But if there were an accident . . .
Eva mentally apologized to Min for what she was about to do. Quietly, avoiding the leg-twining Mala, she crept over to the garbage recycler and slid the cover open. It was a standard model, theoretically capable of handling items of varying kinds and compositions, and a very popular plot device in many crime holovids. It was also just large enough for her to cram the Ball Buddy inside.
With a sigh, she tapped the activation button on the device’s panel. It chimed softly, whirred to life—
And exploded.
Eva was thrown back against the couch, where Vakar had been sitting peacefully, and was now squirming underneath her in surprise. Her ears rang, the skin on her face and neck shrieked with pain, and her chest felt like she’d been kicked by a todyk. Everything smelled like lechón, which probably meant she’d been badly burned.
Things went fuzzy after that. She was mostly extremely aware of the amount of discomfort she was experiencing, then of something cold being sprayed on her injuries, and then the sting of quick-heal nanites being delivered via injection. The pain gradually receded, though there was a nagging sense that someone nearby was very upset with her, and someone else was worried, and at least one other person was radiating waves of psychic distress that suggested they were afraid of being punished.
Also, there was purring. Eva assumed that was Mala, but who knew.
Eventually the haze receded, and Eva found herself stretched out on the couch with her legs hanging over the side. She blinked at the ceiling above her, whose colors seemed to shift and shimmer as the lights on upper floors moved around, lit up or were extinguished. But she could see, which was good, since it meant her eyes had survived whatever had happened.
Someone shifted on the floor next to her—hearing, check, also good—and Eva turned her head to stare directly into Vakar’s gray-blue eyes. Some part of her said she should be startled, but the rest was on some excellent medications that assured her everything was perfectly fine and she had no need to move.
“Oye,” she said. It felt like she was talking through a mouthful of soggy beans. “Qué pasó, mi vida?”
Vakar’s palps twitched, his gaze holding hers steadily. “Someone appears to have unintentionally placed something volatile in the recycler. Due to an unknown triggering mechanism, this caused the disintegrator to detonate, damaging our room as well as several adjacent rooms.” He paused. “Also, you sustained injuries to multiple portions of your anatomy in the explosion.”
“Gwao,” Eva said, blinking slowly. “Y ahora qué?”
“Watchers have been stationed at various points outside our room and near available exits,” Vakar said. “We have been assured that a new room is being prepared for us and we will be relocated presently. Pink has been arguing with Watcher Rakyra regarding whether you require transport to a Communal Center for more advanced treatment. Sue and Min are with her.”
Eva shook her head, which left unpleasant trails of motion blur wherever she looked. “I should go. I . . . should go? I should . . . go.” She giggled, then frowned. “I need to tell you things. Privately.”
Vakar activated his isohelmet, and after a few failed attempts, Eva managed to activate hers as well.
“The Ball Buddies,” she said.
“Yes?” Vakar replied.
“It’s a terrible name for a product,” Eva said. “I think the human who helped translate it was not very professional. De pinga, bro.”
Vakar paused. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
“No, no, espérate.” Eva’s mental fog thinned and she scrambled to gather the thoughts milling around aimlessly like grazing sheep. “I put a Ball Buddy in the disintegrator. That’s what exploded. But it shouldn’t have.”
“Unless one of its components was something that would react explosively to the molecular destabilization technology.” Vakar’s face was hidden by his darkened helmet, but he smelled all kinds of worried and mad. “That would suggest there is the equivalent of a bomb within every one of the robotic Attuned.”
They both turned to look at the pieces of Sue’s robot, still spread out across the floor. One central part was still intact, and Eva was suddenly very grateful that Sue hadn’t managed to take that apart yet.
“I’m also pretty sure there’s psychic tech in those things,” Eva said. “Like, what the xana can do, the neural networking thing, but in a robot. Maybe more.”
“That would explain why Mala was so averse to them,” Vakar said. “New technology may be able to circumvent existing hardware or software safeguards. If these robots were able to create a universe-wide neural network among any sapient species, that would be—”
“You’re cute,” Eva said.
“I . . . what?”
“Sorry.” Eva gathered a few more sheep. “Okay, I need to make a call, and then we’re getting out of here. Make everyone get ready to leave.”
Vakar smelled confused and concerned. Eva wished he would knock it off, because the room already had enough smoky aromas going on from the explosion.
“Where will we go?” Vakar asked.
“One second.” Eva held up a finger as she activated her comms and opened a line. The dull buzz of the call attempting to connect made her teeth ache more than usual.
The person on the other end answered, their voice bleary with sleep. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mami?” Eva asked. “Where are you? I need to crash with you tonight.”
Chapter 16
Girls Just Wanna Have
Regina Alvarez was staying in one of the low buildings closer to the ocean, its walls like thick, cloudy stained glass thanks to the opacity controls. A winding pebbled path led down to the water, partially obscured by waist-high bushes dotted with small berrylike growths that reminded Eva of pitangas. The gentle rush of the waves and the accompanying breeze toyed with her still-skewed senses, because everything smelled like sulfur instead of salt.
Eva leaned on Vakar as she walked, and was flanked by Pink, while Sue and Min trailed after. Mala was back in Min’s backpack, apparently content to be there now that the Pod Pal was gone.
Behind them a half dozen meters away, Watcher Rakyra and several other Watchers, well, watched them go, standing outside a transport and emanating authority and a concern that Eva had initially taken as politeness related to her health. Now she wasn’t so sure.
They reached the panel that functioned as a door, but before Eva could knock or figure out some other presence-announcing system, it slid open and a glossy black hoverchair glided through.
“Eva-Benita, mija, ven acá, entra!” Regina Alvarez said, gesturing excitedly at Eva. Her magenta-dyed hair had been chopped short and styled to fall in careless-looking layers, and her light-brown eyes were lined with makeup, as if she hadn’t been awakened only a few minutes earlier. She turned the chair away slightly, then back, studying Eva critically.
“What happened to your face?” Regina asked. “You look completamente desmondingado.”
“Thanks,” Eva replied, leaning down to plant a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “Why are you wearing high heels at this hour?”