Chapter 20: Cue, a Robot, a Woman, and a Baby pt1

“…How is this even possible?” Cue asked for the thousandth time as they all sat around the fire in the middle of the dome.

“Would you believe me if I said magic?” Trigger asked with a shrug.

Cue narrowed her eyes on her suspiciously at her, but looked away quickly when Gunner turned his glowing blue eyes on her and tapped a gloved finger on his knee.

“If you’re gonna be here, I want honesty. Otherwise—”

“Otherwise we leave you here unprotected when the wall is down? I don’t think so.” Trigger laughed and sipped from the steaming mug in her hand. Cue wouldn’t call what she gave her ‘tea,’ but it tasted slightly better than just hot water.

Cue frowned and looked away, staring into the flame and dissociating as she thought about everything that had transpired in the last two days. Trigger was right, she couldn’t just go and leave Cue here. Cue knew exactly what would happen the moment Barrow saw the tank was gone.

“But you can’t stay here either, Chicka. I think you should come with us.”

“What?” Cue jumped in surprise, finding herself on her feet and looking down at the unusual pair.

“We’re not staying, and neither should you. We need to find a community, a doctor, because…” she trailed off, rubbing her stomach with a slight smile on her face.

“None of this seems real,” Cue sighed, crouching down again and scrubbing her face with her hands. She could feel Rat as he wound around her ankles and stood up on his hind legs, front paws braced on her knee as he sniffed her. Idly, Cue reached down and scratched the large rat behind its ears.

“It’s as real as you taming a giant sewer rat…” Trigger said, cringing away from the beast in disgust.

“I’m sorry, EHEC and a pregnant woman are not in the same category as ‘Tamed Rat’!”

Trigger shrugged, sipping her drink, “You got me there I guess.”

“You have to tell me how, Trigger. How does an EHEC function at all? Much less not killing everything in sight?”

“There’s not much to tell, really. I didn’t even know about him until we were attacked and this brute was carrying me like a princess out of our encampment, no matter how hard I fought him. From what Gunner has been able to convey, my old man pulled him out of the ocean and rewired him. He was hiding him from everyone when the Cretin came with his horde.”

“And you just…went with it?” Cue said, disbelief obvious in her voice.

Gunner’s eyes flashed red for a moment, and the giant robot man only stood and rolled his shoulders with obvious irritation. He turned his back on them then, leaving the women alone in the dome while he went outside to patrol the perimeter.

“Him, Cue. Gunner is a man,” Trigger said gently.

Cue frowned, watching the robot leave in confusion. “How is Gunner a man? How does that even work?”

“I’m no scientist, but from what I can tell his wiring is based on some external power source. It kept his body alive all this time, through hundreds of years of fighting and more underwater. He was aware the whole time. He’s still in there, body and soul, even if he looks like a robot now.”

“That sounds like a nightmare…” Cue whispered, rolling back on her rear end with her knees pulled up to her chin.

“I try not to think about it, because if I do, I’ll get too sad,” Trigger admitted, looking down into her empty mug and swirling the contents of leaves and grime at the bottom.

“How long have you two been…” Cue let the question trail off, not entirely sure she had any business asking such a personal question.

“A few months later. As much as I regret it, hormones are a bitch, and he had working genitalia. Back then, I thought of him as a machine too. So it was just like… masturbating? But then I realized he was really in there, and he still had feelings and emotions and needs. It just kind of happened that we fell into a situation, but after a while… I guess you can say I’m in love with an EHEC.”

“Trigger, he’s a robot, he doesn’t even have eyes.”

“Technically he’s a cyborg,” Trigger winked at Cue.

With a confused sigh, Cue let herself fall back there on the cold, hard floor and stare up at the dome roof. The hole up there is letting in the freezing night air, and Cue could no longer weld it shut. She knew, in her heart, that she would have to leave the only home she’s ever known. The only home any of her family had ever known since the underground city was overrun.

“Listen, I’ll tell you everything. All about it. But it will be tomorrow, inside the tank, as we get the hell out of here. Now you should get your rest, it’s gonna be a long long time traveling.”

“How do you even keep that tank moving?” Cue asked, her confusion exhausting her.

“It’s solar-powered, of course!” Trigger said, grinning from ear to ear as she too lay on the ground towards the fire and Cue. “Get some sleep, Chicka.”

“I’ll try?” Cue said, not sure if sleep was something she’d ever be able to achieve. But she slept so hard that when she woke to being lightly shaken the next morning her entire Dome was already empty. Confused, she sat up and leaned into Trigger’s side as she pulled her close.

“Good news!” Trigger said, far too cheerily for the first thing in the morning.