âSo... I guess that means no finding my dog and going home, then, doesnât it?â
She probably could have debated him on whether heâd really saved her, exactly, considering that it was at least mostly his fault she hadnât been in any fit state to save herself, but really she was too tired to get into the minutiae, and was willing, at least for now, to call it even. They were both not dead, and somehow that seemed like the thing that really mattered here. When theyâd become a they, however tentatively, was a question she would ask herself later, when there wasnât still the threat of being shot or⊠however that girl would kill them. Stella found she really didnât want to imagine it.
So for now, she wasnât going to argue too much about where they were going. Frankly, she was exhaustedâand incredibly hungry, if the ache in the pit of her stomach was anything to go by. Whether that was a side effect of the sudden dramatic increase in her power use or just because she hadnât had dinner yet, she neither knew nor particularly cared. It made her rather compliant as she was loaded onto the hoverbike, holding where she was instructed to hold and nodding slightly when he indicated they were going somewhere safe.
Stella would be lying if she said she trusted him half as far as she could throw him, but for the moment at least, she didnât have much of a choice. âThanks, Violet,â she said, the words ever-so-slightly slurred as the shot started taking effect. He could, after all, have just left her there, and in this condition, that would likely not have ended well for her. She shifted her hands under the coat when they got moving, though, knowing from unfortunate experience what was likely to happen next. Sure enough, her healing factor kicked in, pushing out the bullet into her waiting palm. From the look of it, the thing was pretty high-techâshe wiped it as clean of her blood as she could on her pant leg and held it up for a moment before pocketing it. Maybe someone else could learn something useful from it, but she was by no means an expert on guns or ammunition.
She could feel her bleeding slowing, though she was holding onto consciousness by only a very thin thread. Soon, she promised herself. Iâll sleep soon.
By this point, Darciaâs internal neural network had informed her that pain receptors were firing in her hand, and she looked blankly down at it for a moment before Cruxâs words drew her attention back to the ground, where the targets could just be seen disappearing from view. Soon, they were evidently off other forms of sensor as well, and while her counterpart check in with Central, she took a moment to confirm that the marks were indeed off all Network grids as well. It was a shortcoming of Network surveillance that most cameras did not have infrared or heat-sensing modes, but at this point, even those would have been mostly pointless, because while it would be able to tell that something was passing by, visual identification of that something would be difficult.
The android was brought back to awareness by the fact that Crux had taken her bleeding hand and tied something over it. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but not in a way that could be connoted as hostile, only slightly perplexed. Such an action was unnecessaryâlike any person would, she would cease bleeding eventually, and quite soon, given what she really was. It was almost kindâand nobody had been kind to Darcia since her creator had died.
Of course, the prudential value of the action was made immediately clear, and then she understood. It would be more to dispose of if she continued to bleed, though sheâd been sure to keep the affected limb away from anything absorbentâthere were traces on the windowsill and a few drops dotting the stone tile of the floor. âUnderstood,â she intoned, inclining her head slightly and reaching into one of the deep pockets of her coat. Inside was just a small cleaning kitâshe was, after all, a domestic maintenance model in addition to being a combat unit. And removing the traces of her specific presence was something she was long accustomed to.
So it was within half a minute that the entire area was bereft of anything but the general evidence of a confrontationâher blood, stray hairs, and Stella Iaretâs scarf had all been removed, bagged where necessary, and stowed. She hurried a little to catch up with Crux on his way out, lapsing into silence thereafter.
So for now, she wasnât going to argue too much about where they were going. Frankly, she was exhaustedâand incredibly hungry, if the ache in the pit of her stomach was anything to go by. Whether that was a side effect of the sudden dramatic increase in her power use or just because she hadnât had dinner yet, she neither knew nor particularly cared. It made her rather compliant as she was loaded onto the hoverbike, holding where she was instructed to hold and nodding slightly when he indicated they were going somewhere safe.
Stella would be lying if she said she trusted him half as far as she could throw him, but for the moment at least, she didnât have much of a choice. âThanks, Violet,â she said, the words ever-so-slightly slurred as the shot started taking effect. He could, after all, have just left her there, and in this condition, that would likely not have ended well for her. She shifted her hands under the coat when they got moving, though, knowing from unfortunate experience what was likely to happen next. Sure enough, her healing factor kicked in, pushing out the bullet into her waiting palm. From the look of it, the thing was pretty high-techâshe wiped it as clean of her blood as she could on her pant leg and held it up for a moment before pocketing it. Maybe someone else could learn something useful from it, but she was by no means an expert on guns or ammunition.
She could feel her bleeding slowing, though she was holding onto consciousness by only a very thin thread. Soon, she promised herself. Iâll sleep soon.
âThis is not the end. Of that, it is certain.â
By this point, Darciaâs internal neural network had informed her that pain receptors were firing in her hand, and she looked blankly down at it for a moment before Cruxâs words drew her attention back to the ground, where the targets could just be seen disappearing from view. Soon, they were evidently off other forms of sensor as well, and while her counterpart check in with Central, she took a moment to confirm that the marks were indeed off all Network grids as well. It was a shortcoming of Network surveillance that most cameras did not have infrared or heat-sensing modes, but at this point, even those would have been mostly pointless, because while it would be able to tell that something was passing by, visual identification of that something would be difficult.
The android was brought back to awareness by the fact that Crux had taken her bleeding hand and tied something over it. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but not in a way that could be connoted as hostile, only slightly perplexed. Such an action was unnecessaryâlike any person would, she would cease bleeding eventually, and quite soon, given what she really was. It was almost kindâand nobody had been kind to Darcia since her creator had died.
Of course, the prudential value of the action was made immediately clear, and then she understood. It would be more to dispose of if she continued to bleed, though sheâd been sure to keep the affected limb away from anything absorbentâthere were traces on the windowsill and a few drops dotting the stone tile of the floor. âUnderstood,â she intoned, inclining her head slightly and reaching into one of the deep pockets of her coat. Inside was just a small cleaning kitâshe was, after all, a domestic maintenance model in addition to being a combat unit. And removing the traces of her specific presence was something she was long accustomed to.
So it was within half a minute that the entire area was bereft of anything but the general evidence of a confrontationâher blood, stray hairs, and Stella Iaretâs scarf had all been removed, bagged where necessary, and stowed. She hurried a little to catch up with Crux on his way out, lapsing into silence thereafter.