A brief silence and…
“NO-NO… Better M-News 24!
Let’s see what kinda shit’s going on out there.”
And suddenly, the holo-screen switched to news.
Holograms glowing.
Banners flashing slogans:
"I ♥ HUMANS—VOTE FOR AMOR-9"
"FEWER GLITCHES—MORE LOVE!"The camera flew over the streets:
a crowd packed everything from asphalt to rooftops,
people in cheap suits,
androids fixing themselves up right there in line,
aliens of every shape and size.
Blindy sat up straighter.
His eyes lit up
like a kid spotting free gifts at a school event.
“AY—AY—LEAVE IT!
Don’t touch—don’t touch nothin’!
Lemme see this shit—this looks important!”
At that moment, the ship door hissed open,
and Zeros stepped into the cabin
moving so quiet and threatening
even the air tried to hide.
He glanced at Blindy and snorted:
“Fuck.
You’re about to grow an ass bigger than that pop star
who insured hers for 27 million c-bucks.And yours wouldn’t even get evaluated
even if you paid extra.Get up. Let’s fly somewhere.”
Blindy pretended not to hear
and pointed at the holo-screen:
“YO—LOOK! LOOK—LOOK AT THAT!
You see that?!
That’s a NORMAL one!Like—proper normal!
Nice, chill, not broken—
he loves humans, man!SEE??!
SEE WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOUT?!”
Zeros slightly increased the brightness of his eyes,
like old combat models did
when faced with something so stupid
the logic processor considered self-destruction.
“I am concerned,” he said, deader than dead,
“specifically because he loves humans.No normal one would love sweaty pieces of rotten meat
from the Garbage Planet…Well… maybe predators that feed on carrion.
And drug dealers.”
And then he appeared.
AMOR-9
Chrome.
Polished.
Smiling about 12% warmer than safety regulations allow.
By all logic, the system should have shut him down for toxic charm.
In his chest, a transparent compartment.
Inside it, a jar.
And inside the jar… something alive.
Moving.
A sticker on the jar:
DO NOT SHAKE—BITCH.AMOR-9 straightened up and spoke
with the kind of voice usually used to lure children into cults:
“Friends…
I did not come here only for machines.
I came for all of you—
for your blood, your flesh,
and your… ah…
meat hearts,
that so beautifully pump life into our world.”
The organoid inside the jar twitched,
its folds shifting into a shape suspiciously close to: I would like to speak.
One thing was clear:
judging by the structure, it was a brain…
and judging by the behavior,
a political one.
AMOR-9 added sweetly:
“Oh, yes… my biological component also adores you!
It served you for 60 years,
until it died 70 years ago.And it will serve you for another 300—
uh… until the jar starts leaking.”
The crowd roared.
Screaming.
Cheering.
Android girls threw bras,
why they even had them, nobody knew.
Zeros, unable to tolerate this level of bullshit,
just punched the screen.
PIXELS BURST
like mosquitoes.
His fist went straight through the image
and dented the ship’s hull.
A heavy clang echoed.
And then from the speakers came Phoenix’s offended screech:
“HEY!
Why the hell are you hitting me?!
Listen here, bucket-headed!
You mad at that dumb-ass propaganda—
go punch HIM, not me!”
Blindy, already fully transformed into a brain-dead political fan,
jumped up on the bed and screamed:
“IF HE WINS—YOU WIN TOO, YOU IDIOT!
You even listenin’ to this?!
Bank accounts!
Real ones!
Planetary passports—OFFICIAL ones!
You get to vote and shit—VOTE!
You get that, you dumb fuck?!
YOU—WILL—BE—A—PERSON!”
Zeros replied coldly, almost lazily:
“I don’t care.”
And then the holo-screen,
like it was ashamed of its own pixels,
switched the image.
MONTAGE—"THE BRIGHT MONTHS—NOV 10, 3479
• Amor-9 petting children.
• Amor-9 petting old women.
• Amor-9 petting dogs.
• Amor-9 tried to pet Tresbola—
and instantly pulled his hand back
when she dropped into kiba-dachi stance
with a look that said: "Touch me again and I'll pull your spine out through your nose."Blindy leaned back comfortably,
like he was watching his favorite talk show:
“SEE that?!
You SEE that shit?!
He actually gives a shit—like, real shit—’bout people!
Not like your cold—metal—dead-ass… whatever you are!”
Zeros turned toward the exit without even looking:
“I’ll wipe that smile off his face.
For sure.”
Zeros walked out of the cabin.
Blindy rushed after him…
only to realize Z-P-N-E-S 2.0
was already tearing hyperspace into quarks.
“Wait—what—what?!
Where we goin’?
Why nobody say nothin’?!”
Zeros didn’t even turn.
Just snorted, short and disgusted,
and walked up to the central map terminal.
“You even notice a message?
At least one?”
Blindy blinked innocently,
like a complete idiot angel with an IQ lower than humidity:
“No—wait—what?
What happened?
I miss somethin’?!”
Phoenix spoke up,
calm, tired, and extremely accusatory:
“I tried to tell you.
Twenty-nine times.Madeline Crook left a message.
Asked for an urgent meeting.
But you, Blindy… fucking hell…
IGNORED me.
All. Twenty. Nine. Times.”
Zeros nodded, confirming:
“She scheduled a meeting in her office.
Prime Inc.
Top floor of Quince Tower.
We’re heading there.”
Blindy froze.
Eyes wide.
Brain loading…
Then a panic beep.
“Shit—shit—shit—shit—SHIT!”
He suddenly sniffed himself.
“Fuck—nah—NAH I smell like death—
I smell like straight-up corpse—
I need a shower—NOW!
I gotta look normal—
we meetin’ M-M-Madeline!”
He bolted toward the cabin
like he just saw free alcohol.