Chapter 10 Xolotl #2
“I don’t recall my creation. I simply knew my purpose from the start and fulfilled it. But if your God made me, would you stop fighting and help me?”
She’s finally quiet. I find that I actually miss her incessant yammering. The end of the drive feels long, much longer than the start. But we’re nearly there, finally, based on the smaller and smaller numbers on the signs.
She finally speaks again. “How’d you wind up buried?”
“Inside the mountain, you mean?”
“If you’re supposed to balance humanity or whatever, when do you know you’re done? When do you go back to sleep? What’s the end game here?”
I blink. “Once things are balanced, I’m no longer needed.”
“So you just. . .shut down?”
I shrug. “I sleep.”
“And you slept the last time because you did your job all the way? Then it was just, game over?”
“I sleep when I need to rest or recover, and yes, I can sleep once balance has been restored.”
“So you went into that mountain on your own.”
“No one put me there, if that’s what you’re asking. The noise and irritation of humans is very bothersome. Sometimes I bury myself to get away from it.”
Her brow furrows. “So, then, if we could balance things out a bit, then you’d disappear again?”
“Sure.” I find that her ongoing desire to rid herself of me irritates me more now than it did.
“And what happens to me, then? Do I get stuck down there? Or do I die?”
Ah. It’s natural for every human being, with their short spans of life, to ask what will happen to them. “Don’t worry. I expect I’ll be balancing things out for most of your lifetime.”
“What?” Her exhalation of air startles me. “You’re going to be massacring people for. . .how long?” She seems truly distressed.
“Longer if you keep making me take breaks,” I mutter.
But we’re finally here. I’ve reached the area for parking of vehicles for those going to the lake. Only, I appear to be one of the very few vehicles that’s not towing a boat. “Do we need a boat to come here?”
“Well, if you hadn’t melted my phone, I could’ve rented us one online on the way.” She shakes her head. “Before you go all balancing on me, maybe I should get another phone. And stick it in like, a lead case when you throw temper tantrums.”
“They aren’t tantrums.” I do feel a bit irritated right now, though.
“Look.” She points, and I drive our car near the place with the rental signs. “Shoot. We missed jet ski season. I wonder if they’ll even rent us a boat in November.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” I frown. “The water isn’t frozen.”
“It’s cold, though,” she says. “No one in their right mind wants to go out on a jet ski when it’s this cold.”
“Why do you like jet skis?”
She smiles. “You’re half in the water the whole time, and they’re fast, and the water spray’s fun, plus they’re easier to maneuver.”
“I can keep you warm,” I say. “No matter the temperature.”
Her eyes widen. “I forgot about that.”
“Or you could try doing it. That would be good practice.”
She frowns, but then she bites her lip.
“Shall we?”
“Let’s see if they’ll even consider renting us jet skis.” She smiles. “They should be cheap, at least.”
When we reach the one open office, they will rent us a jet ski, but only if we both rent full body suits. Whitney doesn’t seem too excited about them. “Fine,” she finally says.
We both use the bathroom to don the strange full-body suits, and even with the largest size, mine is small and tight. I decide not to wear it.
The employee objects when I return it to her.
“I won’t need it,” I insist. “I appreciate your concern, but I know I’ll be fine.”
“He’s from Iceland.” Whitney strides toward the front, wearing her full-body black suit. “He’s not going to be cold, I swear.”
The clerk at the front frowns.
Whitney snatches the keys from her. “I’m driving,” she mutters as she passes me. “You almost killed us both a dozen times over in that car.”
“As I mentioned, you won’t die from something simple, not with me around. No one dies unless I wish them to, remember?”
“No one dies?” The store clerk’s watching us with increasing alarm.
“Let’s talk about this later.” Whitney forces a deranged smile, which might concern the clerk more. “Thanks for this.” She waves the keys at the woman, and then she drags me out.
Although I protest, I almost like having her drag me. She’s small, and I’m clearly allowing her to push me around, but it’s a feeling I’ve never experienced before, allowing a smaller, weaker creature to order me about.
“Ah, shoot,” she says, just as we find the right jet ski. “I just got this stupid suit on, and now I need to pee.” She bites her lip. “I’ll just run back in the store and be right back.” She frowns. “Well, maybe not right back. This is so slow to take off and put on.”
I can’t help my frown. The shop where we rented this tiny floating device isn’t far, but I’d rather she not go in there without me. When I stand, she throws her hands out.
“No, you stay here. If you come back, that clerk’s going to try and shove you into a suit again.”
“I could simply eliminate her.”
She rolls her eyes. “No need for that. If you stay put, when I get back, I’ll let you drive.” She grimaces, like the thought pains her.
“I’m an excellent driver.”
“For someone who’s been driving for one day, I guess you’re not so bad.” She glares. “Now stay put, and I’ll be right back.”
She trots toward the shop, as if she’s also uncomfortable about being away from me.
I hope that’s true. I’d hate to be the only one who dislikes our being separated.
It’s just the bond, I’m sure, but I don’t recall feeling the effects of it this strongly in the past, and I was often very far from my generals. Perhaps it’s because she’s a female.
She’s gone for longer than I expect, but perhaps there’s a wait for her to use the waste disposal room. After a moment, I begin to worry she’s been detained. I yank the key out of our rented jet ski, and I head back in, but as I pass through the door, I hear her.
It’s faint, but it’s Whitney.
I can sense that she’s just around the corner to the left.
But the bathrooms are to the right.
Did she lie? Or is she in trouble? Her voice sounds a little distressed. I creep closer as quietly as possible, and then I hear it.
“He said he sleeps, but as far as I can tell, nothing can really hurt him.” She snorts.
“Of course I tried, but not with anything really powerful. A few bullets.” A pause.
“Yes, I’m sure things have changed since he was awake last.” Another pause.
“Maybe a nuke could. Who knows?” She’s silent again.
“Yeah, but listen, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to call again.
He shorts out tech when he uses his death magic.
I’m going to push him toward Sacramento after this, because he’s getting itchy. ”
Itchy?
Who’s she talking to?
Did she call in a group of humans to attack me?
I should be delighted.
My entire purpose in slaughtering so many humans indiscriminately when I wake is to draw the attention of whatever humans rule the local government.
Once I take that over, I can use their military power to start wars with other governing bodies.
It always works to bring the angry, the disgruntled, and the evil warmongers to the forefront, and the balancing occurs faster and with less effort from me.
Her little call is exactly what I need from my general.
But somehow, knowing she’s hiding it from me, knowing she’s hunting for my weaknesses so she can exploit them, it bothers me.
“Yeah, I love you too. I’ll be as careful as I can, but I doubt I can escape, even with his help. This bond thing sucks.”
She loves this person she’s talking to? That can’t be a government official.
It must be. . . She also said his help. Who’s this man who might help her get away from me?
Rage floods my entire being. I knew she wasn’t excited to be bonded to me, but hearing her say she wants to escape still makes me very angry for some reason. “What are you doing?”
Whitney jumps several inches into the air, nearly dropping her phone. “Xolotl,” she says. “Oh.” She forces a smile. “I—the bathroom was occupied. So, the thing is, I knew my family would be worried.”
The phone in her hand begins to smoke, and she drops it.
“We talked about you not shorting out tech.” She’s glaring now. “This wasn’t even my phone.”
“We talked about it?” The table in the corner catches fire.
Someone in the front of the office starts to scream.
“What if I’m done talking?” I drop the keys to the jet ski. “What if this whole thing was a stupid lapse of judgment on my part, and I’m ready to return to my purpose right now?”
Whitney should be running.
Everyone should run when I’m angry. I’m almost never angry.
Actually, I can’t think of a single time I’ve really gotten angry in the entire length of my existence.
But right now, what I want to do most is burn this entire place down.
Eliminate everyone close, and then keep moving.
It’s time I drew the attention of the humans in charge and started my actual work.
I’ve been distracted for far too long, by her.
Instead of running, Whitney does something surprising. She steps closer, dropping a hand on my arm. “Xolotl, I’m sorry. I did need to pee—but I shouldn’t have tried to call my family without asking for permission first.”
Permission?
Because I’m her master—she’s bonded to me. Yes, she should have.
“You called your family?” I arch one eyebrow. “The one you love?”
“My mom.” Her hand tightens on my arm. “I knew she’d be panicked since I disappeared on the day you emerged. I knew she probably wasn’t sleeping. I was worried about her.”
My anger’s diminishing, but I can’t help my frown. “But you said you doubted you could escape.”