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One
NIA’N’AN
I feltthe pattern of Royce’s footsteps coming down the webbing in my hall long before I heard him knock on my apartment’s door.
Not content with hammering his fist, he immediately shouted “Nine! Are you still alive?” right after.
It was a valid question. I’d left his employment at the Monster Security Agency recently because I knew my death was imminent—that’d been two weeks ago, and nothing had changed since.
He beat on the door again. “Don’t make me call an exterminator!”
I stirred in the nest I’d created for myself to go to the Great Web in—I would be damned if those were last words I heard before I moved on.
I cursed in a language he wouldn’t understand,extricated myself from the entirely comfortable tunnel I’d created for myself to die in, and reached for the translation device that allowed humans to understand my kind, mounting it against my ear slit before opening the door.
“Can’t a spider die in peace?”
Royce was a big man by human standards, his appearance made slightly more ominous by his baldness, and the way he chose to dress, in crisp, shiny suits, no matter the occasion. But this apartment was created for others like me, who had more monstrous proportions, and because of my eight legs and spider body I stood half his height higher than he did.
He was pleased to see me, which was usually a bad sign. People were frequently scared of my kind—even though Arachnaea were quite rare—but men like my former handler were far more dangerous on a day-to-day basis. “Not when there’s a ten million dollars on the line,” he said. “Can I come in?” he asked—and then began to barge around my foremost set of legs.
“Why, yes, certainly, I can’t wait to entertain you in my funeral parlor,” I said, backing up and turning around to follow him into my living room.
He didn’t have much room to stand—I’d decorated the entire place in the way of my people, with webbing covering every conceivable space: walls, floors, ceiling, in intricate patterns.
“Jesus, Nine.”
I made an irritated clicking sound at him—one thetranslator couldn’t translate. “I wasn’t really setting up for company. I hope you understand.”
“Yeah,” he said, turning back to me once he was finished judging my decor. “About that—how much longer do you think you have left?”
“Hmm. How about you tell me why you’re asking first?” I folded the human-looking arms of my torso across my chest.
“You’ve heard of Arcus Marlow?”
I squinted at him. “I live in an apartment. Not under a rock.” Arcus Marlow was one of the richest men on the planet. His business exploits frequently made the news, as did the rocket ships he felt compelled to shoot into space periodically.
Royce made a show of looking around. “Yeah, well—what you haven’t heard is that his baby girl’s been kidnapped.”
I tilted my head, considering what response would most irritate Royce. “He must be at least sixty human years. He still breeds?”
He made a face. “It’s a metaphor—she’s twenty-five.”
“So she is not little, is what you are saying?” I went on, pretending to be deliberately obtuse.
“Nine—”
“All humans are little to me, you see,” I went on, from my greater height. “So I am just checking.”
Royce finally realized I was pulling one of his mere two legs. “Fuck you,” he said, with a snort. He looked aroundmy apartment again. “Do you have a human-sized chair anywhere in here?”
I disturbed some of my lacy webwork for his comfort. He sat down to level with me, and I did him the kindness of tucking all my legs in beside myself, setting my abdomen against the soft silks I had streamed my home with, so that I was sitting too.
Royce pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of a human woman to show me. She was standing behind electronic equipment, waving her arms up in the air.
She was beautiful—even though we were vastly different species, I recognized the characteristics that made her such. Her hair was shiny, indicating good health, and her body was visually proportional. She lacked fangs, but her teeth were even, which meant she would have a strong bite.
“Slone Marlow is a jet-setting international DJ—she goes from exotic location to exotic location,” Royce began.
