Page 14 of Scion

“A new generation. Self-sufficient and intelligent.” Old Woman strokes Richard’s mane, as if unaware that her hand is one lazy chomp from being gone. “They’re based on existing animals, which means they start with instincts rather than programming. And they’re smart enough to work together in a network. The Heds”—she gestures to the massive owls—“are the sentries. They’ll alert the others if someone comes inside the EMP ring, then trigger an alarm at the house so that I know, too.”

I lick my lips. Resist the urge to rest my hand on my Ceramic. “They actually interact?”

“They do.” Warmth in Old Woman’s voice. Oddly proud of the fact. “And they can dynamically adjust. These ones here chose to escort us, but they wouldn’t have done that unless their areas were being covered. Their presence here won’t have left any holes in the perimeter.”

I know how biosecurity works, and what she’s saying is absurd. Yet she’s saying it with authority. Real confidence. “How do you tell them I’m not a threat?”

“They already know.” She looks around at our creepy audience. “Don’t you?”

A chorus of hisses and screeches and growls that one hundred percent sound like they want to eat me.

“See?”

My confidence is not improved. “Do they have a control phrase? Something to shut them down?”

“They don’t need one.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“It is here.” Old Woman doesn’t seem fazed by my agitation. “Freedom makes them happier and when they’re happier, they’re more effective. It’s just that most people don’t like the idea of them having any agency.”

Damned straight they don’t. “What if you need to let someone through without being physically here with them?”

“That’s a design flaw, dear, not a feature.” Her look says that I should know that. Which, I suppose, I do. It’s a single point of failure for an entire defensive system, one I’ve used several times before to great effect. Just something that most people would also consider necessary.

I shuffle beneath the eerie stares of the giant creatures I can see, and the imagined ones of those I can’t. Off-balance. “I haven’t seen anything like this before. I… I don’t even know how to begin assessing it for weaknesses.” Or to see whether Old Woman’s wild claims have even a grain of truth.

“Let’s have you run a test, then.” When I look at her blankly, she smiles. “Start from the outside, try your hand at getting through the ring yourself. I’ll tell them not to hurt you. You could give it a whirl this evening.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I think it’s a good idea. I’d also like to see exactly what I’m paying for.”

“You’re paying me for protection. Which I can’t do if I’m out there. Plus, I’m injured.”

Old Woman fixes me with a stern look. “A few hours won’t hurt. And you do want that file, don’t you, Azure?” Beside her, Richard stretches. Shows me his teeth in what feels like a deliberately hungry smile.

“Such a good idea,” I say weakly.

DUSK IS BLEEDING THE COLOUR from the world as I creep through the brush, cognitive revs primed.

It’s been more than an hour since I scaled the EMP ring’s outer wall, and so far, Old Woman’s claims about her biosecurity have proven at least somewhat justified. I’ve already spotted several of the owls—“Heds,” as she calls them—lurking high in the branches, probably only moments before they spotted me. Had to lie motionless for minutes on end as others of the winged monstrosities swept the area, and twice was forced to silently clamber up a tree, sore leg reminding me of the stupidity of this endeavour, when my revs picked up noise in the distant undergrowth. The first time, whatever it was didn’t come my way.

The second, a panther the size of a damned horse eventually prowled into view directly beneath me. Black as night. Silent. Fangs my head could fit between bared as it stalked along, catlike eyes swinging side to side. It had definitely heard something.

I stayed… very still. Despite Old Woman’s assurances, it did not look like it knew this was just a test.

But the suit I printed this morning did its job. A mixture of black silicon and samarium nickel oxide to render me invisible to the snakes, along with any other monsters out here using infrared. An activated carbon layer underneath to lock in my scent. My protests about being inadequately equipped were silenced once Old Woman showed me her setup. Her printer’s industrial, at least as good as the Keres’. And for something this simple, I didn’t even need Q-net to download the specs.

“So tell me about your revisions.”

I flinch at the too-loud voice wittering cheerfully in my ear. Scowl into the gathering gloom. “Already told you. Trying to concentrate here.” I keep my own words barely above the sound of a breath. Old Woman’s initiated a rolling shutdown of the EMP ring as I move through it, just so she can keep an eye on my progress. A shifting kilometre-wide circle that allows for tracking and comms. Not necessary, and definitely not smart, even if there’s no feasible way an impromptu test like this could be exploited. But she insisted.

I didn’t like it at the time. I’ve hated it since I started.

“Oh, come now. You’ve been out there an hour. Don’t tell me you haven’t already made your judgements.” Her lecturing is fuzzed by the bone conduction, but it at least means it won’t be audible to anything that wants to eat me. And the throat mic means I don’t have to do more than breathe what I’m saying. It’s still damned distracting. “If you’re going to be protecting me, dear, I want to understand what you’re capable of. And you did agree to answer my questions. So step me through them.”

Man, I miss Atti. I really miss Atti.