“I do not know. We must observe them further.”
“They differed in their attitudes about the dancers. Ariel seemed genuinely sorrowful about their deaths, while Avery appeared to be indifferent.”
“He was fearful of his own death. He admitted that.”
“Yes. I have no real idea what death is. It seems to be an operational being becoming nonoperational.”
“I believe that is somewhat accurate. Did you have feelings about the dancers when they became nonoperational?”
“I cannot answer you. Something was in my head but I do not know what. I thought perhaps it was a positronic disturbance, but I am not sure. All I know was that as I carried each dancer away from the medical facility, I sensed that there was an injustice in their lives, but I could not yet discern what. If that is feelings, then I may be a robot with feelings.”
“The evidence is inconclusive at best. Will you bury more of these people if we discover their corpses?”
“Yes, if it is possible.”
“Should you wish it, I will help you.”
They stood a while longer, then Adam said, “When I was helping Dr. Avery, he told me a story. He said I should know it because of our names. It went like this: Adam and Eve and Pinch Me went out to take a swim. Adam and Eve got drowned, and who got saved?”
Eve waited for Adam to continue. When he did not, she said, “That is incomprehensible as a story, Adam.”
“No, you’re supposed to answer the question. Perhaps it is a riddle. Try again; Adam and Eve got drowned, and who got saved?”
“Logic seems to indicate Pinch Me.”
“That’s right. And then I am supposed to do this.”
Adam put his hand against her arm, finger and thumb spread. Gradually he brought the two digits together and pressed against her skin in an approximation of a human pinch.
Adam dropped his hand away. Eve watched the gesture and said, “And…?”
“And what?”
“What is the point?”
“I do not know. I didn’t know when Dr. Avery did it either, but he seemed to think it was worth smiling about. When I asked him to explain it, he became angry.”
“Do you think it is an allegory? You see, Adam and Eve die and then Pinch Me is the survivor. Therefore, the teller touches the listener in a shared satisfaction that life goes on when other people die. Do you think that was what Dr. Avery was trying to convey?”
“Perhaps. He appears to want to live on very much, so this could have been his way of explaining life to me. These people can be like that, telling stories laced with obscurity when data is required.”
“I suspect that data is not always essential to them. Come, let’s find them.”
In the distance there was an odd popping sound. Looking up, Adam and Eve saw an entire building flying above them, high in the air.
“What is that?” Eve said.
“It appears that a building has left its foundation and taken flight. Odd. When the robots remove a building from the city, it just disappears and is replaced by a new one. It does not generally fly through the air. Something is wrong. We must find Derec and Ariel.”
Chapter 18. Avery Redux
Derec recognized the change in his father as soon as the man came into the room. Avery’s usually tense face, now drawn and tired with a sad darkness around his eyes, had relaxed. Its features were softer, and his eyes and mouth were not agitated by nervousness. Neither was his body. He moved with an uncharacteristic slowness. His fingers were still. That was the real oddity. His hands, usually so active, were not moving. Derec had become so used to the way Avery’s fingers drummed against things-furniture, his clothing-that their lack of movement was like a sudden silence in a jungle, too disturbing to cause calm.
Ariel looked a bit different, too, exhausted, eyelids drooping, mouth slack, no spring to her walk.
“Isn’t Wolruf with you?” Derec asked Ariel.
“She was, but she took off on her own. You know how she does.”
“I sent for her.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
Derec nodded. His suspicions seemed confirmed. “I sent Bogie to bring her here, except that I don’t think it was really Bogie I sent.”
“What do you mean?”
He explained.
“You think somebody’s done something to Bogie?” Ariel asked.
“Possibly. Or it wasn’t Bogie at all.”
“How could that be?”
“I don’t know, but Timestep seemed to agree with me. He and Mandelbrot went after him.”
Avery, who had lingered at the door, stepped forward. “Maybe it was the individual you’ve been looking for. The one behind the city’s shutdown.”
Derec considered the possibility. “You may be right. It’s worth considering anyway. But could he disguise himself as Bogie?”
Avery shrugged. “When you don’t know the identity of your antagonist, there’s very little to conclude. We need hard evidence.”
“I heard that ‘we,’ “ Ariel said. “Does that mean you want to work with us?”
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Avery replied. “At least not what you insinuate. I may no longer believe I’m a robot, and you may be smug about how you prodded me back to normality with your cheap tricks and psychologizing, but it does not mean I am somehow, as your tone implied, your ally.”
“Well, pardon me,” Ariel said in mock anger. “Derec, I think the train’s returned to the station. Your father is his old self again.”
Derec didn’t know how much he could appreciate that. He had not liked Dr. Avery in their earlier encounters and didn’t relish having to deal closely with him again. And this was the man, after all, who had injected the chemfets into him, which had certainly turned out to be a mixed blessing. But Avery was also his father, and that had to count for something. If only the doctor would treat him like a son for a change.
“Well,” Derec said glumly, “we can use any help you might be able to give us.”
“Of course you could. The city is deteriorating. I’d want my help, too. I’d demand it. I didn’t put you in charge to oversee its decline and fall.”
Avery’s words stung Derec. It seemed as if the man was continually judging him, and finding him wanting.
“I think you two should get to know each other,” Ariel said. “You don’t need me around for that. I’m going to take a stroll. Perhaps I can find the missing Bogie. I mean, the real one.”
She walked out, an impish look on her face. She knew exactly what she was doing. The two Averys had to meet each other head to head, something neither of them could do with her around. She wasn’t sure why, but she thought something would have to happen between them, for good or ill.
After she left, Avery observed, “Well, your girlfriend’s ploy is quite obvious.”
“Stop! Don’t make her sound trivial by calling her my girlfriend.”
“Sorry. I thought you two were-”
“We are, but she means more to me than that.”
“I’ll choose better words. Do you like paramour, foxy lady, lollapalooza, some dish, the cat’s pyjamas, a tomato-”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just Earth slang. I’m a collector of ancient colloquialisms.”
“You told me something like that in a dream.”
“Did I?” Avery began to walk around the room slowly. He looked a bit more like his old self now, a shadow of it anyway. “Well, I don’t put much stock in dream mysteries. Symbols and clairvoyance and that sort of bilgewater scum. Buried in your brain somewhere, although you don’t remember it, you must remember observing me using the old slang terms.”
“Do you remember me observing you?”
Avery’s face softened. He looked almost kind.
“Yes. Many times. You used to come to my lab, sit on a high stool for hours, and watch me work. You not only picked up some of my scientific terminology, and probably my ancient lowdown slang, you were able to repeat a considerable number of my curses when you were a very young age. Embarrassed your mother no end-”
“My mother? She’s been in my dreams, too. She-”
“I don’t want to hear about your trivial dreams. You would probably assail me with sentimental theories, interpretations. I can do without psychobabble, believe me. Let’s get back to business, we-”