Kartega

“This is just a mess!” Sid groaned in frustration as she stared at the droid’s open, metal chest cavity.

Professor Cevil set her up to work in his private lab while he went to check on the satellite projections from the Circulum System. He didn’t seem too pleased with the task, complaining endlessly about the remedial notion of it and that a much more junior scientist could have been fitted for the job. Apparently, checking the feeds that made sure the correct energy amounts were collected from the chips of the worker population and distributed into the towers’ generators was something any fool could do, at least according to Cevil. She let him drone on, using the chance to gather any information she could on the ring and its mechanics that may have been missing from her studies. But after a few minutes of cuss-infested complaining she couldn’t help but shut out the professor’s voice and focus on the task at hand. Maybe if she could actually fix the Magistra’s droid, he’d take her with him to the ring’s control room and she could finally get closer to the ring’s mechanics station. And closer to getting the muck off this star but Sid didn’t let that thought linger. No point getting distracted now.

She brushed her fingers over the tubes protruding from the droid’s chest, trying her best to avoid making eye contact with its glassy stare. The droids were manufactured to resemble enough of the human form to make them feel approachable but different enough not to get mistaken for one. To Sid, they looked like a reflection of a person. It was like staring at a human through a shattered mirror. Everything was where it should be but just a little off. It made her feel uneasy and she didn’t understand why the scientists who made them couldn’t at least add a few more touches to make the droids less harrowing.

For starters, the lack of lids on their eyes made them look like they had ill intentions when she knew full-well that droids could not think for themselves. It was as if every time one looked at you, it was trying to peer right through you. Or plot your very untimely demise. Sid wasn’t sure which one. Then there was the lack of artificial skin. Not everywhere, just in certain areas around the back of the head, sides of the arms and parts of the thighs and legs. Sid always found this to be the most bizarre part of the droids. She knew the skin-like covering that had been installed on them was used to house sensors in order to facilitate realistic movement and human interaction but could they not have covered them up entirely? Did they run out of the material or something? The blue glow of the star’s energy that ran though the fiberoptic makeup of their bodies shone through the fleshy pieces brightly enough to light a dark room. If the scientists were aiming to make these things look different from themselves, they sure did succeed. No one in their right mind could confuse a partially skinned, blue glowing droid with no eyelids for a person.

Sid tugged at one of the droid’s nitro tubes and yanked it out from under the robot’s axel. There was some damage to the tube’s casing but she should be able to patch it up fairly quickly and with enough luck, have this thing up and operational before the professor returned. The sooner she got away from this droid and the professor the better. Professor Cevil was a downright grouch. Sid was almost entirely certain that he was too preoccupied with his work and position in the towers to have any time to worry about the likes of her. And while this suited her plan just fine, she couldn’t help but feel slighted by his lack of attention. The more time she spent in the towers, the more she realized how wonderful Colton was compared to the rest of his people. For all she knew, he was the only one on the star worth talking to. Except for Queen Leona, of course. As far as Sid was concerned, she was nothing if not pure magic formed into the shape of a queen.

Sid carefully laid the tubes back into their casing, managing to arrange them in a similar pattern to what she had seen on her droid anatomy projections back on the ship. They looked like a bowl of silver intestines, and the thought alone made Sid want to throw up her stomach’s contents. As if to mock her, her belly groaned and growled and she made a mental note to ask the professor for some food when he returned.

Her arm muscles strained to lift the chest plate back onto the droid’s front cavity but she had it positioned and screwed into place faster than anticipated. She gave the droid a final glance before pulling out the interface box from the side table next to the gurney.

“Here we go,” Sid said, gritting her teeth as she entered a command code to wake up the droid. “You better work!”

The droid’s blank eyes lit a pale yellow and she could see the fiberoptic wiring of the interior begin to glow its familiar blue.

“Please work,” she whispered, watching the droid turn its head as if to look at her then bolt straight up to stand.

It was at least a full head taller than her, if not two, and it made her take a step back to put a safe distance between them. She had seen a few droids walking around with their owners on her trip through the city with Ashlan but standing next to one in person was mildly intimidating. The thing could crush her skull in moments if it wanted to. Sid knew it was a foolish thought, this thing didn’t have wants or needs, but she moved back regardless. Better safe than sorry, as Colton always said.

The droid’s head tilted right then left, its gaze continuously locked on Sid.

“What in the name of the star do you want?” She asked.

The droid tilted right again.

“Oh, right!” She laughed, “I’m supposed to tell you that!”

Sid entered a code sequence and watched as the droid came to life before her. Its hunched body straightened, making it even taller than it was before. She let her fingers enter a few more numbers and it leaped in the air in a fierce and calculated jump, landing back on its metal feet with a loud thud. Sid laughed and entered the numbers again, smiling as the droid continued to bounce in front of her like a kid waiting for a present.

“How about a dance?” She asked.

Tap, tap, tap. Her fingers ran over a long sequence and she let one side of her lips twirl into a smirk before she pressed enter. The droid straightened again, then raised its hands in front with folded elbows — one pointing up and one to the side. Like it was holding an invisible dance partner. Sid let a few more lines of code escape her before settling back cross-legged on the gurney to watch the droid twirl around the room.

Its steps were clunky at best but there was no mistaking what it was doing. The droid was dancing the Waltz.

Sid fell over laughing and her thoughts immediately landed on Colton. How he would have loved to see this. Tears formed behind her lids, threatening to pool but before they could burst out, a light shuffle of feet entered the room.

“Well, this is something else,” Professor Cevil said sternly from behind the dancing droid.

“I’m so sorry!” Sid jumped up and fumbled for the projection screen. Her fingers moved quickly to power down the droid and she had it slouched in the corner in no time. “I was just testing it! To make sure it worked.”

“It seems it works just fine, then?” The professor said and Sid could swear she saw a smile form on his lips.

“It was exactly what we thought it was. The nitro tubes and the axel. Nothing more complicated than that.”

“Very well.”

The professor paid her no mind and walked over to inspect the droid. He pulled an interface box out of his coat pocket and connected it to the droid’s system. The few minutes that passed while the professor read over the code sequences were excruciating. What if she didn’t do a good enough job? What if the professor finds a mistake and starts asking her questions? What if he finds out she doesn’t belong here? What if…

“This is a job well done, Sid. I see the internal speakers are still out of order but that can be looked at another time.” The professor nodded in approval before she could continue to spiral out of control. “Magistra Kelyn will be most impressed. In fact, I am quite impressed myself. Not bad for a Domer at all. Maybe after you’ve delivered the droid back to her quarters, we can discuss extending your stay for a few more days. I could certainly use the help around here.”

Sid almost choked on her own words. “You want me to deliver the droid back to the Magistra?”

“Who else would do it? You honestly expect the queen’s lead scientist to run deliveries?” He scoffed.

“Uhm, no, of course not. It’s just that I wasn’t told that I’d be delivering the droid back, only fixing it. When I was called for, that is.”

“Do you have somewhere else to be right now?” The professor lifted an eyebrow and Sid swallowed audibly.

“No, not at all. I will, of course, deliver this droid, sir.”

“Please don’t call me sir. Save that for those brainless Starblades. I am perfectly comfortable with Cevil.”

Sid stifled a giggle. She knew the professor was trying to be friendly but she found it hard to believe the act. Anyone who wants to be friends with you doesn’t ask you to call them by their last name. “Of course, Cevil,” she said and hid her smile.

The door slid open and the professor was out of the room before Sid could ask where Magistra Kelyn’s quarters were located. Or where any quarters were located for that matter.

She grabbed her screen and powered up the droid again, watching as it beamed with light next to her.

“You don’t know the way to go, do you?” She asked.

The droid’s blank expression was more answer than she needed.

“Muck. Fine, let’s figure it out together. But keep your head low and don’t attract attention,” she scowled.

The droid nodded in her direction and walked out of the room, banging its metal forehead against the top of the doorway.

Oh, this will definitely go smoothly.

Sid rolled her eyes and followed her new friend into the corridor, hopeful that they’d find their way to the Magistra quarters without getting noticed. Or as unnoticed as one can be while walking hand in hand with a two-meter-tall, blue-glowing droid that liked to dance.