Syn said, “Have you looked for them?”
Neci leaned in. “We looked real hard. Every room we could get into. We scoured this ship. We’ve scoured the Disc. We dug through the farmlands, picking through the burnt crops, for whatever was left. What’s interesting is that in all of our searches, we never saw you. So where were you hiding?”
Syn glanced up, toward the needle, toward the sunstrips.
“Holding to that story, eh?” Neci said. The burly that had exited returned to the room carrying a sack over his shoulder.
“I woke up. I was in the white room a very long time.” That part was true. It was just not as long as she had hoped they would assume. She had to account for her age, for the years on the other Disc. “Then one day the door opened.” She found a lie and wrapped it around a truth. “I heard a big explosion and went looking for what happened. The door opened, and I came down here.”
Kerwen and Taji shared a glance between each other.
The burly placed the sack on the table in front of Neci and then stepped back to its post. Neci said, “You woke up. You came down here. You were caught by the Ecology. And you helped them, and then they pointed you here. You traveled over the Desert with three machines, stepped right into a thudder trap. Then sweet ol’ Kerwen found you and rescued you. Is that the whole thing? Is that everything?”
Across the table, Pigeon stiffened. Taji leaned forward.
Neci continued, “Did I leave anything out?”
Syn shook her head.
Neci placed a hand on the dirty, brown bag on the table. She grabbed it on both sides and strained to lift it up, dropping it from a couple inches up. The entire table rattled as the weight of the sack smacked down. Syn’s cup rattled and tottered before falling and spilling water. Neci turned the bag over and pulled it off of its heavy contents. Out rolled the white, porcelain-pure body of Blip.
Syn jumped and put her hands out to grab the teetering, silent Blip. Taji leaned forward and snagged the bot and rolled him back, out of Syn’s reach. Kerwen stood up and put her hands on Syn’s shoulders, pushing her back to her chair. Syn settled back, but Kerwen didn’t let go. She stood over Syn like a sentry.
Neci spoke, “So, you know this companion? Seems like you left something out of your story.”
Syn gritted her teeth and growled, “What have you done to him?”
Kerwen put pressure on Syn’s shoulders. Neci put her hands up in the air, a motion that declared she was blameless. “We did nothing. Do you mean because he’s turned off?”
Syn’s voice grew fiercer, more determined. “Yes!”
Neci rolled her eyes, “Oh, that. Nope. He switched to that mode when we found him.” She reached over and spun him around so she could look into his blank face. “Silent. No matter what we do, he won’t wake up. They tend to do that when separated from their sister. I was hoping he’d spring to life when you were brought near… but it appears as if that’s not happening.”
“What have you done to him?”
Neci stood up and slammed her hand hard against the table, “Tell me the truth! Where have you been all this time? Where were you at when we were dying in Hell?”
Syn narrowed her eyes, glaring at the long-haired copy of herself, but she didn’t talk.
“You didn’t just wake up. Look at you. You’re our age.”
Syn’s eyes widened.
“Oh,” Neci continued, “Didn’t think I had thought about that? Think I wouldn’t catch that? We all start young, and we grow up. You woke up when we did. Seven years ago. You’ve been awake for seven years. Seven years in the white room? Bullshit. And look at you. Look at your skin.”
Syn looked down at her bare arms and then at those of Kerwen by her head. Kerwen’s were thinner than Syn’s. They were also covered in scars and bruises. Taji’s were worse. Neci, herself, despite her poise and self-control, was still battered and sliced and burned.
Neci held up her arms, so Syn could get a better look. A long scar ran from just mid-forearm down past her elbow toward her armpit. “That one was given to me by one of our sisters. She’s dead now. But you… you look like an angel.” She moved over to Syn and grabbed Syn’s wrist. Syn yanked it back, but Taji moved around to assist. Together, they pulled Syn’s right arm out and held it down on the table. Neci put her own arm next to Syn. The knuckles were the same. They even had the same moles, the same blemishes. But Neci was right. Syn’s arms looked bare. They were nearly absent of scars. There were a few, but only a few. Neci’s arms looked like those of a veteran. “What a soft life you’ve had.”
With that, Neci spun and grabbed Syn by her jaw and drew close in. Her breath was hot in Syn’s face. Neci hissed, “We have lived in Hell. God sent us to Hell, and this is it. And somehow, you have managed to stay safe and clean and…” She pinched a piece of skin on Syn’s abdomen. “And fat.”
She pulled back and pointed at Blip. “And that thing is never turning back on again. I know those things are her servants.” She was spitting as she spoke. Every word came out with a rasp. “They aren’t our friends. They are our guards. They watched our every action. They pretended to be our friends, and they were feeding her the entire time. I know it’s true. Olorun told me that much. The Great Old Woman belched out that much before she locked us in here. But we blinded and deafened her by killing those bastards. She has no eyes, no ears, and no voice inside Hell.”
Syn stared aghast. Like Blip, Neci was referring to Olorun as a real person. And she had talked to the ship. Called it a “she” just like Blip had. Was she telling the truth? Syn stammered, her eyes locked on Blip. “You killed your companions?”
Then as if a switch had been turned off, the anger drained from Neci, and she stood there poised. The fury behind her eyes vanished. She spoke clear and confident. “Each of them. They were never ours. They were always hers. Pretenders. Just like you. Like it.”
Syn sat with Taji still holding her right wrist and Kerwen pressing her thumbs into Syn’s shoulders. She was stuck between them. Across the table, Pigeon had disappeared. In the chaos, the little girl had left. Syn was jealous. Why had Syn come here? Why had she trusted Kerwen? Why had she trusted Blip? Syn started to cry. “I’m not… I promise…”
“Then where have you been?”
Syn’s mind raced. She did not want to tell them about her Disc. Something in her did not want anyone else in her world. She wanted these girls to like her, to accept her, but she could not trust them—not with the truth and not with her world. So she lied. “I’ve been with the Ecology!”
Kerwen’s grip lessened and Taji relaxed her hold, but they still stayed where they were at, pinning her down.
Neci turned and raised an eyebrow.
Syn scrambled for the rest of the lie. “I lied! I lied!” Perhaps telling some of the truth might work. “I lied and said I just came down because I know how much you hate the Ecology. Rip… Kerwen told me. I’ve been with them. They’ve been nice to me. They’ve fed me. They’ve kept me safe. I’ve been with them.” If they are just like me, will they know if I lie? No! Just tell the truth! Another lie wrapped around a truth.
Neci leaned over and pulled Kerwen’s hand off of Syn’s wrist. “This whole time?”
“They’ve kept me up in the settlements. Hidden away. I’ve been fixing them. They’d bring me food, and I’d fix them, and they’d keep me safe.” All true. All true.
Above them, the clouds thundered again, and drops of rain began to pour down.
“Go to your rooms. No one leaves Zondon until I say so. For any reason.” Neci turned and walked toward the exit. “And don’t be late for breakfast”