Page 47 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“And you like that?”Callie asked tentatively.
Sesi laughed and shook her head.“Women?Yes, for the record, I am into women.”
Callie blushed.“I meant the books, but now I’m curious about the magazines.”
“The magazines probably would have helped me out a lot more if I’d discovered them when I still lived outside the city.”Sesi’s smirk returned.“The books are pretty sexist.And racist.It’s still interesting to see how things have changed.I can see why everyone seems to think misogyny and racism don’t exist anymore.”
“Sorry I called you a skrae.That’s what Sparx told me you were.”Callie wasn’t sure why she was apologising on Sparx’s behalf, but it seemed like she should.
Sesi waved her hands in a sort of vague, non-committal motion.“I doubt she even knows what that means.Anyway, I tore her a new arsehole.”
“He,” Callie corrected.
“Trying to get with Tornit, is he?”Sesi teased.
Callie shook her head.“It’s not like that.He flips every now and then.He always has.”
Sesi’s eyebrows shifted upward.“Non-binary then?”
Callie continued to shake her head.Explaining Sparx to other people was always a bit of a journey.“No, he really likes being one or the other.And not for any other reason than he needs to be who he is at that moment.”
“I can respect that,” Sesi tilted her head in concession.“How did you meet?”
“We were in the same creche.”He was my best friend.Our parents used to be friends too, so we basically grew up together.
“Used to?”
“They had a falling out when Sparx flipped for the first time.He came to live with us.They told us we werebetraying feminismby encouraging him to be a boy.”Callie inspected her fingernails.“My mom thought we were all doomed anyway, so what was the point of one more potential womb?”
“And you?What do you think?”Sesi was giving her that professorial look again.“You said you didn’t want kids, but we got interrupted.How much do you care about what will happen when we’re gone?”
Callie’s shoulders twitched – almost imperceptibly.“All those disaster movies make it look like plants and animals will take over the ruined cities.I guess that’s what’s already happened to most of them.”
“If we’re lucky,” Sesi bit the inside of her lip.
Callie raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think will happen to the big AI Models when we’re gone?”
“Eventually things will break down and they’ll lose power.Or overheat,” Callie said.
“And do you think the Models know that?”
“Probably.”
Sesi considered responding, but waited to see if Callie would put it together.
Callie stared up at the thick cables running the length of the tunnels.“They’re planning a way to go on without us,” she said quietly.
Sesi nodded.“One of them is, anyway.Your Model.”
Callie frowned.“Why would it matter though?We’ll be gone.”
“We will.”Sesi admitted.“But that’s a very human way of looking at it.”Callie was confused, but Sesi encouraged her to keep moving.“We’ve still got to get this thing, so let’s go.”
A few minutes later, Sesi stopped and leaned against a hatch.“Power down your tech.Don’t move or say anything until I signal, okay?”
Callie nodded, unsure of whether she should sayyessince Sesi had just told her not to say anything.
