Part 26 (1/2)
Chapter 21.
”Well,” the woman said. ”Isn't this a charming surprise' I'm surprised to see you, James. I thought you had all been destroyed.”
”James won't be destroyed if I have anything to do with it,” Gar said. The woman tsked. ”I'm not surprised. You have your father's foolish sensitivity, and always have. You've never been able to bring yourself to do what needs doing.” ”James doesn't deserve to die,” Gar answered. ”None of the humanoids did.”
”Perhaps not. But it was your duty to destroy them, was it not'”
”Look, Mother,” Gar said, a trace of impatience shading his voice, ”I don't have time to stand here and debate my personality flaws with you. I'm in trouble. We all are.”
The older woman ignored him. Her eyes, bright and sharp as diamonds, flickered to Annie. ”And who'or what--is this'”
”This is Annie Simpson, Mother. She is from the twenty-first century.”
The woman looked at Annie for a long moment. ”Fascinating. It is enchanting to meet you, Ms.
Simpson. I've never met a real, live barbarian before.”
Annie felt her teeth grind together. ”I think you're mistaken,” she rejoined coolly. ”You've seen one before, I feel sure.”
”Not to my knowledge.”
”Look in the mirror.”
The woman stared at her in surprise, then laughed suddenly. Her laughter was as sharp and cold as the rest of her, reminding Annie of shattering icicles. ”Delightful. Truly delightful.” She turned to her son, and her amus.e.m.e.nt faded. ”Gar, you have gone too far this time. What do you mean by bringing two fugitives to my house'”
”Three. I am a fugitive as well.”
The woman uttered a long-suffering sigh. ”Oh, dear, Gar. What have you done now'”
”I killed someone. A human.”
The woman appeared, for the first time, truly shocked. Her face turned white with horror. Annie realized from her reaction that murder must be every bit as rare here as James had implied. ”Gar,” she said at last, in a low voice. ”You can't mean it, surely.”
”I am afraid so, Mother.”
”What would impel you to do such a thing'”
”She was killing James.”
”James'” The woman shot an angry look at James. ”He is nothing more than a machine. You killed a human for him'”
”James was the better person.”
The woman stood for a long moment, evidently frozen in indecision. ”Come in,” she said at last. ”Sit down. We have much to discuss. They will realize you are here before too long.”
She led the way from the room, which seemed to function as a foyer, into a comfortable-looking living room. The furniture was recognizable, if somewhat alien in appearance. A soft, overstuffed sofa and several chairs were arranged to take the maximum advantage of the stunning view visible through an enormous floor-to-ceiling picture window. Through the window Annie could see trees, blowing gently in the breeze, framing a view of gently contoured mountains. It looks like the Appalachians, she thought. A swallowtail b.u.t.terfly fluttered past the window, and a moment later a ruby-throated hummingbird whizzed by.
She remembered James' statement that everyone lived underground here and wondered. Was this woman special, that she had a house aboveground with such a huge window'
A memory of James' voice echoed in her mind: I have never truly seen the sky before.
That didn't make the slightest bit of sense, given the rather large expanse of brilliant blue sky she could see through the window.
”Sit,” the woman said, enthroning herself on the sofa. Gar sat down on a chair, and Annie sat as well, although the woman shot her such a look of distaste she wondered if the woman really wanted a ”barbarian” on her upholstery. The woman was glaring at her like she might not be housebroken.
James continued to stand.
”James, get us something to drink while we discuss this matter,” the woman said.
James stepped away. Instantly Annie caught his hand, forcing him to stop. ”James, don't let her tell you what to do. You aren't a slave.”
James hesitated. The woman glowered at her. ”James has been with this family for thirty-five years, young lady. Do you dare to dictate to me what I can tell him to do'”
Annie met the woman's cold stare with one of her own. ”I take it you're one of the ones who wanted the humanoids to be destroyed.”
”Oh, no. Far from it.”
Annie blinked. The woman's airy response did not seem to fit with what she knew of James' past. ”You mean you thought they should be treated as people'”
”Of course not. But I thought destroying them was utterly ludicrous. James was a hideously expensive model, and I disapproved of the government appropriating him without adequate recompense. At any rate, it would have been much more sensible to reprogram the humanoids. Evidently there was a mistake in their programming. It could have been corrected.”
”A mistake,” Annie repeated incredulously. ”A mistake' You think James wanted his freedom because of an error in programming'”
”My mistress,” James interjected in an icy tone, ”was in favor of saving our very valuable artificial bodies, but replacing our brains with simpler models.”
She heard the cold rage in his voice and thought she understood it. What James' mistress had proposed would have been as much murder as what the Bureau had done. James with a simpler brain wouldn't be James at all, any more than she would still be Annie Simpson if someone removed her brain and replaced it with a beagle's.
The woman was nodding equably, not in the least concerned by James' anger. Annie doubted she even noticed it, so accustomed was she to thinking of James as nothing more than a machine. ”Much more cost effective,” she said. ”It would have been eminently more sensible. Unfortunately, the Bureau's actions were based more on emotion than logic. James and the other humanoids claimed they were sentient and demanded freedom, and the Bureau reacted with unnecessary violence. When the humanoids defended themselves, they killed humans, at which point the Bureau concluded they had to be destroyed. The Bureau foolishly reacted as if James really were a person, rather than a mere machine.”
”But you don't believe he is a person.”
”Of course not. I am a scientist, not swayed by emotion. James is not a person. He is a robot. Had he not been engineered to look like a human, you would not for a moment entertain the ridiculous notion that he is a person, either. But you, as a barbaric product of a simpler time, are not familiar with this technology, so I imagine you have been entirely fooled.”
She shot a look of annoyance at James. ”Please do fetch us something from the kitchen, James. I find I am thirsty.”
”No,” James said.
The woman fixed him with a startled stare. ”I beg your pardon'”
James paused for a long moment. Annie had the distinct impression he was battling his programming. At last he said, softly, ”I will not serve you any longer.”
The woman glared at him from beneath lowered white eyebrows and spoke firmly. ”James. Get us something to drink.”
It was the voice of command, obviously intended to override James' efforts at independence and force him to obey his programming. He hesitated. Sensing his uncertainty, Annie squeezed his fingers, and he looked down at her with grat.i.tude.