Learning to Dance

herself straight down.
Up looked at her through the dark lake water as she
reached him, his eyes glazing over, clearly losing
consciousness. Taz grabbed his shoulders and pressed her
mouth to his, forcing air into his lungs, giving him all she
had. She kicked off from the bottom and gasped as she
reached the surface again. Pedro had reached them.
“He’s caught,” she said, before pushing herself down
again. Pedro followed.
Together, they worked to free Up from the dead robot’s
grasp. Taz pulled her knife from her boot and sawed at his
utility belt, snagged in the joint at the robot’s knee, willing
him to stay conscious, hold onto the air she’d given him.
Just a few seconds longer. A few more-
Finally, finally, he was free, and they pulled him up
together, reaching the blessed surface, sucking in oxygen,
hauling him to land. She heard Up cough, and sagged with
relief, flopping onto the barren lake shore as her muscles
gave out beneath her.
The three of them lay there, panting with exhaustion, for
what seemed like forever.
“You know what this means?” said Up. His voice
sounded raw, but he was speaking, and that was good
enough for her.
“The cabrones aren’t waterproof,” said Taz.
“How could we not have known?” said Pedro.
They lay in silence a little longer.
“Sprinklers,” said Up.
“Controlled electronically-”
“The robots will short-circuit-”
“But the humans will be fine!”
Up got up quickly, though his legs shook a little. “I’ve
got to get back to that meeting. Taz, where did you park the
other Jeep?”