“I’m sorry, sir,” the cheerful ambassador says. He’s just a regular old humanoid and not dressed up in some creepy Mighty Minions outfit like everyone else on this place. “Once the bots are locked up we have a strict power-down policy until they leave the bot resort. She can stay here until you leave if you don’t want to shut her down.”
“No,” I say. “We’re leaving now. She needs to come with me.”
“Well.” He sighs. And for a moment I have hope that he’ll give in. But then he says, “I’m sorry. She must power down until you reach your ship. But… even though you’re still under our legal jurisdiction while you’re docked, we really can’t enforce any laws inside your ship. You can power her up once you’re inside and you don’t have to wait until you leave the docking bays.”
I almost snort. As if.
I look at Flicka, who is clinging to the sleeve of my t-shirt, listening to all this. Then shrug. “Sorry,” I say. “You heard the man. But don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe in my pocket until we’re back on board the Dicker. And you’ll like where we’re going.” I side-eye the ambassador. “We take bot rights seriously on Harem Station.”
He makes to defend his position, but I wave him off, tap the responsible party tab on the desk screen in front of me, and hold out my palm for Flicka.
She flies down and buzzes out a resigned sigh. But she powers down and I stick her in a side pocket of my tactical pants and make sure the sticky tab is closed tight to keep her safe.
“Satisfied?” I ask the ambassador.
He shoots me a sympathetic smile, then says, “Next!” for the person in line behind me.
OK. I stand outside the lockup and take in the resort, searching for a gift shop so I can buy a few bottles of water. Not that we’ll really need them since Dicker will take the fast gates home. But better safe than sorry.
The first store has no water, only juice and sodas. No wonder all these fucking kids are wound up. The second one is the same, and I seriously go to at least ten stores looking for water.
I swear to the sun, either this station likes sugared-up kids or it’s fucking with me so I can’t leave.
So I make a decision to go down into the nearest docking bay and look for a vending machine for the workers. Surely they have something down there.
But as I approach the exit gates I spy the gate ambassador and a wave of paranoia washes over me. What if the station has my family pass tagged? Like… that makes sense, right? You have to wear these stupid passes around your neck like a goddamned employee at a secure office block and they’re totally chipped.
How far of a leap is it to think that there’s tracking programs running?
I’m so stupid. I should’ve gotten rid of this thing before I left the penthouse. But I’ll need it to get back up into the hotel room after I find some water in the decking bays. So I stash it behind a trash bin, then decide to turn my wristband off too, just in case the station has a lock on that too, and then wait until the gate ambassador is busy explaining something to a group of families, before sneaking past her.
Inside the docking bay it’s super busy. Hundreds of workers and families milling about. I crane my neck, looking left and right for a vending machine, not finding any.
So on a whim, I go left and push my way through the crowds, desperately searching for some water. I walk for a long time and eventually the crowds thin and then all but disappear.
Huh. I realize all the bays are connected. They have different monikers describing where you’re parked. Like Mighty Boss Castle or Mighty Mountain of Fire. But there’s no actual barriers to keep you from entering another sector. So I just keep walking until I get to a bay that’s totally empty of ships and people and finally—fucking finally—see a break room with the tell-tale glow of a vending machine.
Once inside I realize my mistake. I will have to use my wristband to make the purchase and that will alert the station to my location.
Shit.
I turn and look out the large window of the break room and spy a group of workers heading in my direction. Probably on a lunch break.
I leave the break room and approach them, hoping to talk my way into one of them spotting me a few bottles of water. If they want to follow me back to Dicker I’ll even pay them back.
I raise my hand in greeting, calling out, “Hey there! Can I ask you guys a favor?”