Volume 12: Never Look Back
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I lay on the hard narrow bed panting for a few moments before I sat up. I took the little sphere in my hand and held it up, just visible in the wisps and traces of light that came in through the little barred window of my cell. Even in that light, I could make out the swirling movement of the pervasive automation all over its surface. I had just started wondering how I was supposed to open it - this had not been part of the briefing that Dragon had given me - when all of a sudden the device split apart, one segment falling from my hand onto the bedclothes. I thought I might have seen some movement, something emerging from its containment, although whatever it was, it was gone so swiftly that I could easily have imagined it. Then the two halves of the sphere, one on the bed and the other still nestling in my palm, disintegrated and disappeared into nothing. "Help me," I said softly, almost only mouthing the words, "Help me take Selene away with me." Silence, no movement or activity that I could detect. Dragon had warned me that the automation's behavior would be unpredictable at this time, as it sought to balance carrying out my wishes with its limited resources and its understanding of the world around it. After a minute or so, a sign appeared, brightly visible in the air in my direct line of vision. "Wait one hour" the glowing yellow letters read. Then the sign suddenly flicked out. I shrugged in the darkness. I had no option but to go along with the terse instruction. At the time, I wondered what the wait was for. Perhaps there was some action that PA needed to undertake to make itself ready or maybe it was to do with the disposition of the guards outside or something else in the surrounding area. I could not know. Impatiently, I lay down on the bed and pulled the covers back over me. Perhaps I slept a little, or at least dozed, as it seemed only a few moments later that I was awakened by a repeated buzzing, the sound projected directly into my ears by the automation. I opened my eyes. A sign in the same yellow letters read: "Dress." I slipped from under the covers and found my clothing on the chair where I had left it. I fumbled with the unfamiliar clothes in the dark, trying several orientations for the blouse and putting the voluminous knickers on backwards at the first attempt. Finally, I was ready. An arrow lit up by the door and I moved as quietly as I could to the entrance. There was a soft click, which I imagined was the automation operating the mechanical lock. More letters appeared in mid-air: "Quiet. Open the door." I pulled the door inwards as carefully as I could. There was a guard outside my prison door, a man I did not recognise although his clothing - and beard! - seemed entirely familiar. He sat on a rough wooden stool with his back to the wall, fast asleep. He did not stir as I slipped past him. I could imagine that perhaps the PA had somehow made him unconscious, or maybe we had been waiting until he fell asleep on his own. "Shut the door." I set off at a fast walk to Selene's residence, the direction indicated by the PA's arrows, although I was pretty sure I could have found my way unaided. Around me, the darkness was near-absolute, with just a few lamps burning yellow in the distance. Even so, I did not stumble or fall; the automation seemed to be providing some kind of ghostly blue lighting, enough for me to see by, or perhaps the PA was projecting an enhanced view of the night-shrouded surroundings directly onto my eyeballs. I did not see a single person as I made my way stealthily through the sleepy township, even though I would have thought the grounds would have been patrolled at night. The PA - which must have been expertly programmed - was choosing a route to minimize the changes of encountering anyone as well as providing guidance and opening locks on my behalf. Even so, I was still required to do things myself - open and close doors, for example - rather than finding this was carried out silently and efficiently by the automation. The PA must have a limited capability, I concluded, as only a small quantity of the automation could have been contained in the tiny sphere I had concealed inside me. It was not long before I arrived at the door of Selene's house. The PA flashed "Wait" and I stood for a few moments in the deep shadow cast by the roofed veranda, which seemed to have lost its squeak this evening. There was a soft click from the door lock. Unprompted, I carefully pushed the door open - there was no sound from the latch or hinges - slipped inside, and noiselessly shut the door behind me. Dragon's briefing suggested that people here normally slept on the upper floor, so I stepped carefully along the little passageway and made my way up the stairs. Again, no sound, no squeaks of stressed timber joints. I realized that the PA must be working to suppress the sounds of my movements. There were two rooms at the top of the house. One had the door wide open, and was obviously unoccupied; the other's door was ajar. I pushed it open - again, no noise from the hinges - and moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, next to Selene's sleeping form. I shook Selene gently on the shoulder. She sat up suddenly, clutching the bedclothes to her chest. She was wearing some kind of shapeless nightdress that covered her from neck to - I would later discover - ankles. "Who's there?" she asked tremulously. "It's me, Tania," I replied softly. The room was suddenly bathed in a more normal-looking - although still dim - light, no doubt projected by the PA. "How did you get in?" she demanded, looking startled at my sudden appearance. "I snuck in to see you," I replied simply. "But how did you get out of the guest house?" "The prison? Well, I have some help," I laughed, waving my hand vaguely in the air to indicate the source-less lighting, "Some hidden machinery supplied by a friend." Selene looked at me askance. I shivered slightly, suddenly feeling chilled after the stress of my exertions. She sat up further and drew me close to her, throwing some of her bed covers over me so that we were almost in bed together, even though both of us were effectively fully clothed. She reached up and held my face in her hands. "I thought you were a dream," she said softly, hesitantly, then kissed me quickly on the lips, "I'm so glad you're real. But what are you doing here?" She looked suddenly anxious, scanning the bedroom as if expecting to see Jem or Jacob standing in the shadows. "I've come to take me away with me," I replied, holding her close, "If you want to, of course." "Oh!" Her eyes opened wide again, "You mean - go now?" "Yes. They might catch us," I warned, "Which might well be bad for me, but it would be much worse for you." "I don't care," she replied defiantly, "They can beat me but I want to give it a try." "If you're sure," I said, taking both her hands in mine and looking into her eyes. She nodded quickly, finality in her every movement. "Get dressed," I said, slipping out form under the covers, "Quickly." She complied, tugging off the long nightdress, allowing me a glimpse of her womanly form, still trim and curvaceous even after all her unaided years. She dressed with the swiftness of long practice, and it was only a minute or two before she was lacing her shoes. "Okay," I said softly, "Time to go."
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Part 3