(Teaser) First Chapter - Observation

Lucile made a sweeping gesture along the train tracks and shouted, “Tracks are empty, check!” Once the train came into view, she pointed towards the number on the front and said, “B18 incoming.” She scanned the timetable on the clipboard in her hand, tapped a number next to the current time slot, and confirmed it with a loud, “Check!” The train stopped, the security gates opened, and a horde of passengers streamed out of it. When all the new passengers had entered the train, Lucile made another sweeping gesture along the side of the platform, gave the conductor a thumbs up and said, “Ready to go!” It was an odd practice, and many newcomers in Lodestar City often watched her and her colleagues with amusement, but all of them got used to it sooner or later.

After the train had left the station with a loud roar, the phone in Lucile’s pocket beeped, indicating the end of her shift. She looked around, trying to find the person who was supposed to relieve her. Lucile had to repeat the same process with two more trains before she finally saw an android with short, red hair enter the station through a metal door.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Yasin said and took the clipboard out of Lucile’s hands. He was wearing the same black station attendant uniform with a golden cogwheel pinned above his breast pocket, but one of the buttons was still open. “We had some problems with the shipment to Italy.”

“Don’t worry about it then.” Lucile pointed towards the top of his head. “You forgot your hat.”

“Oh!” Yasin reached for the spot where his hat was supposed to be. Lucile didn’t have much more time, so she took off her own hat and gave it to Yasin, which made him apologize profusely.

Lucile left the platform and entered a windowed room on the same floor, where she put on her coat and clocked out. She walked up the stairs to a different platform, where one of her colleagues was currently checking in another train. Lucile nodded towards the other attendant and sat down inside the train, closing her eyes for just a moment.

“Next station: Curitiba East,” she heard the familiar voice of the metro’s announcement system say as the train reached the end of the bridge. Lucile startled and opened her eyes when she heard the name of her destination. Noticing that she still had some time, she leaned back into her seat and stared at the skyline to her right. It was a sunny afternoon, one of the last ones of the season. Lucile saw the sunlight reflected on the windows of the high-rises in the west while a plane was taking off from the airport. When the train dived back into one of the tunnels, she could see her own refection in the window: a middle aged woman with dark circles under her eyes and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Lucile barely paid any attention to her eating or sleeping habits. Honestly speaking, she sometimes wondered how she was still alive. She knew that she should put more effort into her own health and safety. But at the end of the day, there were always other more important things to worry about, so she had no time for that.

When the security gate opened, Lucile joined the people who were on their way to the exit. Walking past another attendant, she quickly diverged from the crowd and walked past the stairs. On the way to her destination, she briefly stopped by a vending machine and threw a couple of coins into the slot. Once Lucile had successfully fished out a warm can of coffee, she made her way to a slightly battered metal door and pulled out a red key card. There was a golden cogwheel on top of a circuit board imprinted on it. Lucile slid it through a card reader, opening the metal door, and walked down a hallway to a room lit by several screens and a small lamp. Some of the screens showed the interior of the metro station while others displayed portions of the busy plaza upstairs.

“—for three whole days,” she heard the voice of a radio moderator say. “Experts argue that he American government’s disastrous reaction to the Amsterdam Crisis has only emboldened secessionist movements in Canada. Similar developments have been observed in Panama, Chile, and Antártida Argentina.”

Lucile greeted the four people in the room while hanging up her coat and her uniform jacket in a closet. Two of them were androids wearing matching flight jackets with patches depicting a metallic cat. They were members of the Tin Cats, an android self-defense group doing the things that the gendarmerie—Lodestar City’s police force—failed or refused to do. Next to them was a human with a well-kept gray beard. His name was Francisco, and there was a fresh bandage over his right eye, where a gendarme had injured him last Saturday. All three were paying attention to one particular screen that was displaying a spot close to the entrance of the metro station.

A third android was sitting at a table further away from the others, skimming some of their observation records. He was connected to one of the wall sockets with a cable attached to a port between his shoulders, just below his neck.

“Busy night, huh?” Lucile took off her sling bag. She sat down at the table and cracked open her can of coffee.

“How could you tell?” he asked, looking up for a moment. His name was Alexis, a young man who had only recently moved to the city. He was a third generation model, and to someone unfamiliar with androids, he was barely distinguishable from a human, with the exception of a pair of glowing golden eyes. But the synthetic brain inside his head was just as complicated as the one you could find in any android, and not even the manufacturers themselves knew exactly what was going on inside.

“I rarely see people charge up at random wall sockets in poorly lit basement rooms,” Lucile replied. “You must have been out and about all night.”

“I was asked to help out with the preparations for an event,” Alexis explained, reaching for the cord on his back to unplug it. “A discussion forum, I think. Everyone’s blaming the government in Brussels for the stock market crash, and we want to take advantage of that.”

“As if your folks would have handled that any better.” Lucile sipped on her coffee and grabbed one of the notes on the table. “What would your party have done, ask all those companies to stop investing in shady mining operations in East Africa?”

“That doesn’t matter now. The Exceptionalists only care about profits, and the Centrists enabled all of it. We can easily blame them for what’s going on.” Alexis put down the piece of paper in his hands. “We haven’t been in charge in Brussels for decades, and we need to capitalize on this opportunity.”

“Europe’s a lost cause if you ask me.” Lucile shrugged. “Yasin and the others think Italy has potential, but I have a hard time believing that.”

“Is Italy that volatile?” Alexis asked.

“We’ll see. Still, good luck, but don’t count on my vote.” Lucile said. She couldn’t remember the last time she had voted for anyone. The state barely managed to scrape together enough money to pay a pittance to all the unemployed people of the city, and Lucile had no reason to believe that she could expect more than that from the state.

“It’s a good distraction either way,” Alexis continued. “I’m worried sick about Sanja, but all I can do right now is wait.” Alexis tilted his head and looked at Lucile’s face. “Seems like you had a rough night as well. You look exhausted.”

“We’re still dealing with the aftermath of Saturday’s parades,” Lucile explained after taking another sip of her coffee.” Things got rough. Everyone’s on edge right now, and the gendarmes were not holding back. We’re also right in the middle of organizing this year’s congress, so I’m barely getting any sleep.”

“Sometimes, I’m glad that I don’t have to sleep,” Alexis said. “I just do a maintenance routine once in a while when I can’t focus on things.”

“I wish I could do that, I really need the time.” Lucile sighed. “But you know how it is, things will quiet down by Winter Carnival.” She glanced towards the others, who were staring at one of the screens. “What’s your plan for today?”

“I’ll make it seem like I changed my mind.” Alexis reached for the cable behind his back and unplugged it. “With some luck, they’ll tell me where their next meeting is happening so we can scout the location before I go in.”

After they went over the details one last time, everyone wished Alexis good luck. Lucile sat down next to the others at one of the screens. They were watching a group of androids that were part of some kind of cult. They called themselves the Pioneers of Hestia, and there were rumors that the were behind several android disappearances that had happened over the past year. Even when an android didn’t outright disappear, they ended up becoming distant and avoidant, refusing to reveal anything about the Pioneers, which put the Tin Cats and other androids on high alert.

“I’m walking up the stairs, can you hear everything?” Alexis asked, transmitting his voice and all the other surrounding sounds through his audio receptors. Lucile handed a pair of headphones to Francisco. Unlike the other two androids in the room, Lucile and Francisco needed those to hear everything.

“Loud and clear. No issues on our end,” Yūko, a Tin Cats with slicked-back, dark hair and deep blue eyes, replied. On the screen, they saw Alexis walk towards the cultists, who were handing out brochures to the androids passing by.

“Wait a second, I recognize you!” One of the Pioneers pointed towards Alexis. She was wearing a long, pleated skirt, and she had her hair put up in a neat bun. “You were here yesterday. How are you feeling today?”

“I don’t know.” Alexis stared past her and pretended to be nervous. “I’ve been thinking about some of the things that you told me, and... I don’t really understand most of it, but, honestly, I’ve tried everything at this point.”

The cultist put a hand on his shoulder. “That’s where you’re wrong. There’s always a solution, and Hestia can help you, as she has helped all of us. What was your name again?”

“Julius,” Alexis replied.

“Nice to meet you again, I’m Esther.” The woman smiled and gently nudged him towards their booth. Yūko pulled a piece of paper with a blurry photo of the android attached to it out of a pile and wrote down the name.

“If I remember correctly, your problem was that you don’t feel like you have a purpose,” Esther continued. “That’s something I had to struggle with as well. None of us were ever given a new purpose after we threw off our shackles. And you young ones never even had one to begin with!”

“You’ve already told me that yesterday, but I don’t really get how this ‘Hestia’ is supposed to help me. Is she like some kind of god?” Alexis asked. They were standing a bit further away from the crowd next to the wall.

Esther laughed. “No, not really. She’s one of us, in body and spirit, and she guides all of us towards a better future. You’d have to get to know her first to understand it. If you want to, I can take you to her right away!”

“Wait, really?” Alexis asked, genuinely surprised. Lucile furrowed her brows. They had been watching this group of Pioneers for a while, and nobody had ever left the booth with one of them.

“I’m not sure,” Alexis replied. He sent an audio message to Lucile and the others without saying a word: What should I do?

“They might be onto us, or maybe we’re just lucky.” Francisco scratched his beard. “It’s a risk, so back out if it’s too risky for you.”

Alexis hesitated for a couple of seconds. “You know what, alright,” he finally said, “I’d love to get to know her.”

“Great! Let’s go then, we have a meeting spot down by the quays,” Esther said and walked towards somewhere off the screen.

“I’ll follow you,” Lucile said and stood up. “I’m not part of the Tin Cats, so they won’t suspect anything.”

“I’ll drive down to the quays to see if I can find some of our folks down there,” Ignacio, the other Tin Cat, said and stood up as well. “It might take a while until we get there, so be careful.”

“Good. Yūko, can you track both of us?” Lucile asked and walked towards the table where she had left her stuff.

“I’m already on it,” Yūko replied. Lucile grabbed her bag and her coat, leaving her uniform jacket behind, and left the room while putting on a pair of warm gloves. She turned left and opened a different door at the end of the hallway. After climbing up a ladder to a dimly lit storage room on the ground floor, she opened another door and walked out into a back alley close to the metro station.

The sun was still shining when Lucile made it to the plaza. She looked around, trying to spot Alexis and Esther. People were sitting at the tables outside of the restaurants next to the Kererū Fountain, hoping to enjoy one of the last sunny days of New Queensland’s short autumn. A couple of steps to the right, a crowd of onlookers had gathered around a small stage set up by the European League, a political party, where one of their members was shouting into a microphone.

“None of us,” Lucile heard him say, “I repeat, none of us hate androids! None of us want to return to the way things used to be! But we are concerned about the way our two societies interact! We are concerned about all the people whose jobs have been stolen by people who, reasonably speaking, don’t need the money as much as we do. We are concerned that our government doesn’t seem to care about its human population anymore. We are concerned, that—“

“Oh shut up!” someone shouted, while another person threw a plastic cup towards the stage.

Despite all the commotion, Lucile managed to find Alexis and Esther past the fountain, walking north towards Adélie Boulevard, a straight road lined with firs that went all the way to the shore.

“I’m surprised that you’re letting me meet. I thought there would be an initiation first,” Alexis said to Esther. Lucile could still hear everything through her headphones. “You know, something like baptism or whatever.”

“Normally we try to vet our new members before we let them join,” Esther explained as they walked past a crew of workers setting up fairy lights on one of the firs. “There are a lot of people who don’t like what we’re doing, so we have to be careful. But it was Hestia’s wish to accept everyone who showed interest during the current crisis. After all, we have to stick together. You know what humans are capable of when things get tough, even the ones who pretend to be our allies.”

“I’ve had some close calls recently,” Alexis said.

“Then you know what it’s like.” Esther nodded. “We still have to perform a part of our initiation first. But we’ve started using a more, eh, straightforward approach, so it will only take a couple of minutes.”

While she followed them towards Adélie Boulevard, Lucile glanced at a screen displaying the news on the wall of a department store. She couldn’t hear anything, but the text on the overlay read:

Amsterdam Crisis Intensifies

Banks take another hit as East African Federation

declares formal cooperation with Sixth Internationale

There was a news ticker below the headline showing the current market data, with most companies stuck in the deep red. Even down here in the Joint Administrative Zone, on the other side of the planet, they could feel the effects of what was going on in the rest of the world. And while Lucile rooted for the East African Federation, she couldn’t help but feel worried about the coming winter.

They continued to walk down the boulevard towards the quays. Alexis asked more questions about the initiation, but Esther avoided saying anything specific. Instead, she talked about the aid programs and other projects that the Pioneers were contributing to, seemingly without expecting anything in return. Lucile tried to keep her distance, and it didn’t seem like her behavior had aroused any suspicion so far. Despite the sunshine and her warm clothes, she was getting cold again, so she briefly stopped by another vending machine to get a warm drink while Esther and Alexis were waiting at an intersection.

At last, they arrived at their destination, a spot close to Geleira Bridge, which connected this side of the city with a set of artificial islands known as the Ice Floes out in the middle of the bay.

“There’s our meeting spot.” Esther pointed towards a row of mid-rises running along the quayside road. “There’s an old clinic that we’re refurbishing for the winter. Many homeless humans will need all of our support to get through the winter, so we’re stocking up on medicine, vitamin supplements and sun lamps.”

Instead of following them to the clinic, Lucile walked towards the shore and sat down on one of the roadside benches. That way, she would be close by if anything happened. She was also dead tired and had to take a break to catch her breath. Unlike the other two, her body still aged as she grew older.

The sun had started to set by the time they made it to the quays, coloring the sky above the horizon in a bright orange. Lucile could see the last rays of sunlight dancing on the waves of Alegria Bay. The water was never warm enough for swimming, but some people were spending the evening on rented boats, noticeably fewer than usually, or simply by walking along the shore. Far in the distance, a Ferris wheel was gently turning on the other side of the bridge.

“I’m surprised by this talk about aid programs. Where did they get all the money for that?” Lucile asked, crossing her legs and moving the can in her hand around in circles.

Alexis sent them another audio message as he approached the door to the clinic: I’ll try to ask around, but first, I want to see what this initiation is all about. Be ready in case something happens.

“I’ve found some of our people at the fish market close to the bridge. If things go wrong, we’ll be there in a matter of minutes,” Ignacio said.

Lucile could hear a door open as Alexis and Esther stepped into the clinic.

“Welcome, welcome!” a voice that she didn’t recognize said. “Esther already told us about you. I’m sorry for the mess. We’re still setting everything up, but we should be ready by mid-May.”

“Is there anything I could do to help you out? It doesn’t look like there are many people here to help you with that.” Alexis said.

“We’ve got everything under control, but yes, we’re a bit understaffed right now,” that voice said. “You’re here for the uh, what do they call it again?”

“The initiation, I think,” Alexis replied, “although I don’t know what exactly is going to happen.”

“It’ll only take a minute or so, we all went through it,” the voice explained. “When you’re done, you’ll even get your own neckerchief!”

“Now don’t ruin the surprise.” Esther chuckled. “Where do you keep all the stuff that we need?”

“Down the hall and through the last door to the right, next to the stairs. The other two are busy taking care of our stock in the basement, we had some, uh, problems with the devices, but I’ll call them up so they can help you.”

Lucile heard footsteps as Alexis and Esther started walking again. Someone opened a door and the sounds stopped again.

“Everything should be in that box over there,” Esther said. “We’ll start once the others are here. After all, we still need some witnesses.”

“I’m sorry for being so nosy, but what exactly is going to happen?” Alexis asked. “Am I supposed to pledge some kind of oath or something like that?”

“Well, it used to be a complicated process. It would take months of participation in various events before we would even consider letting you speak to Hestia. Things changed a bit a while ago. I’m not exactly happy about it, but who am I to—Ah, there you are!”

Lucile heard two other people enter the room, closing the door behind them. They exchanged greetings, and Esther continued to speak, “You see, just talking to Hestia wouldn’t really have the desired effect.” Lucile tensed up, feeling like something bad was about to happen. “After all, how is she supposed to help you with your problems when she is not fully aware of everything going on in your mind?”

“I don’t understand,” Alexis replied and sent an audio message to the others: I don’t like this, send help. Lucile jumped up, threw the can into a bin next to the bench and ran towards the clinic.

“Ignacio, get down here!” she shouted, darting between a pile of snow and a couple that was walking in the opposite direction.

“We’re on our way!” the Tin Cat replied and Lucile heard a motor start up on the other end of the line. She also heard Esther tapping on something.

“This will help you communicate directly to Hestia,” Esther explained. “She will be able to see everything through your eyes, just like she can see everything through mine. She will also be able to direct you towards doing certain task. Following her orders will feel like the most natural thing in the world, and she will help you find your own purpose.”

“And what if I refuse?” Alexis asked.

Esther clicked her tongue. “Well, it’s a bit too late for that now, isn’t it?”

Lucile heard a loud commotion. Something shattered and one of the Pioneers shouted while Alexis screamed, “Let me go!” By the time she got to the clinic’s main entrance, she heard a short screech, as if the connection was cut off by force, and everything went quiet.

“What did they do to him?” she whispered, looking through the window next to the entrance. The room was full of cardboard boxes of various sizes standing around a reception desk. Lucile couldn’t see anyone inside, so she reached for the doorknob and tried to open it, but it was locked.

“They probably forced a soft reset on him. It’s not that dangerous and he should be awake again in a couple of minutes,” Yūko explained. “But who knows what they’re doing to him.”

“Damn it,” Lucile sputtered and looked around.

“We checked out the building on some of Yūko’s maps while they were talking,” Lucile heard Francisco say. “It seems like there’s a hatch leading to the basement behind the building.”

Trying not to waste any time, Lucile rushed to an opening next to the clinic and entered the courtyard. She stopped for a moment, opened her bag and pulled out her Lapine 87, a weak but reliable laser pistol, as well as a couple of cartridges to reload. Near the back of the clinic, she stumbled upon a van parked close to the wall. There was a familiar logo on its side, a broken star, and the doors in the back were open, revealing more cardboard boxes inside. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that she always had to deal with whenever she saw that logo, Lucile found an open hatch behind the van and rushed down a set of stairs as quietly as she could.

The room was dark, only illuminated by the light of the evening sun coming through the hatch and a small light bulb on the far side of the basement. Lucile was panting as she looked around the room. She saw more boxes on the ground as well as some old medical equipment and forgotten records on the shelves. There were several exam tables on the far side of the room. It seemed like there were bodies lying on some of them, covered by some kind of fabric.

Lucile didn’t have much time to look around before she heard a door open upstairs. She froze for a second, then she dashed towards a pile of boxes and took cover behind them. Holding her breath, she heard some of the cultists hauling something down the stairs.

“Can you tell what model he is?” Esther asked. “He was definitely made by Trajnost, judging by the eyes, but he’s young, and I’ve lost track of all the newer ones they’ve made since the ‘80s.”

“It seems like he’s a Karlovac, BR series, but I don’t know which one of them,” the other cultist explained. “They don’t need that long to wake up, so we should restrain him as soon as possible.”

“Poor guy. But, he’ll understand soon.” Lucile heard a rasping noise as the cultists tied Alexis to the table.

“How long do we need to wait until we can put it in?” the other cultist asked.

“A couple of minutes once he’s awake,” Esther replied. “It should be fine as long as he can form coherent sentences. If we do it too early, he’ll end up like one of those people.”

Lucile heard an audio message coming from Ignacio: We are almost there, get ready! Moments later, she heard more shouting and a loud thud coming from above.

“What’s going on?” Esther asked and walked towards the staircase. Lucile took a deep breath, rose from her hiding spot and aimed at the two cultists with her laser pistol.

“Drop everything and get on the ground, now! You’re surrounded!” she shouted as confidently as she could. Esther and the other android hesitated for a second before kneeling down. “Hands behind your back, don’t try anything stupid.”

Lucile started to grin, relieved that the plan had worked. Esther seemed strangely calm. She just looked inquisitively at Lucile with a pair of rose-colored eyes that disturbed her more than they should while the other android was terrified by what was going on.

“You’re not a gendarme. What are you doing here?” Esther asked.

“As if the cops would ever do anything to help people,” Lucile replied. Only now, she noticed how much her heart was racing. Continuing to aim at the cultists that were kneeling on the ground, she picked up a strange, slightly curved object that Esther dropped after Lucile had revealed herself. It looked like some kind of adapter that could fit into an android charging port. “What is this? What were you trying to do to Alexis?”

“Alexis? Is that his real name?” Esther looked at the android lying on the exam table before she turned back to Lucile and tilted her head. “I’m surprised. Humans generally don’t care about android affairs. I can understand it when kids think they’re playing heroes. But you seem older than me, so why are you here?”

“I like to stick my nose into things that don’t really concern me,” Lucile replied. “Let’s just say it’s community service.”