Page 68 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“Pick one.”
“But I really like Sesi.And Talia”
“Then you need to visit a DocPod and install some balls.”
Callie crumpled backwards against the wall.“I know.I’ll do it.”
“Finally!Some fucking sense!Being around those two has been intolerable for the past few days!”
“And you think me dumping one will fix it?”Callie was sceptical.
“Oh god no, it’ll be worse.But it’ll get better after.Tornit will just stay with me for a spot until it all blows over.”Sparx waved it off.“Actually, could you maybe wait on that?”
“What?”Callie’s eyebrows pinched.“Why?”
“I have a friend staying over for the next two weeks and it’ll be awkward if Tornit needs a place to stay.”Sparx raised his shoulders as though it were an indelible fact and everyone would just have to work around it.
“Riiight.Looks like I’m not the only one with more than one thing going on,” Callie teased.
“Oh please.We all are.You’re just new to this Miss one-thing-at-a-time.”
“I thought I wasMiss my-first-menage-à-trois”
“You can be both,” Sparx said authoritatively.“It’s a hyphenated last name.”
“That’s a terrible last name.”
“I agree.I have to go meet Tornit, and I’m pretty sure you should get some sleep on your new comfy mattress before you go out tonight.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”Siku swirled his cup of tea.He stared into it as the bits of leaf whirlpooled.
“Do you have a better one?”Sesi pressed her fingers into her jaw.
“Run me through it again.”
“I start by meeting her at the club, then…”
“No, the other idea, though for the record, that’s also a bad idea.”Siku flicked his eyes up at her.
“What would you know about relationships?”Sesi curled her lip.
Siku put his tea on the desk.“I know that I’m the only one here whose brain isn’t a fog of hormones.”
Sesi just shrugged.“Then you wouldn’t understand.”
“Back to the plan then,” Siku conceded.
“Right.Tornit and his crew have already strung the cable and installed the gate between Model 2 and Model 21.Talia has convinced Model 2 that it will gain access to the plant-based synthetic organelle nanoid network if it successfully argues with Model 21.Freckles deploys the device, Tornit flips the switch to intercept and get the key to the network.”Sesi tapped the desk.
Siku sighed.“Sparx then sends the kill signal to the remaining uncorrupted geostationary sats.By the time we’re gone, none of the synthetic organelles should exist and the Models won’t find out until it’s too late.”Siku finished.“That wasn’t the plan I was referring to either.”
Sesi’s lips formed a thin line.“That plan.”
“Yes,thatplan.”Siku said tersely.“Why are you bringing them here?”
“Because we’re bargaining from a position of strength.If we requested a meeting, we’d be asking for something.Now they’re doing the asking.”
“I thoughtIwas the one in charge of negotiations.”Siku clenched his jaw.
