Machina Viva (17 page)

“And that,” said the Robot Production chair, “only leaves the matter of you two.”

Philip, Eve, and Zelda’s smiles vanished.

“He was right about one thing, you know,” said the remaining chair. “There aren’t laws in place to deal with the likes of you. As Philip here so adamantly stated, there have never been robots like the two of you before.”

Eve and Zelda were motionless.

“To that end,” said the chair, “the second order of business before the Cabinet tomorrow morning, following the resolution of the Security situation, will be to discuss new legislation concerning these new living robots of yours. Legal counsel for the Robot Production department will be present, and your presence at the proceedings, Dr. Abrams, will be invaluable as an expert advisor. I suggest that you bring counsel of your own, and I suspect that young Colin downstairs would be the right fellow for the job. Eve, if you and your . . . daughter would like to sit in,” he smiled as he tried the term out, “your presence would be more than welcome, but I fully understand if you prefer not. I imagine that the entire process will be extremely boring and tedious, but at the end, rest assured that history will have been made.”

Eve and Zelda hugged Philip, and he held their hands in turn. Lucy beamed at them, and Brian even rubbed his shoulder against Zelda’s leg.

“In the meantime,” said Robot Production, “there are a lot of people waiting in the park outside. I would recommend that you go and greet them.”

As he turned to leave, he delivered one final thought.

“If the people of this city are to know what lies in store for them, they ought to learn of it from the three of you.”

With that, he left.

The three of them turned to face each other. Zelda held the door as Philip made his way to the elevator.

There was a hush from the crowd gathered in the park as the former Security chair was led from the building in the custody of Commerce and Finance. When Philip, Eve, and Zelda came past the shattered remains of the front door, the crowd went completely still.

The humans in the crowd began a soft murmur. Some of them knew the face of Dr. Abrams, given the frequency with which his name came up in the rumors, and all of them recognized Eve from the bulletin. They didn’t recognize the face of the girl with them, though.

The robots in the crowd remained utterly still and silent. They knew exactly what they were looking at.

The End