Page 67 of Taurus's Quest
“Before we accidentally burn the circuits again, maybe we should try a different dimple,” Circe suggested. “Could be the one you used is defective, or the scouts are keyed to specific spots.”
“Easy enough to try.” Aquarius managed to get the nanobot back on his fingertip, but his hand shook so hard it fell off and plinked to a spot by Circe’s feet. “Sorry. Guess too little sleep and stress don’t have me at my best.”
“Can’t blame you. I think we’re all high-strung.” Circe reached down and pinched the bot with her fingers. She offered it to Aquarius, who shook his head.
“You wanna do it for me? I don’t want to drop it again.”
“Sure.”
She kept the finger with the bot outstretched and steady, but as soon as Aquarius handed Circe the rock, she turned pale and dropped the stone.
Taurus hit his knees so hard he’d have bruises. “What’s wrong? You okay?”
Before replying, she glanced at the oval stone then Aquarius. “Did you feel anything when you touched the rock?”
He shook his head.
She glanced at Aries. “The person working on it, did you ever give them the rock or just the bot?”
Aries’ brow creased. “Bot only, why?”
“I think I know what kind of power it wants.” Still holding the hand with the nanobot steady, Circe reached for the stone, but Taurus caught her wrist as he got an inkling of what she planned.
“Explain. What do you mean you know what kind of power it wants?”
“I am pretty sure it needs a life force to activate.”
“That makes sense,” Aquarius explained. “Seeing as how they usually attach themselves to hosts.”
“If it wants living juice, then it can use mine,” Taurus declared, only to see Circe shake her head.
“It doesn’t work with Zodiac Warriors.”
“Worked fine before,” Taurus retorted. “Or have you forgotten Demetrius was using it to track me?”
“I haven’t forgotten, but that was before it got broken.”
“Aries had it fixed.”
“Fixed to the best of that engineer’s ability. But we’re talking alien tech. Who knows what they missed?”
“So you’re going to… what? Let it infect you to turn it on?”
“I’ve already touched the scout and look.” She held out her finger. “Not embedded, and I’m still me. However, I think this rock, or transport as Demetrius called it, has some way of rebooting the bot, but only under the right circumstances. In this case, the right kind of life form to give it a jumpstart.”
“Sounds fucking dangerous.”
“Probably.”
“I won’t let you do this.”
“And what would you say if I forbade you from fighting monsters?” she hotly retorted.
His lips flattened into a thin line. “Not the same.”
“It is, and you know it. Trust me, I don’t want the nanobots to take me over, but if it happens, then I’m counting on you to make sure I don’t destroy the Antikythera mechanism.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” a promise he hoped to keep.
