I’m ok. We’re leaving, I won’t have to hear another word from this guy. I’ll never see him again. I’m ok.

  I follow Ivy out the door, with Vince close at my side. The second the door closes behind us, he turns to me, crouches down, and speaks.

  “Are you alright Little Blue?”

  “Did I mess up?” I don’t want to get everyone in trouble because I couldn’t act like a repair bot.

  “No, you did perfect.” Vince reaches out and pces a hand firmly on my shoulder. “Let’s just get back to the car, alright?”

  “Ok.” I follow the two of them up the stairs. Interestingly, Ivy is taking a different route from the first time, but I’m not sure why. I keep my eyes pinned to Ivy’s back the whole way up, I don’t want to see the people staring.

  After only a few minutes of climbing, we reach the surface. In the short time we’ve been gone, Cassie has already spread out the sor panels, and is sitting with her back against the car. Corax is rexing in the sand only a few feet in front of her.

  “Alright Little Blue. I’m going to go help the others get situated, and try to make a deal. Are you going to be alright?”

  “Yeah.” I’ve mostly worked through my emotions on the walk up. We’re out of the town, we’re safe, there’s nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about for a little bit, anyway. “I’m ok.”

  “Alright.” Vince heads to the car to collect the others, and Ivy and I join Cassie.

  Corax flies back to my shoulder the moment I get close.

  “Did you have fun?” I ask him. He doesn’t respond, but I can see in his eyes that he did.

  Ivy grabs two second helpings of soup, and hands one to Cassie.

  “You should eat more.”

  “I’m not that hungry.” Cassie compins, but grabs the jar anyway.

  We sit in silence for a moment while the two of them eat. All the while a question has been bubbling inside my mind.

  “Hey Ivy?” I eventually have to speak.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why would anyone make a sex robot? What’s the point of that?” They wouldn’t be helpful at all in reproduction. As far as I know, it’d be next to impossible to create an egg or sperm outside the human body, much less to be able to create an environment that a baby could grow in. I know it’s possible in a b, but it’d be impossible to fit in a body like mine.

  “I’m going to go help Vince.” Cassie announces suddenly and puts her food to the side. She disappears around the car, and by the sounds of her footsteps, I assume runs for the canyon.

  “Did nobody give you the talk?” Ivy asks with an indecipherable smile.

  “I guess not?”

  “Alright, well, Vince gave it to Cassie, I guess it’s only fair I give it to you.” She shuffles around, and ends up sitting directly in front of Corax and I. “So, when two people love each other very much, they can end up having sex. And sex is when-”

  “I know what sex is.” I interrupt her. “I’m just not sure why anyone would do it with a robot.”

  “Why do you think people wouldn’t?”

  “Because robots don’t reproduce sexually? There’s literally no reason to do it.” I’m definitely missing something, but I have no idea what.

  “You know people have sex for fun, right?”

  “They do? Why?” And why did Finn not put that information in my head when I was born?

  “Everyone has their own reasons. Some people are there to find comfort in being intimate with someone else, while others just do it for fun or because it feels good.” Ivy expins, thankfully without being judgmental or condescending.

  “Oh, I didn’t know that.” I guess that’s just another thing I’ll never experience. I think that’s fine though? Melding with Corax is far more intimate than anything humans can do. Or most humans at least, I’m not sure on the specifics of how Vince and Ivy connecting together works. I’m more than content with how close I am with Corax, even if neither of us have any romantic desires for the other.

  “Any other questions?” Ivy asks.

  “I don’t think so.” I look to Corax, who shakes his head.

  “Good. Gd you’re so much easier than Cassie. Apparently she ran away screaming when Vince tried to expin.” Ivy says with a smile.

  “Really?”

  “Who knows?” She returns to her food, giving no hints as to if she’s lying or not.

  There’s no way I’m ever asking Cassie to confirm that story.

  The three of us wait for over an hour before Vince and Cassie finally return from town. Cassie has a few big bottles of something I’m sure is alcoholic held carefully in her arms, one of which is already partially empty.

  Vince, on the other hand, is carrying two rge batteries. A few people are following behind the two of them, also carrying a collection of batteries of various sizes. The small group immediately heads over to our car.

  “Just put them in here wherever they’ll fit. Thank you.” Vince tells everyone and pops open the trunk.

  It’s a struggle to fit everything in the trunk, but they somehow manage. It takes Vince several minutes to wire everything together.

  “Alright, everyone’s finally settled, and we’ll have enough batteries to make it the rest of the way.” Vince announces and lets out an exhausted sigh.

  “I just hope the detour doesn’t fuck us.” Cassie says quietly and opens the partially empty bottle.

  “Did anyone try to leave?” Ivy asks her.

  “No.”

  “Then we're not any more screwed than we were a few hours ago. They couldn’t have sent out a radio signal or anything from that far down in the earth.”

  “I know. I just,” Cassie takes another swig. “I want to get this over with.”

  “Just make sure you’re sober when we arrive.” Vince gently reminds her.

  “I’ve got what, thirty hours to recover? I’m fine.” She takes a rge gulp to demonstrate.

  “And remember to drink water and eat.” He adds.

  “Reminding me is your job, isn’t it?” Cassie asks him with a fake, innocent smile.

  “It’s also my job to stop you from finishing all that by yourself.”

  “Hey!” Cassie yells out as Vince snags one of the bottles from her arm. “Whatever happened to doctor’s orders?”

  “Ended yesterday.”

  “And you didn’t tell me! We had a whole car ride, and I had a whole bottle I was saving for you!”

  “Make sure they don’t fall into the canyon for me, I’m going to get some sleep.” Ivy leans over and whispers before pushing herself gracefully to her feet.

  “I’ll do my best, but no promises.” I tell her, and she smiles back.

  “I was talking to Corax.” She winks and disappears into the car.

  “I’m a great swimmer!” Cassie compins to Vince. I guess I missed something while paying attention to Ivy?

  “Cassie, that’s basically sewage. You’re going to jump in there, vomit, and drown.”

  “I’m just saying! I could swim in it if I really wanted to.”

  “Alright, I’ll admit you can, as long as you don’t actually try.”

  “Deal!” Cassie takes another drink, satisfied in her win.

  “I wonder if I could swim?” I say mostly to myself. I’m only 200 pounds, but I’m certainly denser than a normal human. A quick calcution says I’d have to apply a consistent 40 to 50 pounds of force to remain above water, assuming I can make my skin airtight.

  That’s surprisingly close to being doable. Not on my own, of course, but with a big enough life jacket, some fins, and maybe a trash bag filled with air, I could do it.

  “Want to find out?” Cassie asks.

  “I’d sink without a lot of help.” Ocean ravines can be miles deep, my body wouldn’t survive that much pressure. “It’s not something I’m willing to risk.”

  “Right, of course you would.” Vince closes his eyes for just a moment and shakes away some bad thought.

  “Is everything ok?” I ask.

  “Yeah, everything’s alright.” Vince reassures me with a fake smile.

  “Don’t lie to me.” I can’t help but get a little angry.

  “You’re right, sorry.” He quickly apologizes and the anger dissipates into the void. “I had a hair-brained idea to somehow repel down to the water and attack Mara’s hideout from there. It was a dumb pn that would have gotten us killed, but it’s firmly off the table now. I was just mad at myself for not considering you might not be able to swim.”

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “It’s alright Little Blue.”

  “I take it you don’t have any grand pns then?” Cassie asks.

  “Nothing good.” Vince takes a long drink from his bottle.

  “Great.” Cassie follows his example, and finishes her beer, only to grab another and open it using her knee. “Here’s to walking in the front door like the dumbasses we are!” She holds the open beer up towards Vince.

  “Cheers.” He clinks his bottle against hers. “No reason to worry about that tonight though. How about a story?”

  “I’ve heard them all before.” Cassie compins.

  “Blue and Corax haven’t.”

  “Oh right! Fuck it, tell them about what a disaster Twin Lakes was.”

  “Oh God, alright. So we were in this little town nestled in a kebed in the middle of the Rockies. There were these two people, and I don’t know what they were on, but they were trying to be some kind of fifties gangsters. Called themselves Riga and Tony.”

  It takes nearly half an hour for Vince to finish sharing his story. By the end of Vince’s progressively more unlikely series of events, mistakes, and misunderstandings, Cassie is practically howling in ughter, I’m ughing, and even Corax lets out a few chuckles.

  From there, the conversation stays light-hearted as we ugh away the day. Cassie shares some of her stories too, but nothing can match up to Vince's.

  They end up eating leftovers for lunch, and Vince ends up starting another pot of food for dinner a few hours ter. This is going to be the only chance to cook between here and the trench, so he makes sure to make plenty.

  As soon as the sun disappears over the horizon, we begin packing up the sor panels. Or at least I do, Cassie is having trouble controlling her robotic limbs, and Vince looks like he’s about to pass out at any moment.

  Ivy wakes up to the sound of me loading the trunk, looking far more refreshed than she was this morning. She’s so good at hiding her emotions, I didn’t even realize she was tired until I saw the difference.

  “Alright you two, fun’s over. Get some sleep.” Ivy gently guides the two of them into the back seat without too many compints.

  Vince ends up leaning back in his seat and pcing his hat over his eyes, while Cassie curls up taking both her seat, and the middle one.

  “Would you mind driving, Blue?” Ivy asks me once everything is packed up and the sled is unhooked. We don’t need it anymore, and we’re leaving it behind as a small present for this town.

  “Sure.” I’d feel much more comfortable with her rifle free, rather than making her drive and I have to fight off anyone who comes near.

  “Thanks.”

  Ivy hops into the passenger’s seat, and I hop into the Driver’s. We have thirty hours to drive, so I don’t bother plugging myself in. That’s an awful long time to have an extended body, just to lose it when we arrive.

  The compass already has a heading marked, and I begin to slowly crawl southwest across the desert.

  JanePtinum