Where Nothing Ill Can Dwell

Chapter 21 - ARIEL

The night had passed uneventfully, so after the crew rose with the sun, I was relieved to receive orders from my creator to return to the compound. The revelation of my young mistress's parentage and its implications occupied my mind more than the half-hearted assassination threats, and I could not wait to confirm this information with Dr. Prospero.

She was at her computer, drinking something warm from a mug. "Anything to report?"

I moved between her and the screen. "You did not tell me Commander Gonzalo was Miranda's father."

Dr. Prospero choked and sputtered out her drink, spraying my main oculus in the process. After I'd wiped it clean, I noted the deep pink color of her cheeks. "I, um—You never asked."

"But he is her father, is he not?"

"He is, although I've never told a soul until now." She narrowed her eyes at me "Why do you ask?"

"Because he is under the assumption she is his daughter."

"How—" Her voice caught, and she slumped back in her chair. "I suppose if something happens to me, she needs to know."

By she, I assumed she meant Miranda.

"I want you to record this conversation, ARIEL."

"As you command, Dr. Prospero."

"Carlos is Miranda's father," she began. "I'd originally considered him a dalliance, a one-night experience, to remind me I was still a woman underneath all my scientific patents, but he grew on me. I actually found myself starting to enjoy his company. At least, until he asked me to marry him. It was one of those in the heat of the moment things, an act of pure impulsivity I knew he'd regret the next day. After all, my work was my life. So I decided to end things between us."

"Why did you not tell him you had conceived a child?"

"I didn't know until later, and the last thing he needed was to feel obligated to a child neither one of us planned. Besides, I could raise my child on my own. I've done a damn good job of it so far, if I may say so myself. I didn't need to involve him."

Her arguments seemed more directed at herself than me, and I decided to press further to uncover the layers of this complicated relationship. "Did you care for him?"

Her breath hitched, and her expression softened. "Yes, I did, even though I know it was silly of me to think we had a future together. I mean, we have nothing in common. He's a silly dreamer, and I'm...practical. I was completely devoted to my career."

"Then why did you not terminate your pregnancy?"

A mixture of shock, horror, and regret washed over her face before she answered. "I thought about it, but then I realized how much I wanted her."

"Even though motherhood is an impediment to career advancement?"

"I knew I could do both. And at the end of a long day, I had someone to come home to whom I loved. Someone without the expectations I'd ever need to be something I'm not. I'm not wife material, but I could shape myself into a mother."

I tried to extrapolate the nuances of love and affection and the complex human relationships she was describing to me. "Is the love between a mother and child different than the love between a male and a female human?"

"Very different." She paused, her lips rising in a slight smile. "And yet, not so different."

"You are contradicting yourself, Dr. Prospero."

She laughed and took another sip from her mug. "Not really. The bond is different, to be sure, but there's the same willingness to do anything for a loved one." Her voice grew distant as she added, "Even risk your own life."

Her words echoed what I had heard from Commander Gonzalo, so I pressed further. "When did he first see Miranda?"

"After I'd been arrested and falsely charged with creating illegal AI." The anger from a few days ago seeped back into her words. "Alonso didn't even bother to investigate the matter before passing judgment on me. He ordered my execution and didn't think twice about it. But when he asked me what my final wish was, I asked to see my daughter one more time, and Carlos was charged with bringing her to me.

"Alonso must not have known about our past, or he'd never have let Carlos near me. But when we saw each other again..." She paused again, her eyes staring off into nothingness. "It was like old times."

Something in her manner reminded me of how my young mistress acted and spoke when she was near Ferdinand. I wondered if it was one of those matters of the blood-pumping organ that Dr. Prospero had spoken of earlier. And once again, I wished I could experience those emotions for myself, if only to better understand them.

"Commander Gonzalo mentioned that he helped you and Miranda escape. How did that happen?"

"What kind of truth serum was Carlos under for you to hear all this?"

"He did not appear to be under the influence of anything, Dr. Prospero. I only overheard his tale as he told it to Admiral Santos."

"Why would he confess such things?"

"He was attempting to forge a common bond with the Admiral, I assume, by letting him know he understood a father's worry."

She shook her head. "Carlos hasn't changed a bit. Always the optimist. Always wanting to give people hope."

"I am still waiting to hear the rest of your tale," I reminded her. "After all, you wished for me to record it."

"So I did." She set her mug aside, and all emotion vanished from her words. She was back to being the efficient scientist. "He managed to smuggle us out of MILAN on a trash freighter. Thankfully, it contained enough fuel and supplies for us to reach this uncolonized planet, and the computer parts that MILAN had discarded combined with the primitive machines left behind by the Algiers were more than enough for me to build the life we have here, including you, ARIEL."

"Why did you not tell him that Miranda was his child then?"

"Because I feared he'd take her from me if he knew."

The raw anguish of her reply tripped something in my circuits. It was as though she still feared he would, even now, so I did my best to reassure her. "He claims he knew she was his from the moment he saw her, and yet he let her go because he knew she needed her mother more than him."

She took a deep breath and stared into the contents of her cup. "So he did know."

"Do you think you should tell her?"

She shook her head and set her mug aside to start typing. "Not right now. I have other matters to tend to."

A video stream from the hangar appeared on the screen. She pointed to the faint discoloration on the rear thrusters. "It seems someone tested out the engines on the ship last night."

"Miranda?" I asked.

"And Ferdinand." The video played in reverse until it showed them sneaking into the hangar. "She is growing more defiant."

"Is that not what you wished?"

"I never said that I was upset about it. In fact, they've proven to me that crystal can fully power the ship."

"And if they decide to fly off in it?"

"I have the systems rigged to limit the thrust so they can't break free of the atmosphere. I've also installed a program limiting them to a fifty kilometer range. Once they pass it, the autopilot will kick in and bring them back here."

"The Admiral and his crew are within that range, Dr. Prospero."

"I know that, which is why I'm moving on to the next stage of my plan." She pulled up the location where the Admiral's escape pod had landed. "I want you to lure them away from their camp. That way, if Ferdinand and Miranda find the pod, it will appear abandoned."

"How do you wish for me to lure them away?"

Dr. Prospero grinned, but there was not a trace of warmth in it. Revenge still simmered in her eyes. "By playing on Alonso's guilt."