Of Dreams and Rust Read Online Free

they?”
    Both men look at me as if I have lost my mind. They exchange a glance, probably wondering whether to chastise me or dismiss me as a silly, ignorant girl. “Miss Wen,” the doctor says kindly, speaking as if to a stubborn toddler, “everyone knows the Noor mind is closer to animal than human. They can be good workers if they’re supervised properly, but left to their own devices, they’re vengeful, petty, untrustworthy, and dumb. Would you want people like that in charge of half the good farmland in the country? No. You wouldn’t. You’d want a savvy Itanyai.” He grins and taps his temple.
    The bandaged worker looks skeptical. “Good workers? Ha! Look what happened when they were brought to the slaughterhouse to work last year. They weren’t here for more than a few weeks before they brought production to a halt. My brother worked the floor there.” He mumbles a chant meant to appease dead ancestors, and I realize his brother was probably one of those killed when Gochan One came down. “The so-called official cause of the building collapse was structural instability, but I don’t buy it for a second. You know they had something to do with it.”
    I don’t know whether this is better than the rumors that the disaster was caused by the Ghost—or worse. I force a smile of submission onto my face. “Thank you both for explaining it to me,” I say quietly.
    Dr. Yixa puts his hand on the worker’s shoulder. “Be careful today, and be glad tomorrow is a holiday. No celebrating tonight—go home and lie on a hot-water bottle if you want to keep your place on the floor.”
    The worker bows his thanks and leaves. When he’s gone, Dr. Yixa turns to me, his nose even redder than before. “Don’t let me hear you asking questions like that again,” he says, low and rough. “Noor sympathizers are not welcome in this factory or in my clinic.” He holds up his finger, his nail grimy. “Don’t think I haven’t heard about what went on at the meat factory. Whispers of scandal are louder than you think. I’ve overlooked it because Guiren is skilled and knows how to be discreet. I hoped you were made of the same stuff, but now I wonder.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I say, lowering my gaze so he knows I’m not being defiant. “I just don’t understand why everyone hates them so much.” A hatred that has intensified tenfold over the past year.
    He snorts. “I like them just fine when they do as they’re told and don’t cause trouble. I thought they’d learned a lesson after the last time we had to put them down. They’d been quiet for a while.” With a stifled belch he edges closer to his desk, where I know he keeps his liquor. He gives his bottom drawer a look of yearning before turning back to me. The understanding that he can’t drink in front of me seems to fire his anger once more. His ears go scarlet.
    â€œYou realize how much we’ve done for the Noor over the years, Miss Wen? If it weren’t for us, settling in the west and creating order, they’d still be ranging around like barbarians on horseback, half starved and all stupid.” He’s pacing now, a bit unsteadily. “But we gave them roads. We put government into place and police, too. We planted crops. We stored up for hard times instead of letting them squander the surpluses. We gave them the opportunity to do meaningful work instead of scavenging and fighting and overbreeding and killing each other. And once again they’re repaying us with violence.” He throws up his hands. “I suppose that’s just their nature, though. They live in the moment and never think of the future. Sad, really.”
    â€œThey are human beings, just like us,” I say very softly.
    Dr. Yixa lets out a laugh that drips with bitterness. “Just like us? Did you not hear what