R U D Y

The baby tree's leaves drooped as the water droplets beat them down. I tilted the watering pail, pouring the rest of the water over it.

My mechanical eyes followed drop after drop. I tried to ignore the heartbeat behind me, the wheeze of hot breath.

After I was Infected, I'd started to lose the ability to see regular humans as anything but mouth-breathing apes. It took effort to rein myself back. I had to remind myself of the before.

Five hundred years ago, we were a great empire founded on merit and progressivism. We were a civilization of learning and the arts. We discovered hundreds of medicines and mathematical formulas.

We were humanity.

Our palaces and temples have been buried. Our libraries and schools have been burned to the ground. Our poets, doctors, mathematicians, and artists have no names. All our discoveries, musings, thoughts — destroyed. All that we created is gone.

Buried, burned, unnamed, destroyed, disappeared.

By whom?

"Señor." General Hamada's NODE uniform rustled as she shifted her weight. "A word, please."

I lifted my head, settling my gaze over her.

You. You did this to us.

Humanity.

Humanity burying, burning, unnaming, destroying and disappearing humanity, building itself up to better tear itself down.

The general's breathing was grating on my nerves. I turned back to the plant and the pail. "Contingency."

"I'm sorry?"

"You asked for a word." I blinked slowly, waiting for the last drop to fall from the pail. "I'm busy right now, so spit it out. What do you want?"

"I want you to answer me truthfully." Hamada's tone was sharpened flint, brusque and rough and cold. "Why did you send Don Manolo to deal with the Walkers?"

A cold gust swept through. I shivered, tightening the strings on my hoodie. Goosebumps rose on my skinny legs as the cold swept through the holes in my jeans. "You don't sound very happy about that."

"You said you were going to treat him impartially. You said you would be as firm as you would be with anyone else. Yet you extended his labor penance."

"Ay. I did that."

"And when he still couldn't get it done, you extended it again."

"Yep."

"And now, after you resolved to inflict the consequences of his inadequacy, you gave him back his weapons and set him loose. You even gave him a motorcycle."

I lowered the watering pail, raising my eyes to the trees. "How long are you going to stand there and state the obvious?"

"Sir?"

"I know what I did. I was there." I opened my hand, letting the tin pail fall to the ground with a hollow clank. "Did I make you a general so you could bother me with annoying noises? Because you haven't said a word since you came here. All I hear is chatter. Like a monkey."

"Why are you—?"

My body was in front of the general in less than a hummingbird's heartbeat. My mechanical eyes whirred as I stared into her face.

Irregularities popped onto my Feed.

RESPIRATION RATE: 19.021 bpm

HEART RATE: 110.436 bpm

PERSPIRATION INCREASE OF 1.429%

ADRENALINE INCREASE OF 7.002%

Hamada scowled. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Scan my face for signs of fear."

"Why not?" I blink the Feed away. "You do the same thing to me. You and all the rest of them. Isn't that why you're here?"

"No. I'm just here to ask why."

I shook my head. "You tried to use my past decisions as weapons against me. You practically accused me of favoritism. That was ill met, general."

The general's jay-blue eyes narrowed. She turned around, arms crossed behind her back. "In that case, I will leave you to yourself, Señor Leandro."

"Contingency, general."

She paused. "Excuse me?"

"Before you lose all faith in my judgment," I said, picking at my thumbnail, "just know that Don Manolo's release is part of a contingency plan. I set him loose because I don't care whether he lives or dies."

"Then why...?"

I raised my hands, staring into my palms. The inside of my wrist lit up on the Feed.

PULSE INCREASE BY 36%

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. "I just want to test whether or not the Carrier kills him where he stands."