“That’s Po,” Wren said. “He gives one heck of a neck massage. But where was I? Oh, right. My family is originally from London, but we left after Earth’s fifth world war. Did you hear about that one? It was a doozy. Anyway, I grew up in a colony on the south side of Mars. I really miss it.”
Mars. I’d helped rob their central treasury a total of three times in the last year. Security systems there were so easy to hack that it was almost embarrassing. But I felt like that probably wasn’t a fact she would appreciate.
“Why’d you leave?” I asked instead.
“Well, you see, I robbed it blind.”
Or maybe that was a fact she already knew.
“And how did that work out for you?”
“Better than expected. I snuck into the president’s mansion. Everything was going according to plan until I tried to steal the ferret…” She looked at her shoes.
“The ferret?”
“Long story. Its collar was worth more than my house. And, I mean, it was fuzzy and had this cute little pink nose. Who could pass that up?”
Uh …
“I kind of have an issue,” she continued, “with taking things.” And to prove her point, she swiped a bread roll off the plate of a passing inmate, her fingers slicing through the air with impressive speed. The guy had eight eyes by my count, and he didn’t even notice. That was a rare gift she had.
Wren hopped onto the tabletop and crossed her legs, looking out over the prison yard like she was holding court—even though her cheeks were stuffed with bread. She acted like she was sitting on a throne, not at all fazed by the many people here who could probably destroy her in a blink. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or confused.
“Aren’t you scared to be here?” I asked her.
She continued scanning the yard, jaw tight. “Of course I am. But I can’t show it. They’ll eat you alive if you do. And I mean that literally. There’s a chick in cell block D with a head shaped like a shark’s.”
I couldn’t help snickering a little.
She glanced down at me. “You’re laughing, but you don’t like me.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong. But I didn’t like many people anyway. “I just don’t understand you. You’re in prison and you’re … I don’t know. I guess cheery is the best word?”
“I’m a happy human. So what.” Her dark eyes hardened. “You could stand to be a bit more pleasant yourself.”
I still didn’t get it. What did she want? For me to be her prison buddy just because we were sharing a cell? I didn’t do people skills. I didn’t have time for them. I needed to get out of here, steal something expensive enough to appease Evelina, and then use my cut of the profits to buy Elio a new body. Those were the priorities. Not friendship.
Wren stuffed the remainder of her bread into her mouth. “I know it might be a challenge for you not to bite my head off this time, but how about you tell me more about these auras you can read.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother always told me I’m too curious for my own good. My brother did too, now that I think of it. Just humor me. Can you read the guards over there?” She pointed to a table across the yard, where a fight had broken out. Four guards raised their blasters and were halfheartedly attempting to intervene.
“Depends on if they’re doing the same trick Anders did. And I usually have to pick out a specific person, like tuning into a certain net program. I can’t read everyone at once.”
A violet cloud of excitement spilled off her, perfectly matched to her hair. “Try.”
“Fine. Whatever.” But I chose an easier mark to start. “Okay, see the man emptying the trash receptacle? He’s heartbroken. The guard in the tower just behind us? She’s so exhausted she can barely stand up straight. I’m guessing she just worked a double shift.” My skin buzzed with energy as I stretched my affinity to the four guards dragging the fighting inmates back inside. “Tired, bored to tears, giddy, oh … um, constipated.”
“Do me next.” Elio appeared at our table, laden with trays of powdered eggs, some kind of smoked meat, and more bread rolls.
“You know you don’t have an aura, you little goof. What’s with all the food?”
“Couldn’t pass it up. I heard it’s delicious.”
“Robots can eat?” Wren asked.
“No,” I said at the same time Elio declared, “I dabble.”
With a shrug, Wren snatched another roll off Elio’s plate and tore into it with her teeth. Her eyes continued scanning the yard, and while she was distracted, I pulled on Elio’s sleeve.
“How are you doing?”
He considered for a moment. “Well, I’m in prison, so…”
“That’s not what I meant.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Your glitching. You don’t feel anything coming on, do you?”
He nudged his food around his plate. “Eh, my optic sensors are a bit fuzzy, but that’s been happening for ages, so don’t worry about it.”
Don’t worry. Right. He could just cease to exist at any moment and I didn’t have the means to prevent it. But, hey, no biggie.
“Cora. Friend.” Elio took my cheeks in both of his tiny hands. “I’m not going anywhere. Literally. We’re locked in here.” He nodded across the yard, where we watched as a man spurted a plume of fire from his mouth and tried to throw a punch at a fifth guard before being detained. Elio shrugged, unfazed. “Have some bread. I don’t know if Wren realized it, but I can’t really eat.”
“Oh, I realized it all right.” With a grunt, Wren swung herself down from the tabletop and settled on the edge of the bench. “Hey, you essentially have a computer inside your head, right? That must come in handy. You don’t have any other special talents, do you?”
I felt my guard snap back up as I noticed a curious orange sunburst arc over her head. “You’re taking way too much of an interest in us. What gives?”
“What? I’m just being friendly.”
“No one is that friendly.”
“I am!” Elio interrupted. He leaned forward, the front of his prison jumpsuit hanging down into his eggs. “Did Cora tell you about the bombs she makes? If you need an explosion, she’s your girl.”
“Elio,” I warned.
“She invented all kinds of things on Condor,” he continued. “Of course, only half of them worked…”
“Elio!”
Call it intuition, but this didn’t feel right. Wren was fishing for something. I just wished I knew what.
I watched her chew her meal, a feline grin spreading across her face. What I wouldn’t give for a way to force her to tell me the truth. I could read auras, sure, but I couldn’t change them. I couldn’t make her feel things she didn’t feel; I couldn’t make her act on the feelings that she had. Right now her aura was a rainbow of colors I could barely keep up with. Auburn and powder blue, violet and sea-foam green. All muddled together in an indiscernible, murky swirl.
“Wren, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you something that you want, and in exchange you tell me exactly what you’re up to. Sound good?”