Read Online Sleeping Jenny by Aubrie Dionne - Free Book Online

school.”
    â€œIt was awful.” I snuck by him, careful not to brush up against his metal arms. Just thinking about touching him gave me the willies.
    Pell jumped up from the couch. “Yay! My new big sis is home.” She ran around the living room to C-7 and stuck her tongue out. “I don’t need you anymore.”
    â€œVery true, Pell.”
    For a millisecond I felt bad for the robot as he lumbered to the kitchen, where I smelled more soyfood cooking.
    â€œHe cooks, too?”
    â€œHe does everything a human can, just not as good.” Pell muttered under her breath, watching him slink away. She took my hand. “Come on, I want to play more Pixie Swap.”
    â€œWait a second. I need you to help me with something first.”
    She stared at me, almost pouting like nothing could be more important than Pixie Swap. “What is it?”
    â€œI need to find some information on the Internet…is that what you still call it?”
    â€œYou mean the cybernet, bothead. Find out about what?”
    â€œIf there are people like me, people who woke up after a very long time.”
    â€œOh, all right.” Pell stomped over to the wallscreen and clicked it on. Her fingers flew over the buttons. I tried to pay attention, but she typed too fast. A search engine came up with a blinking cursor.
    She looked over her shoulder. “What do you want me to say?”
    â€œSearch for cryogenic sleep subjects.”
    Twenty minutes and several searches later, Pell huffed in frustration. All of her searches had ended up with blank blue pages. “I can’t do it. Nothing comes up.”
    â€œIs there any other way?”
    She shrugged. “You could ask C-7. He’s not supposed to use the cybernet, but he did once for me when I needed to find my dad’s miniscreen number.”
    I glanced over my shoulder as he banged around in the kitchen. “I’m not sure I want his help.”
    She shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s go play Pixie Swap.”
    As much as I enjoyed watching a little kid kick my butt at math, I needed that information. “Hold on a minute.”
    I walked into the kitchen just as C-7 turned on some sort of food processor, churning an orange liquid.
    When he saw me come in, he pressed the button and the machine’s buzzing trailed off. “Jennifer, can I help you?”
    I’d work my way up to asking him to break the rules to help me snoop around. “What’s for dinner?”
    â€œSoyloaf with orange marmalade sauce.”
    My stomach gurgled in protest. “Oh. When will it be ready?”
    His head clicked as he tilted it. “Six thirty-four.”
    â€œAfter Valex and Len get home?”
    â€œCorrect.”
    The wallscreen read four-thirty. That gave me plenty of time for fishing. I stuck my hands on my sides, looking for pockets in my tunic that weren’t there. Awkwardly, I settled for leaning on the counter. “I was wondering if you could help me find something.”
    â€œI am always at your service, Jennifer.”
    â€œGreat.” Also kind of stalkerish. I let that slip. I needed his help. “I’d like to find others like me, you know, people from my generation woken up hundreds of years later.”
    Little gears in C-7’s neck turned like he was thinking. Did robots think? No, they computed. He must have been computing.
    C-7 froze as if he’d come to a conclusion. “I am not allowed to use the cybernet to access information.”
    â€œI know. Pell told me. But, I was thinking, just this once? I really need to find others like me. I feel so alone.”
    C-7’s eyes stared, boring into me. How could a robot understand how it felt to be alone? Besides that, he wouldn’t even play Pixie Swap with Pell because it was beyond his programming .
    I turned away, feeling sheepish for even asking. “Never mind.”
    â€œThe only subject I can find in our geographical area is