Page 24 of Secrets of the Void
She showed the droid her tool. "The liquid inside eats away at rust, but it is sensitive to metal."
"It's not liquid," Pilot said in awe. "Those are nanites."
"I don't know what those are."
"Tiny robots, just like me. They have one programmed task for their entire existence. Amongst droids, they're the stuff of legends." He made a sound that was almost a sigh. "Of course you'd have some of those if you were from Tau."
She almost laughed when he said that. "Come on, Tau didn't have everything that everyone wanted."
"Yes, it did."
He seemed so certain that it even made her pause for a moment. "Well, then I guess I'm glad I can share it with you. No one deserves to have rust impeding their movements for centuries on end. How much of it do you think we'll need?"
"Not much at all. They should be able to do their work without either of us needing to help them."
She sprayed some of the liquid on him, and maybe it was filled with little robots like he seemed to think was in there. She still wasn't convinced that was what it was.
Holding the droid up in her hand, she watched the rust start to peel off of him like red dust floating down from his body. "Why are you able to feel things? I don't think I've ever met a droid who could."
She could tell he could feel things so powerfully that he even looked uncomfortable when she asked the question. "I..." Pilot cleared his non-existent throat. "My creator wanted me to feel emotions. He wanted me to be more human than the others."
"Why?"
"Because he thought every living being deserved to feel everything deeply."
Something in her twisted at that. She believed this scientist meant the best after what he'd done, and that was sweet. "What was his name?"
"Dr. Fairweather," the droid murmured. "He was a very sad man. His entire life. Never did tell me why."
And no one would likely ever know. But she thought about Fairweather and his sadness, and wondered if that was why he'd given this droid a personality. Perhaps he had been lonely. Perhaps he'd lost someone very dear to him. So he'd created another person to be close to.
Water flowed over her feet, ice cold and immediately making her shiver.
"Proteus," she scolded. "I thought we talked about you at least announcing yourself so I didn't?—”
She froze and stopped talking the moment she saw him. There was a different kind of light in his eyes as he glared at her. An anger and a bone deep pain that she tried very hard to recognize but couldn't. Usually there was at least a person in those black eyes that she could relate to, but she couldn't do that at all today.
She stared into the eyes of the abyss. If she stared too long, she feared she would fall straight into his gaze and never be able to crawl her way back out.
Swallowing hard, she tried to back away, but her hips instead pressed against the pod. "Proteus?"
He did not reply as he rose out of the water. His fins were all on display, flared out from his face and sticking straight out. Spines rose on his arms, down his back, and his clawed hands were tense.
"Pilot," she murmured quietly. "Get in the pod."
She heard the little droid trying to move, but she wasn't going to risk its life. Instead, she hit the button to close the pod and sealed him inside. At least there, she knew he would be safe.
Proteus came out of the hatch, one hand over the other, clearly hunting her across the room. She kept her eyes on him, as any prey animal would do. She moved slowly, carefully, trying not to catch too much of his attention while also being very aware that she was his sole interest.
His gaze never wavered from her. He never looked anywhere else. It was rather terrifying to be trapped in his gaze like that, because she wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.
"Proteus," she said again, lifting her hands to show him she didn't have any weapons. "Talk to me."
There was no talking with whatever beast that was in front of her, though. This wasn't even him. She didn't see any part of theman she knew in that gaze. All she saw was a nightmarish beast who had risen out of the murk to attack her.
"Stop," she whispered, but she already knew what was going to happen.
He lunged. Time seemed to slow as the massive bulk of this sea beast rushed toward her, and there was nowhere for her to go. She couldn't run or fight back. She was stuck exactly where she was.
