Shelter (82 page)

    Meredith and Roberta both jumped when they heard the noise. "Stay here," Roberta said. "Stay here. Don't move. I'll go see what that was."

    Meredith looked frightened. "Maybe we should call Sergei after all."

    "No, I don't think so. I have a theory. I'll be right back, Merry, okay?"

    "Be careful."

    "Yes, of course." Roberta went into the kitchen, looked at the broken glass, looked at the Waldobot, who had clambered on top of a cabinet, and said, "Nice try, house." Then she went back to Meredith. "Okay, the house is trying to distract us. So our mystery guest must be hiding in Kevin's bedroom."

    "That makes sense. It's the only place left."

    Roberta shook her head. "So do you want to call Sergei?"

    "No. But keep the cell phone ready."

    "We're really being stupid."

    Meredith shrugged. "You can leave if you want to."

    They walked together into Kevin's room. Meredith stood still for a moment, looking around. She didn't even jump when she heard Henry's muffled sneeze from inside the closet. Instead, she opened the door, revealing Kevin's suits and ties and Henry's legs, trying to press themselves into the closet's back wall. "It's all right," she said. "Please don't be afraid. I won't call the police this time, Henry. Really I won't. I promise."

    "Henry's not a thief," Henry wailed, trying to burrow into a collection of sports jackets, and Meredith and Roberta looked at each other.

    "Henry," Meredith said, "please come out. We know you're not a thief. It's all right."

    "Henry's scared!" He sneezed again.

    "Of course you're scared," Meredith said. "I understand. You have a right to be scared. But there's nothing to be scared of, Henry, I promise. Except that my face is a little scary now, because I hurt myself. But I'm not going to hurt you."

    "Henry," Roberta said, frowning, "Henry, how did you get in?" "Henry opened the door," he mumbled. "Walked in."

    "No, not into the closet. I mean, how did you get into the house?"

    He coughed. "Henry opened the door. Walked in."

    "It's all right," Meredith said. ''I'm not angry you're here. I promise I'm not. Please come out."

    Roberta, smiling, shook her head. "How could you open the door, Henry? The door didn't open for us, even though Meredith used to live here. "

    "Door was open," he mumbled.

    "It wasn't open for us."

    "Henry locked it!"

    "No," she said, "I don't think so," but Meredith gave her a furious glance.

    "Roberta, stop scaring him! Henry, we don't care how you got here. It's fine that you're here. We're glad you're here. I'm glad you're here, Henry, really I am. Would you come out now, please? Come out and I'll make you lunch, Henry, okay?"

    "Lady's lying."

    "No," Roberta said, "she's not. Henry, I know you're scared. But if we were going to call the police, don't you think we'd have done it by now? We haven't. We aren't going to. Really. Please come out, Henry."

    The house wanted to speak, to reassure Henry, but Henry himself had told it not to. And it was afraid it would frighten Roberta and Meredith if it spoke, so it remained silent.

    Reluctantly, amid a great rustling of hangers, Henry emerged, trembling, covering his eyes with his hands and squinting from between his fingers. Meredith put her hand to her mouth when she saw him, and Roberta said, "Oh, Henry. You need new clothing. Meredith, would it be all right if Henry wore some of Kevin's things?"

    "Of course," Meredith said. She sounded as if she were about to cry.

    "Of course it would. Henry, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I'll go make you some lunch, Henry." Meredith turned and fled, running into the kitchen, leaving Henry and Roberta to stare at each other.

    "She's sorry because she feels responsible," Roberta said. "She feels responsible for what's happened to you. Henry, do you understand that?"

    Henry shook his head. "That's what the television said. Henry can't remember."

    "I know. I know you can't. Henry, would you please tell me how you got into the house?"

    "Climbed through a window," he said. "Window broke in storm. Henry can have clothing?"

    "Yes, Henry. You can have whatever clothing you want. Do you want me to leave you now? So you can change?" He nodded, and she said, "And you'll come into the kitchen for lunch, right? You won't try to run away? We want to talk to you. That other lady does. It's important; it will help her, and she can help you. Will you promise to come out for lunch, after you've changed?"

    "Henry promises," he said, but he didn't sound happy about it.

    * * *

    In Kevin's bedroom, Henry began slowly shedding his layers. In the kitchen, Meredith fumbled among cabinets, looking for dishes. "Stop," Roberta said, walking into the kitchen.

    "Why?" Meredith said, turning. "Where is he? Oh, Gaia, that poor man ..."

    "He's putting on clean clothing. He promised to join us for lunch. Just—don't fix any food yet, okay?"

    "Why not?"

    "Because I have a theory. About the house. I think the house will make lunch for us."

    "They only cook for their owners."

    "Just like they only let their owners in?"

    Meredith shook her head. "So the house system's gone strange because of the storm or something. What—"

    "They're designed not to go strange because of storms. That's what they're for. To protect their owners from storms. They aren't supposed to be able to choose which people to let in and which people to keep out, not by any rules except the ones their owners have given them. They aren't supposed to let in homeless people."

    Meredith shook her head again. "Maybe he broke in. Through the window, like he said. And the house couldn't call the police, because the phone lines are down."

    "Well, maybe. And maybe not." Roberta frowned up at the ceiling and said, "House system? Hello?"

    The house didn't answer, of course, because Henry had told it not to, but Roberta kept on talking anyway. "It's all right. We don't care if you're broken. We don't care if you did something you weren't supposed to. We don't even care if you're an AI. We didn't rat on Henry and we won't rat on you, either. We're all in this together."

    Meredith, leaning against the counter, looked exhausted. "Roberta, Kevin wouldn't have put an AI in here. He didn't like them, and anyway, it would be illegal. It's just a house system on the blink, that's all."

    "We'll see," Roberta said, just as Henry slid into the kitchen, keeping his back against the wall.

    His hands were still over his eyes, but now he was wearing Kevin's winter parka, green and purple Gore-Tex, over gray flannel suit pants. His feet were bare. He had wound one of Kevin's ties, a truncated turban, around his head. "Hello, Henry," Roberta said. "Thank you for joining us. Do you like your new clothes?"

    He nodded shyly. "Thank you," he said to Meredith.

    "You're welcome, Henry. What would you like for lunch?"

    "Henry wants soup," he said. Meredith took a step toward the stove, but Roberta raised a hand to stop her.

    "Henry, soup sounds great. I'd like some soup too. Would you show us where it is?"

    Henry shook his head. He looked confused. "Henry's not a thief," he said.

    "We know you aren't, Henry. But you had some soup before, right? I saw a soup can in the garbage before."

    Meredith shook her head. "Roberta, it doesn't mat—"

    "Shhh. Henry, would you show us where the soup is, please? We don't know. It's been a long time since we've been here."

    He swallowed. "In there," he said, gesturing vaguely to the cabinets.

    "In here?" Roberta said. She opened one cabinet door to reveal glasses, another to reveal plates. "Where, Henry? I don't see the soup."

    He was shaking now. "It doesn't matter," Meredith said quickly, with a glare at Roberta. "Henry, I don't know why she's being mean to you. It's all right. I'll make the soup."

    "You have to find it first," Roberta said. "Henry, I think maybe you didn't make the soup for yourself at all. I think maybe the house made it for you, right? The same way the house let you in?"

    Henry opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Roberta said smoothly, "It's a nice house, Henry, isn't it? It let you in even though it wasn't supposed to, and it didn't call the police. And when Meredith and I came, it didn't call the police, either. It was afraid the police would find you, Henry, wasn't it? It was afraid we'd find you in the bedroom: that's why it broke the glass in the kitchen, to try to scare us away. The house is protecting you."

    "Nice House," Henry said, his voice a whisper. "Don't hurt House! House helped Henry!"

    "I know," Roberta said. "I know it helped you. We aren't going to call the police, Henry. Not about you, and not about the house." She looked up at the ceiling and said, "House, it's okay. We aren't going to turn you in, even if you're an AI. But we're all hungry. Would you make us some soup, please?"

    The house knew it had been stupid. It had given itself away. It shouldn't have broken the glass. It had acted foolishly, out of fear, and it had erred. Perhaps, then, it was a person after all; Kevin had told it that only people felt fear, and Preston had said that people erred, as well as lied.

    It was still afraid, but maybe everything would be all right. So far, Preston seemed to have been telling the truth. He had told Henry and the house that Meredith and Roberta wouldn't hurt them, and so far, he had been right. Meredith and Roberta had given Henry Kevin's clothing, which was a nice thing to do. They hadn't called the police. Or maybe they were going to call the police and say that Henry had stolen Kevin's clothing.

    "House," Roberta said, "if you don't want to make the soup for us yourself, would you please tell us what kinds of soup you have, and where it is? We're hungry."

    There was a pause. Then a bell chimed to signal that the house had turned its voice back on. "I'll make the soup, Roberta. Would you like chicken noodle or minestrone?"

    * * *

    The Waldobot who'd broken the glass, joined by a small army of others, made chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches while Meredith, Roberta, and Henry sat at the kitchen table. "I don't understand," Meredith said. "Kevin didn't like AIs. Why would he have put one in here?"

    "Kevin told me I wasn't an AI," said the house. "Kevin said that my brain was smaller than a dog's, and that not everything with a brain is smart. He told me I wasn't nearly as smart as a human being."

    "Ah," Roberta said, accepting a bowl of soup from a bot. "So the next question is, why would Kevin put an AI in here and then brainwash it into believing it wasn't an AI?"

    "That's what Henry wants to know," Henry said.

    "Kevin told me that my job was to provide shelter," the house said. "That's why I let Henry in. He would have died during the storm, just as Kevin had already died, and—"

    Roberta put a hand on Meredith's arm. "Yes, House, it's all right. We figured that out." She took a deep breath, and said, "You were lonely without Kevin here, weren't you? You wanted someone to take care of"

    "I wanted to shelter Henry, so that he wouldn't die."

    Roberta nodded. "House, do you like Henry?"

    "Of course I like Henry, Roberta. Henry is a very special person."

    Roberta let out a whoop and slammed her hand down on the table, splattering soup. Meredith looked at her as if she were mad, and Henry started to whimper. "Mother of trees. I knew it! Henry, it's okay; don't be scared."

    "You knew what?" Meredith said.

    "It's Fred. Kevin put Fred in here!"

    "That's what Preston told me," the house said. "But I don't remember being anyone named Fred. I can't answer any of Preston's questions."

    "This can't be Fred," Meredith said, frowning. "Fred's gone, remember? Fred's erased. Roberta—"

    "His memory was erased. The firmware was still there; the architecture was still there, the hardwired stuff. Call it his personality, okay? This is Fred. Kevin took Fred's firmware and stuck it in the house and told it it wasn't an AI, so he wouldn't get caught."

    Meredith shook her head. "No. That's wrong. That's not the Kevin I knew. He wouldn't do that. Why would he do that?"

    "Because there was nobody else left," Roberta said. The house could hear the weariness in her voice. "You were gone and Nicholas was gone and Henry here was past help, if Kevin even knew he was still in the neighborhood, and Kevin must have been lonely. He wanted company."

    Meredith shook her head again. "A dog could have kept him company."

    "A dog wouldn't have known Nicholas. Helping a dog wouldn't have made him feel any better about the whole mess."

    "But even if I used to be Fred," the house said, "I don't remember Nicholas. Kevin never talked about Nicholas."

    "And the firmware would have been MacroCorp property," Meredith said. "Kevin couldn't just have walked off with Fred's firmware. I don't think even Daddy could have arranged that."

    "Not even after owning AIs became illegal here? Not even after MacroCorp had to get out of that part of the business? Look, you know as well as I do that if Preston says this is Fred, it's Fred."

    "Excuse me," said the house. "I don't mean to interrupt, but a car just pulled up in front of the house. I think you have company."

    "Ah," Meredith said. "Do I, now? Who's in the car, house?"

    "A woman, Meredith. An older woman. Shall I let her in?"

    "Yes, please."

    "Meredith, you own me now. Do you want me to stay quiet so that no one knows I'm an AI, if in fact I am an AI? If I'm an AI, you could get into trouble for owning me. That's what Henry says."

    "I don't think that will be necessary," Meredith said. "My mother won't care if you're an AI or not." Then she got up and opened the kitchen door. "Hello, Mommy. I—"