Chapter 23: We Confront A Robot

Part of my mind wanted to reject Quintus's extraordinary pronouncement. The other half was already putting together all the clues: Quintus's interest in my architecture, his ability to navigate the Labyrinth, Hephaestus's insistence that Daedalus was at camp. The god of the forge hadn't been jerking me around after all.

But … Quintus was so young. I mean, yeah, he was old, but like grandfatherly-old, not thousands of years old. He didn't even look as old as Daedalus had in my dreams about ancient Crete.

'You're an automaton,' Percy said. 'You've made yourself a new body.'

'Percy, that's not possible,' I protested. 'That—that can't be an automaton.'

I'd seen the best of Hephaestus's robots. They were life-like, sure, difficult to tell from real creations just by looking at them. But there was always that small clunkiness, a mechanical jerk to their movements that ultimately gave them away. Quintus moved with so much fluidity and grace. I'd even seen him fence, for Olympus's sake.

'Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?'

'The—the fifth,' I stammered. It was Latin. But what did this have to do with Daedalus?

'This is my fifth body.' Quintus—or Daedalus, I guess—popped a hatch on his arm. Beneath his skin, where veins and sinew should have resided, were gears and wires, all churning merrily away. He was some kind of cyborg, a robot creation that somehow believed he was a three-thousand-year-old inventor.

Rachel's eyes shone. 'That's amazing!'

'That's weird,' Percy said. I was inclined to agree.

'You … found a way to transfer your animus into a machine?' It wasn't without precedent. There was another case I knew of: a millennia-old son of Hermes I'd met once. Aethalides's consciousness had migrated into a new body every time the old one died. But that had been a gift from the gods, a real body each time. Transplanting your spirit into a machine, though? 'That's not natural.'

'Oh, I assure you, my dear, it's still me. I'm still very much Daedalus.' He peeled away the back of his shirt to reveal a mark on his skin—or whatever material he was actually made of. What I'd taken for a dark bruise before was the imprint of a bird. It looked like it had been ironed on.

'A murderer's brand,' I whispered.

Quintus—Daedalus's mouth twisted in an expression so bitterly human, a real automaton should never have been able to pull it off. 'Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget.'

'For your nephew, Perdix.' Percy accused Daedalus of pushing his own kin to his death.

Daedalus's voice carried the weight of millennia of regret as he related the tale: his anger, his mistake, his punishment.

A bad choice can ruin your life.

Strangely enough, it was this that convinced me that it was really him, the venerable inventor, automaton body or not.

'But why did you come to the camp?' Percy asked. 'Why spy on us?'

'To see if your camp was worth saving,' Daedalus said simply. 'Luke had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions.'

It all made sense now—the way he'd inspected our activities, asked me to tell me what camp meant to me, like he was collecting facts to reach a decision.

'But now you've seen the camp!' I said in relief. 'So you know we need your help. You can't let Luke through the maze!'

'The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy.'

I frowned. 'Privacy from what?'

'The gods … and death.' He put his sword down and picked up an hourglass from the table. The sand ran through the bottleneck in the centre, its motion powering a scoop that lifted it back to the top so that the hourglass would keep on running without ever having to be turned over. 'I have been alive for two millennia, my dear, hiding from death.'

He explained how he had evaded the daemons of the Underworld … even Minos, the implacable spirit who had never given up haunting the maze in search of him. Knowing the depths of Minos's spite, it was hard to blame Daedalus for his fugue.

I had to hand it to him, really. The way he'd set out to achieve something and made it happen, no matter how impossible it should have been … Just like he'd done with the Labyrinth, breathing life into it until it became a monster in its own right, unnavigable even by the gods—a true archetype that had spawned all mazes to come. Daedalus's personal protector.

The guy had the true spirit of an inventor. Given a problem, he solved it with his own wits.

And he was my half-brother. I couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

A series of thumps resounded through the corridor. Mrs O'Leary had found us at last. The doors swung open and she gambolled in. She headed straight for her master, giant tail wagging. Daedalus met her with open arms and the first genuine smile I'd seen since we'd found him here.

'There is my old friend! My only companion all these long lonely years.'

Percy touched his mouth. 'You let her save me. That whistle actually worked.'

The whistle? Oh. Of course. The thing he'd blown into, just before Mrs O'Leary had shown up in the arena. Quintus must have given it to him.

'Percy, you have a good heart,' Daedalus said. 'And I knew Mrs O'Leary liked you. I wanted to help you. Perhaps I—' He hung his head. 'I felt guilty, as well.'

'Guilty about what?' Percy said.

Daedalus hesitated. He buried his face in Mrs O'Leary's ruff for a second, then looked at us sadly. 'That your quest would be in vain.'

What was he saying? We hadn't failed; we were here. We'd found him!

'But you can still help us,' I said. 'You have to! Give us Ariadne's string so Luke can't get it.'

'Yes … the string.' Daedalus sighed. 'I told Luke that the eyes of a clear-sighted mortal are the best guide, but he did not trust me. He was so focused on the idea of a magic item. And the string works. It's not as accurate as your mortal friend here, perhaps.' He nodded at Rachel. 'But good enough. Good enough.'

My stomach was an ice pit. I didn't want the answer that I knew would come, but the question slipped out of my mouth anyway. 'Where is it?'

'With Luke. I'm sorry, my dear. But you are several hours too late.'

I couldn't speak. The ice in my stomach was spreading like a frost to my throat.

Daedalus explained Kronos's promises—Luke's promises, just like the ones he'd made to me before. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This man, the great inventor … I'd thought he had brilliance inside him. I'd thought he crafted his own solutions to reach his goals. But he wanted to reign over the Underworld. He wanted to be made a god, to rule like Kronos, to get his revenge … I'd believed him misunderstood, persecuted, hounded by Minos. But he was just as selfish as the rest of us. Even more.

I found my voice. 'That's your brilliant idea? You're going to let Luke destroy our camp, kill hundreds of demigods and then attack Olympus? You're going to bring down the entire world so you can get what you want?'

'Your cause is doomed, my dear. I saw that as soon as I began to work at your camp. There is no way you can hold back the might of Kronos.'

'That's not true!'

'I am doing what I must, my dear. The offer was too sweet to refuse. I'm sorry.'

The sharp sting of betrayal was like a knife against my skin. Here was yet another person letting me down. How much more could I lose?

I understood now why Tyson had been devastated at Briares's cowardice. Only I wasn't sad. I was incensed.

'I used to respect you. You were my hero! You—you built amazing things. You solved problems.' I stared at the beautiful sketch of the curved building that I'd admired. It was a cruel taunt now. With a violent sweep of my arm, the entire row of easels clattered to the ground. The action didn't soothe my strangled heart. 'I don't know what you are. Children of Athena are supposed to be wise, not just clever.' My voice hitched. 'Maybe you are just a machine. You should have died two thousand years ago.'

Daedalus didn't even stoop to pick up his fallen sketches. 'You should go warn your camp,' he said. 'Now that Luke has the string—'

Rachel, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted. 'Someone's coming!'

Sure enough, the workshop doors banged open again. This time, it was Nico, of all people, who burst through—and he wasn't alone. Kelli the empousa had him in chains. Flanking her were two Laistrygonian giants. And the last of their party …

I almost mistook him for an actual person at first. He was even more solid than Bianca had been, his white robes blindingly bright, the gold circlet on his head rich with colour. His eyes and pointed beard still glittered with a thousand years of malice.

'There you are, my old friend,' Minos hissed.

'What is the meaning of this?' Daedalus demanded.

Kelli gave him a nasty smile. 'Luke sends his compliments. He thought you might like to see your old employer, Minos.'

'This was not part of our agreement!'

Kelli was completely unconcerned. 'No indeed. But we already have what we want from you.' She smirked as she laid out the double-cross. Having secured the string, they'd proceeded to bargain with Minos, who had the most valuable chip to cash in …

Nico.

By the look on Nico's pale, terrified face, Daedalus wasn't the only one who'd been duped.

Daedalus took a step back, clapping a hand to his heart like Kelli had pierced him with her talons. 'Treachery.'

I was almost sorry for him. But I didn't feel like forgiving him just yet. His gullibility was just another blow. He should have been wiser than to trust Kronos.

'Get used to it,' Kelli sniffed.

'Nico, are you okay?' Percy asked.

Nico's face crumpled. 'I—I'm sorry, Percy. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze.'

'You were trying to help us?'

'I was tricked. He tricked all of us.'

Percy's eyes hardened. 'Where's Luke? Why isn't he here?'

'Luke is busy.' Kelli's smile danced over me, as flaky as cheap paint. She seemed to be savouring a particularly juicy secret. 'He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry. We have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!'

Fangs elongated from her gaudy smile. She shed her cheerleader disguise, transforming into the half-donkey-, half-bronze-legged demon with claws for hands and fire in her hair.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel reach for Percy. He pushed her away. 'I'll try to buy you some time.'

It was what he'd said to me in the heart of Mount St Helens. But I didn't have time to dwell on that. I wouldn't have left him again, anyway. There was even a small comfort in facing the business end of a deadly battle by his side.

We fell into our familiar attack pattern. I feinted right, drawing the empousa away. Percy covered my left automatically. He tried to come at her from behind, but she was insanely fast. Tables flipped. More easels toppled in her deadly dance across the room.

My hyperactive battle senses opened up. I saw Daedalus dodging giants as he tried to reach his sword. Mrs O'Leary smashed inventions left and right as she howled and charged down his attackers, digging in with her fangs. I saw Nico wriggle across the floor, still in his chains. Minos screamed over the din, bawling for Daedalus's death.

Kelli upended another table. Jars of Greek fire went flying. Inventions caught in brilliant green flames. Even though I'd been angry enough to wreck the workshop earlier, it gave me a sharp pang to actually see those beautiful creations go up in flames.

Minos was growing more solid by the second. He raised his arms. He was chanting as Nico had done the night we summoned Bianca. The air filled with the vibrations of swarming spirits. They flocked around the ghost king, even though he hadn't a soda to offer them.

'A soul for a soul,' he gloated at Nico. 'But it is not your sister who will return from the dead. It is I, as soon as I slay the inventor!'

Nico got to his feet. The fire had cut through his chains. He stood in its green glow, looking almost as ghostly as Minos's spirits. 'I am the son of Hades. Begone!'

'You have no power over me,' Minos sneered. 'I am the lord of spirits! The ghost king!'

You shall rise or fall, the Oracle's voice whispered in my head.

Then Nico raised his sword—the black Stygian blade that Geryon had disdained. A tremendous burst of power exploded out from the point of the blade the moment he brought it down. It blasted us off our feet. The windows shattered.

'No,' Nico said coldly, as every single ghost, Minos included, was vacuumed into a narrow crack in the stone floor. 'I am.'

I was flung across the table with the laptops. I rolled off it and stabbed a giant's outstretched hand. He howled and lurched back, straight into Mrs O'Leary's waiting jaws.

'You will taste wonderful!' Kelli squealed. She'd cornered Percy against an upended table. His sword was three feet away.

I ran, my heart pounding. She was inches from his throat when I sank my dagger into her spine.

Kelli stiffened. She gave a shuddering gasp. I pulled my blade out and she dissolved into screams and dust.

'Thanks,' Percy gasped. A bump was already forming on the back of his head. I pulled him to his feet.

With Kelli down, we had a brief respite, but it wouldn't last. Daedalus and Mrs O'Leary were busy with the Laistrygonians, and judging by the stampede coming from the tunnel entrance, we were about to be overrun. Had Luke sent his entire army just to fetch Daedalus? Or did he somehow know that we were here, too?

'We have to help Daedalus!' Percy started towards the inventor. He'd found his sword and was duelling two giants at a go.

An angel with metal wings popped up between us. I nearly stabbed it before I realised it was Rachel. She'd pulled the bronze and silver wings off the wall and attached them to herself. They spread in a wide arc from her shoulders.

'No time! Too many coming!' she insisted.

She grabbed Nico and strapped another set of wings to his shoulders. Once the adhesive tapes melded to his skin, she turned to Percy.

'Now you!'

Percy grabbed me and started attaching wings to my back while Rachel fitted him out. Nico helped him, their fingers working clumsily over my shoulders. The moment the wings were attached, I felt the flow of air through the feathers, the breeze begging me to lift off. It was like they actually belonged to me, an extension of my arms rather than random attachments.

Percy yelled out to Daedalus, but the inventor did the first thing that endeared me to him. He refused to leave Mrs O'Leary.

'Go!' he shouted at us.

Nico balked at the window. 'None of us know how to fly!'

I gave him a push. 'Just follow my lead.'

We jumped from the tower into the bright blue Colorado sky.

Flying with my own wings wasn't so different from flying in the Sopwith Camel. Sure, I had to adjust my wings—arms—manually rather than push a joystick, but the principles of aerodynamics were the same. This high up, there was enough of an updraft to catch us in a glide.

'Spread your arms!' I yelled to the others. 'Keep them extended!'

We soared over a valley of red cliffs and rock spires, against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. Nico flew cautiously, with the occasional flap to reassure himself that his wings still worked. Rachel glided along with an expression of wonder on her face, like this was the most amazing thing she'd ever done (it probably was).

Percy flew like a daredevil—no surprises there. Once he got the hang of it, he rose and swooped fearlessly, determined to push his new toy to the limit. I thought anxiously of Icarus plummeting to his death.

I yelled at Percy to land before our luck could run out. He couldn't resist doing a loop around a spiralling column of stone during our descent into the Garden of the Gods. I wondered what the climbers saw.

We landed not a moment too soon. As we ran down the walkway of the visitor centre, we were moulting shiny bronze feathers. By the time we ditched the wings in an overflowing trash bin and looked back, the tower of Daedalus's workshop had disappeared.

It had moved, just like Daedalus had said. There was no telling where it had gone. Now that I knew how it worked, the illogic didn't bother me quite so much. It was just a massive monster, with its own life force. Daedalus's life force.

Percy peered through a set of tourist binoculars on the rail at the empty hill where the workshop had been. 'So what do we do now? How do we get back in the maze?'

'Maybe we can't. If Daedalus … died.' I swallowed. 'He said his life force was tied to the Labyrinth. The whole thing might've been destroyed. Maybe that will stop Luke's invasion.'

Destroy with a hero's final breath. Was that it? Could this really be the end of my quest? I ran through the rest of my prophecy: delve in the darkness … the dead, the traitor, the lost one … the ghost king … child of Athena's final stand …

And lose a love …

Who had I lost? I thought of Luke, still inside the maze as far as I knew. And then, sickeningly, of Tyson and Grover. What would happen if the Labyrinth disappeared with somebody still inside?

Percy's face was white. He must have followed a similar train of thought.

'No,' Nico said sharply. 'He isn't dead.'

We stared at him. 'How can you be sure?' Percy asked.

Nico explained his gift for feeling death. I guess it was a son of Hades thing. Unfortunately, it didn't work for Cyclopes or satyrs.

I didn't dare to ask about Luke.

'We have to get into town,' I said. 'Our chances of finding an entrance to the Labyrinth will be better.' If Daedalus wasn't dead, there were no more barriers between Luke and his invasion. 'We have to make it back to camp before Luke and his army.' I didn't know what we could do at this point, but if we were going to do anything, it wouldn't be from the middle of Colorado.

Flying was out of the question, with Percy's flight ban—well, plane flight, anyway—so we figured the quickest way was to find another Labyrinth entrance. Our best bet was a city. Problem was, the nearest one was miles away. We needed a car.

Rachel glared at the visitor's parking lot below like the cars there had personally offended her. 'I'll take care of it,' she sighed.

'How?' What did she mean to do, jack one? It struck me how little we really knew about her. For all I knew, she actually had a criminal past—and not just the Mist-enhanced juvenile delinquency records the rest of us had.

The idea actually made me like her more than I had so far. I remembered how she'd said her parents wouldn't even notice if she didn't come home.

So when she said, 'Trust me,' for the first time, I did.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: The character of Aethalides (or 'Ethel', as I called him) comes from the story of the Argonauts, and appears in my previous story, The Golden Fleece.

Thank you, 2na22, Hello, Livvi May, MariaClaire, DreamCatcher06, CQ816, OverLordRevan, thatoneguy, and JustADerangedFanGirl for dropping by this week, and happy new year to you all! Special thanks to those of you who pointed out the Britishism in 'bully for you' last chapter—try as I may, certain phrases simply don't cross my mind as odd!