Boxes of bolts and screws. Spools of wire stacked. Hooks with tools I’d never seen before.
“Don’t touch that.”
I pulled my hand away, glancing at Adeline on her perch.
Curls piled atop her head in a stretched out scrunchie, she disassembled her newfound part and scraped dried blood off the panels. She’d tap the side of her goggles periodically, a whirring emanating before she pursued smaller pieces in the gizmo.
Quietly setting a stool by her workstation, I tried to understand what was so fascinating about the part. It made a good bludgeon during our escape, but otherwise I didn’t see the importance.
“What are you doing?” she asked, brushing more grease under her nose.
I shrugged. “Not touching things.”
“Staring counts too.”
The atmosphere became as uncomfortable as the metal stool. “Then what do you expect me to do?”
“Power down.” She stopped at the silence, lifting her head. Pulling down her goggles, she blinked a few times. “Guess you don’t have an off switch.”
“What a revelation the lord laid upon your heart. Pray tell what other great wisdom you possess.”
Her olive brow crinkled and amber eyes darkened. She reset her goggles and returned to work.
I bit my tongue, wondering where such sarcastic attempts came from. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Most people tend to be.”
“Explains your tendentious attitude.”
Adeline removed her goggles and slammed them on the desk. “One more uppity word from you and I’m turning you in for the reward.”
I pressed the sides of my head, struggling for a way to move forward with her. Or even sideways. We didn’t have time for conflict.
The Chairman intended to roll out his governing AI across New Britain. With it, he could control every inch of the city from sewage to transportation. His enemies would be unable to escape his grip, and his robotic soldiers would have a stronger hold over the people. If it worked here, he would expand, reclaiming countries he’d lost to rebels and uprisers.
My eyes snapped open. “America.”
Adeline squinted.
“Your accent,” I explained. “It seemed strange when we bumped into each other at the exchange, and I’ve been trying to place it ever since. You’re from the American colonies aren’t you?”
Her jaw tightened, heart-shaped face smoothing. She crossed her arms and licked her teeth. But she couldn’t hide the confession in her eyes. “There’re a few rats in the alley who might like your ‘freedom to all’ speech.”
“I’ll refrain from using my extensive vocabulary if you let your guard down a little.”
After a few moments, she stood. Her boots scraped along the concrete toward the crates of parts in the back of the garage.
My nerves clenched at her unwillingness even as my mind discovered a wealth of hope. “If you’re from the colonies, then it was your people who found a way to destroy the Chairman’s depots and gain freedom. You paved a way for so many nations to fight back.”
“Lot of good that did us. Now he’ll use the same technology that destroyed our world to enslave us again.” Metal clattered and screeched, Adeline producing one part or another and holding it up to the flickering bulb lighting.
“We can stop him if we–”
“Don’t.” She dropped the crate she’d been picking through onto the floor and kicked it under the counter. “No speeches, no hope. Just shut up.” Leaning on the counter, her shoulder blades tensed under her dirty tank top.
Wetting my lips, I sought the path into her mind. But her world was so foreign to me. Every inch of the garage we hid in was a shrine to machinery. A wealth of tools few knew of, rivers of metal chips and washers. It seemed like chaos, yet it was more organized than the homes of the Upper Heights.
Father would’ve been driven mad.
Rubbing my palms together, I muttered, “I can’t. Not when he lies so easily.” The silence ebbed on, proof that he couldn’t hear me. Proof that I could finally speak my mind. “The Upper Heights believe in the democracy he built after we won the robot revolution. I believed it, as did my father. But when he ran against the Chairman in an election…”
My nerves tensed, remembering the smell. Of everything I discovered in his study that morning, the smell haunted me the most. Not his slumped body in his favorite chair or his cold fingers wrapped around a gun he never owned. Not even the blood splattered across his prized collection of books. My stomach curdled at the memory of burnt flesh.
The stool beside me scraped closer. Adeline undid her hair, loose curls falling over her shoulders and around her ears. She avoided my eye, but I could see the pain spiraling in hers. “Ever heard of the Wolf Pack?”
Blinking away the past, I sifted through my memories. “Freedom fighters in America?”
She nodded. “The Wolfe family was one of few who profited from the war. But when the Chairman found the kill code and the people made him basically a king, the Wolfe’s led the charge to defy him.” Her gaze raised slightly. “I’m one of them.”
My brow tensed. “A member of the Wolfe family?”
“Don’t let the cat out of the bag.” She forced a snicker, head bowing to mask her expression. “Your family believed in democracy; mine held to freedom at all costs. My dad had each of us learn different skills so we could benefit the cause. We lost our wealth, our home, and so many friends just to rid our country of the Chairman.
“But Dad knew it wouldn’t last, not if he remained in power. So we overtook one of the globe crossers and came here. We devised a plan, worked out every small detail.”
I eyed the garage, not finding a single picture. A sleeping arrangement for one in this hideaway. “The plan failed.”
“No.” She straightened, expression flat. “We were betrayed.”
My skin chilled.
Adeline stood, pacing for a few moments with her hands in her cargo pants. “Dad had me learn mechanics and my sister coding so we could handcraft everything from guns to all-access keycards. But I…” She shook her head, stalling as she raked her fingers through her hair. “I don’t know. I was the youngest, and she got all the attention from the guys. So when one liked me, I tried to impress him. I didn’t know he could code, I just…”
I folded my hands. “You trusted him, and he broke it.”
“He reprogrammed everything. Our plan fell apart. All my men worked to get me out alive, but my family… my siblings…” She tossed her hands in the air, turning a circle. “Well, you can guess where they are.” Her body slacked with the relieved pressure, yet she remained closed off with her stiff expression.
A loud rattle emanated from upstairs, triggering the old boiler in the corner. I pulled off the torn jacket I’d been given, folding it before setting it on the worktable. “Our tendentious ideals were challenged, but that doesn’t mean we give up. Your father and mine believed in stopping the Chairman, so we must find a way to do so now. Otherwise, they sacrificed everything for nothing.”
Adeline crossed her arms, glaring at the wall of tools. The room heated from the overworked boiler while the rattling died down. The stench of grease grew stronger with the increased humidity.
She rested her chin on her shoulder, a smirk dancing across her lips. “Thought you said you’d drop the vocabulary.” I didn’t give in, letting her slowly unravel herself and take a breath. “I doubt we’ll succeed, but I guess I owe it to my family to try.”
Hope blossomed in my chest. I pressed my lips to hold back the flood of joy, not wanting to threaten the moment.
She pulled a worn button-up off the bed and threw it over her tank top. “We’ll need more people. And a plan.”
“We’ve got maybe a month.”
“Then we better get started.”