The Human Bearer
6.
The new home didn't seem that different from the one he had left behind. Xenos had something against furniture, it seemed. A sudden thought of Xana, alone in that vast thing he called home, came unbound. He shook it off. There was no point in dwelling on things that were not meant to be at all.
"I'd say let's unpack, but it's not like there's something for us to unpack anyway," Riordan said brightly, at odds with how he felt inside.
"Anything you need, you will be provided for, master Rio."
"That sounds terribly boring. What should I use to kill time?"
"What do you mean?"
"Forgive me, but I see no 3D television, arcade games, or fitness room."
"I registered all your desires, master Rio. Everything will be accommodated over the following days."
"What? Really? What if I want a Mustang?"
"A horse? Do you know how to ride on one, master Rio?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Kyle, but I was talking about the car."
Kyle seemed to take a second to process the info. "Master Xana will not approve. It looks like a dangerous contraption," the bot replied.
"So I'm supposed to stay cooped up in here all day long?" Riordan asked, placing his hands on his hips.
"No. You can go shopping, like before."
"No, thank you. That was too rape-y and not shoppy enough for my taste."
"After master Xana's warning, no one will dare to attack you again, master Rio."
"Keep telling yourself that," Riordan said wryly.
"What would serve to do that?"
"It was just sarcasm. I'd rather not go shopping. Too many horny teens around. I'm too old for that shit. What else is possible for me to do?"
"Attend parties," the bot replied promptly.
"Without Xana, oops, master Xana Lei?"
"Master Xana will be there, too."
"Then I'm not going." Riordan frowned and crossed his arms.
"Some occasions will require your presence."
"Fine. But I'd rather not see him," Riordan mumbled.
"You don't mean that, master Rio," the bot replied.
Riordan looked at the bot, cocking his head to one side. "What?" he inquired.
"You don't blink when you're lost in thought, and you're trying to cover your disquietude by saying the opposite of what you are thinking."
"I'll be damned," Riordan murmured. "Are you sure you're not a spy for Xana?"
"A spy? I will have to report every day."
"Of course. Even this kind of conversation?"
"Yes."
"That feels a little creepy. But whatever. When in Rome..."
"Do you want me to conceal some of the conversations you have?"
"Don't ask, if you're going to tell on me anyway," Riordan replied.
"You're my master, too. If you ask for something and it doesn't put master Xana in danger or your own life, I will obey."
"Are you sure? Was this rule embedded in your core?"
"No. It is the result of logical routines I have constructed since master Rio came to serve master Xana."
"If you're pulling my leg..."
"Why would I..."
"Just another expression. At least, I can spend my day teaching you my language. That should be pretty entertaining."
"What should I conceal, master Rio?"
"Ah, that. Well, report to Xana every day. But leave out these conversations we have. He's not interested, anyway."
"He is," the bot replied.
"Not anymore. Look, Kyle, he got into his head that I must die if I don't transform myself in an egg bearer on infinite loop."
"That would be against his genetic makeup," Kyle said.
"How so?"
"For Xenos, bearers are the most precious."
"Yeah, until they send them to serve in brothels."
"That is for pleasure. Humans are addicted to sex."
Riordan groaned. "What are these guys teaching their bots?" he asked in frustration.
"Master Xana would never hurt you, master Rio."
"Well, news flash. He did hurt me."
"Where? Do you need medical attention, master Rio?" the bot began scanning his body.
"Stop it with your tricorder or whatever that is called. He hurt me by saying stupid things, like that he would kill me if I ever left him."
Kyle remained silent.
"What? Don't you have some comeback to this?"
"You didn't ask me a question, master Rio."
"Well, I am asking you this. What do you think of this guy, fucking my brains out, behaving like a 12 year old falling in love for the first time, and then threatening me?"
"I cannot think anything."