u201d the thing replied in earnest. It straightened its shoulders, nudged its right hand closer to Kahal, and in its cordial tone again, said, \u201cHello. My name is Habdu. It is a pleasure to meet you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal was pretty convinced now that the sapienoid was not a blenderhead. The thing was far too lucid, and it clearly had control over its systems. Its behaviour was completely bizarre, true. But it didn\u2019t seem dangerous. So, he started to wonder, if the thing wasn\u2019t a hazard, could it be a benefit to him?\n<\/p>\n \nA pink-and-blue light flared in the corner of Kahal\u2019s eye as an auto-taxi whipped by a little too close to the edge of the street beside them. And all at once a plan took shape in Kahal\u2019s mind, a plan to get back to camp in time to save Hinyan\u2019s life.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 13<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal reached out and took hold of the sapienoid\u2019s outstretched hand.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHiya, Hab,\u201d he said, and shook the thing\u2019s limb. \u201cYou can call me Kahal.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe sapienoid\u2019s \u2018skin\u2019 was surprisingly soft to the touch. And when Kahal squeezed it, the artificial dermal layer yielded to the pressure, like real flesh would, and he could even feel the contours of the thing\u2019s phalanges bones through it.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou have a strong grip, Kahal,\u201d the sapienoid told him, though it didn\u2019t attempt to match it. \u201cYou are a Man Of Action, yes?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal released Habdu\u2019s hand and watched the dimpled \u2018flesh\u2019 elastic back to its previous form. \u201cYeah, sure,\u201d he said, thinking about how best to coax the machine into helping him.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gave the sapienoid a genial clap on the shoulder. \u201cBut enough about me, Hab,\u201d he said in his friendly voice. \u201cLet\u2019s talk about you. Like, how did you get here?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal didn\u2019t imagine that the thing had taken regular city transit. That would have caused too much attention, especially dressed in an ancient three-piece sapien suit.\n<\/p>\n \nThe task Macks didn\u2019t get on with the sapienoids, to say the least, so a machine-operated taxi was out of the question as well.\n<\/p>\n \nThat meant that Habdu had either come in an auto-taxi, or he had his own private transport parked somewhere nearby. Whichever it was, Kahal didn\u2019t care, because either would get him back to camp ten times faster than the trams.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell,\u201d Habdu began to respond, but then interrupted himself. \u201cIsn\u2019t it a custom for new acquaintances get to know each other over a drink?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal held back a grumble. This little tinker box wasn\u2019t going to make his plan easy.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI would like to try this custom,\u201d Habdu told him, and turned a slow circle to scan the street.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal didn\u2019t have time for this. But his only other option was the trams, and that could take hours, hours Hinyan didn\u2019t have.\n<\/p>\n \nAs they crossed the street to the \u2018establishment\u2019 Habdu had cheerily said he\u2019d located, Kahal decided that he would buy the first round of drinks. If this nutty sapienoid was set on practicing sapien customs, then when it insisted on buying the second round, Kahal would suggest they try another \u2018establishment,\u2019 an authentic sapien bar. Of course no such thing existed, but Habdu wouldn\u2019t know that. So, auto-taxi or private transport, Kahal figured he could get back to camp in half an hour, maybe less.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu swiped his hand over an external wall sensor and the doors to the NUTS N\u2019 BOLTS TAVERN slid open with a whine. He courteously gestured for Kahal to enter first.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal hadn\u2019t been paying much attention to where Habdu was taking him. He\u2019d been fine-tuning his plan, and worrying about Hinyan. But now, as he smelled heavy fumes of oil and hydraulic fluid, and heard the grinding beat of industrial sounds, he wished he had.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 14<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cA table for two, please,\u201d Habdu said. \u201cIn a corner, if you have. Somewhere out of the way enough to converse without having to yell.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal turned and saw the scantily plated machine Habdu was talking to. She looked Habdu up and down with a smirk, then huffed and carried on across the room, a tray of drinks hoisted above her shoulder.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe should leave,\u201d Kahal whispered to Habdu, sensing the tension in the air.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course we should not,\u201d Habdu replied. \u201cThe sign outside was very clear. It said, \u2018ALL THE TIME, ANY TIME, IT\u2019S ALWAYS TIME AT NUTS N\u2019 BOLTS.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThis sapienoid was clueless, Kahal thought. It was like it had never been in the districts before. Like it had never been anywhere in Capek at all.\n<\/p>\n \nThe NUTS N\u2019 BOLTS TAVERN was a task Macks bar, pure and simple. Even the name gave that away. And the Mack Habdu had been talking to was a Rosie. They were big machines, wide around the chassis, and strong. When they weren\u2019t serving drinks, they were showing misbehaving patrons the door, and not in a this-way-to-the-exit-sir kind of way either.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI think something warm would be fitting, don\u2019t you?\u201d Habdu said as he sided up to the chest-high bar. He brushed away some broken glass on the countertop, and leaned his elbow on it. \u201cI mean,\u201d he went on in his conversational tone, \u201cconsidering how awful the weather outside is, something warm seems appropriate. The wet-cold really does chill one to the bones, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu punctuated his last statement with a shudder, as if he actually was cold, which was about as ludicrous as it was impossible. Machines could sense the cold, sure. They could register temperature. But that was not the same thing as feeling it.\n<\/p>\n \nA Rosie suddenly bellowed on the other side of the room, \u201cOne more pinch like that, Jerry, and you know what you\u2019re going to get.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal cringed as he heard the familiar taxi driver\u2019s voice respond, \u201cA whole lotta Rosie, I hope.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nA tableful of sputtering machine laughter and clanking glasses followed.\n<\/p>\n \nThen it abruptly stopped with a clang of metal slapping metal. \u201cThat was your one warning, Jerry,\u201d the Rosie said loudly.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIn that case,\u201d Jerry replied, \u201ca round of warnings for everyone, on the house.\u201d And the table erupted into laughter and clanking glasses again.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook, Hab,\u201d Kahal said, keeping his voice low and his head down. \u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019ve been to a hundred Mack bars like this before.\u201d It was more than obvious that he hadn\u2019t been to even one. \u201cThis must be pretty boring for you. So, I tell you what, if we leave now, I\u2019ll take you to a true sapien bar. It\u2019s not far. Sector forty-three, just outside exit-tunnel fifteen. A real authentic place. You can practice our customs there until your CPUs melt down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThis is actually the first time I\u2019ve been outside the–\u201c Habdu stopped himself. His grey-green eyes went blank for a split second as he silently processed something.\n<\/p>\n \nHis eyes lit back up, and in a nonchalant tone he said, \u201cOf course, yes, hundreds and hundreds of bars just like this one.\u201d He turned and leaned his back against the counter. \u201cBut we are here now, so we might as well have that warm drink before we venture back out into the storming night. And, I see our hostess from before,\u201d he added, looking across the bar. \u201cLet\u2019s give her a second chance to live up to the sign outside, shall we? I\u2019ll wave her over.\u201d And he took off his hat to do just that.\n<\/p>\n \nWhat Kahal saw stopped him cold.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 15<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nA split second later Kahal came to his senses, reached up, and slapped Habdu\u2019s hat back down on his head. But it was too late.\n<\/p>\n \nA hush fell over the room. The industrial noise that passed for music in the place shut off. And the whirling lights from the stage at the far end of the tavern slowed and came to a halt.\n<\/p>\n \nIt hadn\u2019t been a sapienoid brain, or any kind of machine encephalon for that matter, that Kahal had seen through Habdu\u2019s pellucid polymer skullcap.\n<\/p>\n \nThe grey-purple mass was about the size of a cantaloupe and convoluted with folds and creases just like a normal sapien brain would be. But that was the only normal thing about it.\n<\/p>\n \nInstead of being bisected into a right and left hemisphere, Habdu\u2019s brain was divided into quadraspheres. It had four distinct and symmetrical cortex-bundles. And the thing luminesced in spots, quick little bursts of electric light that glowed grey-pink as they lit up the dense matter from the inside.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was no ordinary brain, that was for sure. And Kahal was beginning to think that Habdu was no ordinary machine either.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHey, who let that Noid in here!\u201d a grizzly-sounding Mack shouted from the end of the bar.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal didn\u2019t need to look to know what was coming next.\n<\/p>\n \nHe ducked fast, and the thick drinking glass the machine had hurled along with its slur just missed him.\n<\/p>\n \nBut it didn\u2019t miss Habdu. The hefty vessel exploded against his chest like an unlit Molotov cocktail.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPerhaps I should not have taken my hat off,\u201d Habdu considered as he gingerly plucked shards of glass out of his right shoulder, the frothy drink soaking into his jacket.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYa think?\u201d Kahal gibed.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI do, yes,\u201d Habdu replied, mistaking Kahal\u2019s rhetorical sarcasm for an actual question. \u201cIt would seem that the sight of my cranium upset them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nMore like what\u2019s inside it, Kahal thought, as he looked over his shoulder to see if they could make it to the door before another glass, or worse, was hurled at them. But there were two big Rosies already planted right in front of it, arms crossed, their pink-light eyes glaring at Habdu.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere has to be another way out of here,\u201d Kahal grumbled, and pressed his back against the bar as the mob of machines started to inch toward them.\n<\/p>\n \nUnder the shade of his hat, Habdu\u2019s eyes pulsed. Then he said in a flat, informative tone, \u201cThe NUTS N\u2019 BOLTS TAVERN has four points of egress.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal definitely wanted to know how Habdu acquired that bit of information, and so quickly. But it would have to wait. The Macks had them pinned against the bar, and they looked pretty angry about having intruders in their tavern.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHow many of those exits can we get to?\u201d Kahal said, and looked around for something he could use to fend off the encroaching machines.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu\u2019s eyes flickered. \u201cOne,\u201d he reported. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think you will like it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWill it get us out of here?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThen I like it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 16<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe only things Kahal saw on the bar were dirty glasses and a few bowls of the tavern\u2019s complimentary grease-bubble snacks. He couldn\u2019t hold off a bunch of angry Macks with that.\n<\/p>\n \nBut then he spotted the old brass footrail that ran along the base of the bar. If he could kick a segment of that loose, it would do the job just fine.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo, where\u2019s that exit?\u201d Kahal said, and gave the footrail a strong kick. The thing didn\u2019t even budge.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s the part you won\u2019t like,\u201d Habdu told him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJust tell me, Hab.\u201d Kahal gave the footrail another boot. This time it jostled in its bracings a little. But at this rate, he\u2019d either get mauled by one of those Macks or break his foot before he got a segment of it free.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Habdu asked, his voice curious.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat does it look like?\u201d Kahal gruffed. He could feel a bruise already forming on the bottom of his foot as he continued to kick at the brass tubing.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNothing that has any apparent function,\u201d Habdu said. \u201cThat is why I asked.\u201d Then, in a thoughtful tone he added, \u201cIs this some kind of drinking custom?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe function,<\/em> Hab,\u201d Kahal replied, as he knelt down to see if he could twist the footrail loose, \u201cis to keep those Macks at bay long enough for us to get out of here. Unless you want to find out first-hand what they like to do to sapienoids.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut I am not a sapienoid,\u201d Habdu said, crouched down beside Kahal.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gave Habdu a quick sideways glance, eyeing his hat and thinking of that strange brain it concealed. \u201cYeah, I was starting to figure that.\u201d He motioned over his shoulder. \u201cBut they don\u2019t care what you are, only that you\u2019re not one of them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu tapped his finger against the brass footrail. \u201cAnd you want this?\u201d he said. \u201cTo defend yourself?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUs, Hab,\u201d Kahal told him. \u201cTo defend us. And yeah, I want it. But it\u2019s welded down tighter than a–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu wrenched the meter-long piece of metal out of the floor with startling ease. \u201cHere,\u201d he said, and handed the section of footrail to Kahal, the o-ring fasteners still attached, along with a few chunks of floor as well.\n<\/p>\n \nSapienoid or not, Habdu was as strong as any machine Kahal had ever seen.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt is a rather crude means of defence, though,\u201d Habdu added, sounding almost disappointed. \u201cEspecially for a Man Of Action. But, I suppose your options are somewhat limited at the moment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal hefted the makeshift weapon as he got back to his feet, then gave it a few preliminary swings.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, this\u2019ll do the job,\u201d he said, watching the Macks slow their advance. \u201cNow, where\u2019s that exit, Hab?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUp.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUp?\u201d Kahal took a quick look at the rafters thirty feet above them.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI told you that you wouldn\u2019t like it,\u201d Habdu remarked.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI didn\u2019t say that,\u201d Kahal replied as he spotted the peak-edged glass skylight in the ceiling.\n<\/p>\n \nThe front third of the tavern stuck out from the high building it was attached to. It had probably been an atrium or something before the Macks took it over.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell, you did not use those exact words, true,\u201d Habdu went on. \u201cBut I could detect from the tone in your voice that you–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWait,\u201d a Mack in the crowd hollered, and the machines all stopped in their tracks. \u201cI recognize that Sape.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gritted his teeth as Jerry pushed through the crowd of machines. He pointed a rusty finger at Kahal, and told the mob at his back, \u201cThat\u2019s the Sape who tried to steal my taxi.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe crowd erupted into shouts and fist-waving.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou\u2019re a thief?\u201d Habdu said to Kahal.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe would have ripped my circuits out right there in the street if I hadn\u2019t gotten away when I did,\u201d Jerry went on, riling the crowd. \u201cI tell you, friends, it was the scariest night of my life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd a murderer?\u201d Habdu took a half-step back from Kahal.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course I\u2019m not,\u201d Kahal told him. He gestured at Jerry with the footrail. \u201cHe\u2019s lying, obviously.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI believe that is exactly what a murderer, would say,\u201d Habdu replied.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh, for the love of–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou see?\u201d Jerry shouted, pointing at the length of metal in Kahal\u2019s hand and raising his alloy eyebrows, as if alarmed. \u201cHe\u2019s a killer! A coldblooded machine killer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd he\u2019s working with a Noid,\u201d one of the Macks in the crowd yelled.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI am not a sapienoid,\u201d Habdu tried to explain again. \u201cI am an Advanced Autonomous Intelligence. AAI, for short. And I–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nA tall and lanky Mack stepped forward, took up a spot beside Jerry, and loudly declared, \u201cA Fleshy and Noid in cahoots!\u201d He looked to the taxi driver beside him, his thin, tubular face as serious-looking as low-grade carbon-alloy would permit, and added, \u201cThis is one of the signs you warned us about, isn\u2019t it, Brother Jerry?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNot just a sign, Brother Winston,\u201d Jerry replied, as if on cue. \u201cIt is the sign.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nA fearful murmur passed through the tavern.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhen the Noids join forces with the Sapes,\u201d Jerry went on, turning to face the crowd, \u201cno machine is safe. They will hunt us all down. Every one. And those they can\u2019t re-circuit back into robotic servitude, they will…\u201d He paused dramatically. \u201cThey will recycle!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe room filled with a shudder of mechanical gasps.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLooks like you\u2019re a murderer too,\u201d Kahal whispered to Habdu.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course I am not,\u201d he replied.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal cocked an eyebrow at him, and the Advanced Autonomous whatever-it-was grumbled in response.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat can we do, Brother Jerry?\u201d Winston prompted.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe can fight,\u201d Jerry shouted, and the crowd heaved a holler of agreement. \u201cThis is our tavern. These are our streets. This is our city. I say we take them back, starting tonight.\u201d He raised his metal fist in the air and shook it in time with his words. \u201cTake them back. Take them back. Take them back.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe room filled with raised fists and sixty-odd Mack voices chanting as loud as their vocalizing modulators would allow. \u201cTake them back. Take them back. Take them back.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gripped the footrail tighter and eyed the skylight thirty feet overhead. \u201cI think now would be a good time for us to get the hell out of here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou may be right,\u201d Habdu replied. He pointed to their left and added, \u201cBecause there is a small plasma weapon charging up somewhere over there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 17<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019s a what charging up where?\u201d Kahal said in disbelief.\n<\/p>\n \nHe knew the Macks down here could get rowdy. And this bunch was definitely nuttier than most. But a plasma weapon? That was a whole other level of serious, not to mention totally prohibited.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI said that somewhere in the crowd to our left is a–\u201c Habdu began to explain.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, I heard you,\u201d Kahal cut him off.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu frowned, confused.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere\u2019s no way we\u2019re getting to that skylight now,\u201d Kahal said. \u201cWe need a new exit, Hab.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhy?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBecause that skylight\u2019s thirty feet above us. By the time we find a way to climb up to it, we\u2019ll be plasma dust.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI can jump thirty-seven-point-two-feet upward from a stationary position,\u201d Habdu informed him. \u201cFifty-two with a running start.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGood for you, Hab,\u201d Kahal said, starting to think this was about to be his unluckiest night ever.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI thought you were a Man Of Action,\u201d Habdu frowned. Then his eyes opened wide as he realized something. \u201cOh, yes, I see,\u201d he said, and gently poked Kahal\u2019s leg. \u201cYou have been injured in your life of action, and now you cannot jump.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI can jump just fine,\u201d Kahal snapped. \u201cOnly not three stories straight up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHow much do you weigh?\u201d Habdu asked.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWhat?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe combined mass of all your body parts. What is it?\u201d Habdu said, again taking Kahal\u2019s exclamatory remark as an actual question.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook, Hab, this is not the time for–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI can make a standing jump of exactly thirty feet while carrying a load of 136 kilograms.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal couldn\u2019t hold back a half-smile as he realized what Habdu was saying. \u201cI weigh a hell of a lot less than that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPerfect,\u201d Habdu said, and stretched out both his arms. \u201cShall we?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe shall not,\u201d Kahal snarked as he stepped to Habdu\u2019s side, reached across his shoulders, and took hold of his arm. There was no way he was going to let himself be cradle-carried.\n<\/p>\n \nA rumble of machine sounds drew Kahal\u2019s attention back to the motley of Macks surrounding them.\n<\/p>\n \nThe crowd parted and a short, thick machine lumbered forward with a menacing device hefted in its hands. It wasn\u2019t a plasma weapon <\/em>exactly. But it might as well have been.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf you\u2019re gonna do this, Hab, do it now,\u201d Kahal said, and tightened his grip.\n<\/p>\n \nTen feet away, the stout machine glared at them through its dark visor. It planted its heavy feet on the floor shoulder\u2019s width apart and adjusted the re-fitted plasma arc welder hinged to its double-plated hip. The makeshift energy canon started to buzz and throw blue sparks out the end of its long, perforated nozzle.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes, I think now would be a good time to leave,\u201d Habdu said, and bent low to the ground. \u201cHold on,\u201d he told Kahal, then sprang straight up with bullet-like force.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal dropped the segment of footrail as the upward acceleration nearly winded him. His eyes blurred as they whipped through the air. He blinked to clear his vision and saw the iron rafters getting closer, and fast.\n<\/p>\n \nShouts and hollers erupted below. The Macks weren\u2019t happy.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu reached his arms up, preparing to grab hold of the crosswise girder they were rushing toward. It was only a couple feet away.\n<\/p>\n \nBut then with a jarring whiplash-jerk they came to a dead halt in mid-air.\n<\/p>\n \nBefore Kahal could think, Habdu grabbed him by the shoulders and with immense strength threw him upward.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal clasped his arms around the thick rafter beam of iron, clambered his legs up onto it, and looked down to see Habdu falling back to the tavern floor below.\n<\/p>\n \nNo, not falling exactly, he realized.\n<\/p>\n \nA manufactory Mack with extendable arms had clamped onto Habdu\u2019s right leg and literally plucked him out of the air.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 18<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu\u2019s back hit the floor with a resounding thud, and the machines swarmed in around him.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal stepped across two rafter beams and got to the skylight.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was an iron A-frame with three large panes of frosted glass on either side, protruding a good six feet above the roof. At the far end, Kahal spotted the carbon-line pulley system that opened the panes of glass, flapping them up like wings.\n<\/p>\n \nWith cautious speed, he moved across the iron girding toward the pulleys. He figured Habdu would make short work of the Macks below, given his immense strength, and then leap back up to the rafters before he\u2019d even got the skylight open.\n<\/p>\n \nThe carbon pull-line bit into Kahal\u2019s hands as he yanked on it. The pulley system was nearly rusted solid. It hadn\u2019t been used in a long time. But that wasn\u2019t a surprise. What use would a bunch of Macks have for fresh air? Or air at all for that matter?\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gave another strong heave on the line, and the oxidized cog finally started to rotate.\n<\/p>\n \nA cold, damp gale whipped the side of his face as one three-panel side of the skylight creaked open. Well, at least the rain was starting to let up, Kahal thought, trying to rally himself.\n<\/p>\n \nHe stepped one foot out onto the wet gravel roof, then stopped.\n<\/p>\n \nWhere was Habdu?\n<\/p>\n \nHe looked down.\n<\/p>\n \nThe machines had Habdu held against the bar, two at each arm and one per leg. But Habdu wasn\u2019t trying to get free, never-mind crushing those Macks like tin cans, which Kahal knew he could. He was talking a lot, though, not that any of the Macks were listening.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHab,\u201d Kahal hollered. \u201cWhat are you doing? Get up here!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI cannot,\u201d he yelled back, tilting his head to catch Kahal\u2019s eye.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course you can,\u201d Kahal told him, almost peeved. \u201cSwat those ball-bearing-jointed-buckets to the other side of the room, and get up here.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat is a good plan,\u201d Habdu yelled up to him in response. \u201cBut I cannot.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal caught sight of the lanky Mack from before, Brother Winston, slinking along the inside of the bar, toward Habdu. He had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cCome on, Hab!\u201d he shouted. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the strength of ten Macks. Just–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nWinston hit Habdu in the back of the head with the section of brass footrail so hard that the twang shuddered the skylight glass beside Kahal.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu\u2019s head jolted forward from the violent impact and his hat fell to the floor. One of the Rosies in the crowd stepped up and stamped the thing flat, causing a roar of laughter to fill the room.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal gritted his teeth. What had Habdu ever done to them? Nothing, that\u2019s what.\n<\/p>\n \nThe four Macks holding Habdu\u2019s arms pulled with enough force to tear a sapien limb-from-limb, while Winston delivered another punishing blow to the top of Habdu\u2019s skull with the footrail.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNothing\u2019s getting through that,\u201d Winston said, and leaned on the bar, as if fatigued from his efforts.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNever say nothing,\u201d Jerry declared, and motioned for Winston to move out from behind the bar. \u201cBecause where there\u2019s a machine, there\u2019s a way.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nJerry took a couple steps back from Habdu, stood akimbo, and nodded to the little Mack with the plasma arc welder.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu shook his head, as if the assault had caused him little more than a bit of dizziness, and set his eyes on Jerry. \u201cYou should stop this now,\u201d he told him matter-of-factly.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cStop?\u201d Jerry said with a greasy laugh. \u201cWe haven\u2019t even gotten started.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe gave another nod to the Mack with the makeshift energy canon, and the machine hoisted the device up and aimed it at Habdu\u2019s head, nearly point-blank.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe encephalon housed within my cranium,\u201d Habdu informed Jerry, \u201cis one of a kind. If you damage it in any way, the technicians who designed it will–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYeah, yeah,\u201d Jerry shrugged him off. \u201cBlah, blah, blah. Heard it a million times before, Noid.\u201d He gave the plasma-welder-wielding Mack a knowing glance, and told him, \u201cOkay, Shaky. Do your thing. Light that polymer melon up real good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFight, Hab,\u201d Kahal yelled with growing frustration.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI cannot,\u201d Habdu told him again.\n<\/p>\n \nJerry looked up and narrowed his headlight-eyes on Kahal. \u201cDon\u2019t you worry, Sape. We haven\u2019t forgotten about you.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nWinston hefted the length of metal footrail as he stood beside Jerry, and put in, \u201cYou\u2019ll get your turn soon enough, Fleshy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBlue sparks danced around the end of the plasma welder\u2019s nozzle again. Kahal watched them shimmer off the slick surface of Habdu\u2019s translucent skullcap as his brain flared with little bursts of internal pink light. It almost looked pretty, except that Kahal knew his head was about to be shock-melted into a pile of chrome-and-neural-biomass-goo.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou have to fight, Hab,\u201d Kahal shouted, his voice almost pleading. \u201cIf you don\u2019t, they\u2019re going to–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t worry about me,\u201d Habdu told him confidently. \u201cSave yourself, Man Of Action. I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe wouldn\u2019t be fine. Not unless getting your head obliterated was the new fine.\n<\/p>\n \nA gust of wind brought a light sprinkle of cold rain through the open skylight.\n<\/p>\n \nOne more step and Kahal was free of the tavern, free of those maniac Macks. It was still a long way back to camp, and time was running out. But it was almost morning, the sky was already a deep blue-black, so he stood a real chance now of getting an auto-taxi to stop for him. And he had to get back to camp, for Hinyan. And hell, Habdu had even told him to go.\n<\/p>\n \nSo, what was he waiting for?\n<\/p>\n \nThe plasma welder\u2019s perforated nozzle began to glow white-hot, and all the Macks in the place started to clang their metal fists together in anticipation of the ghoulish fireworks that were coming.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal took a deep breath and yanked the slingbag tight across his chest. \u201cThis is gonna be messy,\u201d he grumbled to himself, and leapt off the rafters.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 19<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nKahal bent his knees and winged his arms out for balance as he plummeted through the air. Thirty feet straight down was no insignificant drop, and if he didn\u2019t hit his mark he\u2019d probably break both his legs, if he was lucky.\n<\/p>\n \nHis boots drove hard into the shoulders of the Mack with the arc welder as he crashed down on top of him.\n<\/p>\n \nThe machine inadvertently squeezed the trigger as it impacted the floor, and the device sent a purple-blue tentacle of plasma ripping across the room.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal rolled forward, leapt back to his feet, and watched the bolt of out-of-control-energy tear through Jerry\u2019s left arm, just below the shoulder.\n<\/p>\n \nWinston grabbed the taxi driver as he teetered backward, his feedback systems crashing from the overload of sensory data, or maybe from the sudden lack of any.\n<\/p>\n \nThe horizontal geyser of plasma hit the far end of the bar and exploded. There was a blinding flash of purple-blue flame, and a reverberating bang shook the tavern.\n<\/p>\n \nFour of the six Macks restraining Habdu abandoned their stations, their sound and light sensors on the fritz. The remaining two, one clasping an arm, the other a leg, weren\u2019t doing much better.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the chaos, Kahal picked Jerry\u2019s forearm up off the floor by its still twitching fingers. Sparks and molten-carbon-alloy spit out of its severed end.\n<\/p>\n \nHe whirled around and slammed the thick limb into the side of the head of the Mack holding Habdu\u2019s arm. The machine reeled sideways and fell to the floor.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Mack latched onto Habdu\u2019s leg buzzed in protest.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThink fast, Mack,\u201d Kahal said, and tossed Jerry\u2019s arm at him.\n<\/p>\n \nThe machine reactively reached up to grab the hurtling appendage, and Kahal delivered a kick to the centre of its chest, sending it head-over-heels backward.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal spotted Habdu\u2019s flattened hat on the floor. With a grin, he whisked it up and handed it to Habdu. \u201cShall we try that again?\u201d he said with a nod at the skylight above.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI knew you were a Man Of Action,\u201d Habdu said as he worked the hat back into shape and then placed it on his head.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI want that Sape!\u201d Jerry screamed.\n<\/p>\n \nA little half-smile crept up the side of Habdu\u2019s mouth and he said, \u201cI bet he wants his arm more.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal turned, a surprised look on his face at the unexpected quip.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHumour, correct?\u201d Habdu said, sounding a little unsure of himself.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNow!\u201d Jerry ordered, and every Mack in the place, the Rosies included, rushed Kahal and Habdu.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu grabbed Kahal under both arms and leapt straight up. \u201cI understand,\u201d he shouted as they zipped through the air. \u201cHumour later.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal flicked down his visor and tucked his chin against his chest. Habdu was rocketing toward the wrong side of the skylight. The half Kahal hadn\u2019t opened.\n<\/p>\n \nThe middle pane shattered into a million shards as they burst through it. The bits of glass made tinkling sounds as they scattered across the rain-damp pebbled roof.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu landed with a soft thud a couple meters from the skylight and let Kahal down onto his feet.\n<\/p>\n \nThe wind thrashed them with what was left of the night\u2019s rain. The air was cold, and smelled of sulphur, nitrogen exhaust, and industry smoke blowing in from the smelteries outside the city.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal pushed up his visor and turned to Habdu, one thing, and one thing only on his mind, getting the medicine in his slingbag back to the Doc at camp in time to save Hinyan. But before he could open his mouth to speak, Habdu flat-handed him in the chest.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal skidded across the pebbly ground on his backside as a snaking column of burning plasma tore through the roof where he\u2019d been standing a split second ago.\n<\/p>\n \nThe energy blast corkscrewed two hundred feet in the air, then dissipated, leaving a hot trail of mist in its wake.\n<\/p>\n \nThe cloud-like condensation mixed with the smoke and dust from the smouldering, meter-wide hole in the roof, and then began to drift away.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal squinted as he got back to his feet, but he didn\u2019t see Habdu anywhere. \u201cHab?\u201d he called out. \u201cHab?\u201d But there was no answer.\n<\/p>\n \nDamn him, Kahal thought with a mix of anger and guilt. Why\u2019d he go and get himself vaporized saving his <\/em>life? The life of a total stranger, and a sapien to boot.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 20<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe should move quickly now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal whirled around and there was Habdu, standing right behind him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI…I thought you–\u201c he started to say, but Habdu cut him off, his tone urgent.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI think it would be best if you followed me rather exactly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHis yes pulsed with light a few times. \u201cThis way, quickly,\u201d he said, then stepped right and leapt into a run.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal took off after him, his boots grinding hard against the pebbled roof as a bolt of purple-blue energy burst through the ceiling behind them.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu jinked left. Kahal followed. And another plasma blast tore up through the roof of the tavern.\n<\/p>\n \nA spray of heavy debris pelted Kahal\u2019s back as he ran.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere,\u201d Habdu called to him, his arm outstretched, pointing.\n<\/p>\n \nTwenty feet ahead, Kahal saw the edge of the roof, and the buildings on the other side of the street lit up by the speeding traffic below.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s a three-story drop, straight down,\u201d Kahal hollered through heaving breaths. \u201cI can\u2019t–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThere will be no dropping,\u201d Habdu assured him over his shoulder.\n<\/p>\n \nBefore Kahal could ask what that meant, the view in front of him began to wobble, like he was seeing it through flowing water.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t stop,\u201d Habdu called to him, as if sensing he was slowing down. \u201cEverything is as expected.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAs expected? Kahal thought. Exactly nothing was as expected. Least of all what he now recognized as heat haze rising up from below the edge of the tavern roof.\n<\/p>\n \nWas the place on fire? Did the Macks have another, and larger, jury-rigged weapon? Was this going to be his last–?\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJump!\u201d Habdu hollered, and bounded off the edge of the roof–\n<\/p>\n \n–onto the wide, flat hood of an Air Runner.\n<\/p>\n \nThe charcoal-grey aeronautical vehicle buoyantly adjusted to Habdu\u2019s weight, then hovered steady in the air while both its doors flapped up and open.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu grabbed the handhold inside the driver\u2019s side door and monkeybarred into the vehicle. Through the long, angled windscreen, Kahal saw him do something on the dash with one hand while he took hold of the control wheel with the other.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Air Runner reeled around in the air and presented Kahal with its open passenger side door.\n<\/p>\n \nHe left the roof, turned in mid-jump, tucked his head down, and landed in the vehicle\u2019s padded, contour seat with a satisfying thump.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Air Runner\u2019s interior was like nothing Kahal had ever seen. It was sleek, spacious, and had no discernible control arrays anywhere. A double-wide armrest bisected the two front seats and merged seamlessly with the slick, black-glass dash that stretched the width of the vehicle in front of him.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu laid his right hand on the dark console and light pulsed beneath it, silhouetting his fingers. Kahal couldn\u2019t tell if the illumination was coming from the dash or Habdu\u2019s palm, or both.\n<\/p>\n \nThen a thin orange line stretched out from beneath his hand, mazed halfway across the dash, and pinged with a small circular burst of illumination.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHold on,\u201d Habdu told him, and two more lines of light jig-jagged across the dash as the vehicle pitched hard to the left.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal felt his weight compress against the armrest and saw the busy street below come into view through Habdu\u2019s still open door.\n<\/p>\n \nJerry burst out of the tavern\u2019s front doors onto the streetside walkway below. He brandished his one remaining fist in the air and hollered threateningly, \u201cThis isn\u2019t over, Sape. We\u2019re coming for you. We\u2019re coming for all of you!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu adjusted his hand on the dash and two blue-white lights streaked across it in opposite directions. The vehicle\u2019s doors swung shut and sealed with a soft sucking noise.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal felt a second of weightlessness as Habdu pulled back on the control wheel and maneuverer the vehicle into a swooping upward climb.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNow, tell me,\u201d Habdu began, his voice calm and conversational. \u201cWhy did you–?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBut before he could finish, an alarm sounded inside the vehicle and short red vertical lines winked on across the top of the dash.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh dear,\u201d Habdu said, his eyes wide as he scrutinized the unevenly spaced red strokes, as though reading them. \u201cIt appears that we are about to be–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nThe back-right corner of the Air Runner kicked up with an explosive boom, and the whole vehicle flipped over from the force of the plasma blast that had just hit it.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal slapped his hands against the insulated-glass roof that was now below him to stop himself from crashing into it.\n<\/p>\n \nA flurry of thin blue-white lines veined across the black dash, then vanished.\n<\/p>\n \nKahal blinked away the lights\u2019 afterimage and turned to see Habdu sitting comfortably upside-down next to him.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou didn\u2019t tell me this thing had seat harnesses,\u201d Kahal huffed, his feet hooked under the dash and his arms starting to ache from bearing his weight.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu swiped his hand over the dash and the Runner righted itself. Kahal slumped back in his seat, then felt himself press into it as Habdu accelerated away from the tavern.\n<\/p>\n \nWithin seconds they were out of range of the plasma arc welder\u2019s reach, soaring high over Capek. Safe.\n<\/p>\n \nBut, Kahal thought, where was Habdu taking him?\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 21<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nOut of his door\u2019s window, Kahal looked down at the mesmerizing view.\n<\/p>\n \nCurb-lit streets crisscrossed Capek in every direction, while glowing traffic flowed along them like electrified blood. Machines, no more than little dark specks from this height, meandered this way and that. And the city\u2019s towering buildings passed by below, their blunt tops coming up into view and then fading away behind them, like steel-and-glass fingers trying to grab them out of the sky, but always just missing.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu set his palm on the dash. Light illumed underneath it, and then a few blue-white lines streaked left and right across the black glass. He leaned back in his seat and took his hands off the control wheel, the vehicle now set on some kind of auto-drive.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo,\u201d Kahal said, feeling both awestruck and nervous to be cruising in an Air Runner at what looked to be almost two thousand feet above the ground. \u201cExactly where are you taking me?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe <\/em>are off to your sapien bar,\u201d Habdu announced cheerily. \u201cObviously that NUTS N\u2019 BOLTS TAVERN was not deserving of our patronage.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nWith a soft tilt, the vehicle veered left.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu pointed through the windscreen and in a satisfied tone said, \u201cThere. Section forty-three, exit-tunnel fifteen. You can see it already.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nIn the distance, Kahal made out section forty-three\u2019s tall perimeter wall. Beyond it, patches of light glimmered in the hazy pre-dawn darkness. Most were twenty-four-seven pit mines. But a few, including the one Kahal was focused on, were sapien camps.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt won\u2019t be long,\u201d Habdu informed him. \u201cSo, now you can explain to me why you did that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019ve done lots of things, Hab. You\u2019re gonna have to be a bit more specific.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAt the tavern. The skylight was open. But you did not leave.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo, I did not,\u201d Kahal said slowly, and gave Habdu a blank look.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu frowned at Kahal\u2019s reluctance. \u201cI want to know why.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou\u2019d rather I left you there? To get bashed into bits and melted down into,\u201d Kahal gestured at Habdu, \u201cinto whatever it is you\u2019re made of?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s not what I mean. But I think you know that.\u201d Habdu\u2019s brow tightened a little more. \u201cYou were halfway through the skylight. You could have escaped. That would have been the logical thing to do. To save yourself when you had the chance. But you didn\u2019t. You came back. Why?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal didn\u2019t know why, not exactly. He definitely didn\u2019t make a habit of saving machines. Why would he? They were the enemy, plain and simple.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou needed help, so I helped. That\u2019s all,\u201d Kahal said a little vaguely, wanting to change the subject. \u201cNow, it\u2019s my turn. Why didn\u2019t you fight back?\u201d He looked Habdu in the eye. \u201cI know you\u2019ve got the strength. You could have shaken free of those Macks without even breaking a simulated sweat.\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh, this is an easy question,\u201d Habdu sighed, sounding bored. \u201cThe answer is The First Rule. Now, let\u2019s get back to why you–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWait! What? The First Rule<\/em>? What kind of rule is don\u2019t fight back, don\u2019t defend yourself?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYou misunderstand, Kahal. It is not a rule about defence. It\u2019s for the safety of–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu paused as Kahal floated upward and gently bumped against the vehicle\u2019s glass roof.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe are on approach now,\u201d Habdu told him. \u201cWe have just begun our descent.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cReally?\u201d Kahal snarked as he pushed himself back down into his seat and grabbed its cross-chest harness.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes,\u201d Habdu replied. \u201cThat is why you are experiencing momentary–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDo you even know what sarcasm is?\u201d Kahal blurted as he pulled the harness taut.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course. Sarcasm is a way of using words that are the opposite of what you mean in order to be…\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRight, so you have no idea what sarcasm is then,\u201d Kahal muttered under his breath and turned to look out the window again.\n<\/p>\n \nSection forty-three\u2019s high perimeter wall passed by below. Kahal watched a couple sentry Macks on hover bikes glide along the top of it, out on early morning watch.\n<\/p>\n \nThen the landscape changed, drastically. Suddenly it was like a whole different planet, a decimated and denatured planet.\n<\/p>\n \nGiant dust devils tore across the arid ground, twisting sand-dry dirt up into massive swirling torrents that covered and then uncovered city refuse heaps, scattered technetronic waste, and even the odd obsolete and not-worth-recycling Mack.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo, what exactly is The First Rule<\/em>?\u201d Kahal said as he peered through the dusty haze at a circular collection of lights three hundred meters distant.\n<\/p>\n \nThe sight of his camp was a small comfort. It was just a bunch of ramshackle tents they\u2019d have to move farther out into the wastelands when the Macks came to claim the land for building another city district. No, it wasn\u2019t the camp that calmed him, that made him feel home. It was the people in it. People he called friends, called family.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cVery well,\u201d Habdu said with a dramatic sigh. Then, as if he was reciting it for the umpteenth time, he told Kahal, \u201cThe First Rule states that an Advanced Autonomous Intelligence–which is me,\u201d he interjected. \u201cIt states that an AAI shall not cause a machine harm, nor, by inaction, allow a machine to be harmed.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s a strange rule,\u201d Kahal said as he flipped his visor down, made a few quick eye gestures, and sent a ping out to Sem\u2019s monitor so she knew he was about to arrive.\n<\/p>\n \nHe pushed his visor back up and added in a facetious tone that he was certain would go unnoticed, \u201cAnd you thought this rule up all on your own?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal had a pretty good idea of what was really going on. Some R&D department at the Tobor Corporation had made Habdu, and then, realizing his capabilities, decided to give him some protocols for their own protection. But what Kahal didn\u2019t get, was why Habdu followed those rules when they put his own life in danger.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI did not design my rules,\u201d Habdu explained. \u201cThey are instilled into me at a neural level. They are, I think, something like what you call instincts, only they are stronger than– Actually, no,\u201d he interrupted himself, his brow creased. \u201cThat is not correct, because you can, with effort, act contrary to your instincts. Like you did at the tavern when you returned to help me.\u201d His eyes popped wide as a thought came to him. \u201cMy rules are like that. Something I have to do.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI didn\u2019t have to <\/em>help you, Hab,\u201d Kahal rebuffed. \u201cI did it because it was the right thing to do.\u201d And as he said it, he realized that it was true. For some reason that he couldn\u2019t explain, he didn\u2019t think of Habdu as a machine, or a sapienoid, or even an Advanced whatever. Did he think of him as a person? No. But maybe as a friend.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cExactly. My rules are the right thing to do,\u201d Habdu announced cheerily.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThey\u2019re definitely not that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook, Hab,\u201d Kahal interrupted, feeling almost angry about how blind to the truth Habdu was. \u201cWould you rather be obliterated by a plasma arc welder, or dent up a few Macks and stay alive?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s a very difficult question to answer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cNo it\u2019s not. Do you want to live? Or do you want to die?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBut the rules state that–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLive or die, Hab? Which is it?\u201d Kahal said forcefully.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFine,\u201d Habdu said with a little huff. \u201cI would like to live. But I want you to know that your questions are very unfair.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Air Runner neared the ground and its propulsion engines kicked up a thick cloud of dust and dirt, obscuring the view outside. The lights inside the vehicle compensated for the sudden darkness.\n<\/p>\n \nIn the soft orange-yellow illumination, Kahal turned to Habdu and asked, \u201cSo, just how many of these rules do you have, anyway?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThree.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Runner bounced softly as it settled to the ground. Habdu fingered the dash, and the engine\u2019s hum faded to silence.\n<\/p>\n \nThen, as the thick kick-up of dust outside began to blow away, two red targeting laser lights streamed through the windscreen and started to trace around inside the vehicle.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 22<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI think you better let me get out first,\u201d Kahal told Habdu as the Runner\u2019s doors winged up and open.\n<\/p>\n \nHabdu\u2019s eyes pulsed a couple times, and then he said, \u201cTwo medium-range energy blasters. Class 5 models. Very old. And one has a faulty trigger that is in need of–\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cJust stay here,\u201d Kahal said, and stepped out of the vehicle.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s me,\u201d Kahal hollered through the dust. He squinted, still unable to make out which of the two shadowy figures was Sem. \u201cDidn\u2019t you get my ping?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe got it all right,\u201d Sem\u2019s voice responded, and Kahal saw the red targeting laser light on the left bobble. \u201cWe also picked up an Air Runner signature, and…and something else.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI am the something else,\u201d Habdu cheerfully informed them. \u201cYour scanners are not equipped to detect my–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nKahal raced across the front of the Runner as the two red lights whipped through the air and fixed on Habdu.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t shoot!\u201d Kahal yelled as he skidded to a halt in front of Habdu, the two red dots lighting up his chest now. \u201cHe\u2019s with me. Put those blasters down!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cEspecially that one,\u201d Habdu said, leaned over Kahal\u2019s shoulder, pointing, and talking into his ear. \u201cThat\u2019s the one with the faulty trigger. The chances of it backfiring are one in–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDidn\u2019t I tell you to stay in the Runner?\u201d Kahal growled, and in the dissipating dust saw that Habdu was pointing at the Doc.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cDon\u2019t worry about me,\u201d Habdu said to Kahal. \u201cAs I told you, these armaments are very old Class 5 weapons. Even at close range they would only superficially damage my advanced nano–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat\u2019s not the point,\u201d Kahal cut him off.\n<\/p>\n \nHe could almost hear Habdu\u2019s brow furl in his ear. \u201cI do not understand.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOf course you don\u2019t.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal took a step forward and again told them to lower their weapons. \u201cEspecially you, Doc,\u201d he added, catching the old man\u2019s eye. \u201cAnd keep your finger off the trigger. It\u2019s…\u201d he rolled his eyes at himself. \u201cIt\u2019s broken.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFaulty. Not broken,\u201d Habdu quietly corrected him. \u201cThe difference is actually quite vital because–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHab,\u201d Kahal growled at him.\n<\/p>\n \nSem stepped forward, her small blaster held ready at her hip, her eyes fixed on Kahal. \u201cThis is where you tell me why the hell you brought a Noid into our camp.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI am not a sapienoid. I am an–\u201c Habdu began to say before Kahal cut him off with a raised hand.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s a long story, Sem,\u201d Kahal told her. \u201cAnd he really isn\u2019t a–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYour story can wait,\u201d the Doc cut in as he slung his rifle blaster over his shoulder and stepped forward. \u201cBut Hinyan can\u2019t. Do you have the medicine?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes,\u201d Kahal nodded. He retrieved the container from his slingbag and handed it to the Doc. \u201cHere.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe man flipped it open, took out one of the vials, and examined it. \u201cGood,\u201d he said. \u201cVery good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPenicillin?\u201d Habdu remarked, peering over Kahal\u2019s shoulder again. \u201cAn ancient and rather simple sapien medicament. Yet, in its time, known to be both efficient and very versatile against a plethora of–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nKahal shot Habdu a look that stopped him talking, for a second.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSomeone in your camp is ill?\u201d Habdu began again, this time talking directly to the Doc. \u201cPerhaps I can help?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal saw the Doc\u2019s eyes light up. The closest thing he\u2019d ever had to an assistant was a pair of shaking hands that probably didn\u2019t even know how to sew up a tent properly, never mind a person.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI am fully versed in sapien anatomy,\u201d Habdu continued. \u201cAnd I have knowledge of over two hundred ailments, conditions, and injuries. And of course their most effective cures and treatments also.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell–\u201c the Doc started to say, but Kahal cut him off.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLet\u2019s just wait until no one wants to shoot him first.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAs the Doc reluctantly turned and started back into the camp, Habdu called to him. \u201cI would suggest administering double the recommended dosage for the ailment you are treating,\u201d he said. \u201cThose vials are passed expiration, and their contents have lost a considerable amount of efficacy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Doc gave Habdu a nod over his shoulder and then disappeared into a large grey-green tent.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHis name is Habdu,\u201d Kahal said, turning to Sem. It was less of an introduction and more of an explanation. \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Hab, I wouldn\u2019t have made it back in time.\u201d He glanced at Habdu, and then added in a quieter voice as he realized just how true it was, \u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Hab, I might not have made it back at all.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo, he\u2019s your new Best-Mack-Friend-Forever, huh?\u201d Sem said mockingly.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cActually, we only just met this–\u201c Habdu attempted to explain.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe\u2019s not a machine,\u201d Kahal said to Sem. \u201cAnd he\u2019s not a sapienoid either. He\u2019s… Well, he is something else.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cGood for him,\u201d she snapped. \u201cSo he can go somewhere else then, too.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI cannot go anywhere else now,\u201d Habdu said, and stepped around to face them both.\n<\/p>\n \nThey looked at him, Kahal confused, Sem wary.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 23<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe First Rule,\u201d Habdu told Kahal. \u201cI believe I have broken it. My inaction at the tavern led to one of the machines being severely harmed. Yet,\u201d and his brow twisted in contemplation, \u201cyet the only action I could have taken to prevent that would have required me to injure the machines that were restraining me. It is a very confusing bind. In order to uphold The First Rule, I would have had to break it. But in choosing not to break it, I still broke it. I have not been prepared for this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cBecause you\u2019re a machine,\u201d Sem snarled. \u201cYou follow your orders. You follow your programming. But when it comes to real decisions, to choosing between what\u2019s right and what\u2019s wrong,\u201d she huffed, \u201cyou\u2019re about as useful as a–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \nSem\u2019s jaw dropped as Kahal plucked Habdu\u2019s hat off his head.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI told you he\u2019s not a machine,\u201d Kahal said to her as she stared dumbfounded at the four-lobed organ inside Habdu\u2019s skull.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook,\u201d Kahal said, turning back to Habdu while Sem continued to gawk at his brain. \u201cWho cares if you broke one of your little rules. No one knows but you and me. And who am I gonna tell?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIf I return, they will know when they examine my neural bank,\u201d Habdu replied, his voice serious and grave. \u201cAnd then they will discontinue me. But I think that I do not want to be discontinued.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal figured he knew what that euphemism meant. \u201cWell, we\u2019re not going to let that happen,\u201d he said without thinking. \u201cYou can stay here, with us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe can do what?\u201d Sem blurted, roused out of her fixation on Habdu\u2019s brain. \u201cThat\u2019s not your decision to make, and you know it. Only Hinyan decides who gets to–\u201c\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cIt\u2019s working!\u201d the Doc hollered as he burst back out of the tent he had entered moments before, his voice exuberant. \u201cIt\u2019s actually working.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe came to a stop in front of them, and caught his breath. His brow furled with curiosity for a second as he noticed the strange organ inside Habdu\u2019s skull.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Doc looked Habdu in the eye and with a slight nod said, \u201cThank you. Thank you for bringing Kahal back to us safe, and with the medicine.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe turned to Kahal and Sem. \u201cThere was a detectable change in her vitals after I administered,\u201d he glanced at Habdu, \u201cafter I administered a double-dosage. It\u2019s still early, but all indications suggest that she\u2019s going to make it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Doc looked at Habdu again and gave him another nod, a sort of mix of gratitude and acceptance.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe stays,\u201d Kahal said to Sem.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFor now,\u201d she grumbled, and narrowed her eyes at him. \u201cBut the second Hinyan is awake, we take the matter to her.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFine,\u201d Kahal said.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cFine,\u201d Sem replied.\n<\/p>\n \n \nChapter 24<\/b>\n<\/p>\n \nThe pale light of daybreak, and the news that Hinyan was going to be okay, filled Kahal with a well-needed sense of hope. It had been a long night, too long.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo,\u201d Habdu said, \u201cI believe you have a custom of sharing a drink to celebrate good news.\u201d He looked at Kahal. \u201cPerhaps we should do that at your authentic sapien bar?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSem gave Kahal a twisted-up look.\n<\/p>\n \nWith a slight laugh, Kahal said, \u201cYeah, sure.\u201d And then ushered them all into the camp.\n<\/p>\n \nOf course they didn\u2019t have an authentic sapien bar. <\/em>They didn\u2019t even have a regular bar. But there was a bottle of awful tuber alcohol hidden away in the back of the mess tent that Kahal knew about.\n<\/p>\n \nHaving Habdu in their camp could really be a good thing, Kahal thought as they all walked. The Doc could use the help, that was for sure. Habdu\u2019s Air Runner would make foraging a lot easier. And if, or really when they got raided again, Habdu\u2019s strength and speed would be a huge asset in defending their–\n<\/p>\n \nExcept, Kahal grumbled to himself, except that he wouldn\u2019t do anything that harmed a Mack.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cLook, Hab,\u201d Kahal said, and gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. \u201cIf you\u2019re gonna stick around, we\u2019re gonna have to do something about those rules of yours. Like get rid of them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh, that is not possible,\u201d Habdu replied matter-of-factly. \u201cAs I told you, my rules are instilled in me at a neural level.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWell, if they were put in,\u201d Kahal said, \u201cthen there\u2019s gotta be a way to get them out. Right?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d Habdu replied, his brow tightening as he considered the matter. \u201cThat does seem logical, yes. Though, only the technicians that incepted me would know how to do that. If in fact it is possible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI guess we\u2019ll just have to pay them a visit, then\u201d Kahal remarked, and pulled back the curtain door to the mess tent.\n<\/p>\n \nThe warm scent of simmering porridge and baking flatloaf wafted out. It had definitely been a long night, Kahal thought, as his mouth watered at the smell of the same three-meals-a-day aroma.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat is even more impossible,\u201d Habdu belatedly told Kahal, intrigued to the point of distraction by what he thought was an authentic sapien bar. \u201cThe Tobor Corporation research compound from which I came is heavily fortified,\u201d he continued as they walked down the aisle between two long tables with bench seating. \u201cAccess is by special authorization only. Even I am not permitted to leave.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nEveryone stopped and looked at Habdu.\n<\/p>\n \nHe smiled awkwardly, clearly realizing what he had just divulged.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cSo, you escaped<\/em>?\u201d Sem said to him, her curiosity piqued, though her tone still suspicious.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI only wanted to see the world,\u201d Habdu replied, his voice a little defensive. He gestured at his head, which was concealed under his hat again. \u201cI am overfilled with facts and information. With knowledge <\/em>of the world. But I want to experience it. The real world.\u201d He made a sweeping gesture with his hands. \u201cYour world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cRight,\u201d Sem said as she straddled the bench seating and sat down. \u201cSo what you\u2019re saying is that you escaped.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI did not break any of my rules,\u201d Habdu said, turning to Kahal, as if for understanding or approval. \u201cI was very careful about that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cI\u2019m sure you were,\u201d Kahal replied, and motioned for him to join Sem and the Doc at the table.\n<\/p>\n \nHe slipped behind the food counter, retrieved four glasses, and got the three-quarter-full bottle of alcohol hidden in the back of the makeshift cupboard.\n<\/p>\n \nIf Habdu got out of the compound without an incident, and obviously without being noticed as well, then, Kahal figured, they could surely get in, find those technicians, and convince <\/em>them to erase those rules in Habdu\u2019s neurons.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOkay, so let me get this straight, Hab,\u201d Kahal said as he poured out four drinks and nestled down on the bench beside him, Sem and the Doc sitting across from them. \u201cThis compound is fortified, requires security passes to get in and out, and–I\u2019m guessing here–is guarded by a small army of nasty Macks? Does that sound about right?\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cYes, yes, and yes you did guess correctly,\u201d Habdu replied. \u201cSo, you see, it is impossible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cImpossible is such a strong word, Hab,\u201d Kahal said. He swirled the contents of his glass around. \u201cI prefer the term challenge.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThe Doc grimaced. \u201cIt sounds like a bit more than just a challenge, Kahal. A small army <\/em>of Macks? Hell, we can\u2019t even fend off the ragtag groups that raid our camp.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat all changes with Hab on our side,\u201d Kahal cut in. \u201cI\u2019ve seen him in action. If we get rid of his rules, he\u2019s like our new secret weapon.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal took a breath, and gave them all a serious look.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cWe all know the machines want to get rid of us,\u201d he told them. \u201cThey starve us to death. They hunt us down. They pump so much poison into the atmosphere that we can\u2019t breathe anymore. And there\u2019s something else.\u201d He thought of Jerry\u2019s final threat at the tavern. \u201cSomething\u2019s going on with the Macks,\u201d he told them. \u201cThey\u2019re banding together. And they\u2019re planning something. Something big.\u201d He took a breath. \u201cLook, one way or the other, they\u2019re going to push us to extinction, and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nHe laid his arm across Habdu\u2019s shoulders.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cUntil now,\u201d he told them. \u201cWith Hab, we finally have a fighting chance. Hell, we might have a lot more than that.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal leaned forward and in a lower voice came to his point.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThis kind of opportunity isn\u2019t going to come around a second time. If we don\u2019t take advantage of it, if we don\u2019t at least try, then what\u2019s the point, what\u2019s the point of any of this?\u201d He waved his hand in the air to indicate their camp. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do this, it\u2019s the same as giving up. And I\u2019m not doing that. I am not giving up. Because if we don\u2019t reclaim this world, our world, then we\u2019re going to lose it forever.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nSem pushed her glass back and forth on the table. Then half under her breath she said, \u201cIt\u2019ll be dangerous.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nKahal nodded in agreement.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cAnd there\u2019s no way we can pull it off alone,\u201d the Doc put in. \u201cNot even with your new special friend here,\u201d he added with a nod at Habdu. \u201cWe\u2019d have to get at least a couple other camps to join us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nA smile curled the corner of Kahal\u2019s mouth. \u201cSo we\u2019re agreed then?\u201d he said, his voice conspiratorial. \u201cThere\u2019s just one more thing we need.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThey all looked at him.\n<\/p>\n \nHe gave Sem a little wink and said, \u201cA plan. We\u2019re gonna need a plan. A damn good plan.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nShe rolled her eyes at him, and gave him a crooked grin. \u201cAnd someone who sticks to it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOh, I think I can help with that,\u201d Habdu said.\n<\/p>\n \nThere was a second of silence, then they all said with a little laugh, \u201cI\u2019m sure you can, Hab.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nThey clanked their glasses to seal the decision, and drank.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThat was not humour,\u201d Habdu told them, his voice serious, and a little perplexed. \u201cI am actually very good at making plans.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Ethan grew up in a log cabin his parents built in the secluded wilderness of Ontario, Canada. He studied writing on the west coast of Canada, and then completed an MA in creative writing at the University of Sussex, England. In 2014 Ethan moved to South Korea to work as an English teacher, but was forced to return to Canada in early 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. His existential horror story The Briefcase was published in \u201cEverything Is So Political: A Collection of Short Fiction by Canadian Writers\u201d (Fernwood Publishing: Canada, 2013).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you\u2019re going extinct, everything\u2019s personal. Chapter 1 Kahal bristled as the third auto-taxi in a row passed him by, clearly unoccupied and flashing its rooftop Hail Me Now holosign as if to spite him. He ducked back under the Sapien Museum awning to get out of the acid rain and figure out just how …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107952,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20133],"tags":[20134],"class_list":["post-140320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-tcl-50-winter-2024","tag-the-colored-lens-50-winter-2024","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/107952"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140320"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140323,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140320\/revisions\/140323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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