Attack Doll 5: The End of Lily Lee

by Douglas A. Taylor

Chapter 21

 

  It was just after everyone had finished eating and Toby and Angela were cleaning up that we heard Wizzit's voice over the speakers. "Trevor, it appears that Lily has decided she is healthy. She has gotten up from the table on which she was lying and is once more sitting beside the door to her cage-room."

  I had been toying idly with a soup spoon, twirling it between my fingers. I glanced up and looked around the room; everyone had turned to look at me. "I suppose I had better go check on her, then."

  "Wait a second," Shelley said. "How did you know that, Wizzit?"

  "Through the microsensors that Mike and the others planted throughout the lair," he replied.

  Shelley turned to look quizzically at Mike, who said casually, "Trina, Trevor, Angela, and I went out there -- with force shields on, naturally, so that Lily couldn't see our faces -- while you were in the weapons room. We planted microsensors and installed a few sets of speakers; we should now have full two-way communications with the lair."

  "What about the computer systems?" Nicolai asked.

  "JB Swift's main computer is a feisty little thing," Wizzit said, sounding almost proud of it. "I have control of the power, lights, heat, water, and two of the vid screens, and I'm working on the rest. It's putting up a good fight, but it should be just a matter of another hour or so."

  "I see." Shelley looked thoughtful. Suddenly she said, "Is there any reason we shouldn't go over there for our debrief? We could introduce ourselves to Lily then as well. Wizzit, Mike, what do you think?"

  Wizzit said, "I would recommend waiting until I have complete control of -- oh, wait, it just gave up the ghost. Never mind, I now have full computer control of the site. Sure, we could do the debriefing there whenever you're ready, Commander."

  Mike shrugged. "If Wizzit is okay with it, then so am I. But before we do that, we had better decide a few things."

  "Such as . . .?" Trina asked.

  "Such as, should we let Lily see our real faces? Should we let her hear us calling each other by our real names? Just how much does she know about us, anyway?"

  "She already knows my first name and what I look like," I said. "That was a prerequisite for my taking charge of her. And JB Swift had already figured out my last name and where my parents live. I don't know whether he passed that along to Lily, though."

  Mike nodded. "That's regrettable, but I agree that most of it couldn't be helped."

  "Which Lily knows what you look like?" Shelley asked. "Li Lin-fa, or commander-mode Lily, or . . ."

  I considered the question. "Li Lin-fa knows my first name and my face and that I am also called Prime Blue. I couldn't see any real harm in telling her that. Operator-mode Lily also knows my name and face, and she guessed that I was Prime Blue just by watching me move. I haven't talked with commander-mode Lily yet."

  "Enclave knows what I look like," Padma reminded everyone. "They do not know my name, though, or anything else about me."

  "The whole world knows who I am," Shelley added. "I think most people would not be shocked to discover I am still involved with the Primes."

  Mike frowned. "There's probably no point in advertising the fact, though." He looked around at the rest of us. "Anything else?"

  "Lily and JB Swift met Angie once," I mused.

  "I remember that," Angie agreed. "It was a while ago, even before I was Junior Prime Pink."

  I said, "I doubt anyone would make the connection between that encounter and our current Prime Violet, though, not even Lily."

  Mike rubbed his chin. "Wizzit," he said, "what do you think?"

  "I want you to remain cautious, even more so than we were with Angela," Wizzit replied. "Li Lin-fa and operator-mode Lily should not see anything more than they have already. I do not want her even to see Shelley's face unless it becomes necessary. Shelley, I will defer to your judgment on that. Trevor may continue to interact with both of them both as himself and as Prime Blue, since that cat's already left the bag. The rest of you, though, may interact with Lily only as Primes. Angela may interact with Li Lin-fa, but only as Prime Violet; Shelley, please coach her carefully on this."

  "Will do," Shelley said.

  "Why Angie?" Padma asked. Then, almost before the words were out of her mouth, she was shaking her head and waving her hands in negation. "Never mind; I understand. She is the only one among us besides Trevor who speaks Cantonese."

  "What about commander-mode Lily?" I asked.

  "Everyone but you is to interact with her only while shielded and blurred. As for you . . ." There was a pause. "We don't know just how much information is shared among her personalities, so . . ."

  "She said commander mode had access to all information available to the attack doll unit," I pointed out.

  "Yes, that is what she said," Wizzit agreed patiently. "But we both know that Lily's commander-mode persona has not lived up to its full potential. There may be flaws in her programming. So for now, you also will interact with her only while shielded and blurred --"

  "Oh come on, Wizzit!"

  "-- unless it becomes necessary to deactivate," he went on as if I had not spoken. "I will defer to your judgment on that, but please consult with Shelley or Mike first."

  "All right," I agreed reluctantly. "Will do."

  Mike looked around. "Are we all sorted, then?" There was a chorus of agreement. "Then send us out there, Wizzit, if you please. After we all activate, that is."

  We materialized in the main room of the lab beside a large vid screen. I walked over to where Lily sat, took her hand, and told her to follow me. We returned to find the others moving boxes and crates into a rough semicircle around the screen.

  "Wizzit says that JB Swift doesn't have any chairs here," Angie explained to me. "I guess he didn't plan on having company. We're going to have to sit on these for the time being."

  After everyone else had all found seats for themselves of one sort or another, I led Lily out in front of the vid screen and turned her to face them. For a moment, no one spoke. Mike was the first to find his tongue. "I would not have believed it possible."

  "I wish it weren't," Toby muttered.

  Lily gazed out into nothingness, seemingly oblivious to the stares being directed her way. "I thought you told me she had drowned, Trev- err, Blue," my sister said. "How did she survive that? How come she's still alive?"

  I recounted what JB Swift had told me about the mammalian diving reflex. After that, Wizzit replayed my earlier interview with operator-mode Lily, the one while we were on the beach. When that was done, I said, "Anyone have any more questions about her?" No one did, it seemed. After more than a minute had gone by, I said, with a touch of impatience, "So, do you want to see her do some tricks? Should I have her stand on her head or something?"

  "I would like to speak with her," Shelley said quietly.

  I raised my eyebrows, which no one could see under my force shield. "She's not much of a conversationalist, Gold."

  "I meant commander-mode Lily, of course," Shelley amended.

  "Agreed," Wizzit chimed in. "Please put her in commander mode, Blue."

  "If that's what you want," I said. "Lily, initiate commander mode."

  I have seen her make the switch, prompted by JB Swift's remote control, from commander mode to Crazy Kung Fu Zombie Chick many times, and that change always appeared to be more-or-less instantaneous: One second she's cringing in front of you, and the next, she's trying to claw your eyes out. This one was more gradual; I could almost see the light of intelligence dawning in her eyes.

  I waited, watching her closely, as she seemed to come awake and realize where she was. Her gaze swept around the room, panic rising as she took in the glowing figures that surrounded her. Eventually, she focused on me. I saw her stiffen and heard her sharp intake of breath.

  "Drones, attend me!" she called out, looking about wildly for any
Zoinks that might come to her aid. "Drones? Drones!"

  "There are no drones here," I told her.

  She slowly raised her hands protectively in front of her and began to back away. She bumped into the vid screen almost immediately and sank down to her knees. A whimper of fear escaped her.

  I squatted down until my face was almost at her level. "Lily," I said, trying to make my voice as gentle as possible, "there's nothing to be afraid of."

  She was shaking with fear. "Please don't hurt me!"

  "I'm Prime Blue, Lily. We've met a few times before. Have I ever hurt you?"

  She started to shake her head. "You -- you're the one who says the magic words to me!"

  "Do they hurt you?"

  She didn't reply; she just curled herself into a ball. She buried her face against her knees and covered her ears with her hands. "Red, Gold," I said, Prime-to-Prime, "this is nuts. Look at her. She's terrified of us -- of me. There's no sense in scaring her out of her wits this way."

  To my surprise, it was Mike who said, "All right, Blue. Deactivate and do your best to calm her down."

  I quickly deactivated my force shield. The accompanying flash of light must have gotten her attention, because she looked up. She stared at me, slowly bringing her hands away from her ears. "I'm not going to hurt you, Lily," I said, slowly and deliberately. "No one here is going to hurt you. I'll make sure of that. There's nothing to be afraid of."

  Lily blinked and shook her head slightly. Then she did it again. She raised a hand to her temple, as though she were suddenly remembering something important. "Your name is . . . Trevor," she said hesitantly, "and you are . . ." She swallowed nervously. ". . . a completely trusted user?" From the dismayed way she said it, I just knew she was thinking something along the lines of I have been given into the hands of my deadliest enemy.

  "That's right," I said. "Your Uncle Oswald decided that he could trust me to look after you. You're safe with me."

  "Where is Uncle Oswald?" Then, before I could answer, she sprang to her feet and dashed over to one of the computer consoles. "Display Oswald's last known location," she ordered.

  The large vid screen behind her flared to life, showing a featureless plain. She looked at it, then turned to me. "He's not there!"

  "I know," I said. "I'm sorry. He's dead."

  Her eyes went wide with shock. "You killed him?"

  I shook my head. "The Harley twins, with some sort of bomb."

  She stared at me for a moment, then dropped her gaze to the floor between us as she absorbed the information. She was silent for what seemed like a long time, and then she started trembling. It began with her hands, and she clenched them together in a effort to stop it, but that merely made her shoulders start to quake. A low, keening moan escaped her lips.