Her Majesty's Sky

You only get one chance at an introduction, so you’ve got to get it right. My once upon a time could begin as most princesses queens’ start out-in a tall locked tower with a palace with the girl staring into a mirror complaining singing…but I’m no girl and no queen, so

I guess my once upon a time will begin with the sky.

The sky is a rough black and blue bruise over the city, nothing much to look at from a distance, or through a window. If you squint close enough, there are two dots up there…a white one and another with a slight auburn color. The rest is nothingness.

My database identifies them as planets, like this one known as Earth 7 dash B. It is only too bad that I would give almost anything to escape to those other planets right now. Earth 7 dash B was beginning to sound like a nice place to live.

“Young majesty! Young majesty it is time for your classes!” Yeah, yeah. Young majesty yourself. The Clerk robots weren’t that bad, to be honest, but they were always so pushy with their ordering around and butler-ish voices. Also, they tended to get fried up in the heat.

“Tell Sentry307 that I’m not coming!”

With a huff, I turn back to the outside garden, already plotting my escape. Not that anyone can escape from the palace, but everyone from the outside says the views from the rotunda are breathtaking, so maybe I’ll spend the afternoon there. Sentry307 could wait, though I’m not completely sure if it’s him; only 99.99 percent sure. Better not to risk anything.

“Young majesty, Sentry307 has requested for your immediate arrival. Report to the lounge or we will have no choice but to take you by force.”

So it was him. I’ll have to report to class eventually, but since I’m still telling you the story of my life, it must wait. Time to have some fun.

Bounding back a few paces, I let the Clerk robot zoom across the halls, and clonk it upside the head with my arm. Two more race up the stairwell and despite my distinct groaning, they don’t retreat. I run forward, sliding on the freshly waxed floors to tip the Clerks over on their bottoms, not bothering to control the laughter bubbling up from the excitement. Soon enough, I’ll begin the short jog to “Humane Adaptations Class”, but for a minute I watch the Clerks struggle and fail to sit up, their automated messages ringing in my ears.

“Report to the lounge or we will take you by force. Report to the lounge or we will take you by force.”

Their voices make me shudder, and I have no choice but to slunk along the hallways, running my fingers along with the woven tapestries all the way to Sentry307.

The thing about ‘happily ever after stories’ is that nothing really bad happens to the protagonist. Maybe, like the inky sky, they’ll be empty on the inside and be broken-hearted for a while, but I’ve always been empty on the inside. For some reason, as I curl and uncurl my toes inside my slippers, I think about the empty.

The empty has always been with me, alongside me, rattling inside me like the girl who was crying yesterday on our front lawn. She was crying for Archie, but I don’t know anyone by the name of Archie, and my server never lies. Maybe the empty is like Archie, like the purple galaxy etched on my arm; both something and nothing at the same time.

“You’re late again Rinn.” There’s this funny face Sentry307 makes, like a human with pursed lips. It almost makes me want to slap him, but I catch myself. He might start calling me ‘young majesty’ again, and I won’t be able to handle that.

“Yes, it appears I am. You should’ve known better, sending the Clerks. They annoy the heck out of me Sentry.”

“And why is that so?” Now he has on his thoughtful face. Were they all programmed into his mind, or are some his own? If I could spin this into some wacky tale, maybe he wouldn’t rat me out about being late…“Don’t try stalling me, Rinn. I already have your homework ready for you: The Humane Social Skills and Feelings Chapter One.”

“Well, I was going to tell you that I quit. Androids can’t be queens-we’re just like the Clerks! After a while, we’re just junk programs that are a little more…advanced?”

“Are you quite sure about that?”

I’ve never been sure of anything in my life. Not completely, anyway. In a story, there’s always a struggle, like the crying girl and her Archie, and the outside. I could go to sleep and lie down in a human bed each night, but watching the sun come up is my favorite hobby unless you count skipping class as a hobby. First, it’s like the moon isn’t going to leave. It hangs there, lifeless and motionless in the darkness until a golden orb rises from the shallows.

A hero in the darkness, the sun almost touches the moon and they merge into a glowing hot ball and the sky, the sky transforms into a bright blue. I don’t think I will ever see such a sight on any other planet, despite Sentry307‘s constant lectures on planets and trade routes throughout the galaxy.

“Yeah, maybe I’m sure.” Without warning, Sentry307 presses a button on the back of my head, and the human camouflage recedes into my comforting metal outer shell. I hardly ever see myself like this anymore, not since I’ve gone outside and led the humans in their day-to-day lives.

“A queen has to lead her people with confidence, especially since you are the new Star Queen. You must be the bridge between your world and the outside world. The humans, they are only afraid of their creations.”

“So, they’re afraid of boba tea? In my opinion, that’s actually pretty good, though the bubble things keep getting stuck in my mouth.” Sentry307 remains expressionless, and I wonder if his human makers programmed him to be serious and boring.

“You are not only your programs. You are neither human nor machine. You are an android, a queen, and a Star Queen-the first one without flesh and blood.” The first one. And yet, nobody is allowed to know me…the real me.

I turn my attention to the skies. The sun is hanging there, a low rim of clouds scraping the bright blue, leaving a small whitish blob in the middle of the sky. I remember one of the Clerks telling me about a human tradition, this stargazing. I always thought sky-gazing was a better name. But while the Clerks can’t talk much, I can talk however much I want to, and still, nobody can answer all of my questions.

“How is your blending going?” I snap out of my trance, trying in vain to roll my eyes at my teacher. He was definitely programmed to be boring and monotone. The teachers in teenage Star school are better than him; at least they have hearts.

“I have one human friend in teenage school, and the guard people are beginning to talk to me. Also, teacher Landers has started calling me her ‘pet’.” I don’t know if that last thing is actually good, but I included it anyway. The last thing I need is an insult from a robot.

“Hmm…then I guess your coronation can’t wait any longer. The late Queen Alma would’ve wanted it to be sometime around now, especially since humans have endured too much at the hands of the empty.” He presses the button on my back, revealing my human appearance, and grabs me.

“Where are we going? What did Alma want?”

“We’re going to have you submit to the empty. The prophecy has to come true as soon as possible. Listen, Rinn, androids were meant to serve, and this is what a queen does for her people.” But did I ever get a choice in becoming the new Star Queen?

I look both ways, left then right, keeping an eye out for any Clerks. There aren’t any, meaning that it’s only Sentry and me.

“Sorry,” I whisper, knowing he’ll be able to hear anyways.

“Sorry for what dear Rinn-” He never completes his sentence, and I will never submit to the empty to protect humans. Sentry307 was my world, my link to the vast world. Maybe, when he wakes up, he’ll regret teaching me Automaton Basics 25. That was probably the only lesson I ever attended, but I’m only 99.99 percent sure.

Run. Running. I run fast, de-cloaking myself from my human form, not bothering to check if there are any humans watching. The Clerks come almost as soon as I turn a corner, supposedly on stealth mode. Seriously, if those big metal junk robots learn how to be stealthy when I’m gone, I’ll bet pigs are leading the galaxy.

“Come and get me!” I whip out a small smoke detonator and fling it in their direction, stooping to the tiles to raise the ladder upward. Sentry will also regret installing a hyper software server in my visual cortex. He basically installed a map in there, and now, after fourteen years, I’ll be heading for the ships. After fourteen years, I’ll be free.

Alien ships aren’t that weird.

Okay, maybe they’re a little weird, but they can’t be too hard to fly.

Fine. They are a little hard to fly…for a human. I download data and veer the small taco-shaped ship to the side. I have yet to try that human food, but humans have colonized the galaxy, so there have to be at least 30 more planets I can get tacos from.

I’ve always gotten to this part of my escape plan. Every time, the ship fails and I can’t escape because the gas runs out or the runway bursts or my smoke detonator goes off inside, or the Clerks…yeah you get the picture. I’ve tried to escape many, many times.

But that’s the thing about stories and once upon a time and happily ever afters. Sometimes, they might be true. The late Queen Alma had her own adventures with escaping, the empty has always escaped from our grasp, and chaos most often than not slips under the cracks.

I’m tired of being called ‘young majesty’ instead of Rinn. I…feel joy and sadness as the ship whirrs and soars over the unmanned runway up and over to the skies. I understand that Sentry307 is right. We’re not just what we’re programmed to be. We can be more. I want to be more.

When a story ends, you have to do it right. You only have one shot at it, and my story is not your average android queen story…and to be honest (if androids can be honest), I’m not sure if it ends here. I’m only 50% sure, so we’ll not risk it. Maybe, my story will ‘end’ with the sky. Up in space, the sky is chaotic and dark. Earth 7 dash B looks beautiful from this view, though nothing will compare to the sunrise. And that’s what I think it means to be human. To be chaotic, to be something and nothing at the same time, to be the sky.

And the sky, it’s all her majesty’s to claim.