Chapter twenty

So Dion was an engineer. If ever there was an oxymoron personified, he was just that: a surfing robot-builder who just-so-happens to be able to conjure things from the sky. Dex kept right on laughing, still; I think the picture of Dion in the book was enough to send android’s giggly victrola back to the beginning of it all. All of this could have been so easy to perceive as a dream as I think of it now, but in that moment, everything was all-too-real.

“Let me get this straight,” I started in, “you don’t think I can kill your robot, and you don’t want me to try.”

“That’s it, Lester,” Dion said. “I want you to give up this nasty feud you have with Dex. We’re almost there, and you’ll never have to see him again if you don’t want to. Please forget about calypsus, along with all the other fail-safes and protocols. We just have to be civil for a little while longer. Do you think you can get along with him for the rest of the ride?”

“I guess so,” I said, giving the appearance of acquiescence. Actually, it was a blatant lie. Where I thought I might be able to recruit Dion as an ally in the war against Dexeter, I was mistaken. I still had to get a hold of the android, had to subdue him somehow. And though Dion could get mixed up in the collateral damage of my endeavor, I had to maintain a single-mind about my objective. Engage the Quipzux in the robot, by any means possible.

“Good,” Dion said. “Now help me stand Dex back up.” Dex was still laughing at me as we tipped him up to a vertical position – he was a heavy little fucker, weighing much more than a quarter-ton. Once he was on his feet, the laughter died down. Then his scowl returned and he looked at me again.

“I don’t care if you do any more work, Lester,” Dex said. “I don’t care if you hang out in the Library, or even if you go randomly exploring. I don’t care if Dion wants you to work the Magnatron, so that my friend there can finally go surfing. You really cracked me up today.” He looked at me so seriously now, that if he were not a robot, he would’ve popped a blood vessel in his eyeball. He grinned now though, through all of that seriousness. “Calypsus will not be the end of me, and I hope you understand that.”

I did understand. I understood that he was afraid, and all of that laughter was just another one of his programs designed to deter me from completing my task of vengeance. I understood that Dion was an over-protective father – Nay, a neurotic owner of some cherried-out classic car – he was just scared to lose his “baby.” And like the book said, Dex’ personality could easily be printed again in some other vehicle. I understood that I was in charge now, like the vision Queenie gave to me: I was the rightful captain of this ship, and I wouldn’t allow this wicked robot to make a mockery of me after killing my one true love. I nodded to Dex and kept my head down.

“Dion belay the order to clean up. Go ahead and show Lester how to use the Magnatron,” Dex said with an added measure of nonchalance. “He’s harmless now.” Dion looked over at me, and even though I just told him I would get along with Dex, I could tell he halfway didn’t believe me.

“I’m going to give this back to you, Dex,” Dion said, handing the robotics book over to the robot. “I have no use for it, and neither does Lester anymore. Do you, Lester?” I shook my head. I really didn’t have an immediate use for the book; after all, I knew what to do and how to do it. At this point it was just a matter of perfect timing.

“Well I’m going back below deck, fellas,” Dex said. “I’ll be back shortly though; I want to see if Dion actually can surf in this muck.” The scuttle somehow materialized again. As he approached it, he smiled back at us and said, “Thanks for the laughs.” I wanted to say, “Go fuck yourself,” but I figured I should minimize the insults until I had the upper hand. Dion turned to me after the robot left.

“He could’ve killed you just now, you know that?”

“He didn’t,” I said. “He wouldn’t have anyway.”

“How do you know that? You didn’t read the book.” He was right about that: I hadn’t read all of it.

“Alright, I’ll bite. Why didn’t he kill me?”

“Probably because I’ve told him that you’re cool.” It sounded funny to hear Dion say a sentence like that.

“Well, thanks for that,” I said, with more sarcasm than sincerity.

“Listen, he’s not like the other robots mentioned in that book. They’re all connected to a database that tells them to never kill a human. Dex, however, has severed that connection; he’s a rogue. He’s got free-will, like you and me, and he can do whatever the heck he wants. And if he wanted to kill you he could – there’s no two ways about it.”

“Then bring it on.”

“You’re really stupid if you think you can beat him in a fight. There’s no such thing as a fair fight with a robot. He’s equipped with lasers and needles, not to mention electricity and pyrotechnics. You have nothing at your disposal that can hurt him. And your idea to infect him with calypsus? That would only make him stronger.”

“That’s not what the book says,” I retorted. “I read the chapter on calypsus and it basically says that he will be out of commission if there is magic present. I figured I’d find some way to put a spell on him or something and Boom! He’ll be pushing up daisies, practically.”

“You didn’t read it carefully enough then,” Dion said. “Forget about what you read in the book, and remember what I said to you before: if you give the android calypsus, then we are gonna get whupped. You and me. Now let’s get you outfitted for the Magnatron so I can freaking surf already.”

This was another side of Dion I wasn’t used to. Before, he seemed so lackadaisical, so easy-going; now he was an asshole Alpha Male, exerting his dominance over the rest of the pack. I’d go along with his plan, sure, but I wasn’t going to like it at all. I would still be plotting, measuring and preparing for that perfect moment to strike. I had become a sleeper cell, or a cobra in hiding: once I toppled the hierarchy of this vessel, I would be the rightful captain of the Moonmoth as I was in my vision.