Page 142 of The Warrior
“You’re not awkward,” Isobel said and I wondered if she meant it or was trying to comfort Shelly. The girl was sweet and brighter than most adults, but fuck yeah, she was awkward.
I might be a hothead, but Shelly had her own quirks and would give random lectures about useless facts that no one asked for. She didn’t have the same level of empathy as most of the other Motlanders, and although she was never intentionally cruel she would call out people and humiliate them without wanting to.
“It’s okay, I know I am.” Shelly gave Isobel a smile. “But as I said, a degree in psychology should be helpful in understanding people better. After that I can focus on what I’m really interested in.”
“Which is?”
“Optimizing functionality and design.”
Isobel frowned. “Oh, I see. That’s a wide-open description; do you know what you want to do more specifically?”
“Yes, I’ll take a degree in engineering and help make machines fit the human experience better.
“What kind of machines,” Hunter asked with mischief in his eyes. “Are you talking about sex-bots?”
Shelly didn’t seem to get that he was teasing. “I’m curious about machines designed to serve a purpose in human lives. Sex-bots are per definition included in that category.”
Hunter laughed and called out to Plato and Solo. “Hey, can you believe Shelly is going to use her brains to improve sex-bots?”
The white noise from all the people in the room went silent.
“She’s not,” I said, feeling a little sorry for the teenage girl who flashed red when she saw everyone staring at her.
“I hope you do,” Hunter told her. “Marco says he might be able to get me in as a tester for the new models when I’m old enough to use them. He’s been in contact with Charlie, you know, the owner of the factory we visited in the Motherlands.”
The children continued their conversation but I was distracted when I heard Isobel mention Devlin’s name.
“I was disturbed to read the report. What an awful man, and to think that he signed up to be matched with a woman again. He even requested to be paired with the poor woman he held hostage.”
“Julia?” Laura set her elbows on the table leaning closer to Isobel, who sat on the opposite side from us.
Isobel nodded. “Yes – Julia.”
Laura shook her head. “Devlin didn’t hold Julia hostage. She was at the border when the wall crumbled and when he came across, she thought it would be a good idea to hide him in her house.”
Isobel wrinkled her nose. “That’s not what I heard.”
Laura asked to see the report and when Isobel let her see the file on her wristband, I saw her eyes move from side to side as she read what it said. “Hans wrote this?” she asked.
I read to myself.
The owner of the house, Julia, had red-rimmed eyes and was shaking when she let us in to her house.
As the most skilled mediator on site, I made sure to go first when we entered the hallway and confronted the suspect in the living room. He was verbally aggressive and the atmosphere was tense, which is why I asked Laura to stay behind me at all times.
When we informed Devlin that he would be shipped back, the situation escalated and I had to use my superior negotiator skills to calm him down. I avoided a physical altercation only because I outsmarted him and made him see that he had a lot to be sorry about. He refused to apologize to Julia and threatened that he’d see her again in the future. Julia seemed terrified of him and was crying a lot.
“What the fuck is this?” I pointed to the file. “That’s nothing like you explained it to me, Laura.”
Laura’s eyes were narrowed and her voice was trembling with indignation. “That’s because it’s pure fiction.”
“What do you mean?” Isobel asked with a look of concern.
“That report is made up to make Hans look good, but it wasn’t like that at all.”
For minutes, Laura explained her version of things to Isobel. The older woman’s eyes grew bigger and her face paler. “I can’t believe it. Why would Hans lie to us?”
I cleared my throat. “When Finn heard that Laura was working with Hans, he indicated to me that Hans wasn’t to be trusted.”
