On its surface, the Satellite just looked like some kind of space resort, covered with gleaming buildings, strange plants, and smiling angels. But on the lower levels, you could see it for what it really was: a large orbital laboratory.
It was like being inside a gigantic multilevel maze. And of course, there were very few staircases, since angels mostly floated everywhere. If you wanted to get to another floor, you simply dropped through a hole in the ground.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be possible for me or Blare. And we needed to get all the way to Level 4, the lowest possible level. I decided to ask Peal how this was going to work, hoping not to get snapped at again.
“There is one emergency staircase, for angels whose wings give out for any reason,” she answered in a dull voice. “But we would attract too much attention there. Besides, humans aren’t even allowed to go beyond Level 2…”
“I can go ahead of you guys,” offered Blare. “I’ll need time to figure out where Knell is, anyway. You can meet me there later.”
“Maybe you should just go alone,” I said. “You’ll have to cover a lot of extra distance to get back to us, but I don’t think trying to go there ourselves is worth the effort. Even if we made it there, we’d have to find some way to stay hidden from Toll…if he saw either of us down there, he would immediately suspect something. You’re the only one he wouldn’t recognize.”
“Well…okay. So where do I go?”
“Just hold on a second,” said Peal. Her wings flashed through a couple of different colors. After the light show ended, my PC buzzed.
I took it out and looked at the screen. It seemed she’d messaged me some image files.
“Maps,” she said. “The first one is of the entire Satellite, and the zoology laboratory is marked on it. The second one is of the lab itself; the areas I marked on it are the cells where subjects are held. That’s where you’ll want to look.”
“If you find him, make sure to ask him how he is,” I said. “Tell him I’m here and that we’re going to get him out.”
“Roger that,” Blare replied. I handed her my PC, and off she went.
Peal and I ended up waiting in some kind of common area for the angel scientists. They all wore different colored vests, like the orange one Peal had been wearing when I first met her. They floated around in small groups, chatting in their native tongue.
“That used to be me,” Peal lamented. “I used to hang out with those guys over there during breaks. They’ve probably already forgotten me by now…”
“It’s only been a few months,” I said.
“That’s all it takes. You know how angels are…”
Apparently. “Well, you haven’t forgotten them,” I offered.
“That’s because I don’t have a life,” she said, sighing. “Anyway…I’m sorry about what I put you through today. For future reference, there are three stages of getting patched: the first one is the good one where you have no idea what’s going on, the second one is the bad one where your brain is scattered and your hormones are on a rampage, and the third one is the worst one where reality comes back and slaps you in the face.”
She pointed at her own face. “Stage three.”
I sighed. Time for more counseling.
“…Is it really all over for you?” I asked her. “I know you said you can’t go back to school, but can’t you get that 10 years of experience with another research team? Saint Toll can’t be the only game in town.”
“I thought about that,” she said. “But I don’t think it’ll work out. I got fired from this job for “insubordination”, which won’t look good on my record…and besides, jobs like the one I had aren’t really a common thing. “Errand girl” isn’t a real position; we already have robots to do things like that. Saint Toll basically made it up. It was…one of the last nice things he did for me.”
“Well, how about another job that’ll still let you do what you want? I mean, you can speak English. Learn some other alien languages, and you could be a…translator.”
“You’re still thinking like a human…we don’t need translators; we have programs that do that for us already. All these angels floating around us- with one flash of their wings, they could understand everything we were saying. Besides, I’m horrible with languages. Most angels can learn English in one year, and that’s already a long time. It took me five years.”
She leaned back in her chair. “It’s sweet of you to try to help me, Clarion…but I’m too stupid to be helped. Lots of angels can’t be productive members of society, and it’s time for me to accept that I’m one of them.”
It did look pretty hopeless…but I didn’t want to give up. Peal wasn’t stupid, and even in angel society, there had to be a job out there for her.
“What about…I mean…despite all you’ve said about angels and morals, you’re pretty good with them. When I talk to you, I don’t feel like I’m talking to an angel. I feel like I’m talking to a human. You have emotional reactions to the things I say; I remember I was a little rude to you when we first met, and you got mad and tried to drop me.”
“I did drop you, actually,” Peal said, laughing. “Just not from as high up as I could have…anyway, that’s just…weirdness; it doesn’t mean anything…”
“If you were any weirder, it would make you a Saint. Right?”
Peal thought about it for a moment. “I…well, I can’t be a real Saint,” she said finally. “I do have to study those things…emoting, guilt reactions, displays of amity…but somehow it just…sticks with me.”
“That means you’re good at it. Peal, this is your skill!”
“Yeah!” Peal jumped up excitedly. “But…how can I make that into a job…?”
“Well…I don’t know,” I admitted. “But at least now you know you’re good at something that most angels aren’t. You’re like a self-made Saint. That has to mean something, right? I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe I will,” she said, sitting back down. Then she turned to me. “You’re amazing, Clarion! To think you can change someone’s mood just by talking at them for a few minutes…I feel so happy now!”
“It’s not called ‘talking at’ someone, and besides, the point is to…well, you’ll figure out how it works eventually. That’s your skill, after all.”
“Right, my skill! I must hone it…please, explain your thought process to me! How did you get me to stop feeling like a useless waste? I need to take notes!”
I sighed, but this time it was a good sigh. Peal was still Peal. But for the first time, I felt like I might actually be able to be friends with her.
Of course, if Knell found out, he would never let me hear the end of it. He would be cackling until the end of time. But…I decided that was okay.
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