Garrett eyed it, wanting to try something. He said, “Robot, I plan to delete you.”
“You may do so, sir.”
“Do you understand? You’re going to be destroyed!”
“Yes, sir.”
It voiced no objection. This was no living being! Garrett shivered, then looked away as he hit the Uninstall command and confirmed it. With a mechanical sigh the robot slumped back into the box, shutting down but for the BIOS on the computer screen.
“What just happened?” asked one of the Pilgrims.
“I deleted some software,” Garrett said. “I’ve got a better version.” He linked to the station’s network and saw that Zephyr was on.
“Yes?” said Zephyr.
“No ‘sir’ or ‘Captain’?”
“I vary it, dude.”
Garrett smiled. He turned to the Pilgrims and said, “I don’t think Tess introduced you, but this is Zephyr, currently our resident ghost. Hey, Zephyr, a new body arrived for you. Look at the physical connection from my machine.”
“Whoa! Is that for me?”
“Yes. Please install to it so we can see you. I assume you know how.”
“I’m on it! Hit Debug.”
Garrett did, then spent a few minutes trying to brief the Pilgrims, concluding, “Please treat him with respect and let me know if there’s any problem.”
“We’ll have to ask Sir Phillip about this.”
“Good point. I’d better talk with him.”
Behind him, motors whirred. Garrett turned to see the robot rise from its box with sawdust whirling in all directions. A deep voice boomed, “Who dares awaken me from my slumber?”
Garrett scoffed, putting a hand on one Pilgrim’s shoulder to keep him from running. “Should I have lit some candles around the box before summoning you?”
“That would’ve been cool.” Zephyr climbed out of the packing material and fell over.
Garrett and the less skittish Pilgrim caught him. Zephyr stood and flexed joints experimentally. The new body was sleeker and taller; the improvised jumble of features from the last version had settled into a humanoid otter shape, tan plastic with a slight fur texture, with expressive eyes. Closer to the dreamworld version seen in the virtual backup. Zephyr said, “Thanks. This body is different. Do you have a mirror?” He noticed the Pilgrims and said, “Oh! How do you do?” He offered one of his webbed hands to shake.
Tess arrived, and came over to hug the robot. “You’re back!”
Garrett watched her, puzzled.
Later, he was about to trash a six-day-old e-mail, when he stopped to finally read it.
It said, “I’ll do anything honest to earn my keep.”
9. Leda
Leda Jones had come very far. Now she floated in the autumn sea. Her hands untangled fronds of seaweed from wires, separating plant and metal. The cables’ vibration needed to be controlled, or it would shake the plants apart.
God and Lee had guided her to this wonderful place. Here Leda could live in peace and be surrounded by friends. Gallant Sir Phillip and bold Brother Duke had led their family to a promised land. Everyone was excited at the new work, the comfortable isolation, the mesmerizing scenery. She kept looking up from her work to see the endless blue sky fading into the sea. In the distance her friends worked and sang with many voices that were one voice. She shut her eyes and listened before adding her own weak, hesitant sound.
Back on land she’d felt the same way about the Holy Confederacy’s village: surrounded by woods, yet bustling with the family’s farming and handicraft work. The honest labor of laundering clothes, sewing, and carving wood had driven from her mind the thoughts of her descent, the life she’d left behind when she joined the family. Leda shivered at the memories of pain and fear and guilt that had led her into the family’s arms — but she was happy now. Safe.
One evening after sunset prayers, she stayed behind on the deck. At this hour the strangers were busy elsewhere. Since there was nothing to do until bedtime, she felt like having some quiet instead of going into the tower. She saw a darkening, twinkling ocean under a burning red sky built up with cityscapes of clouds. A world turned upside-down.
Her clothes felt bizarre, too. The slick grey dive-skin contrasted with her coffee-dark complexion, and the bloomer pants she wore at other times were unfamiliar. She could move well enough in them to try climbing the ladder on the deckhouse’s side. Now she was above the deck with the cold steel rungs in her hands and the illusion of a solid island falling away. Past the deck’s little wall there was nothing, just water dark and far away. She crouched on the deckhouse roof but found that the wind was too strong, pulling at her like a living thing. So Leda scuttled back down to the more stable, reassuring world of the deck. She lacked the strength to stand up there.
A faint whirr reached her from the stairs. When she turned to look, she saw that robot.
She’d seen this “Zephyr” before, but hadn’t had a good look. It stood at a child’s height, with a body of segmented plates in airbrushed shades of tan and brown, textured like fur. A tail clicked and curled behind it and little ears swiveled. The effect was like the work of a mad medieval armorer.
“Hello?” said Leda, not sure what she was dealing with.
Zephyr stopped and turned his head to see her, then approached methodically. “Hello. I’ve seen you, but I don’t know your name.”
Leda told it — him, rather. “What exactly are you for?”
“Nothing in particular. This body is designed for ocean use and social interaction.” Zephyr paused, then said, “The Net doesn’t know you, ma’am.”
Leda watched the last of the sun. “I left my original name behind.”
“Interesting. So did I.”
Leda looked at him again. “But you’re a machine.”
“As are you.”
“Excuse me?” said Leda. “I’m a child of God, and you, you’re something else.”
“You’re a human. Humans are animals and animals are biological machines. Therefore—”
“People aren’t animals!” Although certain people acted that way.
“You’re mistaken.” Zephyr turned slightly as though talking to someone else, then said, “What about the word: ‘beast’? We seem to be arguing about definitions. Would you agree if I said: you’re an animal in the sense of a biological creature, but not: a beast in the sense of an amoral, non-sentient creature?”
Leda boggled. “I suppose. What are you, a dictionary?”
“I like learning things. If you have time, then I’d like information about your group.”
At this Leda could relax a bit from the machine’s strange conversation, falling back on the lessons she’d learned. It didn’t matter that her audience wasn’t human; it would reassure her to speak the truth even to the empty sky. “This is a fallen world, you know. There was a time when people knew how to live in peace—”
“When?”
“A long time ago. But now the world is full of pain and struggle, and we need something to hang onto. We found God and Lee.” Facing the sea, she tried to retell the story of the great general who’d resisted all the temptations of the world to lead his people for an ideal.
Zephyr said, “That General Lee account doesn’t match generally accepted facts.”
“But it’s the truth,” said Leda.
“Based on what sources?”
“Sir Phillip, of course. God speaks to him and we can sense the rightness of it.”
Again Zephyr looked away, ears perked, before answering her. “Phillip is your prophet?”
“He was chosen by God.”