The Dandelion Seed

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. It was lush, bright, wild, and it breathed like an enormous, green beast.

Then the thick, brass door slammed shut, cutting off her view with a resounding clang. Anna414 knelt on the colorless, concrete floor, her polishing brushes attached to her palms forgotten. Her eyes remained fastened to the fading window-light's afterglow marking the closed door. She'd passed this same room countless times since she'd been assigned to the Graham's household, but until now she'd had never seen inside it. She'd never truly known what she'd been missing.

"Are you rusting to the floor, Drudge?"

Siah Graham's harsh voice jolted Anna414 out of her trance.

Siah didn't want a verbal answer of course, even if she could've given him one. Drudges were hybrids of mechanical parts and cloned humans designed to perform menial tasks for the Favored (like Siah). Like all Drudges, she'd been born without a voice-boxes or other unnecessary bits.

She quickly faced the floor to prevent herself from meeting the Favored's eyes by mistake as she quickly reactivated her brushes' spin and dived back into cleaning, but she still felt the ice-cold gaze pricking the nerves in her neck. She kept her head so low as she worked that her fringe was in danger of getting caught by the whining brushes. Ignoring the acrid stench of polish burning her nostrils, she side scooted in the opposite direction of his dark boots, trying not to appear avoidant.

Siah Graham was one of the most respected and highest ranking among the Favored. Supposedly she should be proud to be his household's Drudge, but Anna414 knew how quickly Drudges were sent to the Shop whenever they fell below his rigid expectations.

Anna414 hated the Shop. It stunk of metal, oil, and blood. Drudges and Servitors (upgraded Drudges with higher level tasks) were sent there for repairs, surgical and mechanical upgrades, and general maintenance until they were no longer functional. If they could not be salvaged, then they were recycled instead.

"Father." A new set of boots trudged into Anna414's peripheral vision as Arlo Graham entered the corridor. "You finished gathering the outside samples?"

Siah harrumphed, and Anna414 heard his worn, leather satchel hitting the top of a side-table. She dared a peek at the men from beneath her thick, brown hair, careful to keep working.

Already a tall, imposing man, with swept back iron-gray hair and a tidy, peppery beard, Siah stood on a tower of prestige. Like all Favored ones, his body remained totally free of mechanical enhancements to preserve their biological "purity." His son had inherited Siah's height but was so feeble and colorless in contrast, that it was difficult to believe they were related at all.

"Of course I did," Siah replied to his son's question impatiently, removing a container of ceramic vials from his satchel as evidence. "Why would I come back from Outside without doing my job?"

Arlo leaned his back against the smooth, concrete wall, his pale eyes too old and tired for his youth. "I just wanted to make sure that you were available. Doctor Aldridge wanted to know when you're back."

Siah stiffened abruptly. "What does Aldridge want?"

Arlo shrugged, letting his eyes drift around the corridor as if he were bored of the conversation he'd started. His eyes landed momentarily on Anna414's before she hurriedly looked away. She wasn't afraid of Arlo, but she didn't want Siah's attention drawn back to her. "He's been talking to everyone of age about Reviewing. He wanted to talk to you about scheduling me an appointment next week."

Anna414 jumped at the sudden BANG of Siah's fist hitting the table.

"He knows you're not due for a Reviewing!" he snarled, grabbing the satchel back up and shoving the container of vials in. He viciously prodded the call button for the household Servitor, muttering. "I told him you were too young and not to set up an appointment until I say that you're ready!"

"I guess he forgot," Arlo suggested dryly.

Anna414 mentally scoffed. Everyone in the room was fully aware that Siah's issue over Arlo's Reviewing wasn't actually due to his son's age, no matter how passionately he insisted.

The Reviewing was a quick, physical exam that determined whether an individual's DNA qualified for reproduction. This exam had been mandatory ever since the Great Separation to regulate population and genetic quality control. The House (an enormous self-sustaining facility for the remaining humans) could only sustain so many people at a time. That meant limiting the number of humans with biological functions and selectively approving natural reproduction for some candidates. Drudges and Servitors weren't manufactured with reproductive organs, so the Reviewing was only meant for the Favored.

Arlo was nearly twenty years old now, but most of the Favored completed the Reviewing while far younger. Anna414 had seen how weak and sickly Arlo had been throughout his life though, and anyone looking could tell at a glance that Arlo wasn't likely to pass a Reviewing.

However, he was Siah Graham's son. That meant he directly descended from a line of environmental scientists who'd been deeply involved with The House's organization since the Great Separation: the event that had saved the world.

Before the Great Separation, unbridled wars had razed the world and its inhabitants into the state of near extinction, causing the following years spent in the earth's ravaged state to become known as the "Bone Age." The earlier Grahams recognized the need to separate humanity's parasitic grip from the earth in order to restore it, and helped to create The House and manage those it homed. They kept the remaining population alive and restricted their access to the outside, which allowed the "Outside" to nurse itself back to health without human interference for centuries. Today, only Siah Graham and a handful of other Favored ones were allowed to access the Outside, and they only did so to gather samples and check on the earth's healing progress.

After generations of Grahams building their legacy, Siah couldn't allow the son he'd produced to become the failure who ended it. Clearly, he'd managed to delay Arlo's Reviewing in the past through his own social status, but it appeared that the others were getting tired of turning a blind eye.

A heavy door (not the brass one) scraped open, revealing Peggy5. She wore a bangle around one wrist, marking her as the Graham's Servitor. Peggy5's congenial, old face always bore an infectious little smile that hid her eyes in creases and today was no exception. The little white smock she wore did nothing to hide the odd, spring-jointed legs that gave her walk a jaunty bounce, nor the ceramic-like material that made up nearly every other part of her body. She didn't have any hair left, and except for her wrinkled face, Peggy5 appeared well built freshly refurbished, but she'd been the Graham's Servitor for over two generations.

Her feet clanked loudly against the floor as she shuffled cheerfully to the men, oblivious to their mood. Her head ticked quirkily to the side, and one of her arms twitched randomly but luckily Siah appeared to be too distracted take notice of the signs of malfunction.

"Take this to the Lab," Siah thrust his satchel at Peggy5, and nearly bowled her over as he shoved pass her with purposeful strides.

Unfazed by his roughness, Peggy5 held the satchel close and bobbed the other way.

"And you," Siah said darkly without even looking over his shoulder at Arlo. "Just stay here! I'm going to have another talk with Aldridge."

Anna414 shifted out of the way to avoid being trampled as Siah left to confront the doctor. She could've pitied the doctor but was relieved to see Siah go. Without the man's looming presence filling the room, she finally had space to breath. She flicked a look at Arlo, wondering what would happen to him.

He resembled a ghost, still leaning against the wall with the corridor lamp back-lighting his lank form. Whether Siah managed to put off the Reviewing again or not, she couldn't see how another delay would help. Despite the care and treatment he'd received throughout his life, Arlo had remained sickly and weak.

A horrible, discordant squeal of metal scraping metal instantly derailed Anna414's train of thought. She cringed against the assault on her ears and spun towards the source of her torture.

Sparks spit from Peggy5's hand and the surface of the door she was attempting to get through. The problem became apparent as Peggy5 lifted her hand to try again, but her elbow bucked, keeping her from touching the door's latch.

Anna414 turned off her polishing brushes, but Arlo somehow reached the old Servitor before Anna414 could stand.

"There you go, Pegs," he sighed, pressing the latch. "Take your time. I think he's going to be a while anyway."

Peggy5 smiled broadly up at him as the door swung open. She looked so small next him. The top of her smooth, ceramic scalp barely bobbed up to his chest as she creaked past him.

Arlo watched the Servitor go with concern etched between his brows, then noticed Anna414 still posed with one knee up. Pulling a wry face, he closed the door and leaned against it. Perhaps it was because he'd been bedridden with nobody but Peggy5 and Anna414 for company for most of his life, but he often spoke his thoughts aloud to them.

"She'll probably go to the Shop soon," he said, making Anna414 frown. The corner of his mouth twisted into a humorless smirk. "I think father would love to attach a Cervical Key to my neck and send me to the Shop for fixing if he could."

Anna414 grimaced, touching the metal exoskeleton piece hugging the back of her own neck. The Cervical Key connects to a body's nervous system and is what allows a Drudge to control their mechanical limbs and enhancements as if they were natural. A thick knob embedded into the bottom vertebra turned the connection on and off. It was turned off during repairs and surgery to prevent movement and also saved Drudges from experiencing pain... but every time Anna414 laid on a Shop surgeon's table it felt like being trapped in a nightmare one couldn't wake from as surgeons took her body apart and put it together again. Whenever it was time to turn her Cervical Key back on, she was terrified that she'd remain paralyzed.

Anna414 shivered. Peggy5 was old and had already gone through so many changes. What if it was the Shop that killed her? Anna414 flicked on her brushes and slammed them down near the brass door, glaring at Arlo, suddenly angry at him for being so flippant. He didn't actually need to worry about his father sending him to the Shop.

"Wow, forget the Reviewing. With stares like that, I'll die before father finishes talking to Aldridge," Arlo laughed hollowly. "Of course, that'd actually save him having to deal with me. The House might even let him make a replacement."

Anna414's brow furrowed. Would Siah actually wish Arlo dead? She shook her head over her whirring brushes. Siah would look better if his current son grew strong and passed the Reviewing.

Something fluttered underneath the brass door's edge as she swept a brush close to it, and Anna414 paused. A delicate piece of fluff stirred up by the brush's airflow floated up. She quickly shut off her brushes, yanking one off of her hand to catch the tiny, drifting fluff on the tip of a hard, metal finger.

What is this?

She leaned close, careful to avoid dislodging the tiny thing. A thin, pale stem was topped with a minuscule puff of pure white strands spread in a circular fan, and the bottom end was a teeny, brown pod shaped like a pointed foot. It was no bigger than the fingertip it rested on. It caught her breath and swept off her finger. She gasped in delight as the little thing spun, toe down, like a tiny dancer in the air until she caught it on the edge of her fingertip again. Siah must have tracked the little thing in from the Outside.

Were there many of these little dancers out there? She nearly squirmed at the thought. She couldn't wait to show Peggy5!

"What did you find?" Arlo asked, startling her from her reverie.

She resisted the urge to hide the little treasure from him. She'd already made it obvious that she'd found something, so she reluctantly showed him, careful to keep it cupped in her hands so that it didn't fly off again.

"Oh," Arlo exclaimed, his eyebrows lifting interestedly. "That looks like a seed!" At her questioning look he added in explanation, "It comes from plants and plants come from it. Kind of like eggs and embryos."

Awed, Anna414 stared at the seed in her hand. She'd found something alive?

***

The evening bell tolled, signaling the Drudges and Servitors' time to retire. Anna414 still had a bit of time before lights-out in the lower levels if she hurried though. She sprinted past various Drudges and Servitors slowly settling into their designated lockers. Nobody looked up, they were usually too fatigued or uninterested to pay attention to one another's antics. Anna414 and Peggy5 regularly met at her sleeping locker however, to share anything interesting or simply keep each other company, but tonight Anna414 finally had something to share!

Anna414 skidded to a stop outside Peggy4's locker, startled to find the old Servitor sitting up, but staring with unfocused eyes and a slack frown while her head dipped repeatedly to the side.

A pang of anxiety struck Anna414's chest. The Servitor was always so lively, bouncing around her tasks, and checking on her or Arlo (sometimes just charm a smile out one of them.) It shocked Anna414 to see Peggy5 so... vacant. With a hesitant hand, she touched the Servitor's ball jointed shoulder.

Peggy5 started, blinking at Anna414. Then she clasped Anna414's tin fingers between her own, beaming up at her with the energy of the sun in her smile as if nothing but the Drudge's presence could make her happier.

Anna414 expelled her breath with great relief. Perhaps she'd overreacted over the Servitor's strange lethargy. She fluttered her hands excitedly to indicate she had something to show the Servitor.

Peggy5 brightened even more, nodding and waving for Anna414 to proceed.

Anna414 lifted her left forearm. A small tool organizer was built into it, and she eagerly flipped open the cover. Holding her breath, she gently plucked the tufted seed from the space she'd stored it. Holding up a finger for Peggy5 to wait a moment, she raised the seed in her other hand. Then she released it, allowing the tiny seed to demonstrate it's graceful, floating dance.

The old Servitor gasped and momentarily filled the pod with metallic tings as she clapped gleefully. Then she cupped her hands to catch the seed between her palms, without even a tremor bothering her limbs now.

Though Anna414 was 60% mechanic she felt full of warmth at that moment. Peggy5's brown eyes were sparkling like a child's as she carefully passed the fairy-like seed back to her.

Anna414 accepted it and brushed the fine white fluff against her cheek. This was the only way she could feel the texture. She gestured towards Peggy5's chest, where the Servitor stowed her own collection close to her ceramic heart.

Peggy5 twinkled at her and flicked the hinged cover over her heart open to gently remove the items.

Anna414 carefully lifted everything Peggy5 laid out, one by one, to brush against her cheek as well. A forked twig the length of her little finger was rough enough to almost scratch her skin. A papery, oval leaf with delicate veins fanning across its surface felt smooth and sharp. A few strands of yellowy grass tickled, and a shriveled flower scraped. None were soft like her little seed, but she wondered how differently everything would've felt before they'd dried out.

Peggy5 watched her with a quiet look of understanding and smiled wistfully when Anna414 lightly touched the seed to the Servitor's cheek. Peggy5 waved for Anna414 to go, the lights would be turned off soon, and she didn't want her to get caught stuck outside her locker.

Before Peggy5, the young Drudge had existed as all Drudges did; day to monotonous day on autopilot without any thoughts, desires, or hope. Then one night as she'd knelt in her locker, sore and recovering from having her arms amputated and replaced with mechanic ones, the old Servitor had comforted and distracted her by showing her the twig and flower she'd preserved back then. Things rarely strayed in from Outside, which remained an alluring mystery, but that night Anna414 had dreamed of the green place where things grew.

***

Anna414 rolled her shoulders and elbows, checking the joints for stiffness. They might need oil soon, but first she had to finish scrubbing the Graham's bathroom. It became filthy and smelly so quickly, it made her glad she didn't have a digestive system.

Wrinkling her nose, she stepped out of the newly clean showering corner towards the toilet closet. She always left that for last-

A bell rang once, and Anna414 paused to look up at the room list above the door. The red 'Main Room' light blinked back at her.

Arlo's raised voice coming from behind the Main Room door before she reached it, surprised her. Arlo didn't waste energy shouting, and certainly not at his father.

She slipped into the room discreetly, seeing the men standing over something between the chairs. Arlo's face was flushed and Siah looked annoyed, but Anna414 didn't hear the next thing said. When she approached she saw in that terrible instant the problem she'd been called to handle.

At first she could only see the Servitor's slender, springed legs poking out from behind the chair, and one of them folded at a weird angle. A dull roaring filled Anna414's ears as she crept closure, unwilling but unable to stop herself from seeing the rest.

Peggy5 laid twisted on the floor with her arms spread out almost gracefully. Her head rested, propped up awkwardly against a leg of the coffee table, and her nearly translucent face fell lax and expressionless as a rag.

Anna414 numbly knelt down next to Peggy5 though felt miles away as she reached for the Servitor's shoulders. She jumped as Peggy5's head suddenly convulsed to the side with a flurry of sharp jerks. When she stopped, Anna414 saw to her mixed horror and hope that Peggy5 still seemed to be flickering in and out of herself.

She could just hear Arlo in the background as she stared into the Servitor's faded brown eyes, willing the light back into them.

"Her leg just locked up or something. We could still send her to the Shop-"

"The leg wasn't the issue, it was the brain, which we knew was going," Siah cut him off impatiently. "You can replace all of the other pieces all you want, and it'll still just be a pile of useless junk."

That wrenched Anna414 back into the world, but she didn't twitch, keeping her eyes trained on Peggy5's as they slowly blinked, though she sensed the man towering over her.

"She does need to go to the Shop for recycling though." Siah reached down to snapped the bangle with the Graham's name from off Peggy5's wrist and tossed it carelessly onto her chest in front of Anna414. "Remove these remains and take that when you report to the Shop, Drudge. Looks like you're leveling up sooner than expected."

Anna414 stared at the bangle, her heart pounding against her bones as if it wanted a fight. Her teeth squeaked together as her jaw clenched. Siah already had his back turned, apparently trusting things he didn't have time for to be dealt with.

She looked towards Arlo, but the Favored boy's defeated gray eyes barely met hers before he turned and quietly left the room.

Just looking at the bangle enraged her so much, she expected fire to spew from her eyes and melt it when she finally forced herself to touch it. The bangle tinged against her tin fingers and dark tears began streaming down her face instead. They couldn't even wait for her to completely die.

She clenched the horrible thing in one hand, hoping to crush it as she wrapped an arm around Peggy5's back to prop her up into a sitting position. The Servitor's head flopped back, but for just a tiny, sliver of a moment Peggy5's eyes focused on Anna414's face. She offered the Drudge one last faint smile, and this time Anna414 could feel it when the old one slipped away.

***

She didn't know why she'd expected something different from the Favored ones when it came to Peggy5. She'd somehow forgotten that Servitors were just upgraded Drudges. Peggy5 had practically raised Siah and Arlo, but that just made her a good Servitor-not family. Not human.

Anna414 stood in front of the window in Siah's room. The glass was cool, although the vivid world speckled in sunlight on the other side looked warm. She recalled the moment she could only glimpse it. It'd taken a lot of planning and patience to be able to stand in front of it now.

She'd watched Siah every day since she'd returned from the Shop with the Graham's bangle on her wrist, determined to know his exact schedule so that she could figure out the best timing to take these chances.

Once a week he'd go to this room, which contained the window and a wide trapdoor which turned out to be the actual exit to Outside. She had figured out how to open the brass door without unlocking it and always made sure to return the door's hinges before Siah returned. From the window she'd seen him go to a box near the edge of The House's foundation and switch off the barrier (a pulsing shield that prevented anything from coming close, and anyone from leaving.) After he turned off the barrier, he'd disappear into the thick foliage for a couple of hours to gather his samples. When he returned, he'd flip the barrier back on, and reenter The House. Most of the time he took the satchel to the Lab himself but occasionally had her drop it off for him. Otherwise, he spent the majority of his days in the Lab or with the other Favored ones. This was his pattern and it had very little variant.

The most difficult challenge she faced was how to open the trapdoor. It's hinges and pins weren't visible, and it needed Siah Graham's handprint to unlock. Eventually Anna414 came to the conclusion that she'd only need to open it once, for she didn't intend to return once she escaped.

Anna414 touched her forearm where she still kept her seed. Peggy5 had once introduced the possibilities of something wonderful and new to her, but she'd also shown Anna414 what'd become of her if she stayed.

About half an hour had passed since Siah had left for the Lab, and Anna414's heart leapt into her throat.

Now!

She picked up the crowbar she'd brought in for this exact moment, and slammed it down against the trapdoor's lockscreen over and over until it had shattered into chips and dust. She tore out the wiring and thrust the flat end of the crowbar deep into the hole she'd made. She didn't care about the noise the trapdoor made, screeching and groaning as she forced the crowbar down deeper. She leaned her full weight into leveraging the door up. She would get through this blasted door even if she had to tear it into pieces!

The trapdoor shrieked one more time and then thunked up, revealing a short passage with a ladder to the ground below. Shaking and breathing hard, Anna414 threw aside the crowbar and crouched down. She was just dipping a leg through the hole when she heard the unhinged brass door slam open and fall.

"YOU!?" Siah's shocked, furious shout filled the room. Had he returned from the Lab early?! "NO YOU DON'T!"

Gasping, Anna414 tried to jump through the hole, but he rushed her like a bull and caught the back of her head with a fistful of her thick, brown hair. She saw red and white flashes as he yanked her backwards by the hair. Her body was extra heavy, and he was able to use the momentum of her own weight to throw her against the floor.

Anna414 twisted around, trying to keep her head through the blinding pain in her scalp long enough to bring her elbow down on the top of his foot.

He cried out, the sound filled with as much anger as there was pain, but his hold only loosened a fraction. She attempted to punch up, at his stomach, crotch, or anywhere that'd get him off. Instead, he roughly shook her head until she felt dizzy. Then she felt his other hand grasp the knob on the back of her Cervical Key just before he twisted it, cutting off her mobile ability. If Anna414 could've screamed she would have, as every part of her body instantly fell limp.

Only then did he completely release her hair, making her face thump against the floor. From this perspective, she could only see his feet (while they were in range) and the bottom of the room's entrance where door she'd unhinged had fallen near the discarded crowbar.

She tried to breath through her panic and mental screams, but she couldn't even tremble now as Siah moved around her cursing.

"The HELL?!" he raged, picked up a piece of broken trapdoor, and flung it across the room. He grabbed her hair again and cranked her head back far enough for her to see his savage scowl. "What the hell do you think you are?! I should have you dissembled!" He flung her face down hard, and something wet pooled below her nose and mouth, making her wonder whether it were tears, drool, or blood.

Through the fading dark spots and stars that had erupted in her vision, she saw another set of legs and feet appear at the fallen door's entrance and Arlo's voice stammer, "W-what's going on?"

"The Drudge destroyed these doors and tried to get Outside! No it's just wide open to whatever," Siah snarled. "She's obviously become a threat to us and the ecosystem!"

Breathing in deeply Siah moved around her paralyzed body to stand near the window. At least that is how it sounded to her. Arlo's feet were the only ones within view now, and they were still.

"She tried to get out?" Arlo repeated softly, crouching down almost into view to pick up the crowbar. He stared at it with bemused surprise for a long moment. Then he stood and Anna414 watched his feet move out of sight as he joined his father at the window.

"I'm getting fed up with these damn Drudges..." Siah growled. "There obviously needs to be another change-" His voice cut off under a sickening thunk, followed soon after by a heavy whump on the floor.

Anna414's pulse raced as slow footsteps approached and a shadow fell over her. In the charged silence there was a soft click, and Anna414's nerves abruptly reconnected to her body.

She scrambled upright, wide-eyed and gasping as she twisted around to see Arlo kneeling next to her. He was still holding the crowbar with shaking hands, but his pale face had a determined set. Siah was sprawled below the window, still breathing but obviously knocked out.

Anna414's forehead scrunched when she turned back to Arlo, spreading her hands in a query.

He just looked back at her and asked softly, "Is it all right if I go with you?"

She considered the blend of sadness and hope in his light eyes. There was nothing for Arlo here. He was more likely to die early, hidden in disgrace, than he would pass the Reviewing. Anna414 nodded slowly.

Within moments, they were through the broken trapdoor and crossing the short distance to barrier's control box. She grasped the power lever and pushed it down. The static buzz of the barrier cut out immediately, allowing the world's unfiltered sounds and colors to fill in. She stepped across the barrier line onto the spongy ground, sucking in the dizzyingly fresh air. Her eyes stung in the wind and the rush of overwhelming emotions. She could've drowned in the blue sky and lost herself in the hypnotic motions of the green foliage for years.

Looking back over her shoulder, Anna414 saw the outside of the The House, the enormous self-sustaining building. It looked pathetically small and dreary in comparison to the colors surrounding it. The walls were decrepit, and she only spotted a few windows on the structure. Siah and his legacy had gotten one thing right. The world thrived without humans, but they'd always needed the world far more than it needed them.

After a pause, Anna414 opened the container within her forearm to remove the tiny seed. It wiggled in the breeze as if trying to free itself, so she released it and watched the tiny seed fly until she could no longer see it.

She knew what she needed to do.

Taking the crowbar from Arlo, Anna414 stabbed the crowbar down into the barrier control box, blocking the ensuring there wouldn't be an easy repair. Then she removed the Graham's bangle from her wrist and hung it on the crowbar protruding from the damaged controller box. Those still within The House were the ones that needed a chance to heal and live now.

This would just have to be a start.