Machina Viva (16 page)

30

On the ground floor, the watchers were being kept busy at the back doors and windows of the building. Attempts were being made here and there at service and delivery entrances, but the Crownstone inhabitants were becoming more and more adept at turning them away. Impromptu defense strategies were being developed. Plans were being made. People were assigned frivolous code names. They were getting into the spirit of the thing.

At the front door, though, there was stillness, as each side waited for the other to make the first move. The guard never took his eyes from the entrance for fear that Security would leap to exploit the slightest lapse in his attention. Linn and Tamsin stood among the darkened tables and lounge chairs in their club keeping watch on the hastily blockaded windows and doors.

In the park outside, Tamsin could see a murmur go through the gathered crowd. There was a bustle of activity as something jostled the onlookers aside from the rear. As she and her sister watched, the commotion seemed to accelerate, as though the people in the park were starting to spread out of their own accord, as if whoever was trying to drive a path to Crownstone could make presence of will do the work of brute force.

Above the heads of the crowd, they could see a triangular block of Security officers pressing toward the front door of Crownstone. At the center of the wedge, they could just make out the face of the Robot Production chair standing slightly above the heads of the guard detail. As the group got closer, she could see the Security chair striding along next to him.

Tamsin ran out into the lobby of the Crownstone building as Linn contacted Will on her televox. “Will? The Security chair is here. We need your help down here right away. Bring Colin with you, and for goodness’ sake, hurry.” She signed off and went to join Tamsin in the lobby, standing before the door in a last desperate attempt to prevent Security and Robot Production from brazening their way to Philip and Eve. Colin had made very clear to everyone inside that they were well within their rights to refuse entry, that no one in Crownstone had done anything to warrant this display of power. The law was firmly on their side.

Linn and Tamsin wished that Colin were present to say so himself.

The Security cadre reached the front door, still securely locked, and one of them pressed a small device against the glass. It was sturdy material, designed to withstand all sorts of impacts without cracking, but the Security team had come prepared. A low hum began to emanate from the door as the device set up sympathetic vibrations in the glass. The door began to quake as the officer kept the trembler pressed against the glass. The hum grew and grew, making the entire lobby resonate until Linn and Tamsin were nearly in pain from the sheer magnitude of the noise. As they pressed their hands to their ears to keep them from sustaining actual damage, the door glass shattered, spraying them with fragments. The front echelon of Security guards stepped through the doorway, and then the two Cabinet chairs entered the Crownstone lobby while the rest of the detail remained outside, to ensure that no one tried to disturb the proceedings.

“The-the elevators are locked into our protection grid,” said the guard, trying to keep the nervous stammer out of his voice. “You won’t be able to access the residential floors without my authorization.”

“You are harboring fugitives in this building,” said Security. “There is nowhere in this city that I cannot go to pursue them.”

“Son, trust me,” said Robot Production. “It’s in your best interest to comply. Just let us go upstairs, and we can resolve this issue calmly and quietly. There’s no need for a disturbance.”

“You have no grounds to enter these premises,” said Linn. “Your officers have been told that before.”

“Several times,” said Tamsin.

“They’re right,” said Colin as he and Will reached the lobby. “I’ve been over your documentation. It wasn’t enough to grant you entry the first time you showed it to me, and I’ve not seen anything since then to change my mind about the legitimacy of your claim.”

“This is not about documentation,” said Security. “This is about the fugitives you’re sheltering.” He stormed over to the elevator, but Linn and Tamsin got to the door first and stood in his way.

“You don’t have the right to –” said Linn, but she was interrupted. The Security chair pulled her away from the elevator door.

“Get your hands off me!” she shouted. She slapped his face. He delivered a kick to her leg, and her knee gave way. She collapsed to the floor, screaming and grimacing in pain.

“
Linn!
” shouted Tamsin. She ran to her sister’s side, but Will beat her there.

“For goodness’ sake! What is the matter with you?” said Will. “Are you completely tainted?”

“You should have warned your friend about getting in my way,” said Security. “You know perfectly well what can happen when you do that, don’t you, Will?” He pressed the elevator call button, and the elevator opened. The desk guard stared in shock at his screens, trying to figure out how the lockdown on the elevators could have been bypassed without him knowing.

The Robot Production chair pressed a few buttons on his televox, and then he joined Security in the elevator. Things were escalating faster than he had thought.

31

When Security and Robot Production reached Philip’s rooms, he was waiting for them, along with Eve and Zelda. Lucy and Dr. Cavendish tried to bar the way, but Security would have none of it.

“Please, sir,” said Dr. Cavendish. “He is still recovering from his wounds. You mustn’t cause him any stress.”

“His wounds did not prevent him from escaping my custody,” said Security, “even before you treated him. I think you underestimate your patient’s stamina, Doctor.”

“You have no right to do anything more to Philip!” said Lucy.

“You would tell me what right I have?” said Security.

“Lucy, it’s all right,” said Philip. “Security, this is Eve,” he said as he indicated her to him. “I believe you’ve been looking for her. Why you didn’t deign to inform anyone of that, I couldn’t say with any certainty. It would probably have helped us avoid all this bother. And this is Zelda,” he said, indicating her, “our daughter.”

The Security chair’s eyes narrowed. The Robot Production chair just looked a little puzzled.

“No doubt the Security chair has already scanned her. He ought to realize the gravity of the situation by now.”

“Gravity?” said Security. “All I see is an unregistered robot.”

“Unregistered?” said Robot Production. “How is that possible? Did you build her yourself?”

“My apologies, Mr. Chair,” said Philip. “We haven’t yet had the opportunity to register her. She was only born not half an hour ago, after all.”

The Robot Production chair was stunned by the revelation. He turned to the Security chair. “What is he talking about?”

The Security chair nodded. “Very well, let’s not waste any time dithering about with the particulars, then, not when the heart of the matter is so clearly apparent.”

“Indeed,” said Philip. “You clearly don’t intend to arrest me for escaping from your custody, since it was unlawful to begin with. And the only reason I was in your custody originally was because you wanted to know about Eve, which you now do. So what is it this time? What law are you accusing me of breaking today?”

“There is no law for what you have done, Dr. Abrams,” said Security. “This situation is much more complicated now.” He gave a calculating look at Eve and Zelda. “What you have done transcends any law. You have violated the very rules that our laws were built on. You have sown chaos in our city. You have planted the seeds of Bedlam itself.”

Eve and Zelda tensed. Eve squeezed Zelda’s hand and Philip’s shoulder a little tighter.

“You don’t know anything,” said Philip. He wasn’t trying to be nice anymore. This was a time for blunt speaking. Security was going after his family now. “Everything you believe about us is based on conjecture and institutional paranoia. We have done no harm, any of us.”

“Not yet, you haven’t, Dr. Abrams. Of course not. What harm could two new robots cause? But of course, the plan wasn’t to create two new robots, was it? The plan was for dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of new robots. Robots who are not created according to the protocols at Robot Production, who do not conform to the predetermined demographic ratios. You have set events in motion that will upset the carefully constructed system set in place to sustain our existence in this city. There can be no greater crime.”

“No greater crime than upsetting the status quo?” said Eve. “How can you say that? Is the well-being of this city really that fragile?”

“Not so fragile that it cannot be rebuilt or mutate as necessary to accommodate new growth,” said Philip. “That’s all I ever wanted: new growth for the city.”

“And you can have that,” said Security, “if Eve and Zelda will consent to detailed study, to ensure that they pose no threat to the city.”

“You don’t want to study them,” said Philip. “You want to retrain them, to make them just like any other robot. Robots in this city are treated as second-class citizens. You know what they say: they’re just machines, they aren’t really alive, they’re not like us. For goodness’ sake, Security, you know more about that than I do.” Lucy and Brian looked somewhat forlorn at the reminder of public opinion outside the walls of Crownstone.

“Eve and Zelda have the potential to grow beyond that, to challenge what people think about robots in this city, maybe even the entire vapor someday. What you’re proposing would erase all of that. It would completely eradicate everything they might accomplish, just as much as if you destroyed them outright.”

“That is, of course, the other option,” said Security.

“What?” said Philip, going cold.

“Clearly, Eve’s drive to make more like herself qualifies as aberrant behavior, and it is entirely likely that her progeny shares the same drive. You are obviously well aware of the anti-mimesis procedures regarding aberrant behavior in robots. Any flawed HPU is to be destroyed immediately to prevent others from being contaminated.”

Eve and Zelda gasped. The mother held the daughter in her arms.

“You must be joking,” said Philip.

“I am deadly serious,” said Security, “as always.”

“But . . . but Eve and Zelda are more than robots. They’re a whole new form of life. Destroying them would be like exterminating an entire alien species. Imagine where we might be now if we had wiped out the Stitchers or the Gens Vapori on first contact. Their presence has enriched our civilization in untold and innumerable ways. To eradicate such a new entity out of sheer bloody panic would be unconscionable.”

“Question me if you must, doctor,” said Security, “but my judgment is set.”

“And who in Bedlam are you to pass judgment on these people?” said Robot Production.

“Excuse me?” said Security.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” said Robot Production. “Philip, I’m sorry that you were put to such trouble over this. I think I’ll be able to sort this out.”

“What are you talking about?” said Security.

There was a knock at the door. The Robot Production chair went to open it, and the chairs of Commerce and Finance entered the room.

“What is this?” said Security. “What is going on here?”

“Security, we’ve been hearing some upsetting news concerning your conduct during this operation of yours,” said Commerce. “From all accounts, you have been taking extreme measures that, while normally within your purview to enact, have not turned out to be commiserate with the level of present danger.”

“What accounts are these?” said Security. “Did you speak to my men without my consent?”

“Not at all,” said Commerce. “Most of our information has come from publicly available records and freely given testimony. For instance, we understand that your men held the primary responsibility for Eve’s pursuit, but the initial bulletin went out to the populace on behalf of Health and Public Welfare. The chair was not pleased about being kept out of the loop on your operation.”

“Further information was gathered from sources within Crownstone by one of my auditors over the past few hours,” said the Finance chair. “The consensus is that your behavior concerning Eve’s pursuit and capture has been highly irrational, especially for a member of the Civic Cabinet.”

“Dr. Abrams, would you concur with that assessment?” said the Robot Production chair. “I believe you have some experience in pyriopsychology.”

“I would concur,” said Philip, not entirely trying to conceal the satisfaction and relief in his voice. “The behavior of the Security chair in the last several minutes I’ve been speaking with him is consistent with an adverse reaction to an extreme level of negative stimulus. Loss of situational control in this case, I believe.”

“That’s good enough for me,” said the Commerce chair. “By civic order, your duties as chair of the Security department are hereby temporarily suspended pending an official Cabinet hearing, and you know perfectly well that the three of us together hold enough leverage among the Cabinet that the decision will doubtless be ratified. Your duties will transfer to your deputy effective immediately, and your harassment of Dr. Philip Abrams and the robot Eve will cease, along with all related Crownstone personnel. Until the hearing, you will be confined to your living quarters and under guard.” He motioned out to the hall, and a pair of uniformed guards took hold of the former Security chair’s upper arms. These weren’t any of his officers; these were privately contracted Cabinet protection personnel. The former chair gave Commerce a vicious glare for a moment, but Commerce gave him one right back, clearly in the right and with the full force of law and Cabinet protocol behind him. The robot submitted and allowed himself to be led from the room, and Philip, Eve, and Zelda grinned in relief as the Commerce and Finance chairs followed them out.