Bot Wars 01 by J.V. Kade

Author:J.V. Kade [Kade, J.V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

WHEN I RETURN to the park later that night with LT in tow, I’m overwhelmed with everything. There are a ton of people and rows and rows of food. Flickering lights hover around the park on tiny little pods. They look like candles, but I think they’re holo lights.

“Scissor’s invention,” LT says when I ask. “She may be physically clumsy, but she is a genius when it comes to creating. I suspect you will love her hoversuits.”

“Her what?”

LT starts to explain when Vee runs up, grabs me by the hand, and wrenches me in the opposite direction. “I’ll see you later, LT!” I shout as I stumble after Vee.

A group of grown-ups are clustered around a holo-fire. The night air is so warm and balmy that I doubt the heat feature is on. Crickets and bugs chirp and snap and croak in the dark.

Vee nods at a food table set up below a large white canopy. “You hungry?”

“I’m always hungry.”

A bot named Wen6 serves us taco pops and I cover mine in cheese. We make the trek up the big hill in the middle of the park and plop down in the grass. From here we can see the entire north side of the park and a good chunk of the city too. I can just make out the leaded glass ceiling of the Fort. The entire thing is lit amber with lights. When I left, Dad was still working, but said he’d try to come later.

Vee picks a diced tomato from her taco and flicks it down the hill. “Tell me the story with your brother. I heard my dad talking about him.”

Po.

No one has heard from him. He might not even be at City Hall anymore, for all we know. And here I am at a party. But I have to remind myself that Dad and his team are on it. Po WILL come back. I just know it.

I tell Vee what happened right before I bolted from home. She listens as she finishes off her taco. “Basically, my brother sacrificed himself for me,” I say. “So the guilt is turning into nuclear waste in my gut. I just wish there was something I could do to help him.”

Vee nods. “I get that. If I were you, I’d go after him.”

I blink. Look over at her. “How the chop would I get him out of a government building?”

“There are ways. You just gotta think on it. Your dad said you were massive smart.”

“He did?”

“Course. Never stopped talking about you and Po. Sometimes I felt like I already knew you, even though I’d never met ya.”

I let her words sink in. I spent so much of my time feeling sorry for myself because I was alone in Brack, but I never really thought about Dad being here without any family. Was he lonely too?

“Hey, so, ya wanna see our version of the hoverboard?” Vee says, pulling my head outta my thoughts.

“Sure.”

We toss the sticks from our tacos into a nearby garbage can and start off toward the patch of woods.

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