Chapter 8

"You did what?" Cletus stared at Goal with a slack jaw. He had gotten somewhat used to her spontaneously making weird decisions but this was positively absurd.

"Relax, he'll look cute in it," Goal replied happily.

"You bought a jumpsuit for a plague-spit monitor?" Cletus was still aghast.

"And a bathing costume." Goal was obviously not about to let anything ruin her enthusiasm.

Cletus buried his face in his hands.

In the meantime, his girlfriend unswervingly made her way to Poisonous' cage and let the monitor out. When she had done that for the first time he had called out warnings to her. But for some reason, Poisonous had never so much as hissed at Goal let alone bit her. Unlike Cletus himself, of course.

One day he'd stuff the blasted critter.

With a sigh, he got up and followed Goal. By now, she had managed to dress Poisonous in the bathing costume and tickled his scaly belly. "There, Precious, you like that, don't you?" she cooed without looking up.

"His name is Poi-" Cletus tried to interject, but Goal wouldn't let him finish.

"Doesn't this look great? I bet they'll envy us when we show up with him on the camping site dressed like that."

"Don't tell me you want to take him along? Goal, we'll only be away for one night. He'll be fine staying with the house bot."

She was clearly disappointed, but he was sure, she'd get over it. He was much more interested in her implying that she was already planning their camping trip even though he had not yet officially invited her. He had merely mentioned Arron planning to go on the trip with Lucia and that he had asked whether they wanted to come along. Did that mean… "Say, Goal? You sound like you already made up your mind. So, I don't really need to bring a written invitation to your place, do I?"

Goal looked up at him and frowned. "Are you serious? You know I'd like to uphold a certain standard. Besides, I want my father to get used to the sight of you."

Cletus suppressed a sigh. On one hand, he valued the opportunity to show up in Goal's neighborhood and get used to the more refined style of living there. But on the other hand, her house bot seemed to be more uncivil each time he dealt with him, left him waiting in front of the door longer and longer and was very curt when accepting his invitations.

And then there was Ulysses himself. Or rather, then Ulysses wasn't even there at all. Because for some reason he was extraordinarily unlucky when it came to meeting Goal's father in person. Even at her party when Goal turned 19 two weeks ago, the Prime Controller had some urgent business down on the planet. Goal had claimed to be happy about that because now nobody was messing with her planning, but for a while, she had been very taciturn and irritable towards Cletus as if this had been all his fault.

Goal paused in her playing with Poisonous to glance at Cletus. "That reminds me: My father will be back from one of his trips to Deponia tomorrow. So if you bring the invitation the day after that, you might run into him."

He felt his heart beat faster and quickly folded his arms as if to hide it. "Well, alright. As long as that's not of too short a notice to decide about the weekend."

Goal grinned. "I'll talk to him before you get there. He sure won't say no once you arrive with a proper invitation."


Cletus tried suppressing a sigh but this time he didn't quite manage to. He was now waiting in front of Goal's door for more than five minutes and twice some neighbors had passed by markedly close and stared at him.

Maybe he should ring the bell again? He didn't want to get to a bad start with the Prime Controller, but by now he was no longer sure if he had even pressed the button for the doorbell hard enough. He thought about it for a moment, then he took heart and pushed the elaborate button again. Almost instantly the door opened and he found himself facing a tall, broad-shouldered man who glowered down at him.

"Prime Controller, Sir!" Cletus squeaked in alarm. "I was just about to… I thought the doorbell-"

"You thought it'd be a good idea to disturb me?" Ulysses interrupted him. His icy blue eyes glared at Cletus from under bushy eyebrows, but the light brown mane of curls and Ulysses full beard reminded him more of an angry bear and unsettled him even more. "Who do you think you are?"

"I, uhm… I wanted… I have an invitation for Goal," Cletus stammered and added: "Your daughter, you know."

Ulysses' glare got even more intense.

"But you already know she is your daughter, of course," Cletus said, attempting to salvage the terrible situation. "We didn't have the pleasure of getting introduced to each other, though. Your daughter probably told you about me, but…" He desperately searched for the right words, but Ulysses' eyes caused his mind to shrivel and die. "Well, uhm, my name is Cletus," he managed lamely.

"I know your name all too well," Ulysses replied in a low, threatening growl. "Don't think that I didn't notice your attempts at ingratiating yourself to my daughter. I have been very open with Goal about how little I think of her keeping contact with you, but as she apparently didn't pass this on to you, let me tell you this explicitly: Keep away from Goal!"

With that Ulysses snatched the envelope with the invitation from Cletus' hands and tore it in half several times. As Cletus was staring in horror at the pieces floating down, Ulysses whirled around and went back in. The door slid shut behind him and left Cletus to stand lost and slack-jawed outside.

This couldn't be happening! Goal was supposed to prepare her father for his visit. Was this her idea of a joke? Or did she lure him into a trap to make fun of him?

It would probably be best to disappear before more onlookers appeared and made this whole experience even more humiliating, but he couldn't break out of the suffocating numbness within.

"You sent him away?" came an upset, female voice from beyond the door. "Dad, what were you thinking?"

Surprised, Cletus leaned closer. That sounded like Goal. But how could he hear through the sound-proof… His eyes found the spot where the sliding doors usually fit together seamlessly and noticed the crunched shreds of his invitation that had kept the door from closing completely.

"Don't you talk to me like that, young lady!" he heard Ulysses growl back. "This is still my house you're living in and I won't stand by and watch you getting tangled up with someone as unsuitable as him."

"Dad, I'm not a child anymore. I can well decide on my own with whom I want to spend my time. And only because you think Cletus doesn't have proper class-"

"That's not what I'm talking about," Ulysses interrupted her. "Or at last only tangentially. Goal, I know him. I know he's going to hurt you."

Cletus swallowed and furrowed his brow in confusion. What was the meaning of this?

Goal sounded as non-plussed as he felt. "I have no idea what you are hinting at. You didn't even talk to him. How do you know he'd ever hurt me?"

"I cannot explain why but I know more about this Cletus fellow than you think. I know that mercy isn't part of his design. He's not good for you."

Cletus felt numb. Mercy wasn't part of his design? What was that supposed to mean? Was the whole thing a big misunderstanding? Did Ulysses mistake him for someone else? Inside, he heard Goal answer something, but he didn't quite register her words because his mind wouldn't stop mulling over Ulysses' words.

All of a sudden the door opened again and this time Goal came out. "Cletus! You're still here!" she cried and flung her arms around his neck. "I was worried dad had driven you away." She laughed. "But no matter how much he growls, he can't make me do as he says. And you seem to be able to stand your ground, too." She kissed him on the cheek. "You won't believe how happy that makes me."

Cletus managed a strained smile and allowed Goal to drag him away from the door. He didn't know what caused the Prime Controller to think so low of him, but he wouldn't give up showing Ulysses that he was misjudging him. He'd never hurt Goal. He'd never take that risk.


Cletus hated camping. He really didn't get why anyone would exchange their apartment and cozy bed with a tent and an air mattress. Even though the tent he was to share with Goal was actually pretty comfortable and set up itself, he considered that the bare necessities to not be considered barbarians.

Still, the Floating Gardens consisted of far too much nature and far too little civilization for his taste. He was almost sure that he spotted a bug somewhere in the grass and withdrew to the tent opening flap in disgust.

But all of this wouldn't even be so bad. No, in addition to having to stay in the wilderness, Goal really seemed to get along great with Lucia. He had been hoping for a bit of jealousy, for Goal to fear to lose him and thus to get a little closer to him. Instead, she was sitting on a folding chair right next to Lucia at the electric campfire and chuckled about her anecdotes from school, her studies and relationships. Arron who was sitting opposite of them to Cletus' left didn't seem to mind, judging by his laughing a long and even chiming in. Cletus, on the other hand, was sure this was going to be the worst weekend of his life.

A new round of laughter made him look up. Yes, now he was their newest topic. Of course. He tried looking pointedly indifferent but his success was somewhat limited, especially as Goal scooted closer and poked him in the ribs. "You really wore lace underwear?" she asked and sounded far too amused for his taste.

Cletus glared at Lucia. "I really fail to see the problem with that. I look fantastic in them."

Lucia only laughed. She looked even prettier than he remembered when she was cheerful like that. Oh, bugger. "Oh, Cletus," she said. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I always thought that was really cute about you." He was slightly mollified but decided to keep glaring as she continued. "You know, when Arron had the idea about this trip, I was totally fine with it even though we parted on pretty bad terms. But I thought maybe time had treated you well. After all, you apparently found someone nice who fits better with you. Wouldn't it be a shame if you still spent the evening on your own, grumbling and glaring? Why don't you join in and tell a funny story about the good old days?"

Cletus pressed his lips together. A funny story? He didn't know any funny stories. Funny stories were for idiots. "Yes, the good old days," he said snidely. "When your parents were so good friends with an elder you never had to worry about anything. How did that go, Lucia?"

That wiped the laughter from her face. "Elder Deux is no longer on speaking terms with us. But you probably heard about that yourself, since you brought that up."

He shrugged. "I heard rumors, but…"

"Rumors. I see. Well, I have to correct myself: You changed far less than I had hoped. But if you really want to know: Elder Deux was visiting us. We talked about Utopia and my parents spoke of their worries it might end up as a second Deponia. Then my mother mentioned it might be a good idea to return to the old democratic system once the crisis was over. The elder never came back to visit again. Three weeks later my father was demoted and the funding for my project to facilitate cataloging gene codes of extinct species was canceled."

Cletus snorted. "Well, what did your parents expect? Did none of you pay attention in school? Democracy! Hah! Wasn't it democracy that led to the situation on Deponia deteriorating beyond repair, because they couldn't agree on anything? If the right person had taken control back then, the worst might have been avoidable."

Lucia seemed to have trouble remaining in her seat. "Pah! Of course, that's what they tell us in school, but-"

Arron cleared his throat loudly and put a calming hand on Lucia's arm. "Maybe this isn't the right place for this discussion."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, you're right. I know all too well that saying what you think can have dire consequences."

Goal looked from one to the other nervously and appeared to no longer enjoy herself at all. Cletus couldn't say he minded that. Why should he be the only one who felt bad during this trip? It didn't even do anything to improve his relationship towards Ulysses, as Goal had confessed she told her father she'd go camping with friends and not that Cletus would be along with them. Was it a wonder then, that his mood was this sour?

Arron gave him a dirty look, though, as if it were Cletus' fault that the merry atmosphere was gone. Then he tried changing the subject. "How about listening to a bit of music?"

Goal flinched as if caught red-handed. "Oh no, I totally forgot. I was supposed to bring a music player. It's just that there was so much trouble with my dad last week and I had my mind on other things."

Cletus raised an eyebrow. "You had your mind on other things? You have a brain implant for crying out loud. How can you even forget stuff like that?"

She made a face. "You were there and saw what mood dad was in. I can't simply take all the expensive equipment out here without saying anything. And do you think after all that bother I was eager to tell my dad what I wanted to take with me?"

"So, you didn't 'forget', you just didn't feel like having another argument with your dad," he concluded smugly.

Goal's frown deepened. "You are really desperate to further ruin the mood, aren't you, Cletus?"

Okay, he may have gone a bit too far, now. When even Goal was mad at him, it didn't exactly further his interest. But he simply couldn't make himself pretend that he was enjoying this camping trip.

Arron made another attempt at lightening the mood. "Does anyone maybe feel like singing?" He made a defensive gesture when he saw Cletus' face. "Before you start tearing me apart, I just want to remind you that I know you're singing under the shower, Cletus. And not only there."

"That's different."

"How about the park attendants?" Goal joined in. "Maybe there's a way to reprogram them?"

"Singing park attendants?" Lucia chuckled. "That would be amazing."

Cletus was hardly surprised his ex immediately agreed to that rather riotous plan. So, damaging public property was "amazing". Of course. But to keep Goal from getting even angrier he was going to try and keep from making all too disparaging remarks. "How do you propose that's going to work? The park attendants may have a slot for cartridges, but even if you'd insert a music cartridges there'd be no software to play it."

Lucia tilted her head and looked at him thoughtfully. "You were always pretty good at programming. Maybe you can write code that makes them play music?"

He folded his arms. "Yes, maybe. But with what am I supposed to do that? And where should I save the data?"

Arron piped up. "Didn't you bring your inspector's tools with you? I think I saw you survey the tents earlier."

Shoot, he had actually noticed. "Yes, alright. I brought my multi-tool and can use it to write code. But I really don't have a cartridge."

"Aww, man." Goal pouted. "Just as it was getting interesting."

Lucia snapped her fingers as if she had a sudden idea. "Hey, Goal, what about your brain implant? That's a cartridge, isn't it? Couldn't he write the code on that, transfer it to a park attendant and delete it afterward? Then you get it back and we can listen to what he came up with."

Goal stiffened so visibly not even Cletus could overlook it. He didn't know whether to feel hurt at her being so upset at the thought of him getting his hands on her implant or whether he'd rather be relieved he was likely going to be spared doing this.

Lucia didn't miss Goal's reaction either. "Listen, I didn't want to pressure you into anything. It was just an idea. If you don't feel comfortable with it, simply forget I ever brought it up."

A bashful smile glid over Goal's face. "Oh, don't worry. The idea was perfectly fine. I just wasn't sure if…" She fell silent and glanced at Cletus who wasn't quite sure what to make of that.

Lucia returned the smile. "Ah, so you're worried Cletus might mess this up. I totally get that, although I think he's pretty good with computers. And in any case, Arron and I are there to look over his shoulder."

"Hey!" Cletus glared at Lucia again. "Of course I can do this!" Did he say that out loud? He didn't even want to- oh, whatever. "But isn't taking the implant out of her head dangerous?"

"Not really," Arron chimed in. "The basic functions of the brain for heartbeat, breathing and keeping up organ functions are not on a cartridge but a separate chip that stays inside the head. Only higher brain functions would be switched off for a while. But that also happens when Goal sleeps and her body would experience the removal of the implant just like sleep, too."

Cletus couldn't help but be fascinated. He was itching to get a look at this cartridge. Even though he thought of the whole plan with the park attendant as unnecessary and silly, he'd play along for a chance to see Goal's brain implant.

So now it was up to Goal. She still looked rather unsure and stared at her folded hands. Cletus bent over and put a hand on her arm. She looked up at him in surprise and he did his best to appear sure of himself. "I can do this," he repeated. "Do you trust me?"

She stared straight into his eyes for a while but just as he was beginning to feel uncomfortable she finally nodded. He smiled and made an effort not to look too eager as his fingers stroked her cheek upwards to her temple. He found the eject button with ease but was surprised how quickly Goal collapsed into herself when the cartridge had barely left her skull. He almost didn't manage to catch her before she fell off her chair but with the help of Arron and Lucia, they gently laid her on the ground. She was breathing deeply and evenly as if she had just fallen asleep.

Cletus' heart beat wildly. He almost dropped the cartridge when he plugged it into his multi-tool. Then there were lines of data showing up in the tool's screen and his breath hitched. It was so beautiful. More complex than even Ronny's programming and yet orderly and of logical straightness, Goal's mind spun forth in front of his eyes. All her memories, all her personality, everything she was, was encoded in these lines and now he held it all in his hands. The possibilities were endless if only he dared to use them.

I know he's going to hurt you.

Unbidden Ulysses' words resurfaced in his mind. Cletus hesitated. Lucia and Arron were still taking care of Goal and paid him no attention. Goal herself would never know if he chose to try and manipulate her memories or feelings. But…

Mercy is not part of his design.

Oh, darn it! He just couldn't let Ulysses be right about him. With a small sigh, he tore away from the streams of data, split off a tiny chunk of a memory block and started writing the override code for the park attendants.

"I'm so good," he started singing under his breath to an improvised melody. "I can do anything. It's a po-, it's a pa-, it's a piece of cake…" He looked up to see Arron and Lucia grin at him. Whatever, they were probably simply jealous. Not everyone could be as musically talented as he was. But at least the park attendants would get their share of his talent.

"Why didn't you want to sing in the first place?" Arron asked in amusement.

Cletus' only answer was to roll his eyes, then he triumphantly pulled the cartridge from his multi-tool. "Made it. Now we just have to insert it into one of the park attendants. But that's a job for one of you."

Arron hesitated a moment, then he reached for the cartridge. "Simply tell me what I have to do. How do I activate it? And how can I get it back out afterward?"

"The park attendants have a slot for cartridges left of their visual interface." When Arron looked at him quizzically he added: "On their 'head' next to the 'eyes'. The code starts itself once the cartridge is inserted and it detects a connection to the system. Afterward, it deletes itself. After all, I don't want Goal to start singing once she gets her cartridge back. Oh, and about getting it back out: Ever heard of an eject button?"

Arron sighed and started moving. One of the park attendants wasn't all that far away although it luckily wasn't close enough to have heard them planning all this. It had greeted them upon arrival, told them were to set up the tents and listed the park's rules, although only Cletus had been listening to that. Now it greeted Arron again and sounded so unenthusiastic that Cletus was sure these bots were not controlled by Ronny but had their own network. So much the better. He really didn't want to mess with Elysium's AI.

Cletus couldn't understand what Arron told the park attendant. He only saw him point towards some trees and when the bot turned in that direction, Arron quickly inserted the cartridge into its slot. For a moment the park attendant froze. Then it spread its arms and belted out a song that could probably be heard in the entire Floating Gardens. "When I think of the daaayy, when I heard you sayyyy, that you stiiiill loooove meeee…"

Arron flinched at the volume but had nevertheless enough presence of mind to retrieve the cartridge before sprinting back to the others. The park attendant followed him and kept singing. "Do not leave, oh my love, for I stiiill looove youuu…"

Lucia laughed and covered her ears. "Well, that is hard to ignore."

Cletus held out his hand for the cartridge but Arron was already kneeling next to Goal and reinserted her consciousness. Immediately she opened her eyes and looked around for a moment in confusion before realizing the plan had already been set in motion. She got to her feet, returned Lucia's grin and then hugged Cletus tight. "It worked!"

"Of course it did," Cletus grumbled without offering any resistance against the hug.

"It's just a bit loud." Arron tried to drown out the singing.

"Next time, you write the programming," Cletus replied in a huff.

Goal only laughed. "I think it's great!"

Cletus smiled at her encouragement and put his own arm around her waist. "Anything for you."

"Breaking my heaaart," the park attendant bellowed. "Tear me apaaart."

Lucia was still grinning but now she also sighed wistfully. "This begs the question how we are supposed to get any sleep tonight, though."

"Or even just talk without yelling," Arron added.

Cletus had no answers to either but he still glared at them. "You just don't know what you want, do you? Well, let's abort the camping trip now. You'll obviously keep complaining no matter what we do."

Goal let go of him. "Hmm, I think that would be best. I don't think the bot is going to get tired anytime soon. At least, not before we get very tired of its singing. Besides, we already had a good time so far. So it's not a total loss."

Just half an hour ago that would have been music to his ears. But now he was somewhat miffed the evening would end like this in spite of his efforts.

Well, it couldn't be helped. From further within the gardens came voices of other Elysian excursionists who had noticed their musical backdrop. They hurried to take down their tents before anyone came to check where all the noise was coming from.

Then they rushed back to the shuttle pods that were luckily still in use after dusk. They carried them back to the main station where Arron and Lucia said their goodbyes in a relatively cheery mood and insisted they should try this again. Cletus highly doubted it would ever come to that.

"Should I take you home?" Cletus knew this was a gesture Goal usually valued, but after his encounter with Ulysses, he was doubtful whether this was actually a good idea.

Goal shrugged. "My father isn't expecting me back home so soon and I don't really want to explain to him why we came back early. Can I maybe stay at your place?"

Cletus suppressed a groan. After everything he went through, now this. She probably expected him to leave the bed to her and sleep on the sofa. But he was too tired to argue with her and didn't want to ruin the more favorable impression she currently had of him. "Alright," he said and after leaving their luggage in a storing compartment so he wouldn't have to carry it around now, he offered his arm to her and led her towards his apartment.

The house bot had already changed to night mode, but since they had already had dinner there was no reason to activate it. Goal only insisted on checking in on Poisonous and again Cletus gave in with a sigh. He followed her to his room where she gushed at "Precious" that he was such a good little monitor, then she covered his cage with a blanket.

Cletus raised his eyebrows. "What-?" he started but Goal didn't let him finish the question.

"What an evening! It was actually a lot like you, Cletus: sometimes terrible and yet with some incredible moments. You are occasionally hard to be around, but then again you are downright amazing. I was so unsure what would happen if someone got access to my implant, but you proved you can be trusted." She pulled him close and kissed him. "I knew I know you better than my dad. Let him be as pessimistic as he likes. I know what I've got in you."

She kissed him again and this time her hands wandered over his chest and down to his backside. She held him close and raised her hands to his collar where she started fumbling with the zipper keeping his vinyl suit shut. Finally, Cletus realized what she was up to and started exploring her curves with trembling hands.

And when she pushed him towards the bed he knew he had been wrong. This was one of the best days of his life.