Читать книгу Rabbit and Robot - William Hughes, Andrew Smith - Страница 19

Meg Hatfield had to figure things out on her own.

There were no instructional videos played for the cogs in second class. It was unnecessary. Cogs knew everything they needed to know and never had to learn anything else.

They also never needed to pee.

It must be very nice.

In fact, after the first few hours of wailing and moaning— and cheering, dancing, and applauding—every one of the second-class cogs, on their way to report for duty aboard the Tennessee, the cruise ship to end all cruise ships, went into silent sleep mode while Meg Hatfield and Jeffrie Cutler discussed plans to feed themselves and take care of other corporeal needs.

It didn’t matter much, because Meg and Jeffrie could have done anything they wanted to do and they would have appeared to be invisible as far as the cogs and flight attendants on the Grosvenor Galactic transpod were concerned, due to the code Meg had uploaded from her thumbphone earlier that day.

“I could totally darf this thing and nobody would ever know,” Jeffrie said.

“Nobody would know because nobody is actually on this flight, except for us,” Meg pointed out. “We’re packed in with a bunch of machines.”

“I saw a boy up there.” Jeffrie nodded her chin toward the barrier that sealed in the privilege of first class. “He was really cute, but I think he was hacked up on Woz or something.”

Meg said, “Cute? I’ve never heard you call a boy cute before. How old are you?”

“Fifteen. And shut up,” Jeffrie said. “He really is cute.”

“He’s most likely a cog.”

“No. I saw his eyes. I can tell.”

“That’s what you think,” Meg said.

Meg opened up her thumbphone.

“What are you going to do to us now? More code?” Jeffrie asked. “Why don’t you turn this thing around, and make them take us back home?”

“No. This time I really am going to call my dad.”

Jeffrie Cutler, like most of the burner kids from Antelope Acres, did not have a Hinsoft phone implanted inside her fingertips. “Ask him if he could let Lloyd know I’m with you.”

Nobody liked Lloyd Cutler, and Meg Hatfield’s father was no exception.

“Okay.”

But when Meg called, nothing happened.

“This sucks,” Meg said. “I guess there’s no phones up here in space.”

“Um, well, in that case, when are we going back?” Jeffrie asked.

“We’ll figure out something. Just enjoy the ride, Jeff.”

Jeffrie frowned. “I kind of feel weird, like maybe I’m going to puke or something.”

“Don’t think about it. You’re probably just hungry. I am. I’m going to figure out where the toilets are and look for something to eat. Okay?”

“All right.”

When Meg came back, she carried pouches of food: hamburgers and fries with bottles of water. It was the kind of food made at places Jeffrie and her brother Lloyd liked to set fire to.

“Food printers,” Meg said, waving the girls’ meal pouches in front of Jeffrie. “Really cool ones.”

“Thanks.”

Meg sat down beside Jeffrie and harnessed herself back into the recliner. “But the toilets are weird. It took me ten minutes to figure out how to use their female urinal, and by then I thought I was going to piss myself. It’s like hooking yourself up to a fucking electronic lamprey eel or something. And the pictures they have on the walls, with the characters from that kids’ show demonstrating how to use them, are really disturbing. If I was a guy, I’d be terrified of the male lamprey thing.”

Jeffrie tore at the opening of her food pouch. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“Now I kind of have to go too.”

“Do you want me to show you how to do it?”

Jeffrie shook her head. “I’m not stupid. And I’m not scared, either.”

“Well, do me a favor. When you come back, see if you can print up some ketchup,” Meg said.

“No. I can’t do the reading and writing thing. Sorry.”

Meg said, “Well, then. I guess this pretty much means I can feed you whatever I want.”

Jeffrie unhooked her harness and got out of her seat.

“That doesn’t mean I’ll eat it, though.”

Jeffrie pulled herself away from the seat and drifted toward the toilets. She said, “Can you promise me one thing, Meg? Can you promise that you will get us back home before too long?”

“No worries, Jeff,” Meg said. “I promise.”