Chapter 20
Ifound myself panting as the sun set. Lily and Violet stood not far away in the training yard, discussing in hushed tones.
The longer they talked, the more I realized that Lily appeared increasingly irritated.
As usual, Lily was in her black bodysuit, while Violet had opted for an off-white blouse with gray straight-legged and baggy pants.
It made the purples of her ears and tail appear far more colorful.
Which, the pride I’d come to understand came from their tails, might be the purpose.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and waved to both of them. "How are things coming along?" I asked.
"Good," Violet said, her eyes snapping to the young man I'd been training with. "You're free to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Since we went so late today, it'll be after lunch."
"Of course." The young man bowed at the waist, his sabers spinning with a flourish and switching off before he could stab himself.
I squinted, wondering if I could pull off such a maneuver, then turned back to the two ladies. "We're off then." I smiled.
"Yes, we have work to do tonight," Lily said, suddenly becoming rigid, her eyes finding Violet with a question hanging within them.
"Yes, let's go." Violet nodded and turned on her heel.
Quickly, we found ourselves in the subway, departing for somewhere far away.
"So…" Lily started the conversation adroitly, glancing off into the distance as she spoke. "I heard on our last trip with the captain that you refused to kill those who went after him." She narrowed her eyes towards Violet.
"Killing was unnecessary. Peace can be achieved without violent force.
In fact, peace achieved without violent force will last far longer.
" Violet must have been in a teaching mood.
She crossed her arms behind her back, standing ramrod straight, and there was something about her that was very different from past conversations.
"If people endanger the captain this time," Lily said, "I hope you understand that I will kill them without any reservations."
"I understand," Violet said. "However, don't expect me to participate in your barbaric temperament. All lives are precious. Though you care greatly for the captain, that does not mean that those we might come into conflict with don't have people who equally care for them."
Lily stared at her and tilted her head. "But I don't care about these other people's feelings," she stated bluntly, and I couldn't help but press my hand into my face.
"Lily, you're not supposed to say things like that out loud," I told her.
"Is that not normal for all sentient species? To prioritize yourself and those close to you is just another form of survival." She crossed her arms. "I don't see how saying it aloud is anything different."
"It's not polite," I offered.
"I'd rather be impolite than have someone misunderstand my stance. Your life is more important to me than the lives of anyone who might try to take it. Why should I hold myself back and potentially risk you to preserve the life of another?" Lily shrugged.
"I don't think she's going to see your side on this one." I shook my head and turned to Violet.
Violet’s tail swished angrily. "I suppose there are enough people who share your sentiment that I can't be too surprised." What she failed to convey was any surprise, and there was certainly disappointment.
"Now," Violet said, looking between the two of us, "how about you tell me why exactly we're going to my master's place?"
I could only smile, a part of me pleased that she had pieced together that we had some sort of plan. "Lily and I took a peek at what was behind the barrier."
"By that, you mean Lily," Violet interpreted.
"Yeah, pretty much. All I did was provide some plausible reasons that she might be there," I offered.
“The captain and I posed as a couple to visit a couples therapy doctor and use his office.” Lily beamed.
Violet twitched, before nodding. "And what did you find?"
"There's a bunch of people working deep underground, uncovering something buried in the bedrock," I told her.
"And thus you assume I want to collect whatever it is of my master's that might remain down there?" She crossed her arms, and her tail became deathly still.
This wasn't going entirely as I'd hoped. "Something like that. Candidly, we’re hoping there’s something of value to get our ship off this rock," I admitted.
"And what if there's nothing down there?" she asked.
"I don't think this company would spend so much effort if there was nothing down there," I pointed out.
"There are plenty of myths about my master.
As far as I'm concerned, this could just be another born of the same ridiculous thinking.
" She paused, and I waited to see if she would elaborate.
"Many people thought my master hid techniques or methods.
There was no such thing. In fact, I would say the lessons from her were ridiculously simple.
Far too often there are people who will do anything to look for a shortcut, and they'll spend more effort on the shortcut than it ever would have taken them if they'd just done it properly in the first place.
Not to mention, it's already clear this operation doesn't know or understand my master. " Violet huffed and drew herself up.
"Well, then this could be a chance for you to correct all of that," I offered, wondering if that might appeal to her. But there was no change in her expression, so I pushed further. "What if all I simply want to do is prevent these people from further tainting your master's legacy?"
That statement caused a sharp narrowing of Violet's eyes. "That's at least far more interesting," she admitted. "But how are you going to do that? We both saw that the place was decently guarded."
"Does breaking an android count as killing? I mean, they're not actually alive." I smiled at Violet.
Violet squinted, giving my question serious thought. "It's still violence, even if you're just breaking property.”
“I'd argue it's the same as taking the guns away from those thugs you dealt with earlier. They are simply a much more expensive weapon."
"Perhaps. But still, it should be a last resort." My words seemed to find purchase, as Violet nodded.
I smiled. Getting her to concede this much was enough, because I was certain there were going to be people who pushed us over that last-resort line.
Lily, however, seemed far less convinced. "And do we need her?" she asked sharply as the train came to a stop, and we exited.
"Yes, Lily, we do. It's her master's place." What I left unsaid was that Violet would most likely know what was actually valuable.
The two of them kept glaring at each other as I led the group towards the mining operation. After going there with Lily, it wasn’t that far off a walk once I knew where I was going.
"So, I figure now that it's dark, we can disable some of the sensors…" I began, only for Violet to cross her arms and stride straight for the entrance.
"I did not come here to be a thief in the night. This was once my master's place. I will walk here with pride," she announced.
Lily looked at me sideways. "What use is pride for the dead?" she asked.
I shook my head. Now she was just trying to upset Violet. "Try and play nice." I paused and amended my statement. "Play nice for me. Please."
Lily squinted. "For you," she said after a moment of thought.
"Thank you. Now let's keep going." I nodded forward.
As Violet approached, the same security android stepped out. Though where previously it had talked us down, this time its arm peeled back to reveal an integrated blaster. It seemed coming at night had a very different reaction.
"I have a feeling those won't be of a shoddy quality that you can shrug off." Lily narrowed her eyes.
"I suspect we won't be that lucky," I agreed. Yet it pointed the blaster at Violet.
Violet’s beam saber came out, and she darted forward, blocking the first two shots.
"Put down your weapon, or it will be removed," Violet said coldly, only to have the blaster thrust into her face.
She moved faster than the android's reaction time, which was saying something, dodging to the side as a bolt went wide over her shoulder.
Her saber came up cleanly, slicing through the android's arm.
"There will be no second chance," Violet said, but the android wasn't interested, leveling its remaining arm at her head once again.
It swung with considerable force. Violet caught it and rolled the blow to the side, flowing with it to come up on the other side of the android, her saber humming as it sliced through without issue.
She swung it back and forth quickly, chopping through the ankles then the knees, bringing the android down until its hips rested on the ground and both of its arms were gone.
"Come back here! Intruders shall not pass!" The android still managed to hop.
"You do realize that at this point you're entirely ineffective." I frowned at it.
The android bounced after us. "Get back here so I may gnaw on your ankles!"
Violet huffed and glanced at me. "Is this sufficient, or do you think it is still a threat?"
"Personally, I think it looks like just a flesh wound. He can still fight. He even said so himself." I gestured at the android, which was continuing to hop after us as we walked without a care in the world.
Violet's saber lashed out, humming through the air as she sliced through the wall before us, unperturbed by the android’s effort to block her.
"Warning, warning! Intruders!" What remained of the android shouted, its eyes flashing red. "All indentured servants are required to fight intruders with lethal force!"
There were suddenly horrible cries beyond the wall.
"Warning, warning! All indentured servants are to defend the dig site! Warning, warning!" the android continued.
I took my blaster and shot it in the head. Both of my compatriots frowned at me.
"What?" I said. "You weren't going to make me listen to that the whole time, were you?"