‘Get down!’
Mum’s first words upon my return home after work. I hit the deck without hesitation. This was not the first time obeying quick maternal instructions.
A spinning disc whizzed through the air, about where my belly button had been. Whirling ragged ferns kept the object in flight. A glimmering solar panel sat in the middle, surrounded by purple flowers. After a quick tour of the corridor, the gadget flew back to the kitchen, clipping the wall en route.
Mum offered me a hand up.
'Still working out the specifics,' she said. 'But a pretty good start eh?'
The disc was on the table by the time I had got changed.
Mum’s work often spilled over into our evening routines. Always worth a story at least. One time a hand crawled over my dinner, eyes rolling where the fingernails had been. Mum insisted the eyes did not see like we see. That this was a product for dropping off blood supplies. She cooked me some pancakes.
Never diesel stuff like Deni though. Mum said that people like the organic products, especially since the war. And never for a gimmick. A scaled up version of the disk might one day transport goods across the city. You can grow the ferns into full plants. Something more sterile might be more efficient, but people want designs that look alive. That are alive.
Made me think about Deni. How some may think they were not a person, but oil and metal formed in a recognisable shape. The logic in that argument is like licking stale food. But then what separates her from Mum’s inventions?
What does the Butter Mouse think of them? Either of the Butter Mouse? Does one stare through the glass of her tank, and wonder why Deni looks so different? And does the other see industrial waste, waiting to get cleaned up?
But then why the theatricality?
Not exploring that path. Quiet on the murder front, and I am not going to jinx the peace.
These thoughts keep on at me. Later, when assembling the clips on my timeline, I worry I am splicing together parts of a living creature. Is this electronic signal part of their biological code? Should I be more respectful with the original tapes? Everything makes my head hurt.
Will I think of that disc when I next see Deni?
Clip: More buildings. But look at that brief clip in the middle. The one with animals dancing on the side. Similar to those in tank 1417. Is this another Stitch?