Table Of Contentbook title | proof status | page 3
01
02
03
04
05
Chapter One 06
07
08
09
The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved 10
cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached 11
from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled 12
to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another. By the 13
time it was extracted far enough for her to wrench free with 14
her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been 15
stripped clean. 16
Tossing the screwdriver on to the table, Cinder gripped 17
her heel and yanked the foot from its socket. A spark 18
singed her fingertips and she jerked away, leaving the foot 19
to dangle from a mess of red and yellow wires. 20
She slumped back with a relieved groan. A sense of 21
release hovered at the end of those wires – freedom. 22
Having loathed the too-small foot for four years, she 23
swore to never put the piece of junk back on again. She 24
just hoped Iko would be back soon with its replacement. 25
Cinder was the only full-service mechanic at New 26
Beijing’s weekly market. Without a sign, her booth hinted 27
at her trade only by the shelves of stock android parts that 28
crowded the walls. It was squeezed into a shady cove 29
between a used netscreen dealer and a silk merchant, both 30
of whom frequently complained about the tangy smell of 31
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01 metal and grease that came from Cinder’s booth, even
02 though it was usually disguised by the aroma of honey
03 buns from the bakery across the square. Cinder knew they
04 really just didn’t like being next to her.
05 A stained tablecloth divided Cinder from browsers as
06 they shuffled past. The square was filled with shoppers
07 and hawkers, children and noise. The bellows of men as
08 they bargained with robotic shopkeepers, trying to talk
09 the computers down from their desired profit margins.
10 The hum of ID scanners and monotone voice receipts as
11 money changed accounts. The netscreens that covered
12 every building and filled the air with the chatter of
13 advertisements, news reports, gossip.
14 Cinder’s auditory interface dulled the noise into a static
15 thrumming, but today one melody lingered above the rest
16 that she couldn’t drown out. A ring of children were
17 standing just outside her booth, trilling – “ashes, ashes,
18 they all fall down” – and then laughing hysterically as they
19 collapsed to the pavement.
20 A smile tugged at Cinder’s lips. Not so much at the
21 nursery rhyme, a phantom song about pestilence and
22 death that had regained popularity in the past decade. The
23 song itself made her squeamish. But she did love the
24 glares from passersby as the giggling children fell over in
25 their paths. The inconvenience of having to swarm
26 around the writhing bodies stirred grumbles from the
27 shoppers, and Cinder adored the children for it.
28 “Sunto! Sunto!”
29 Cinder’s amusement wilted. She spotted Chang Sacha, the
30 baker, pushing through the crowd in her flour-coated apron.
31 “Sunto, come here! I told you not to play so close to –”
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Sacha met Cinder’s gaze, knotted her lips, then grabbed 01
her son by the arm and spun away. The boy whined, 02
dragging his feet as Sacha ordered him to stay closer to 03
their booth. Cinder wrinkled her nose at the baker’s 04
retreating back. The remaining children fled into the 05
crowd, taking their bright laughter with them. 06
“It’s not like wires are contagious,” Cinder muttered to 07
her empty booth. 08
With a spine-popping stretch, she pulled her dirty fingers 09
through her hair, combing it up into a messy tail, then grabbed 10
her blackened work gloves. She covered her steel hand first, 11
and though her right palm began to sweat immediately inside 12
the thick material, she felt more comfortable with the gloves 13
on, hiding the plating of her left hand. She stretched her 14
fingers wide, working out the cramp that had formed at the 15
fleshy base of her thumb from clenching the screwdriver, 16
and squinted again into the city square. She spotted plenty of 17
stocky white androids in the din, but none of them Iko. 18
Sighing, Cinder bent over the toolbox beneath the 19
worktable. After digging through the jumbled mess of 20
screwdrivers and wrenches, she emerged with the fuse 21
puller that had been long buried at the bottom. One by 22
one, she disconnected the wires that still linked her foot 23
and ankle, each spurting a tiny spark. She couldn’t feel 24
them through the gloves, but her retina display helpfully 25
informed her with blinking green text that she was losing 26
connection to the limb. 27
With a yank of the last wire, her foot clattered to the 28
concrete. 29
The difference was instant. For once in her life, she felt 30
. . . weightless. 31
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01 She made room for the discarded foot on the table,
02 setting it up like a shrine amid the wrenches and lug nuts,
03 before hunkering over her ankle again and cleaning the
04 grime from the socket with an old rag.
05 THUD.
06 Cinder jerked, her head smacking the underside of the
07 table. She shoved back from the desk, her scowl landing first
08 on a lifeless android that sat squat on her worktable, and then
09 on the man behind it. She was met with startled copper-
10 brown eyes and black hair that hung past his ears and lips that
11 every girl in the country had admired a thousand times.
12 Her scowl vanished.
13 His own surprise was short-lived, melting into an
14 apology. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize anyone was
15 back there.”
16 Cinder barely heard him above the blankness in her
17 mind. With her heartbeat gathering speed, her retina
18 display scanned his features, so familiar from years spent
19 watching him on the netscreens. He seemed taller in real
20 life and a gray hooded sweatshirt was like none of the fine
21 clothes he usually made appearances in, but still it took
22 only 2.6 seconds for Cinder’s scanner to measure the
23 points of his face and link his image to the net database.
24 Another second and the display informed her of what she
25 already knew; details scribbled across the bottom of her
26 vision in a stream of green text.
27
28
Prince Kaito, Crown Prince of the Eastern Commonwealth
29
ID #0082719057
30
Born 7 April 108 T.E.
31
ff 88,987 media hits, reverse chron
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Posted 20 Aug 126 T.E.: A press meeting is to be hosted by Crown 01
Prince Kai on 21 Aug to discuss the ongoing Letumosis research 02
and possible leads for an anti– 03
04
Cinder launched up from her chair, nearly toppling 05
over when she forgot about her missing limb. Steadying 06
herself with both hands on the table, she managed an 07
awkward bow. The retina display sank out of sight. 08
“Your Highness,” she stammered, head lowered, glad 09
that he couldn’t see her empty ankle behind the tablecloth. 10
The prince flinched and cast a glance over his shoulder 11
before hunching toward her. “Maybe, um . . .” He pulled 12
his fingers across his lips. “. . . on the Highness stuff?” 13
Wide-eyed, Cinder forced a shaky nod. “Right. Of 14
course. How – can I – are you –” She swallowed, the 15
words sticking like bean paste to her tongue. 16
“I’m looking for a Linh Cinder,” said the prince. “Is he 17
around?” 18
Cinder dared to lift one stabilizing hand from the table, 19
using it to tug the hem of her glove higher on her wrist. 20
Staring at the prince’s chest, she stammered, “I-I’m Linh 21
Cinder.” 22
Her eyes followed his hand as he planted it on top of 23
the android’s bulbous head. 24
“You’re Linh Cinder?” 25
“Yes, Your Highne–” She bit down on her lip. 26
“The mechanic?” 27
She nodded. “How can I help you?” 28
Instead of answering, the prince bent down, craning 29
his neck so that she had no choice but to meet his eyes, 30
and dashed a grin at her. Her heart winced. 31
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01 The prince straightened, forcing her gaze to follow
02 him.
03 “You’re not quite what I was expecting.”
04 “Well you’re hardly – what I – um.” Unable to hold his
05 gaze, Cinder reached for the android and pulled it to her
06 side of the table. “What seems to be wrong with the
07 android, Your Highness?”
08 The android looked like it had just stepped off the
09 conveyer belt, but Cinder could tell from the mock-
10 feminine shape that it was an outdated model. The design
11 was sleek, though, with a spherical head atop a pear-
12 shaped body and a glossy white finish.
13 “I can’t get her to turn on,” said Prince Kai, watching
14 as Cinder examined the robot. “She was working fine one
15 day, and the next, nothing.”
16 Cinder turned the android around so its sensor light
17 faced the prince. She was glad to have routine tasks for
18 her hands and routine questions for her mouth –
19 something to focus on so she wouldn’t get flustered and
20 lose control of her brain’s net connection again. “Have
21 you had problems with her before?”
22 “No. She gets a monthly check-up from the royal
23 mechanics and this is the first real problem she’s ever had.”
24 Leaning forward, Prince Kai picked up Cinder’s small
25 metal foot from the worktable, turning it curiously over in
26 his palms. Cinder tensed, watching as he peered into the
27 wire-filled cavity, fiddled with the flexible joints of the
28 toes. He used the too-long sleeve of his sweatshirt to
29 polish off a smudge.
30 “Aren’t you hot?” Cinder said, instantly regretting the
31 question when his attention returned to her.
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For the briefest moment, the prince almost looked 01
embarrassed. “Dying,” he said, “but I’m trying to be 02
inconspicuous.” 03
Cinder considered telling him it wasn’t working, but 04
thought better of it. The lack of a throng of screaming 05
girls surrounding her booth was probably evidence that it 06
was working better than she suspected. Instead of looking 07
like a royal heartthrob, he just looked crazy. 08
Clearing her throat, Cinder refocused on the android. 09
She found the nearly invisible latch and opened its back 10
panel. “Why aren’t the royal mechanics fixing her?” 11
“They tried, but couldn’t figure it out. Someone 12
suggested I bring her to you.” He set the foot down and 13
turned his attention to the shelves of old and battered 14
parts – parts for androids, hovers, netscreens, portscreens. 15
Parts for cyborgs. “They say you’re the best mechanic in 16
New Beijing. I was expecting an old man.” 17
“Do they?” she murmured. 18
He wasn’t the first to voice surprise. Most of her 19
customers couldn’t fathom how a teenage girl could be 20
the best mechanic in the city, and she never broadcasted 21
the reason for her talent. The fewer people who knew she 22
was cyborg, the better. She was sure she’d go mad if all 23
the market shopkeepers looked at her with the same 24
disdain as Chang Sacha did. 25
She nudged some of the android’s wires aside with her 26
pinkie. “Sometimes they just get worn out. Maybe it’s time 27
to upgrade to a new model.” 28
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. She contains top-secret 29
information. It’s a matter of national security that I 30
retrieve it . . . before anyone else does.” 31
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01 Fingers stalling, Cinder glanced up at him.
02 He held her gaze a full three seconds before his lips
03 twitched. “I’m just joking. Nainsi was my first android. It’s
04 sentimental.”
05 An orange light flickered in the corner of Cinder’s
06 vision. Her optobionics had picked up on something,
07 though she didn’t know what – an extra swallow, a too-
08 quick blink, a clenching of the prince’s jaw.
09 She was used to the little orange light. It came up all the
10 time.
11 It meant that someone was lying.
12 “National security,” she said. “Funny.”
13 The prince listed his head, as if challenging her to
14 contradict him. A strand of black hair fell into his eyes.
15 Cinder looked away.
16 “Tutor8.6 model,” she said, reading the faintly lit panel
17 inside the plastic cranium. The android was nearly twenty
18 years old. Ancient for an android. “She looks to be in
19 pristine condition.”
20 Raising her fist, she thunked the android hard on the
21 side of its head, barely catching it before it toppled over
22 on to the table. The prince jumped.
23 Cinder set the android back on its treads and jabbed
24 the power button, but nothing happened. “You’d be
25 surprised how often that works.”
26 The prince let out a single, awkward chuckle. “Are you
27 sure you’re Linh Cinder? The mechanic?”
28 “Cinder! I’ve got it!” Iko wheeled out of the crowd and
29 up to the worktable, her blue sensor flashing. Lifting one
30 pronged hand, she slammed a brand new steel-plated foot
31 on to the desk, in the shadow of the prince’s android. “It’s
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a huge improvement over the old one, only lightly used, 01
and the wiring looks compatible as-is. Plus I was able to 02
get the dealer down to just 600 univs.” 03
Panic jolted through Cinder. Still balancing on her 04
human leg, she snatched the foot off the table and dropped 05
it behind her. “Good work, Iko. Nguyen-dàshī will be 06
delighted to have a replacement foot for his escort-droid.” 07
Iko’s sensor dimmed. “Nguyen-dàshī? I don’t 08
compute.” 09
Smiling through locked teeth, Cinder gestured at the 10
prince. “Iko, please pay your respects to our customer.” 11
She lowered her voice. “His Imperial Highness.” 12
Iko craned her head, aiming the round sensor up at the 13
prince, who towered more than three feet above her. The 14
light flared as her scanner recognized him. “Prince Kai,” 15
she said, her metallic voice squeaking. “You are even more 16
handsome in person.” 17
Cinder’s stomach twisted in embarrassment, even as 18
the prince laughed. 19
“That’s enough, Iko. Get in the booth.” 20
Iko obeyed, pushing aside the tablecloth and ducking 21
under the table. 22
“You don’t see a personality like that every day,” said 23
Prince Kai, leaning against the booth’s doorframe as if he 24
brought androids to the market all the time. “Did you 25
program her yourself?” 26
“Believe it or not, she came that way. I suspect a 27
programming error, which is probably why my stepmother 28
got her so cheap.” 29
“I do not have a programming error!” said Iko from 30
behind her. 31
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