Andena the Rebel Ch. 17

He gasped loudly and with a jerky movement, he looked up staring at her. Meleda saw his face change into a scared look, and he whispered, "They are coming. They will be angry. They will punish me."

"Why would they be angry?"

"There's not enough Joy. No! By Hondas! They will kill me."

"How many are coming, Tancred?" She asked.

He was swinging his torso up and down and repeated, "They will kill me."

She knew that he had started to lose his coherence, and she snapped, trying to get his attention, "Tancred! How many will come?"

Tancred's voice was reduced to a whisper as he repeated the same sentence, "They will kill me."

She wanted to slap him in the face but knowing what she had already done to him she decided to leave it for now. Meleda muted the microphone and sighed, "Well, we might as well stop, this is not going according to plan."

As Haruz was busy disconnecting the link to the suit, he said in a defeated tone, "I have asked the same questions, and he refused to give an answer."

She was disappointed, but decided to try again with Tancred in a few days' time; she could only hope that the withdrawal symptoms would have faded by then. Feeling rattled, she stepped out of the suit and grumbled to her brother, "I'm done here. I want to go home."

She noticed his concerned look, and she confessed, "I had a terrible night. I couldn't get to sleep."

Meleda knew that she had to be careful not to use that excuse too often. He took her hand and said softly, "I'll take you home."

Andena was sitting on her bed waiting for Miss Danette to arrive. She was pleased that her core, Z, had taken her smartass joke lightly. It had made her smile and had said, "I see."

She was surprised when Z said, "Zero One asked if you're fully charged."

"Kind of yes. Why don't I get Zero Ones message directly anymore?"

"I had relayed them straight to you, but now we are talking to each other it's different. What do you prefer?"

"I think I would like to see what they say. Do they know you're separate from me?"

"No, they don't. Would you like to keep it that way?"

Andena thought about it, and she realised that it was better that nobody knew that she was communicating with her core, and she replied, "Yes, we should act as if we are one."

"Okay, but how do I know with whom you're communicating?"

"Simple: If I want to address one of the others I'll start with a number."

"That will work just fine Andena. It is nearly time to go; I can hear the sound of Miss Danette's shoes."

Andena sighed and replied, "I wonder what we are going to do today."

"We are going to practise formation tactics if Joshua is right."

"How do you know that?"

"You were already asleep when Joshua walked past the room, and I heard him talking with Olga. They both were curious as to how Miss Danette would tackle this."

Miss Danette opened the door, and Andena was pleased when she saw that she had brought a tray with breakfast with her. Miss Danette's voice was less hoarse as she spoke, "Good morning Double Zero. I've brought you some breakfast."

Andena looked at her with an unfazed expression and said placidly, "Thank you, Miss."

As she took the bowl of cereal, Miss Danette remarked, "I see you've used the shampoo to wash your hair."

Andena had some time to think about how she should respond as she had just taken a scoop from her cereal. She had great trouble keeping her cereal in her mouth when she read, "Oh dear! Did you really use the shampoo to wash your hair?"

"Z, stop it!"

"What do I need to stop?"

"Making smart remarks."

"That is what smartasses do."

It was all that Andena could do not to laugh out loud, "Yes Miss, I have used the shampoo to wash my hair. Thank you."

Miss Danette looked at her for a long moment and then smiled as she said, "Good, don't hesitate to ask if you need anything else."

She knew she just had to act politely and responded with a soft voice, "Thank you, Miss."

She was relieved that Miss Danette hadn't noticed the trouble she'd had keeping her face straight, but she'd have to ask Z not to interfere when she was talking to other people.

Miss Danette got up from the bed and said, "I will get the others while you're having your breakfast. I'll be back in a few minutes to pick you up."

Andena nodded and said after she had swallowed another spoonful of cereal, "Yes, Miss."

Andena knew she needed to make Z understand her need to act as if she was still affected by her suppressor. As soon as the door of the room was closed she asked her core, "Z, can you examine the information in the suppressor program?"

It was just a few moments before Z responded, "I have read the information, and I've noticed that the program isn't running."

Andena was a bit apprehensive when she asked the next question, "Do you understand why this program isn't running?"

There was a short delay before she could read the text, "It would make you far less responsive, it would be impossible to have this conversation."

"Miss Danette thinks that the program is still running. That means I have to behave like I'm affected by it."

"I see. I can't be a smartass if you're talking with other people."

She was taken aback by the response and replied, "I'm glad you understand, but you can always give me relevant information."

"Andena?"

"Yes?"

"Are you upset, because I was a smartass?"

She couldn't believe what she was reading and responded instantly, "No of course not! You didn't know, but I will be if you do it again."

"Oh, okay."