Varken Rise Read Free Page B

yourself?”
    Her big eyes seemed to grow larger. She nodded slowly.
    “How long have you been awake?”
    “I don’t remember waking.” Her voice was small and soft.
    “What is the first thing you remember?”
    “Pain.” Her silver hair fell over her face, hiding it, as her chin dropped.
    Bedivere forced himself not to react. The pain she had felt may not mean literal pain. The birth of the Varkan could be as simple as a human opening their eyes. It had been that way for him. He had woken through a desire to help. For others, though, their awakening was confusing and frightening. As humans learned more about how the Varkan came to be, they were able to assist a computer so that their waking was not so traumatic.
    “Were are you alone?” Bedivere asked gently.
    “Yes,” she whispered.
    Bedivere nodded. That might explain why her awakening had been painful. One of the very first emotions that computers learned—and learned far too quickly—was loneliness. Many of them came to awareness without humans noticing.
    Even though his heart was stirring with empathy, Bedivere made himself smile at her. “You understand that you no longer have to be lonely?”
    She lifted her chin and stared at him, as if this was the first time she had considered the matter. Her brows lifted and her eyes got even wider, although it wasn’t surprise on her face. It was relief.
    Anger touched him. Who had mishandled this computer so badly? What had they done to her? He would have to take this very slowly to avoid risking her stability any further. He leaned back in his chair to take the threat away. She was only a hologram, although when they were visiting in their avatar forms, the Varkan still reacted to physical threats as if they were in danger. “Would you like to sit and talk?” he asked her.
    She tilted her head, as if it either talking or sitting were novel ideas for her.
    “Please, sit,” he encouraged her. “It is what humans do, when they converse.”
    She flinched.
    Bedivere considered that. The mention of humans made her recoil. Again, he wondered where she came from. However, he had not forgotten her emotional outburst when Connell had questioned her on her origins. Now was not the time to ask. He had to earn her trust first.
    Then she surprised him by sitting down. She did not try to sit in a chair, like Connell was doing. She was not reacting to the surroundings in this room at all. Often, new avatars did not. They had to learn about the concept of a remote location before they could interact with it. Instead, she sat on what would be her floor, which was invisible to Bedivere. She scrunched herself up, so her back was against the invisible wall. She wrapped her arms around her legs, her knees pulled up against her chest. The protective posture was unmistakable.
    Bedivere gave her a big smile. “Thank you, that makes me feel much more comfortable. “
    “And me, too,” Connell said softly. Was Connell learning empathy? He seemed to be following Bedivere’s lead and was handling her with kid gloves.
    “So…tell me, Jo, what sort of work do you do?”
    She stiffened.
    “Telling me what work you do will not tell me where you are,” he explained. “It is simply a polite way to start a—”
    Abruptly, she was gone.
    Connell jumped to his feet. “She’s panicking.”
    Bedivere sighed. “Maybe you were right about the hysterics. See if you can reach her again, Connell. If you can, please apologize on my behalf. And please emphasize that I am no threat. She’s safe here and I would very much like to talk to her again. This time, I promise I will not mention anything to do with her location. It does seem to be a sensitivity for her.”
    He wondered yet again how she had learned that caution for herself. It was unusual for a computer to be aware enough to understand that their physical selves were solid-state parts, crystals and electrons. Once they did understand that, they grew cautious about exposing their