/ 
Lunar Chronicles #0.6 The Little Android - Page 5
Download
https://novelcool.info/novel/Lunar-Chronicles.html
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Lunar-Chronicles-0-6-The-Little-Android-Page-4/584045/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Lunar-Chronicles-0-6-The-Little-Android-Page-6/584047/

Lunar Chronicles #0.6 The Little Android - Page 5

Paying.

Money. Currency. Univs. To give compensation for goods or services.

Androids did not get paid.

“Trade,” said Mech6.0.

“Trade?” Cinder dipped her gaze over Mech6.0’s battered form. “For what?”

Mech6.0 opened the compartment in her abdomen. Her prongs found the metal locket on its chain first and wrapped around it.

Her fan slowed—almost stopped.

Releasing the locket, she searched again, and her grippers emerged with the small holographic card instead. She placed it on the table.

Removing the glove from her right hand, Cinder picked up the card and flipped it over, reading the words on the back, before turning it so that the holograph projected from the flat surface.

“A Prince Kai holographic trading card,” she muttered, rubbing her brow with her gloved hand. “Because that’s all I need.” Sighing, she peered at Mech6.0 again. “I’m sorry, but this is only worth about 20 micro-univs. It would barely buy you a screw.” She looked truly sympathetic as she handed the card back. Mech6.0 pinched it gently between her prongs.

“Do you have anything else?”

Her processor pulsed. The locket.

But it was not hers. It belonged to Dataran, and she was going to return it to him. When she had her new body. When she saw him again.

Her power source dropped low again. The colors of the world dimmed beyond her sensor’s eye.

“Nothing… else.”

Linh Cinder frowned sympathetically. “Then, I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

Mech6.0 analyzed the situation again, calculating the potential worth of the locket and the importance of a new body. But despite her logical reasoning telling her that the locket might be valued high enough to complete the trade, there was a new factor involved in the calculation. The value of her one possession—something that had been Dataran’s. The value of his smile when she returned it to him.

She knew that the decision was illogical, that she would be returning nothing at all if she didn’t get a new body, and yet she still found herself tucking the holographic card against her torso and turning away. Which is when she realized that she had nowhere to go, and besides, she wouldn’t get very far. She spotted the used-android dealer down the way and a darkness settled in her vision, washing all the color away entirely.

Her treads clattered as she started back through the crowd.

“Wait.”

Pausing, she spun back to face the mechanic, who was rubbing her fingers against her temple again, leaving a dark smudge on her skin.

“My little sister really loves that guy,” she said, gesturing to the holographic card. “So… here, I think I might have something. Hang on.”

Pulling herself from the chair, she headed toward the back of the booth. Mech6.0 waited as Linh Cinder shuffled aside toolboxes and miscellaneous bits of machinery.

“Well, she’s not a huge improvement,” she said, “but I do have this.” She emerged from behind a towering shelf with the body of a girl draped over one arm. Shouldering aside a toolbox, she dropped the girl on the table with a thud. A limp arm splayed out toward Mech6.0 and her scanner picked up on precisely trimmed fingernails, the natural curve of her fingers, the faint blue veining beneath her skin.

And then she spotted the near-invisible imprint across the girl’s wrist. A barcode.

She was an escort-droid.

“She’s almost thirty years old,” said Cinder, “and in pretty bad shape. I was really just keeping her around for spare parts.” She adjusted the head so Mech6.0 could see her face, which was beautiful and convincingly lifelike, with dark irises and sleek black hair. With her empty gaze and a rosy flush to her cheeks, she looked like she was dead, but only recently so.

“If I remember right, something was wrong with her voice box. I think she’d gone mute and the last owner didn’t want to bother replacing it. She was also prone to occasional power surges, so you might want to look into replacing her wiring and getting a new battery as soon as you can.” Cinder brushed some dust off the escort-droid’s brow. “And on top of that, with her being so old, I don’t really know how compatible she’s going to be with your personality chip. You might find that you experience some weird glitches. But… if you want her…”

In response, Mech6.0 held out the holographic card.

Chapter 5

“So… you’re an electrician?” said Tam Sovann, scanning her profile on his portscreen.

Mech6.0 nodded, smiling as she had seen humans do. It had taken her nearly two weeks to set up a net profile and manage to steal some proper work clothes that fit her, even though it went against everything her android code told her. Still, she had done it and she had made her way back to the shipyard and she was here, with a humanoid body, a convincing identity, and Dataran’s locket snapped snugly in her pocket.

“And you specialize in classic podships and cruisers, particularly the luxury lines… impressive.” He glanced up again, as if trying to decide if the profile could be believed.

She kept smiling.

“And you’re… mute.”

She nodded.

He squinted suspiciously for a moment, before going over her profile again. “Well, we certainly do work on a lot of luxury lines like these…”

Which she knew.

“. . . and I have been faced with a high turnover of electricians lately.”

Which she also knew.

“I’d have to start you at a base salary, until you prove you can do the work. You understand that.”

She nodded. Having never received a salary before, she did not even know what she would do with that measly base pay.

“All right. Well. Let’s give it a shot,” he said, as if he couldn’t quite believe he was saying it. Mech6.0 wasn’t sure if it was her muteness that had him unconvinced about her, or the fact that her escort body was startlingly attractive, even in her drab work clothing. “And what was your name again?” he said, before flinching at her patient smile. “Right, sorry, uh—” He scanned through her profile again. “Hoshi… Star.”

Mech6.0—no, Hoshi Star, nodded.

“Well, then. Welcome aboard, Hoshi-mèi. I have a project that I think will be perfect for you. This way.”

She braced herself before rising off the chair. Her personality chip hadn’t synched quite right with the outdated escort body and Linh Cinder was right—it had caused a peculiar glitch that manifested itself whenever she walked. The effort caused pain to shoot through the wires from her legs to her chest, burning into her synapses. The first time it happened, she had gasped and collapsed onto the sidewalk and sat trembling on the ground for close to an hour while blinding light flooded her senses.

Chapter end

Report
<<Prev
Next>>
Catalogue
#4 Winter - Page 217
#4 Winter - Page 216
#4 Winter - Page 215
#4 Winter - Page 214
#4 Winter - Page 213
#4 Winter - Page 212
#4 Winter - Page 211
#4 Winter - Page 210
#4 Winter - Page 209
#4 Winter - Page 208
#4 Winter - Page 207
#4 Winter - Page 206
#4 Winter - Page 205
#4 Winter - Page 204
#4 Winter - Page 203
#4 Winter - Page 202
#4 Winter - Page 201
#4 Winter - Page 200
#4 Winter - Page 199
#4 Winter - Page 198
#4 Winter - Page 197
#4 Winter - Page 196
#4 Winter - Page 195
#4 Winter - Page 194
#4 Winter - Page 193
#4 Winter - Page 192
#4 Winter - Page 191
#4 Winter - Page 190
#4 Winter - Page 189
#4 Winter - Page 188
#4 Winter - Page 187
#4 Winter - Page 186
#4 Winter - Page 185
#4 Winter - Page 184
#4 Winter - Page 183
#4 Winter - Page 182
#4 Winter - Page 181
#4 Winter - Page 180
#4 Winter - Page 179
#4 Winter - Page 178
#4 Winter - Page 177
#4 Winter - Page 176
#4 Winter - Page 175
#4 Winter - Page 174
#4 Winter - Page 173
#4 Winter - Page 172
#4 Winter - Page 171
#4 Winter - Page 170
#4 Winter - Page 169
#4 Winter - Page 168
#4 Winter - Page 167
#4 Winter - Page 166
#4 Winter - Page 165
#4 Winter - Page 164
#4 Winter - Page 163
#4 Winter - Page 162
#4 Winter - Page 161
#4 Winter - Page 160
#4 Winter - Page 159
#4 Winter - Page 158
#4 Winter - Page 157
#4 Winter - Page 156
#4 Winter - Page 155
#4 Winter - Page 154
#4 Winter - Page 153
#4 Winter - Page 152
#4 Winter - Page 151
#4 Winter - Page 150
#4 Winter - Page 149
#4 Winter - Page 148
#4 Winter - Page 147
#4 Winter - Page 146
#4 Winter - Page 145
#4 Winter - Page 144
#4 Winter - Page 143
#4 Winter - Page 142
#4 Winter - Page 141
#4 Winter - Page 140
#4 Winter - Page 139
#4 Winter - Page 138
#4 Winter - Page 137
#4 Winter - Page 136
#4 Winter - Page 135
#4 Winter - Page 134
#4 Winter - Page 133
#4 Winter - Page 132
#4 Winter - Page 131
#4 Winter - Page 130
#4 Winter - Page 129
#4 Winter - Page 128
#4 Winter - Page 127
#4 Winter - Page 126
#4 Winter - Page 125
#4 Winter - Page 124
#4 Winter - Page 123
#4 Winter - Page 122
#4 Winter - Page 121
#4 Winter - Page 120
#4 Winter - Page 119
#4 Winter - Page 118
#4 Winter - Page 117
#4 Winter - Page 116
#4 Winter - Page 115
#4 Winter - Page 114
#4 Winter - Page 113
#4 Winter - Page 112
#4 Winter - Page 111
#4 Winter - Page 110
#4 Winter - Page 109
#4 Winter - Page 108
#4 Winter - Page 107
#4 Winter - Page 106
#4 Winter - Page 105
#4 Winter - Page 104
#4 Winter - Page 103
#4 Winter - Page 102
#4 Winter - Page 101
#4 Winter - Page 100
#4 Winter - Page 99
#4 Winter - Page 98
#4 Winter - Page 97
#4 Winter - Page 96
#4 Winter - Page 95
#4 Winter - Page 94
#4 Winter - Page 93
#4 Winter - Page 92
#4 Winter - Page 91
#4 Winter - Page 90
#4 Winter - Page 89
#4 Winter - Page 88
#4 Winter - Page 87
#4 Winter - Page 86
#4 Winter - Page 85
#4 Winter - Page 84
#4 Winter - Page 83
#4 Winter - Page 82
#4 Winter - Page 81
#4 Winter - Page 80
#4 Winter - Page 79
#4 Winter - Page 78
#4 Winter - Page 77
#4 Winter - Page 76
#4 Winter - Page 75
#4 Winter - Page 74
#4 Winter - Page 73
#4 Winter - Page 72
#4 Winter - Page 71
#4 Winter - Page 70
#4 Winter - Page 69
#4 Winter - Page 68
#4 Winter - Page 67
#4 Winter - Page 66
#4 Winter - Page 65
#4 Winter - Page 64
#4 Winter - Page 63
#4 Winter - Page 62
#4 Winter - Page 61
#4 Winter - Page 60
#3 Cress - Page 59
#3 Cress - Page 58
#3 Cress - Page 57
#3 Cress - Page 56
#3 Cress - Page 55
#3 Cress - Page 54
#3 Cress - Page 53
#3 Cress - Page 52
#3 Cress - Page 51
#3 Cress - Page 50
#3 Cress - Page 49
#3 Cress - Page 48
#3 Cress - Page 47
#3 Cress - Page 46
#3 Cress - Page 45
#3 Cress - Page 44
#2 Scarlet - Page 43
#2 Scarlet - Page 42
#2 Scarlet - Page 41
#2 Scarlet - Page 40
#2 Scarlet - Page 39
#1 Cinder - Page 38
#1 Cinder - Page 37
#1 Cinder - Page 36
#1 Cinder - Page 35
#1 Cinder - Page 34
#1 Cinder - Page 33
#1 Cinder - Page 32
#1 Cinder - Page 31
#1 Cinder - Page 30
#1 Cinder - Page 29
#1 Cinder - Page 28
#1 Cinder - Page 27
#1 Cinder - Page 26
#1 Cinder - Page 25
#1 Cinder - Page 24
#1 Cinder - Page 23
#1 Cinder - Page 22
#1 Cinder - Page 21
#1 Cinder - Page 20
#1 Cinder - Page 19
#1 Cinder - Page 18
#1 Cinder - Page 17
#1 Cinder - Page 16
#1 Cinder - Page 15
#1 Cinder - Page 14
#1 Cinder - Page 13
#1 Cinder - Page 12
#1 Cinder - Page 11
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 10
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 9
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 8
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 7
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 6
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 5
#0.6 The Little Android - Page 4
#0.5 Glitches - Page 3
#0.5 Glitches - Page 2
#0.5 Glitches - Page 1
Setting
Font
Arial
Georgia
Comic Sans MS
Font size
14
Background
Report
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
English
Español
lingua italiana
Русский язык
Portugués
Deutsch
Success Warn New Timeout NO YES Summary More details Please rate this book Please write down your comment Reply Follow Followed This is the last chapter. Are you sure to delete? Account We've sent email to you successfully. You can check your email and reset password. You've reset your password successfully. We're going to the login page. Read Your cover's min size should be 160*160px Your cover's type should be .jpg/.jpeg/.png This book hasn't have any chapter yet. This is the first chapter This is the last chapter We're going to home page. * Book name can't be empty. * Book name has existed. At least one picture Book cover is required Please enter chapter name Create Successfully Modify successfully Fail to modify Fail Error Code Edit Delete Just Are you sure to delete? This volume still has chapters Create Chapter Fold Delete successfully Please enter the chapter name~ Then click 'choose pictures' button Are you sure to cancel publishing it? Picture can't be smaller than 300*300 Failed Name can't be empty Email's format is wrong Password can't be empty Must be 6 to 14 characters Please verify your password again