She looked back at Perry, watching as his lips closed over the spoon. If his sense of smell was so strong, was his sense of taste heightened too? For some reason, the thought made her blush. Aria took a few sips of water, hiding her face with the crystal.
“Marron has been working on your Smarteye,” Perry said. He was calling it a Smarteye. Not a device. Not the eyepiece.
“Since the minute Perry gave it to me. It’s largely undamaged, from what we can tell so far. We’re working on restoring power to it, touchy without setting off a locating signal, but we’ll get it. I’ll know how long that should take soon. ”
“There should be two files,” Aria said. “A recording and a message from my mother. ”
“If they can be found, we’ll find them. ”
For the first time, Aria felt hope. Real hope that she’d reach Lumina. That Perry would find Talon. Perry met her eyes and smiled. He felt it too.
“I don’t know how I can thank you,” she said to Marron.
“I’m afraid it’s not all good news. Restoring power will be the easy part. Linking the eye to the Realms to contact your mother will be far more difficult. ” Marron cast an apologetic look her way. “I’ve tried to breach the security protocols for the Realms before. I’ve never managed it, but I’ve never tried with a Smarteye or with a Dweller before. ”
Aria had worried about this. Hess had surely blocked her access into the Realms, but she hoped the “Songbird” file might help them reach Lumina.
Marron asked questions about the Pod as they moved from soup to beef stewed in rich wine sauce. Aria explained how most everything, from the production of food to the recycling of their air and water, was automated.
“People don’t work?” Roar asked.
“Only the minority do in the real. ” Aria glanced at Perry, looking for signs of disgust, but he was tucked into his food. A meal like this had to be a rarity for him, not just something he’d missed on their journey.
She told them about the pseudo-economy, where people amassed virtual wealth, but that there were black markets and hackers. “None of it changes what happens in the real. Aside from the Consuls, everyone is entitled to the same living quarters and clothes and diet. ”
Roar leaned across the table and smiled at her seductively, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “When you say everything happens in the Realms, do you mean everything?”
Aria laughed nervously. “Yes. Especially that. There are no risks in the Realms.
”
Roar’s smile widened. “You simply think it and it happens? And it actually feels real?”
“Why are we talking about this?”
“I need a Smarteye,” he said.
Perry rolled his eyes. “There’s no way it’s the same. ”
Marron cleared his throat. He’d gone a little red in the face. Aria knew she had too. She didn’t know if it was the same, real or Realms, but she wasn’t about to tell them that.
“What happened with the Croven?” she asked, anxious to change the subject. Surely by now they had disappeared.
She looked around the table. No one answered. Finally Marron wiped his mouth neatly with a napkin and spoke. “They’re still gathered in the plateau, from what we can tell. Slaying a Blood Lord is a grave offense, Aria. They will stay as long as they can. ”
“We slew a Blood Lord?” she asked, hardly believing she’d just used the word slew.
Perry’s green eyes flicked up. “It’s the only way to explain their numbers. And I did it, Aria. Not you. ”
Because of what she did. Because she’d left the rotten cave and gone searching for berries. “So they’re waiting?”
Perry sat back in his chair, his jaw tight. “Yes. ”
“We’re safe here, I assure you,” Marron said. “The wall is fifty feet at the lowest point, and we have archers posted day and night. They’ll keep the Croven from coming too close. And soon the weather will turn. With the cold and the Aether storms, the Croven will leave in search of shelter. Let’s hope that happens before they do something rash. ”
“How many are there?” she asked.
“Near forty,” Perry said.