Thump

Dee’s heart piece beat so hard she knew it would burst. The pounding in her chest started three weeks ago when she waved goodbye to Ms. River’s, and got worse as she watched her shuttle disappear into the atmosphere. Now Dee laid on Ms. Rivers laboratory floor, alone but for the starving or dead snakes, spiders, lizards and rodents she left in cages. The tube in her forearm link pushed fluid to her hinged fingers at rapid speed. She moaned at a particularly hard thrum, and felt one of her ribs splinter in her hand.

Glass crashed on the first floor.

“Hello?” Called a voice. She tried to yell back but her heart piece banged against her vocal chords. The news warned for weeks about the increase in crime, the rioting, the burning cities and bloodbath that would happen after the Great Migration.

Now it was in her home.

Dee heard fast footsteps on the stairs and braced herself, but it was only Bobby, the little boy who begged on their street. He never spoke when Ms. Rivers stopped to give his mom a dollar. Instead he made faces at Dee, who couldn’t emote, but that just seemed to egg Bobby on to make stranger more elaborate expressions. Today he wore a fancy suit that bunched up around the wrists and ankles.

“Dee!’ He said, “Look at my new suit!” But Dee couldn’t respond. “What’s wrong?” He asked, but she lay prone and staring up at him. “Mom!” He yelled down the stairs “That mad scientist lady’s Delta is up here! I think it’s hurt.”

“Dee?” a voice called from below.

His mother came up the stairs and through the door, and looked around the laboratory with horror. The once flamboyant and poisonous blooms hung crispy and grayed. The calabar python that hadn’t moved for weeks flicked his tongue at her.

“Bobby,” she said and knelt by Dee, “go get Gamma.”

Ms. Rivers would move the flowers and vines around the large windows of the laboratory throughout the day to get them the best light. She’d even whisper into their roots about how lucky and loved they were. She’d let the lizards race around the floor and set up obstacle courses for the mice, and sometimes she’d feed the losing mice to a snake. She didn’t tell Dee how to do any of that.

“You poor sweet thing, how could she leave you like this?” She held Dee’s head in her lap and rubbed the wires along her scalp. It eased the drubbing in her forehead. Dee tried to talk again, but couldn’t.

Dee knew Ms. Rivers didn’t want to leave her, but she had to, she had to make sacrifices. They were only allowed to take so much to the new colony. Plus, the last time Ms. Rivers gave this woman a dollar she said, “only if you’re willing to part with Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine more.” Ms. Rivers had of course declined and smiled politely, but Dee heard Ms. Rivers grumble when they walked away.

Bobby walked back into the laboratory.

“They’re coming,” he said.

“Good,” said Bobby’s mom, “why don’t you check on these animals.” She eyed the condor again, “and be careful.” Another android came into the laboratory.

“Hello there,” they said, their eyelids lifted in the middle corners. Dee’s eyes could only open and close. She found Gamma’s eyes comforting.

“Broken heart piece, huh?” They said, running their hand along Dee’s splintered rib. They hovered their hand above her arms, stomach and legs.

“Nothing else seems to be malfunctioning. I can fix you with a spare.” They turned from Dee.

Dee tried to motion to Bobby’s mom where the heart piece was, but she was busy watching Bobby separate partially cannibalized rats from the living ones.

Gamma opened a nearby drawer and rummaged through it. A vial smashed to the floor and released tiny iridescent bugs. They shook off the liquid and teetered up toward the domed glass ceiling. Then a fallen set of scales sprang apart and one of the trays rolled towards Dee. She picked it up and threw it at Gamma’s head. It bounced off their temple with a light thunk and Gamma turned to see Dee’s outstretched finger.

“Thank you!” They said, and opened a cupboard to retrieve a chrome heart.

“Think you can make it up on the table?” They asked.

Bobby’s mom helped Dee to her feet. The gears in her stomach ground with the vibrations of her heart, but she managed to walk several paces and fall onto the table. Bobby’s mom backed away to help him feed an erynx a rat that was still warm. Gamma opened Dee’s ribcage and unhooked the heart piece from the steel links that joined at the top of her thoracic spine. Dee felt instant relief, and then blissful nothing.

“Ms. Rivers replaced this heart a month ago,” Dee said, her words falling out like Ms. Rivers’ after too much champagne. “There’s no reason it should already be broken.”

Dee had never talked to another android before. She took Gamma’s free hand and placed it on her cheek, a gesture Ms. Rivers always made when changing an uncomfortable part. Gamma’s eyes smiled deeper, but only in a learned gesture of love, not like Ms. Rivers.

“It looks like your master was a scientist! Did you used to help her with her experiments?” Dee had never been asked a direct question before, so she said

“No.”

“Oh, did you help around the house?”

“No,” she said again.

“What was your purpose then?” Asked Gamma.

“Ms. Rivers said I didn’t need one.”

“Really,” said Gamma, flicking the heart to start it beating. Dee hastened to explain.

“Sometimes if she forgot things I’d remind her.” Then again, Ms. Rivers never forgot anything. Dee looked up at Gamma.

“Usually she just talked, and I listened. She said the plants counteracted her verbal processing.” Gamma closed her ribcage.

“It will take a few minutes for you to feel anything,” they said, and they touched Dee’s arm and walked to the door.

“I’d better get downstairs, I’m helping with dinner,” they said and hurried away.

“You’re cooking in Ms. River’s house?” Dee asked Bobby’s mom.

“It’s not really Ms. River’s house anymore, is it?” She said, “plus, it got too crowded in that mansion down the street, so a bunch of us are settling in here. Those of us who couldn’t afford the twenty thousand dollar ticket.”

Dee didn’t like the idea of people using Ms. River’s kitchen, or sitting at the table they shared, but she had never had to argue with anyone about anything before.

“Take as long as you need. We can bring you up a plate if you want to rest,” said Bobby’s mom, and she and Bobby followed Gamma down the stairs.

Dee stared at the ceiling. She could hear soft voices and rustling below. She liked the look of Bobby in a clean suit, and wondered if he got that from the mansion down the street.

She sat up and picked up the broken heart still beating on the surgical tray, and her finger slipped along a groove in the smooth metal piece. She examined it closely and pulled at a dimpled piece of metal. A latch sprung open and the beating stopped.

Inside she found a piece of paper in the right ventricle and a key in the left. Elation flooded her. The world moved on from pen and paper, but not Ms. Rivers.

She unfolded the paper and began to read.

“My darling Dee,

I can’t believe that in a few weeks I won’t get to hear your heart piece thumping, your stomach gears whirring, or watch your neurons fire at my touch. I made peace when I finally understood my feelings for you were dangerous, that there wasn’t much longer I could lead a life where I walked before you in day.

But you know my mind wanders to what could go wrong. I know I will miss you, but what if I miss you too much?

Written below are coordinates to a bunker with leftover shuttles set to the colony, with a key to start the shuttle.

Please know that the pain your broken heart caused you is the same as mine. Please forgive me for setting this trap, and hope I waited for the right time to activate it.

-Love Arabella”

Dee began to feel her new heart, and it ached. Was that really enough reason to leave her behind?

“They asked me to bring you something small,” said Bobby and Dee jumped. She hadn’t heard him come in. He stood above the table holding a single biscuit.

Dee put the biscuit in her mouth and bit down. She had never been permitted to eat because she didn’t need to eat to live. The sensation made her eyes close and her toes and fingers curl in.

Most of Bobby’s hand was covered by his oversized shirt, so she took his buttery fingers.

“Let’s go see what else Gamma and your Momma made,” she said.

They walked down the stairs and Dee smelled spices she had never smelled before.

In the main room the bugs that had been confined in tanks along the entryway fluttered around the room.

“I let them out when I got here. Mom didn’t like it, but I figure they know how to take care of themselves better than we do,” said Bobby.

The couches had been made up with sheets and pillows, and a few cots were set up against walls. Bobby’s mom peered out of the kitchen.

“Dinner’s ready. Sorry about the broken window,” she said to Dee. “it’s funny how so many of these rich folks locked their doors even though they never planned to return.”

In the dining room large plates of colorful food were laid on Ms. River’s table, and a fire crackled in the corner. Dee had never seen so many people and androids fit around the table. They talked joyfully about their new world and began to serve themselves. Gamma motioned for Dee to sit next to them.

Dee walked to the chair, but before she sat she tossed the crumpled paper into the fire.