My sister positioned her (stolen?) golden auto as close as she could next to the front doors of the small, out of the way eating establishment. “Follow my lead,” she said, then got out of the car and glitched inside. I moved over to the now vacated driver’s seat and did the same.
“There,” she spoke as I stood beside her now, taking in the quiet. Free at last to eat in peace instead of pieces. Why she brought me to this hidden eatery in the first place. “We can pull up those two green seats around that table.” I looked around. No one here except us. And counter person Bob, who Lexi explained didn’t count.
“Say you come here all the time?” I asked.
“Sometimes. Just when I want to eat out. *Ever*.” She smiled, maybe even laughed a bit. It was good to hear. She’d been so serious lately what with the finishing of Ralph, her dog robot which she called a “pseudo-flathead.” Having worked at the robot factory for a week, I kind of knew what that was now. Not Arasaka quality — glossiness, she called it — but compensations in other directions. She could rig it in her own, special way. “End of August,” she said earlier about a deadline for completing the thing. “End of August or I might have missed my chance.” I doubted it. Who would even think of sending a robot into those channels? And now here, another Kabusie secret revealed.
What else did she know? I needed to stick closely to my sister. She’s here to help. We *share* a condition. There’s a reason for that.
(to be continued)
Sunklands 