Dawn came, throwing the wrinkled contours of the bed into
high relief. The sun climbed several degrees and the shadows
crept about the room. Unaware, the alarm clock sounded the start
of a new day. The two figures stirred on the bed.
With a sigh Clare pulled herself up and sat on the bed
rubbing her eyes. Ynno got up and dressed quietly. "Did I dream?"
he asked, watching out the window.
"Yes", said Clare listlessly.
"Of her?", asked Ynno. Clare nodded. "I'm sorry", said Ynno
quietly.
"So am I", said Clare, just as quietly. She walked over and
stood at the counter top, absently staring at the kitchen
utensils. There was a knock at the door. Something twitched
across Clare's face and she looked at Ynno. He met her gaze for a
moment and looked at the floor and picked up his coat.
She opened the door a crack and Mr. Kelleu was there. She
opened it further and walked to the window. Ynno stepped forward
and turned in the doorway to Clare. "Goodbye", he said sadly. She
nodded and kept staring out the window.
* * *
Ynno left the shuttle and was met on the ship by a very tall
man who introduced himself as Julles. After dropping his bags in
their cabin he bought drinks at the bar.
"What becomes of me now?", asked Ynno. "Are you going to
scrap me? Or are you going to pick my brain apart in your labs?"
Julles smiled grimly. "Your contract has been bought", he
said simply.
"Oh? Are you going to 'rehabilitate' me then?" He took a
swig from his drink. "It won't work", he said defiantly. "You can
never take away my love. It's all I have left."
Julles swirled his drink and watched the depths. "No", he
said quietly, "You'll never forget. The pain will never ease. You
will always love her." He looked him in the eyes with a resigned
smile. "It's taken me seventy years. She haunts me still."
Ynno stared confused for a moment. "Your contract has been
bought by the estate of Kiertwith Konnoi. So was mine. There is a
card in the cabin for you with six hundred thousand in credit on
it. You are free to do as you like."
Ynno watched his drink stunned. "Just like that?"
"Yes." He waited for a moment to let it sink in. "He took
care of us while he was alive. If no one else did, he understood
what we felt. We've formed sort of a collective. We talk, work,
do research. Sell it back to the Imperium..."
"So it is true?"
"About Kiertwith and Ajin? Yes. They're dead now though."
"But the robots. He was an expert. He designed us. Why
didn't he make it so she loved me?"
Julles shook his head sadly. "Believe me, we all think about
it. It just wouldn't be her. It would be someone else.
Ynno looked annoyed, "Then how can you, who say you have
carried the pain for seventy years, continue to make more of us?
Is that not just making more pain?"
Julles swallowed the last of the drink. "The program hasn't
changed since Kiertwith first wrote it. We just come up with
better bodies. I started as a box. That's not the real reason."
He smiled sadly. "There was one pair, a few parsecs away. They
met under unusual circumstances and well... They did it. They're
together. I've talked with him once. His happiness outweighs it
all." Ynno finished his and threw the glass away, still looking
sceptical.
"Travel around a bit", said Julles. "See what you want. Our
doors are always open." He left him then, hands in his pockets,
staring at the receding planet through the bar window.
* * * * *
Ynno eventually joined the Konnoi Collective and won renown
in the field of poetry.
* * * * *
Clare left her job and emigrated from the planet. After
being arrested for espionage the Imperium took pity on her and
she now works for a local government with another Kiertwith
model.
* * * * *
After coming to irreconcilable differences in matter of
policy with Ynno's Ajin model replacement, Sarion transferred to
another governmental department.
* * * * *
Bethula still works as Imperial Liason for the Taxan
corporation.