The massive towers guarding the city finally loomed before us. We quickened our pace, relieved at the sight of a group of Trailblazers lounging around, flanked by men in uniform.
"We're finally back!" Diana exclaimed, her voice thick with relief. "Everyone! Hi!"
I waved as Sally and Inata offered smiles. Inata, however, wore a smirk that suggested I had just done something incredibly stupid. A quick headcount of the other participants told me exactly what that was: no one else had stayed the night.
"Welcome back, Diana, Leo, Viel," Deva said, stepping forward with a clipboard in hand. "Twenty-seven hours. That makes you the group that stayed on the Surface the longest." He gestured toward the others. "Join the rest. Refreshments will be brought out shortly."
Fantastic. It was just us being idiots.
I sat down between Diana and Leo, both of whom promptly collapsed in exhaustion. A few of the other participants watched us with amused expressions.
"Why did you stay the night?" one of them asked.
"Artificial stupidity," I muttered.
Diana giggled breathlessly. "I don't know. It just felt right to camp," she said, looking up at the ceiling. "It's the experience that counts."
Leo nodded. "I suppose that is true."
I rolled my eyes. "The experience of almost being deleted from the census by a giant snake," I grumbled.
Inata sat down beside us, her grin widening. "Yeah! We saw that. Nice moves back there! It's rare to see someone from the City of Love and a Scholar from Determination pull off teamwork like that." She nudged me. "You too, Viel. The look on your face when you saw that snake was priceless! Hahaha!"
"You were watching us!?"
Sally offered a sheepish smile. "We were everywhere, assessing your performance," she said, patting my shoulder. "Don't worry. It wasn't about 'grading' you, but rather determining which role suits you best."
"And what's the best role for 'Stupid and Suicidal Enough to Sleep in a Death-Savanna'?"
"Oh, you'll see!"
I rolled my eyes and turned to Diana. She was still clinging to me, rubbing her head against mine like a kitten and shivering slightly. I was starting to notice a definitive pattern: electricity and Diana did not mix well. It really did scramble her circuits.
"How marvelous!" a voice cried out.
I turned to see Lauron, that sketchy guy from the gate, walking toward me. His eyes were wide with amazement as he stared at my chassis. "Not a single scratch upon this beautiful body!" He reached for my hand, but I swatted him away. "Ah, my mistake. May I have a closer look?"
God, this guy is a creep.
"I don't like it, but fine..." I relented. I suppose this behavior was just par for the course in this world. "You're Lauron, right? What's your deal?" I asked as he began inspecting my fingers and joints. It felt strange; he was being absurdly gentle, as if he were used to handling incredibly fragile objects.
"This one is but a lowly glassblower," Lauron replied, carefully turning my hand to inspect the knuckles. "Recently, however, I have taken an interest in mechanical engineering. The beauty of machine and clockwork captivates me so..."
Glassblowing. That explained it. The guy was used to dealing with things that were molten, razor-sharp, or so delicate they could shatter from a heavy breath. He was perfectly equipped to deal with someone as odd as himself.
"Truly interesting..." Lauron gazed at my pinky as if it were a religious relic. He scooted closer, his eyes wandering toward my chest. "May I ask... what powers you?"
I crossed my arms over my torso. "I'm seriously considering a restraining order, you know that?"
The man held up his hands in apology. "My mistake! I am uneducated in Old World norms. Does my behavior bother you?" He sounded so genuinely apologetic that it was hard to stay mad. "I have even refrained from bringing a gift, as you said it was deemed inappropriate."
Fucking hell. Am I really going to have to get used to this?
I looked around and saw the other participants watching me with confusion. Great. To them, I was the weirdo. Why had the world turned out like this? Did the concept of personal space just die? I mean, Ingenuity was basically a massive communal living space, so maybe it had.
"Listen, it's not that..." I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I don't know, okay?" I ignored the stares and took Lauron's hand. "Aren't you afraid?"
"Afraid?"
I pulled him closer, pressing his hand against my metallic chassis. "I'm a total stranger and a robot," I told him flatly. "I'm stronger than you by orders of magnitude. Doesn't it make you uncomfortable? Being this close to something that could crush you?"
Lauron gave me a gentle, serene smile. "I feel the opposite. Hearing you say that, I feel the safest I have felt among these hundreds of people."
This man would not survive two seconds in the Old World. None of them would. Had they actually solved society? Had they truly purged greed and achieved world peace through this weird, communal ingenuity?
Come on, Viel. Just shut off your brain and go with it.
"You want some food?" I asked.
"What?"
I clicked open my stomach compartment, revealing days' worth of rations. "Help yourself."
"That's amazing!" Lauron dove in, grabbing a flask.
"Hey! Save some for me!" Diana chirped, rushing over to grab a flask and handing another to Leo.
The two of them shared a toast before slurping down the synthetic food. It was hard to believe we had all just met yesterday. They acted as if we'd been together for years.
"Ah, by the way, Child of Love," Lauron said suddenly.
"Hmm?" Diana asked.
"Would you like to spend the night with me? Your body captivates me so."
"Ehehe... sure! I don't mind."
A strange, glitching vocalization sputtered out of my throat. God, fuck—that came out of nowhere! The guy just asked, and she just said yes! No lead-up? No sexual tension? No "getting to know you"?
"Umm... is something bothering you, Viel?" Diana asked.
"Perhaps you would like to join us?" Lauron offered.
Romance was dead. It was just dead in the water. Romance was dead, love was dead, and God was probably dead, too.
FUCK!