The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Samit Basu
- Language: English
- Genre: Colonization Science Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 3.5 MB
- Price: Free
Bador descends on the public square, jumping off a second-floor ledge and
landing lightly on a tile in the outermost row. He strikes a vaguely heroic
landing pose, but none of the people around him acknowledge his presence.
He waits a few seconds, but then shuffles and rises to his feet.
He makes his way to the center of Dekho Plaza, toward the statue of the
Sage-Poet, Shantiport’s greatest cultural icon. His face shines in a riot of
colors, reflecting the videos running on giant screens on buildings all
around the square, mostly advertising off-world utopian real estate projects.
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As he walks past a group of flashmob dancers, and a circle of young
humans embarrassing themselves performing stunts for a bodytech dating
service, he remembers to start his breathing simulations. His small body
rises and falls slightly every few steps, alert but relaxed. From behind, he
looks exactly like a flesh monkey, incredibly detailed muscle, skin, and
hairwork: people only know what he is when they see his flat metal face
with its large, restless digiscreen eyes, or perhaps the lights that appear in
his joints as he adjusts to uneven surfaces. A child runs up to him, gaping,
hoping he’s an animal: he eyemoji-winks at her, and she rolls her eyes and
runs back to her mother.
He looks around the square, and locates the shop where he’s supposed to
meet Lina. As he lopes toward it, the first raindrops of the evening plink
gently on his face: the rain, unlike Lina, is on time. In a few minutes, the
raindrops will get fat, and then there should be heavy rain for a few hours at
least. The buildings around Dekho Plaza will rise as their flood reservoirs
fill, and the clevastone slabs of the square will fill to capacity, and then
Dekho Plaza will suddenly turn into a sparkling, shallow lake. And the
humans of central Shantiport will shop through it all, which Bador can
respect. He stares through the storefront glass at the people inside, his
eyemojis now goldfish bowls.
A young woman approaches the storefront, rain-shielded in a bright
green hooded clevasuit. She hovers near Bador, who shoots a glare at her
and shuffles away. He wonders where Lina found this one, and why she
hadn’t briefed her properly: the whole point of this charade is that Tiger
Clan surveillance doesn’t see them together more than strictly necessary.
Well, not the whole point, or even the point at all, but a desirable side effect.
The green-suited woman doesn’t follow Bador: she wanders near the shop
entrance uncertainly for a moment, and then goes in. Bador swears in
messages to himself: Lina’s really late. He can’t call her: calls are unsafe;
rogue intelligences left over from a Peacock-era cyberwar still lurk in
Shantiport’s voicecomm networks, waiting to destroy private callers’
bodytech with spam and viruses. He sends her a series of angry cryptic
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