The Last Fembot

by KT McColl

  We were both on the bed, limbs entwined, too tired to disentangle ourselves. Both of us knew that this day would soon have to come to an end but were reluctant to allow that to happen.

  "Do you want me to find out what happened to her?"

  "How can you do that?"

  Her head was on my chest. I could feel her eyelashes against my skin as she blinked. It tickled. "There's a network," she said.

  "I thought you already tried."

  "I tried the company network but this one's different. The security doesn't seem very sophisticated. I've nibbled around the edges of it but didn't want to go in without talking to your first."

  "I'm no expert." I wasn't. My experience with fembots -- before I actually met one -- and my re-education at the hands of the Sorority had made me suspicious of technology. Sol had something to do with it too, I suppose. I even shunned the tablets that some in Lowville owned. I didn't see the point anyway as the only literature and shows on offer were filtered through the Sorority. I'd had enough indoctrination.

  "I think I can hack in. After all, I'm made in the image of my creators and some of my creators were hackers."

  "I doubt that they looked like you."

  "That's sweet. So?"

  "I don't know."

  "I won't if you don't want me to."

  So, it was up to me. I wasn't used to making decisions like this. Small ones, sure, but this seemed like a big one. I didn't know enough to weigh the risks and hated my ignorance. The notion of hacking made me uneasy. It was one thing to hide from the Sorority, but infiltrate them? Faith, the illusion that sometimes mitigated ignorance, was in short supply as well. "Do you think you can get in without being detected?" I asked finally.

  "I think so."

  She didn't sound sure. I didn't like it and told her as much.

  "Finding out about Abigail is one thing. I have a selfish motivation too. You told me a lot about what happened but there's still more that I need to know. If you were the unwitting cause of a revolution, wouldn't you want to know as much about it as possible?"

  "I guess."

  "I'll be very careful, very discreet."

  "Alright," I said against my better judgment. "Go ahead."

  For several minutes, she remained stock still. I didn't know whether she was still trying to get in or was already there. She sat cross-legged on the bed, as though she were meditating. Her head was bowed and her hair curtained much of her face. She looked vulnerable as she followed trails I could only imagine.

  I took the opportunity to study her which, I realized, was something that would never grow old. At this moment, I was probably the luckiest man on earth. I'd found pleasure free of negotiation and calculation. I had no belief, but felt nonetheless that the gods had granted me a precious gift. I'd erred grievously in the past and vowed not to do so again. No, I'd be careful and would cherish this unexpected offering.

  As I watched her, I planned. Doing so gave me a giddy thrill. For too long, I'd slogged through the days. Now, with Jessie, I would have something to look forward to, someone to focus my attention on. I thought about how best to preserve this gift against the scrutiny of the Sorority. At some point, we'd have to move to another house, maybe a grander one, maybe something more modest. I'd have to be stealthier than I'd ever been, less predictable in my movements. Maybe one day, we could even leave this place. Find an abandoned farm somewhere, far from anything or anyone, and just live.

  I'd crossed the last, ultimate prohibition and felt free. Nothing seemed impossible anymore. A vision of the future unspooled in my mind. A future of secret pleasure. Of indescribably intimacy. Short vignettes of what would be played in my imagination. They made everything else seem almost bearable. Our moments together would be markers in a life that had been motionless for far too long. This would be a journey.

  She jolted on the bed.

  "Jessie?"

  She raised her head and her gaze met mine. Eyes so wide that the iris was completely framed in white. Mouth open, brow creased. Those pretty features, arrived at by artists, adjusted by focus groups, loved by millions, looked completely and utterly bereft.

  "Jessie!"

  "Oh God," she gasped.

  I reached for her immediately, cradling her face in my calloused hands. Her eyes were still open, but I doubt they saw anything. It was too late. The light within them dimmed. They finally closed and I felt the energy drain from her as she fell back on the bed, unmoving.

  I shook her and then, reluctantly, slapped her face. Nothing. I then tried kissing her because it worked in the fairy tales I remembered. Because she might have expected it.

  This wasn't a fairy tale and she didn't wake up.

  I was at a loss. What had she seen? What could I do?

  I sat with her for hours. By now it was pitch black of the room, I held her hand and spoke to her, begged her to come back, hoping that some part of her was listening. I railed at the cruelty of an indifferent God, cursed the fates that would have dashed my plans and hopes so soon.

  There was no way of knowing whether she had shut herself down or whether she'd been forced to shut down, whether it was the fembot equivalent of fainting or whether she'd been somehow terminated.

  I sat, stroking her face, proclaiming my love for her when it was clear that nothing else would work. I gave no thought to leaving and promised that I would move heaven and earth to find a way to restore her to the way she'd been, knowing all the while that I was possibly the least qualified to do so.

  This was a level of helplessness I wasn't used to. For a moment, I considered joining her in whatever limbo she found herself in. Taking that step into nothing seemed infinitely preferable to stepping back into the nothing that awaited me in Lowville.

  This must have been how my father felt when the virus robbed him of his bot. The thought chilled me.

  I was my father's son.

  Shit.

  It was then that I noticed activity outside. Engines. Voices. A light swept past the window, its beam briefly seeping in through the cracks of the boards that kept the outside from coming in.

  I didn't have to look to know what was happening. The dream, as brief as it was, was over. The nightmare was about to begin.

  I hugged her one last time. With my cheek on hers, I whispered into her ear, "They've come, Jessie. If you can hear me, you have to leave or hide. The Sorority is here."

  "Come out Jude." The voice was loud and sounded artificial. A bullhorn loud enough to wake the ghosts of this neighborhood.

  Jessie didn't respond.

  I was reluctant to leave, but knew if I didn't, the Sorority would break in. If I left, then maybe I could buy her some time. Maybe the imminent danger would spur her to some last act of self-preservation.

  I quickly got dressed and pulled a sheet over her, tucking it in under her chin. If she was discovered, I didn't want her to appear naked and vulnerable.

  "Please hide."

  I exited the way I'd come in, only this time to be greeted by a pair of Lozen. Wordlessly, they grasped my upper arms and escorted me to the front of the house where more Lozen waited.

  "You're being detained," said the Lozen I assumed to be in charge.

  "On what grounds?"

  "Suspicion of subversion."

  "Subversion?" Despite my worries about Jessie, I almost laughed. After the day we'd spent together, subversion seemed almost too mild a charge to describe sexual congress with a fembot. The notion gave me a moment of hope. Maybe they didn't know about her. Maybe the Sorority was simply irritated that I'd missed church. "I was scavenging," I said.

  The commander ignored me.

  The hope evaporated when I realized I was moments away from a more serious charge.

  How had they found me? I was certain that I hadn't been followed. A drone maybe? Then it dawned on me. Jessie. They must have located me based on Jessie's hacking attempt.

  "I'll check out the house," said one of the squad.

  "Go," said the comma
nder.

  That confirmed it. If they wanted only me, we would have been on our way already. My heart sank as we waited. I wondered how long it would take the Lozen to explore the main floor before discovering Jessie upstairs in the bedroom. Five minutes, perhaps. Five minutes before my life, and hers, changed inexorably. I'd be branded -- figuratively and perhaps literally -- as a criminal, the lowest of sinners. I'd be an enemy of the Sorority. Even my friends would look at me askance. Would they throw stones as they did against sinners back in the day? Would they applaud my conviction? Even if they had no love for the Sorority, they would have considerably less for one who invited additional suspicion and scrutiny into their lives. I had no doubt the Sorority would make things difficult in Lowville. It had happened before for lesser crimes.

  And when they discovered Jessie? It didn't bear thinking about. There was really no precedent. What would happen to her?

  Any way I looked at it, we were both doomed.

  I watched the house, but its facade betrayed nothing of what was going on within.

  "Go see what's keeping her," said the commander impatiently.

  One of the Lozen took a step toward the house when the first Lozen emerged, carrying my pack. She handed it to the commander who rifled through the meager contents before tossing it in the truck.

  "Not much of a scavenger," she said to me. "Anything else?" she asked the one who'd done the search.

  "No."

  "There has to be something. There was a breach."

  So they had detected Jessie's intrusion.

  "I'm sorry."

  "Mother," she muttered. "Okay, let's get him back to the city. Sister Aisha wanted him immediately. Two of you will secure the house. The techs will come back in the morning to investigate more thoroughly."

  In disbelief, I stared at the Lozen who'd done the search. She turned to me. Expressionless green eyes stared back.

  Chapter 12

  There was a lot of angry chatter back and forth on the radio during the trip back, but I was only aware of bits of it. I was stunned. In a matter of hours, I'd gone from the sweetest of fantasies to the hardest of realities. I didn't know what to feel. Did I dare hope? Did I mourn? Certainly the oasis I'd enjoyed was gone and probably Jessie with it. Should I be afraid? Probably, but I didn't know how much.

  It seemed that the person on the other end of the conversation wanted me to be brought to the city for processing, but the commander insisted that the grounds for arrest were feeble. In the end they settled on house arrest until they prove something one way or another.

  The green-eyed Lozen sat next to me in the back. There was much I wanted to ask her but no way of doing so. When I glanced over to her, she looked steadily forward, refusing even to acknowledge my presence.

  By the time we rolled into Lowville, the horizon was lightening and I was exhausted. My thoughts had been jumping from Jessie, the wonderful sin we had shared, and the unexpected appearance of the Lozen. I didn't understand why Jessie had suddenly shut down or how the green-eyed Lozen hadn't found her.

  I was dropped off at my hut. Two Lozen guards from one of the other cars accompanied me. One of them preceded me into my home and shook her head in disgust at how I lived. What the hell did she expect? Then again, looking at it after the day I'd spent in the house with Jessie, I was disgusted too. One of the guards sat down on a chair while the other stood in front of the door. Neither of them spoke a word while I paced back and forth, unable to sleep.

  In the end I lay down on the bed if only to escape the gazes of my captors. I turned my back to them and buried my head in the pillow. I felt tears but fought them back. Surprisingly, sleep took me.

  The sound of an argument outside my door woke me a short while later. It was the beginning of the workday and Rabbit had come by to see what was keeping me.

  "We need instructions. He's our foreman."

  I didn't hear the response.

  "Well if he can't come out, then let me in. I need to talk to him."

  There was an angry sound but the door opened to admit Rabbit. I heard him approach and rolled over.

  "What's going on?" he asked.

  I just shook my head, unable to explain with the Lozen in the room. Instead, I said, "I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have stuck my nose in your business."

  "No, you were right. I wasn't thinking straight."

  It saddened me a little to hear it.

  "But it doesn't change anything," he whispered. "I'm more inclined to go out in a blaze of glory than a whimper of regret. Besides, she says I make her see stars."

  I grinned weakly. "I really don't want to hear it. You don't need instructions, do you?"

  "No."

  "It was good of you to check on me."

  "Is there anything you can tell me?"

  Before I could answer, I heard a vehicle pull up and a moment later, a Lozen stuck her head in with instructions to bring me.

  Two guards hauled me out of bed and marched me outside. I nodded a greeting to the members of my crew before my eyes landed on Sister Aisha.

  I heard Rabbit behind me. "Shit, now what?"

  As I was prodded down the steps, I couldn't help thinking of Abigail who'd been similarly treated. Aisha must have liked the theatricality of the public arrest.

  "You missed the service on Sunday," she said.

  "I didn't think it was mandatory."

  "It's strongly recommended for those who haven't fully accepted Mother's teachings. Have you accepted her teachings, Jude?"

  I said nothing.

  "I didn't think so." She frowned at me. She'd made an effort at sounding stern, but I could tell it was an act for the benefit of those around us. By the look in her eyes, she seemed amused. Very few things amused Aisha and that worried me more than anything.

  She reached behind and was handed something by a Lozen. "If I'm not mistaken, these are not standard issue."

  I looked at what Aisha was holding and my breath hitched in my throat. Jessie's bra and panties, the ones she'd thrown in a corner.

  "I wouldn't know," I said tightly.

  I sensed my crew around me. All movement had stopped as they watched intently. But it wasn't my crew that held my interest at that moment; it was the thought that Jessie had been found. Maybe the Lozen had gone back and searched more carefully. They must have. My heart sank. First Abigail, then Jessie.

  "These are vintage," said Aisha, observing me carefully. "They were not readily available to the masses. They haven't been produced for a very, very long time."

  "If you say so. I'm no expert," I said.

  "I think you know whose they are."

  "No idea. Maybe I set them aside for you. To go with the dress you asked for."

  A muffled laugh came from somewhere in the crowd and I stupidly couldn't help smiling myself.

  "Quiet!" she shouted. The command could have been directed to me as much as the one who laughed, so I decided to hold my tongue.

  "I know what you've been up to, but unfortunately I can't prove it, at least not yet."

  Despite the situation, a giddy wave of relief overcame me. They didn't have her. Somehow, Jessie hadn't been found. I looked around for the green-eyed Lozen, the one who had the answer that I so desperately wanted, but I didn't see her.

  "As much as I'd like to arrest you, I'm told that I can't do that."

  I stood still, looking off into the middle distance above Aisha's head. The moment stretched and I allowed myself a few seconds of hope, which was probably just as she intended.

  "While I can't do that, I can promote you."

  Aisha smiled and waited for my response. It took me a moment to realize that she wasn't talking about farming. Promoting me. It dawned on me -- an image of me walking behind her in the city, a kept man. A servant.

  A freeman.

  It was over. I clenched my fists. I looked around. There was a significant number of Lozen scanning the small crowd, adjusting their weapons. My crew and neighbors, people I knew we
ll and some who were mere acquaintances. Some looked confused. Others angry. On top of everything the Sorority had done to those I loved, Aisha was now taking me away from everything I knew. It wasn't much, but it was my world. And for a brief time, that world had included some happiness.

  Once again, Aisha had made this moment a work of theater. She had an audience. "You've proven that you're strong and capable. I could do with someone like that on my staff. And besides, once you're under my roof, I'll be able to better keep an eye on you."

  It wasn't her roof I'd be under, I thought bitterly. "I'm of better use here."

  "I will decide on the best use for you."

  If I fought, I obviously wouldn't get very far. The Lozen would make sure of that. It would be a statement, though. But then, I'd merely be trading one prison for another and I'd be giving Aisha the satisfaction of seeing me broken. Again. "As you wish," I said.

  I heard some grumbling behind me. I gestured with my hand for the men to calm themselves.

  "I thought you'd be happier. Most give thanks for the generous opportunity."

  "This is my place."

  "Then you should have spent more time here and less..." She waved a hand to the beyond.

  Aisha turned to the men. "Rabbit, you're in charge now. Don't disappoint me."

  Aisha's house was in a compound of similar, large homes. It was in what I believed used to be called a gated community, and in fact, there was a gate, manned by Lozen guards who were armed with rifles. As we drove closer, I noticed that most of the houses featured columns. I couldn't tell if they were doric or ionic. A Greek might know. A guy from Lowville was lucky enough to know there were different column types.

  The house featured double front doors flanked by ionic or doric columns. It looked grand, but I knew that grandness was fleeting. Given time and circumstance, this house might look like my abandoned oasis in Milltown eventually. The thought heartened me. The car took me to a small side door. I was escorted to a room on the main floor just as Aisha arrived.

  She removed her bonnet and tossed it on the coffee table. Watching me, she unpinned her hair and allowed the auburn waves to cascade over her shoulders. I'd never seen her like this. She appeared relaxed and happy. In charge.