From the air came the rocs; bionic pterodactyls; wild drones. The sky filled with dark clouds. A roc flew low over the Al Kindi mosque in District One and passersby gaped as the enormous shadow engulfed them and blocked out the sun. A roc had not been seen in the skies of Neom for centuries.

Wild drones flew in swarms, weaving in and out of each other’s path.

All heading to the same place, the same spot that the robots and UXOs in the desert were.

The forgotten creatures of humanity’s wars began to converge on Mukhtar’s Bazaar of Rare and Exotic Machines in District Three.

25. The Hope

“Well, I’m out of here,” Sharif said. “Good luck.” She turned to the door when Nasir and Laila burst in.

“I knew it!” Nasir said. He pointed at the robot. “I knew you were trouble, I just didn’t know how much.”

“That’s the line Elvis Mandela says to Sivan Shoshanim in Red Dead Martian,” the robot said.

“Red Dead Martian II,” Mariam said. She remembered watching it as a teen in one of the more run-down half-immersion pod-theatres in Nineveh Quarter, the sort of place that smelled of cloves and boiled corn and had couples making out in the back. Sivan Shoshanim was always so glamorous. She never aged. It was said the stars of Phobos Studios were all Others, digital entities playing human roles. And teenage Mariam had a crush on Elvis Mandela.

“It is still a good line,” the robot said. It turned to Nasir politely. “What I do,” it said, “I do only for love.”

“Will you stop quoting!” Sharif said disgustedly. She left then, and where she went next Mariam didn’t know.

Mariam had her own problems.

She was tired. She stared at the golden man and at the robot and she said, “You owe the bazaar the repair fee.”

“I know,” the robot said. It handed over a small disc and she took it.

“This should cover everything and more,” the robot said.

“Then your business here is concluded,” Mariam said.

The robot nodded. “I suppose so,” it said, perhaps a little regretfully. “I am sorry for the trouble.”

“The trouble?” Nasir said. “The trouble?”

“You are shouting,” the robot said.

“The city’s under siege!” Nasir said. “Do you know what’s going on outside? Do you have any idea? There are Leviathans in the sea! There are UXOs ringing the city! Can you tell me why?” He stared at the robot accusingly.

“This time it will be different,” the golden man said quietly. Nasir stopped.

“What?” he said.

“What’s that around your wrist?” the golden man said. Mariam stared, but she couldn’t see anything.

“I don’t know,” Nasir said. He sounded a little defensive. “I found it.”

Mariam put on goggles. There was something on Nasir’s wrist. A strange little creature; a sim. It blinked soulful eyes at her.