The news of the rain was all over our feeds the next day.
It hadn't yet reached New Yuan City, but was expected to cross the Wall this evening. Each borough was already exploding with invitations to rain festivals and celebrations. Apparently, it was the first rainfall since the previous year.
"It hasn't rained since last year?!" I asked, astounded.
Chaoxing nodded, engulfing a spoonful of Green Swirly Cream in her mouth.
"Henry says it's the biggest party of the year! We can't miss it, Sade!" she spoke excitedly, eyes darting between me and her tablet. She had just ordered new hair pendants and was tracking the package live on her map.
I glanced out the window at the park of Jin-Safar Station. I had arrived early, as usual, to explore the neighborhood before the Love Machina meeting. The lush green gardens cascaded down the golden stairs, spreading into a blue lake. Small dashes of grass created small islands over it. Children were jumping between the small islands, laughing as they reached all sides of the lake.
It was hard to believe the City had so much vegetation when it never rained. And it wasn't even just a resilient nature, like cacti or acacia trees. No, it was lush, tropical, and humid. How could they sustain the amount of water needed to take care of all of it?
In the Belt, it rained almost every day. Sometimes the downpours were so heavy that we had power outages. I even remember two or three times when they called it "acid rain" and we weren't allowed outside for a whole week. Rain was never a rare occasion, and it was almost always a problem.
"Mud Madness? But we'd need boots for that... Ah! They're sending out a printing tutorial for mud boots! But it's at the same time as the Painted Pulse Party..." Chaoxing kept debating with herself while I let her decide which celebration we'd join that night.
I turned back to the window, observing the sweep of green gardens below, and wondering how the City sustained itself at all.
When it was time for the meeting, more women joined our table, greeting us with polite smiles.
As well as a man.
"My name is Aurelian," he introduced himself to the group, golden curls bouncing around his gorgeous face. "Glad to meet you all."
I couldn't help but watch him. It was the first time I'd ever seen a man as a Love Machina. He reminded me of one of the actors from the movie I had watched with V on our first date. Perhaps a younger version of the actor.
I wondered if Love Machina Inc. had received the new components. Did this mean the new machinas would be released soon? Will I be called back any moment now?
Reason told me I should feel excited for the end of my contract. My debt will be reimbursed, and a new life will be awaiting me.
But instead, a heavy feeling weighed on my shoulders.
"Isn't it crazy?" Firinne seethed between her teeth next to me.
I leaned in slightly to show I was listening. She scrolled through the feed on her tablet.
"A prisoner escaped last week, and all these people can talk about is the incoming rain!"
I widened my eyes, looking around us nervously. The machinas nearby were too busy discussing the rain festivities to notice.
"Their government is hiding things from them."
I knew immediately what she was talking about.
Or who.
"It makes you wonder... what else are they hiding? In Tardigrad, even a goat escaping makes the news!"
I drank in everything she said like a curious explorer. Anything about Tardigrad had fascinated me lately. Imagining New Yuan City made my head spin: so much to explore, so little time... But imagining another gigantic city, on the other side of the mountains, with different landscapes, people, and nature, made me feel... dreamy.
It didn't help that searching on NORA resulted in nothing. Zero results showed up when searching for Tardigrad. Searching for "Autonomous Territories" brought up mostly commercial and territorial treaties that I couldn't understand the jargon of.
Most of the people who knew my secret, and whose secrets I knew too, were from Tardigrad. I wanted to know more about the place that turned Kira into a soft-spoken personality and made Firinne a doctor and a leader.
Vincent also intrigued me.
Calypso arrived a bit late and excused herself. Discussions had already begun. There were things I wished I could have brought up, but I knew it was impossible in this group. My thoughts wandered instead.
I only focused back when Firinne got curious about Aurelian.
"I heard you live near Tian-Al Medina?"
Aurelian nodded with a smile, his perfect teeth shining like diamonds.
"We might be neighbors then," Firinne leaned in, performing the same charming little dance that had captivated me before. Everyone around listened whenever she spoke. Even the machina seemed fascinated by the charisma she exuded. "We should hang out one day," she told him, smiling again.
Aurelian's eyes widened. "Definitely," he said eagerly. "I'll ask my partner when he's free."
"Oh, no... No need to invite him," Firinne waved her hand to dismiss the idea. "Our owners don't care about other machinas... We can keep this to ourselves."
She gave him another of her charming smiles, and I knew exactly how Aurelian must have felt: as if he had found something that belonged only to him, and not his owner.
"I don't think Aimen will be free anyway. He's been working a lot outside the City lately," Aurelian added with an agreeing smile.
The information he had just shared had not fallen on deaf ears, as a sparkle lit up in Firinne's eyes.
Witnessing this interaction only confirmed to me that there had to be more than the smuggling of medicines. Why had Vincent been taken captive by the City? Why did I find them snooping around before?
Aurelian grew curious in turn, asking about Firinne, and she told him about her nanny mission. I tuned out, noticing for the first time that Kira wasn't at the meeting. I wished I could ask Firinne about it, but with her attention now fully on Aurelian, it felt impossible to draw her back to me.
🌳
Chaoxing rushed out of the café as soon as the meeting was over, telling me to text her later when I would be ready to go out for the festivities. She had planned a whole session at the beauty enhancement center, and she couldn't be a minute late, or they would cancel her appointment.
I passed by the bathrooms. As I washed my hands, a faint sob echoed from behind one of the stalls.
I hesitated at first, choosing to ignore it out of respect for the person's privacy. But then, my eyes caught on a tablet left by the sinks. The case looked familiar. Picking it up, I realized I knew it: the wood-like cover I had once helped 3D-print.
"Sade?"
I turned as Kira stepped out of a stall. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying.
"What are you doing here?" she sniffed, snatching the tablet from my hands.
"Are you okay?" I asked her already.
"Do I look okay?" she shot back, scoffing as she turned to the sink. She cupped her hands under the faucet, splashing cold water over her face.
Her makeup, already smudged, melted away completely as she scrubbed with soap. The harder she rubbed, the more her shoulders trembled, until I realized she was sobbing again.
"It h-h-hurts... Sade..." Kira's voice broke, her whole body shaking with sobs.
I rushed to her side.
"Ouch," she winced when my hand touched her eye.
That was when I realized that the cleaning hadn't just smudged her makeup. It was stinging her bruises.
Her sobbing and shaking made it nearly impossible to help.
"Breathe, Kira. Just breathe..."
I guided her to one of the ottomans and sat her down.
The situation reminded me of the clinic. I had seen patients break down like this before. Sometimes the treatments were so harsh that their bodies and minds struggled to cope.
Kira spilled the contents of her bag on the ottoman. A whole arsenal of makeup was revealed. I picked up a bottle labeled waterproof remover and dampened a towel with its oily liquid.
"Breathe through your mouth... Here... Gentle..." I comforted her.
"I-I-I-can't do this any-m-m-more, Sade," she stuttered, her breathing choppy.
Kira wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. As gently as I could, I tapped the towel around her eyes and face.
"Who's doing this to you, Kira? Your owner?"
She shook her head yes.
"Why can't Firinne or Calypso cancel your mission?" I asked, referring to the two women we knew had the power to intervene.
"It will j-j-jeopardize e-e-eeveryone's mission," she sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What mission? What's happening?"
She shook her head, lips trembling in a silent wince.
She couldn't tell me.
But that was enough for me to know. That was the only confirmation I needed to know that something else was going on.
I dampened the towel again, this time with cold water, and pressed it lightly against her neck and chest, hoping it would steady her breathing. It worked. She relaxed and opened her eyes.
"Talk to me," she urged softly.
"About what?"
"Anything. Just... talk."
Her eyes closed again, her brows quivering. I stayed quiet, unsure what words could help her in this moment.
"Sade!"
"OK, alright," I sighed, defeated. "Well... I've been thinking of telling the truth to my owner."
"The truth?!"
Her eyes snapped open.
"That I'm not a machina. That I'm human."
She looked at me in complete shock. The change of subject seemed to have been the right option. Kira's face completely transformed as her crying eyes widened in disbelief.
"Are you insane?!" she burst again.
"I believe I'm not helping him," I continued, trying to explain myself. "If he knew I was human... I feel like it would be better for him."
"Better for what?!"
I hesitated, weighing how much to reveal. Kira knew about Vincent, V's brother. But did she know about their whole story? How was V born? I chose to leave that part out.
"What is he doing to you, Sade?!" Kira barked, her imagination clearly running wild as I was not answering.
"Nothing!" I replied immediately. "He's nothing but good to me!"
I kept my voice steady, careful not to reveal how lucky I'd been compared to her. After all, we were both assigned on a girlfriend mission. She could have ended up in my place, and I in hers.
"You can't tell him! He'll go after Love Machina Inc.! The company will get in trouble, Callie will get in trouble, we'll all get in trouble—"
"I can convince him to keep a secret. He'll understand. If I explain the issue with the rebels—"
"He won't understand," Kira gripped my shoulders. "He doesn't know about the rebels. He doesn't know what's happening outside the City. They don't disclose this to citizens here. He'll think you're insane!"
I remained silent, recalling Firinne's talk about that same thing before the meeting. My own searches about Tardigrad on NORA had turned up nothing. Clearly, citizens weren't meant to know about it.
"Think of your debt," Kira reminded me. "This is why you're doing it, right?"
Our conversation at Malik's dinner party felt like a lifetime ago. Another life... With different motivations. Different dreams.
"Yes..." I conceded, not so sure myself. "But—"
"But what?"
"He said... He mentioned... He could find a way to make me stay with him. We could stay together, even after the contract ends—"
I stopped as Kira pressed her face into her hands, shoulders shaking.
She wasn't crying.
She was laughing.
"Oh, Sade..." She looked up at the ceiling, arms spread wide. "You can't be this naive!"
Her green eyes locked with mine.
"Don't you remember Annie? She was promised the world, too. You shouldn't believe anything he tells you, Sade," Kira shook her head. "How could that even work? Do you think Love Machina Inc. will keep leasing you, a human pretending to be a machina, when your machina copy is ready to go? There's no way, Sade. It will never happen."
I stared down at the tiled floor. I had thought of it, yes.
I knew I was dreaming.
I sat on the floor, hugging my knees. Was I repeating Annie's story?
"And you deserve better than that."
I looked up at her.
"You should dream bigger," Kira breathed, and I didn't understand. "Going from your clinic to your owner isn't such an improvement. You'd still be reliant on someone, or something. You should aspire to be independent... Free from anyone or anything. Only then you can make free choices." She paused. "Aren't you studying these days?"
"Yes, but..." I began, ready to defend V again, but then, I frowned. "Wait, who told you that?"
I knew I shouldn't have been surprised. Their small group seemed to know way more about me than I did about them.
But her answer still caught me off guard.
"Chaoxing."
My mouth dropped with surprise.
"I didn't know you two were talking?" I said, a smile tugging at my lips.
"She's cool. Whatever," Kira shrugged, as if embarrassed to admit it.
Saved by the bell, she glanced down at her buzzing tablet. Her eyes widened at the screen.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Kira extended her hand to me, and I took it without hesitation.
When she looked back at me, her face was lit up with joy.
"Callie had warned me. They received the components. Finally!" she breathed, her voice trembling with excitement.
She showed me the message from Love Machina Inc., announcing a maintenance appointment. I assumed it was the cover for her replacement by the machina double in a few days.
I fumbled for my own tablet, fingers trembling.
"I... I didn't receive anything," I murmured, trying to hide the relief in my voice.
"Don't worry, it's expected," Kira reassured me. "Callie said I'll be the first out. They'll do it gradually, so no one gets suspicious."
I slowly nodded, trying to gather my thoughts.
The news had lifted Kira back onto her feet. She grabbed her makeup bag and moved to the mirrors, carefully covering her bruised face with a thick cream that blurred everything in a single stroke.
We stayed silent for a while.
Slowly, my thoughts went back to what Kira had just mentioned before her tablet buzzed.
"What about you?" I asked. "What do you dream of?"
She smiled, with that same smile I had only seen at the oasis. She looked into the distance, past the mirrors, as if imagining faraway horizons, and answered:
"I want to marry the love of my life and live on a farmhouse with her and our children."
Our eyes met in the mirror, and we smiled at each other. I truly hoped that for Kira and Callie, too.
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