Page 115 of Crocodile Tears

“You mentioned that place last night – what is it?”

“It’s a specialist training establishment for the most expensive indentured servants.”

“Does that explain your hefty price tag? It says in the file that you’re worth a hundred and sixty million quid. I’ve never heard of an IS that expensive.”

“Possibly.” Alexander gave an evasive shrug. “My first houder sent me there, to help me acclimatise to my new condition.”

“You know, it sounds like there’s a great big story in there.” Josiah sat back, hoping his new IS would open up to him.

“Not really,” Alexander demurred.

Getting up, the servant made himself some toast and eggs while Josiah watched, wishing he could get under this man’s skin and understand him. Maybe he had to try harder – he’d stopped trying to make friends a long time ago, and he was out of practice.

He waited until Alexander had finished his breakfast, and then he cleared his throat, feeling awkward.

“Uh… so, how are you feeling? Are you a little less sore? I mean, you were doing yoga this morning, so…” He waved his hand in the direction of Alexander’s back.

“Yoga helps me mentally, sir, so I try to do my practice every morning, no matter what. My back is feeling much better, though, thank you for asking.”

“That’s good. Did Doctor Baumann give you any ongoing treatment for it?”

“Yes, sir. She gave me a gel, but I can’t reach to apply it to some areas. Perhaps your medibot could do that?”

“I don’t have a medibot.”

“Oh.” Alexander stared at him, nonplussed. “How come?”

“Never saw the need for one.” Josiah shrugged. “I’m not a fan of all this tech – seems like people invent shit then persuade us we can’t live without it. So we buy it and stick it in a cupboard where it never gets used.”

“Right.” Alexander grinned at him. “No smartwall, no medibot, and I notice you still prefer a keypad entry system when most people have moved on to biometric controlled smarthouses… I’m sensing a theme here.”

“I grew up with nothing. Literally.” Josiah shrugged. “We were lucky if we had enough to eat. Now, it’s hard to keep up. First there were tablets, then nanopads, and now holopads – to say nothing of holoties, smartwalls, and biometrics. For years after the Rising nobody had much, but in the last ten years there’s been an explosion of stuff – most of it unnecessary, in my view.”

“The world is finally starting to recover. Maybe we’re all making up for lost time,” Alexander suggested.

Josiah grunted. “Peter wasn’t big on tech, either, though he loved his vehicles. Our happiest times were chugging across Europe, most of the time completely off-grid, living in truck AVs and tents.”

Josiah smiled at the memory, then wondered why he was telling the IS all this. “Anyway,” he said briskly, changing the subject, “I can help with the medication, if you’re okay with that?”

“That’s very kind. Thank you.”

Alexander handed the tube of gel to Josiah and pulled off his shirt. Josiah winced as he got a close-up view of his wounded back. The bite marks were the worst – so deep they’d created jagged impressions in his skin and drawn blood.

The scratches had scabbed over, and the bruises had turned purple and yellow. As he worked, he saw that the wounds were bisected by the silvery lines of old scars.

He was about to ask how he’d come by them when he remembered the duck accident that had killed his mother. It was likely the scars were from that, and he didn’t want to pry into such a personal and traumatic event.

He smoothed the gel onto the bites and bruises as gently as he could, but Alexander didn’t even flinch.

Josiah fought down a rising tide of anger, appalled that anyone could do this. “That man, the one who did this to you at the show… if you give me a description, I could try and trace him, bring him up on charges,” he said tightly.

“Thank you, sir, but it’s fine. It was just one of those things.”

“What the hell was wrong with him that he abused you like this?”

Alexander just shrugged, either unwilling or unable to answer that question.

Josiah was suddenly acutely aware that a beautiful young man was standing half-naked in front of him. Feeling uncomfortable, he finished swiftly and gruffly told his indie to put his shirt back on.

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