Chlorophyll and Gasoline

by SJ Fleming

  “I... see. I was unaware of Juniper’s invitation. In that case, pay an old man no heed. We may need to speak later, Willow.”

  Willow felt...a little better with Suzy by her side. With the pressure of Suzy’s hand around hers. She felt...bolder. Like she stood a little bit taller than before.

  “Unless it’s something really personal, I’d rather we discuss it in the open. Is that the case?”

  “Well, no, it’s just that…”

  “Then we shall speak of it in the open,” Willow said. Oak frowned and stepped back. All of the sudden, he seemed to have developed a case of lock-jaw, given how tightly his lips remained shut. He turned around, and walked away.

  Suzy suppressed a laugh, and when he was out of earshot, she whispered into Willow’s ear.

  “That is the man who opposes me staying?”

  “That’s him, yep.”

  “He does not seem too threatening. I felt more frightened when he watched from afar than when he spoke.”

  “That’s because you haven’t disagreed with him in private. That’s never fun.”

  “I would imagine so. As it stands, though, he does not seem to be very threatening. Perhaps embittered and perhaps rather annoyed by my existing, but not particularly dangerous. I suspect that he pulls far less weight than he believes.”

  Willow shrugged. “Even so, he pulls more than I do. My voice is a lot quieter than his, particularly when it comes to these sorts of issues.”

  “What sort of issues are those?” Suzy furrowed her brow.

  Willow waffled for a moment, trying to decide how to word it. “Sort of...those...intergenerational ones. Y’know? Deciding what to do with regards to, say, the placement of fish traps or the placement of crops doesn’t have much impact on children born five years afterwards, but...introducing a new member into the Stamen would. Introducing something from the Polluted Age definitely would, particularly if we’re not careful. You qualify as both.”

  “Yes, but I am not actively dangerous. That is your entire campaign for me to stay, correct? That I am not dangerous, and that I am capable of helping?”

  “Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to make his own assumptions and run with them.”

  “I see. That is...unfortunate.”

  Willow replied with a morose nod.

  The moon was ascending now, and Willow’s hold on Suzy’s hand only tightened. She didn’t want her to go, she didn’t want Suzy to spend the night alone…

  Willow didn’t want to spend the night alone, either. The realization had been creeping up on Willow for a long time, the reality of her feelings being suppressed and hidden as best she could. But whenever she spent time with Suzy, she felt that emotional dam leak a little more. And now, she could no longer deny it. She wanted to be with Suzy, to spend the nights with her, and to make sure she was happy. It wasn’t...a particularly incredible revelation for Willow, but it was a revelation nonetheless.

  “Suzy,” she whispered. “It’s almost time for you to go.”

  “I am aware,” Suzy said. Her expression was neutral, unreadable. But Willow could still feel sadness in the air, emotions unable to hide behind cold metal.

  “I... I hope you enjoyed your time here.”

  “I did. It’s...the people here are very generous and thoughtful, and I feel that I could get along well enough with most of them. I suppose then it is up to the Stamen to decide if the feeling is mutual.”

  “Yes, it is.” Willow let out a gently sigh, as if to punctuate the general feeling around the two of them. “But...but maybe you don’t need to go back? I mean, I don’t know when the moot will be, it could very well be tomorrow. So, it might be better for you to...to stay here. With me.”

  Suzy scoffed. Then she realized Willow was serious. She lowered her head down, almost leaning against Willow’s shoulder.

  “Yes,” she said. “I would be happy to stay with you.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Willow laid out an extra cloth roll for Suzy. The roll wasn’t particularly thick, and it had a hole or two in it from moths, but it was all she had. Suzy seemed more than happy with it, though, sitting down promptly and wrapping it around herself.

  “So, Willow!” Suzy said, already getting herself cozy. “Are you sure you may keep me here?”

  “I don’t see why anyone would protest. And if they do, I’m sure you can give them the same treatment you gave to the Woundmender.”

  Suzy nodded curtly. “Very well! I am glad that you trust me enough to bring me into your home overnight. Now, maybe I may ask questions of you somewhat more openly, if you permit it.”

  “What’s on your mind?” Willow asked, leaning back against the living wood wall.

  “So, a moot, as far as I understand it, is a form of direct democracy your tribe engages in, correct?”

  Willow paused, again confounded by the old words Suzy used. “Uh...let’s say it is.”

  “Well, in that case, I am curious about the general process. I dislike not knowing, so it would put my mind at ease to understand it.”

  Willow chewed her lip for a moment, trying to describe the process as best she could remember. The last moot that was called was over two years ago, after all. It took quite a bit of digging around in her memory to recall the specific details.

  “Well, the last one we had was...over if we should go to war against another Stamen—”

  “Oh dear! That is a terrible choice to make,” Suzy interjected before realizing her error and mumbling an apology.

  “We didn’t, so I guess it turned out alright. There’s just a hollow that’s picked, generally the one who gave us the question, and two bags are set up. Then we just drop a stone into whichever bag is marked for our choice.”

  “How do you determine which is which?” Suzy cocked her head.

  “Different colours.”

  “Ah.” Suzy nodded. “So, it will take a good portion of the day, I assume?”

  “Yep. Always does. Even more so if someone decides to get up and tell us why we should do this or that. Yggdrasil around us, last time, the Warguide just spent an afternoon listing off the transgressions that other Stamen had done unto us. We didn’t have the sundial nearby and it would be rude to just get up and walk away to check, but at least three hours.”

  Suzy laughed. “Really? Three hours of just ‘this is what they did. That is why we should kill them’? That must have been an extremely convincing argument.”

  “It wasn’t. Half of it was just stuff like being shafted by a few seeds in a trade. Sure, might not be great if it’s, like, a rare seed that takes ten years to grow, but no, this was over cereal grains.”

  Suzy shook her head. “That is pathetic. I remember when a United Nations senator spent fifteen hours filibustering a bill. A spectacle of human endurance, to be certain, but one that was wholly unasked for by both his party and the opposition.” She hid her smile behind her hand. “I remember...it was Richard, who was on the opposition. He ended up standing up and pushing the senator off the podium. Richard nearly caused an international crisis because the senator started reading some old poem from the twenty-second century, just to buy time.”

  “Was the Senater okay?” Willow asked. She didn’t know what Senat...ing... entailed, but someone who had it as a part of their title had to be important. Like Woundmender, who mended wounds, or the Treesinger, who spoke to the plants. Someone who Senat...ed... had to be important to Suzy’s time.

  “Yes. He fell all of two feet, and the only casualty was a scuffed belt buckle. Regardless, the state he represented was practically in arms over it. Richard had to make a public apology to him, to the man who told him that his proposed regulations were violating human rights! Because Richard didn’t want to listen to hours of his bill to help keep corporations in check being sidelined due to poems and corporate interests, he had to apologize!”

  Suzy’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “It was such a silly thing, honestly. I remember hearing about it
for the first time, I could not stop laughing.” A split second later, and her tone changed. Her shoulders slouched a little, her voice grew low and quiet. “As far as I am concerned, though, that man is responsible for the situation the world finds itself in now. Untethered power is never good, and he actively worked to untether those with the most power.”

  Willow nodded, unsure of where Suzy was going with this. Not that it fully mattered. Listening to Suzy talk about herself, talk about what her life was like, that was what Willow enjoyed. Even if she didn’t understand it too well herself.

  Suzy continued airing her various grievances with the world that used to be, explaining as much as she could. About how the government worked, about how cities of millions were fed and clothed. Willow couldn’t wrap her head around it, her mind struggled with the sheer scale. An assembly representing every single person on Earth, ‘countries,’ which as far as Willow could tell, was like an Yggdrasil where billions of people could live. Her attention was fully focused on listening, absorbing every detail she could.

  It was well past midnight when Willow finally fell asleep.

  A horn sounded. Willow woke up with a start, flailing about until she realized what had actually woken her. Suzy was sitting on the floor still, the cloth wrapped around her as before. Willow furrowed her eyebrows. Did Suzy stay up all night? She did mention she didn’t need to sleep, but...did she really stay in that same position for hours? Willow didn’t believe it, but it’s not as if she had much evidence to the contrary.

  Willow’s head hurt. If the events of the day were up to her, it would be another two hours before anything happened. But the horn had sounded, the time had come. Everyone had to assemble for something.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what for. The moot had been called. No time for breakfast, or to change into her more formal clothing. She didn’t regret staying up all night speaking to Suzy, but she really regretted not planning ahead for this. Willow blamed Oak and Juniper. Or rather, she blamed their seemingly intentional concealing of the details. Just being told that a moot was happening ‘soon’ wasn’t helpful.

  Much of the Stamen had filed out of their various hollows, moving to the edges of the river. Most of them didn’t seem too pleased, yawning and rubbing their eyes, mumbling various curses. Woundmender Oak was standing by the edge of the Stamen, a horn tucked under his arms. Juniper was beside him, her scowl contrasting Oak’s wide grin.

  Willow and Suzy walked in lockstep, trying to ignore the stares and whispering from around them. Some people smiled, others frowned, and some simply looked on. There was concerned muttering around them.

  “Is that it?”

  “It’s kinda ugly.”

  “I heard it’s dangerous.”

  Willow held Suzy’s hand tightly. Considerable warmth was being given off by Suzy, her entire body vibrating gently from within. She leaned over and whispered into Willow’s ear.

  “I am terribly sorry; my cooling system is working at full capacity right now. I am... nervous. Thinking many things.”

  “Good things?” Willow asked. She didn’t even know why she asked. Maybe she had some hope that at least one of them was confident about this.

  “No.”

  After everyone had gathered, Oak spoke, his voice carrying authority.

  “Hello, everyone. We gather today on a moot. I am certain you all know why. Recently, our good Deep Gatherer, Willow, brought up a rather strange relic from the days long-past. In fact, we are…” he peered over, glaring at Suzy before continued. “We are treated to said relic’s presence today. Now, the question that I believe had been posed to me and Juniper was the question of this relic being allowed within our Stamen. We have seen it or spoken to it, so I shall ask the first question of our moot. Simply to...let’s say...get the conversation started. So, this question is directed to the Iron One.” He gestured at Suzy.

  “Yes?” Suzy replied. “What is it?”

  “Iron Ones were integral to the functioning of society in the Polluted Times, correct?”

  “No... maybe. I don’t know.” Suzy admitted. “I am unclear on what is actually meant by ‘Iron One.’ Do you mean sapient robots, robots in general, or specifically servile ones like me?”

  Oak crossed his arms. “I do not understand your answer. Were Iron Ones common?”

  “I suppose so, if we go by the broadest definition.” Suzy shrugged.

  “Have you encountered any? A community? Some group of your own?” Oak asked. “If they were common, then surely you cannot be the only one who has woken up in our world.”

  “Though I am the only one that I have encountered here. I have explored the Undergrowth, and walked around the...the Yggdrasil. I believe I am alone, save for the Gaians who have encountered me and welcomed me warmly. For them, I am very grateful.”

  There was an uncomfortable murmuring in the crowd. Scared, nervous tittering of people who had no idea what to think or do. Part of her wished that it hadn’t come from all directions, that there had been some sort of demarcation between who was against and who was for, who was scared, and who was not. But there were no clear sides. The moot was just a throng of people with little organization.

  Juniper spoke next. She stepped forwards, bowing slightly in Willow’s direction before asking her question.

  “Suzy, what skills do you possess that could benefit the Stamen?”

  Willow felt a little better when that was asked. It meant that Juniper was definitely on her side now. That was the sort of question that was asked if a Gaian was looking to move in. Of course, most of the time a Gaian didn’t need the full moot and formal process that came with it.

  “I am able to help with cooking, farming, or other tasks like that. I was designed as a servant, so I can serve where needed. There is little I am unwilling to help with. I am sure that Willow may attest to my abilities.” Suzy gestured to Willow. “Should you need a witness, of course.”

  The questioning continued for far too long. At least, far too long for Willow. She stood beside Suzy the entire time, listening to Oak and Juniper ask various questions, ranging from the mundane and logical, such as “how shall we accommodate someone like you?” to the extreme and frankly insulting “how can we trust you to not betray the Stamen to another Iron One?”.

  “Simply put, Woundmender Oak, there are no other Iron Ones to whom I could speak of this place. If there were some hidden group of automatons, I would likely go to them instead of here. Besides, this hypothetical scenario of betrayal is ultimately meaningless from a cost-benefit analysis. What would I have to gain? Not a lot. What would I have to lose? At the very least, Willow’s friendship. And that is something I do not wish to lose.”

  “Yes, but should a group of Iron Ones awaken, what’s to stop you from feeling more loyalty to them than us? After all, they are your people.”

  “You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what I am. I do not belong to a group of people; a robot is not an ethnicity or a nationality. I feel loyalty to those who treat me well and help me. And so far, Gaians are the ones who have been doing so.”

  “So that means unless we cater to you, you will turn coat?”

  “No, that’s not at all wha—”

  “And so, I assume that also means that you expect some sort of privilege here?”

  Willow shouted over the next question, not letting Oak get even halfway through his sentence.

  “You know that’s not what she said! Stop trying to sway this in your favour, and just ask questions! That’s your job, isn’t it?!” She stepped forwards. “If you’re going to be an arbitrator of this moot, then the least you could do is allow Suzy to answer every question.”

  This prompted more murmurs from the crowd. A few people, at least as far as Willow could tell, acknowledged her point. Others scoffed at the brazen display of rudeness, and others still didn’t seem to know what to think.

  “Very well,” Oak said. “I’ll turn the questions over to Juniper.”

>   “Oh, wonderful!” Juniper said, smiling. She gave Willow a knowing nod and started on the next round of questioning. Mostly about history and what she had learned, and how she felt about all these sudden changes. Nothing too terribly invasive, thank the Spirits.

  Suzy, to her credit, answered each question without hesitation and without talking back. The murmurs that occurred after each statement grew quieter and quieter, focus slowly shifting from the questions being asked to the answers being given. After...far too long, the two of them seemed content in the questions they had asked.

  Juniper was the one who put forth the motion. It was simple, to the point. A motion to allow the Iron One, Suzy, to stay within the Stamen. Nothing about citizenry, or recognition as a Gaian, or anything like that. Not particularly shocking, or even particularly permanent, Willow thought, but it was probably intentionally so. Much easier to convince people to simply allow someone to stay, over bringing them fully into the fold. Maybe in the future, though…

  Willow volunteered her hollow as the place to vote on the matter. She helped set it up as well, pinning the blue and red bags on to her wall, next to the lumifruit.

  Small clay balls were handed out, each one unpainted and cracked from the sun. Once everyone had one, they were all told to line up. A sense of nervousness and tension, like a bow drawn too far back, hung over everyone. Shuffling aimlessly, twiddling thumbs, idle fiddling with skirt tassels or belts, no one was still.

  Willow was the first to vote. Parting from Suzy was...a lot harder than she wanted it to be. She had to force herself to let go of Suzy’s hand, almost rip herself away. But in the end, she did.

  Her own hollow felt...oddly hostile now. The two bags hung limply on the wall, the colours tinged by the soft blue light of the Lumifruit. She rolled the ball of clay in her hand nervously, and reached for the blue bag. Her vote went in, for yes.

  She let out a shaky sigh, and stepped out of the hollow. Suzy was there, waiting for her just outside the door. The two of them walked away from the crowd, finding their own place to hide and sit in silence. It... oh, by the Spirits, it hurt her. Watching the line grow smaller and smaller, with no hint of how the process was going.