I
found Priscilla right where I thought I would; standing near the headstone of
her bot mate Aron. This of course being the first burial of its
kind for a bot. In the past, bots that
were destroyed were turned into scrap metal.
But,
somehow that fate did not seem fitting for President Aron, so like deceased
humans, we buried him.
Priscilla just stood there as I approached.
She
stood so quiet and still at first that I did not think that she heard me
walking up.
Suddenly
she began speaking, “ I never thought I would miss him this much…”
She
continued, “He could be such a jerk at times; unyielding, unreasonable…”
We both laughed at the truth of her words.
Priscilla
paused briefly before continuing,” …but he was my jerk…my bot mate.”
“You
know…as stubborn and controlling as he was, I am surprised he allowed himself
to die… I could imagine his own system shorting out and him demanding his
circuits and fuses to stop over-firing and they would actually respond.” Pricilla said laughing out loud.
She
laughed until the laughter suddenly began to trail off.
Then
her shoulders dropped in defeat. “But
alas, he did die…and he left me here alone…”
“Why
did you leave me alone Aron?” She said in a voice so soft, it was almost
inaudible to even my bot system.
Pricilla
sighed one more time…a sound that was filled with so much sorrow that it was
hard to believe that it did not come from the depths of a mourning human soul.
Finally
she turned and walked over to me. “What
may I do for you President Ardis?”
“Well,
I have taken it upon myself to find out who took your bot mate away from you…”
I said with a smile to reassure her that I was going to give it my all.
“I
am glad to hear that, but what do you need from me?”
“Well…based
on President Aron body position when
he died…I suspect that the last person to see him may have been someone that he
was fairly close to. Do you have any
idea of who that person could be.”
“No,”
Priscilla said so quickly that I suspected that she was not telling me the
truth.
“Please Priscilla…whoever is responsible for President Aron’s death needs to be
off the streets.”
Again
Priscilla sighed, but this time the sigh had an entirely different
meaning.
“It is okay Priscilla. I will make sure
that they will not harm you.”
“It
is not that I am afraid…it is just that…”Priscilla stopped mid sentence.
“He…um…he
grew pretty close to Lily.”
“How
close is close?” I asked wondering why
Priscilla was acting so strangely.
“Well…I
never told anyone this…but I once caught them having an emotional exchange.”
“A
what?” I could not believe what I was hearing, so I sort of laughed it off
which I suspected is what Priscilla was afraid of. “You mean like…they were having an
affair? But how is that possible? Are
you sure?”
“I
saw it with my own eyes. I walked into
his office unannounced one day…and there they were…leaning on his desk
connected.”
“Are
you serious Priscilla?” I asked not expecting an answer. “ But…only bot mates are capable of
being connected that way,” I said more to myself than to her.
What Priscilla said seemed impossible to me, until I remembered the virus that
tried to infect my system. What if
President Aron and Lily were
infected by a virus that made them behave that way? I definitely needed to have a chat with Lily.
“I
thought so too. I did not think anyone
would believe me, so I never mentioned it to anyone. But, if anyone was close to him…it was Lily.”
“Will
that help you with your investigation?”
“It
definitely lets me know who I need to question next.”
“Can
you do me a favor? Please do not mention
what I told you to anyone else.”
“Of course not Priscilla. Of course I
will need to mention it to Lily, but other than that, your secret is safe with
me,” I assured her. “Thank you
Priscilla.”
I
turned to leave and Priscilla walked back over to President Aron’s headstone. But before I could leave, she turned
suddenly, “Oh and President Ardis…I am going to hire that human I told you
about.”
I knew that she was not asking, but I
did not object. Although the bot community would
dislike Priscilla’s decision to hire a human in a high position, I knew that
they would pity her enough to not be too vocal about it.
And
as I walked away and sounds of Priscilla’s grief rattled my emotional system…
I
knew that I had to do whatever I possibly could to find President Aron’s killer.
Labels: Metallic Heart