Ruins (Pathfinder Trilogy) Read Free

Father had taught him, he did not believe the first explanation his mind leapt to. “It will often be right, and as you get more experience of life it will usually be right. But it will never be reliably right, and you must always think of other possible explanations or, if you can’t,then at least keep your mind open so you will recognize a better explanation if one emerges.”
    So Rigg did not trust Vadesh. Moreover, he was sure that Vadesh knew that Rigg did not trust him—because Father would have known.
    When Rigg got his water from the second cupful, it was as delicious as the others said.
    He poured the last water from his canteen onto the floor and then moved to put it into the space the stone vessel came from.
    “No,” said Vadesh. “One reason this water can be trusted is that it is never used to fill any container but this one. It won’t work anyway. It only pours out water when this is in place.” Vadesh reinserted the stone cup, and again the water could be heard gushing into the stone.
    They all emptied their canteens of the stale traveling water they obtained when they last filled at a stream two days before, then refilled them from the stone vessel. With enemies pursuing them, they had not dared to stop even for water on that last day before they crossed the Wall.
    “It’s getting near dark outside,” said Loaf. “Is there a safe place to sleep in this city?”
    “Everywhere here is safe,” said Vadesh.
    Rigg nodded. “No large animals ever come here,” he said.
    “Then is there a comfortable place here?” asked Umbo. “I’ve slept on hard floors and on grass and pine needles, and unless there’s a bed . . .”
    “I don’t need beds,” said Vadesh, “and I didn’t expect company.”
    “You mean they didn’t make their beds out of stuff that never decays?” asked Olivenko.
    “There is nothing that doesn’t decay,” said Vadesh. “Some things decay more slowly than others, that’s all.”
    “And how slowly do you decay?” asked Rigg.
    “Slower than beds,” said Vadesh, “but faster than fieldsteel.”
    “And yet you seem as good as new,” said Rigg. “That’s a question.”
    Vadesh stood by the water pillar gazing at him for a long moment. Deciding, Rigg supposed, how to respond without telling him anything useful.
    “My parts are all replaceable,” he said. “And my knowledge is fully copied in the library in the Unchanging Star.”
    “Who makes your new parts?” asked Rigg.
    “I do,” said Vadesh.
    “Here?” asked Rigg. “In this factory?”
    “Some of the parts, yes,” said Vadesh.
    “And the other parts?”
    “Somewhere else, obviously,” said Vadesh. “Why do you ask? Do you think any of my parts are defective?”
    Now, that was interesting, thought Rigg. I was going to ask him if he ever had enough parts to make a complete new copy of himself, but he assumed I was doubting that he was functioning perfectly.
    This made Rigg assume that Vadesh himself had doubts about his functionality.
    “How could I know if a machine so perfect that I could live with one for thirteen years without realizing it wasn’t human is not up to par?” he asked.
    “Exactly,” said Vadesh, as if they had been arguing and Vadesh had just proved his point.
    And maybe we were arguing, thought Rigg. And whatever Vadesh might have done since I met him, he certainly did not prove anything. All he did was make me wonder if he’s broken somehow. Did he do that for a purpose? Is it an illusion, so I will underestimate his ability? Or is it a symptom of his imperfection, that he could raise doubts in my mind when his goal was to reassure me?
    “Thanks for the water,” said Rigg. “I think we’ll go out of the city to sleep on softer ground. Unless there’s a couple of you who want to sleep on stone.”
    There were no volunteers. Rigg led the way out of the building, following their own paths back out of the empty city. At first Vadesh seemed to assume he was welcome to