An Android Dog's Tale by David Morrese

with determination.
“Then I’ll go by myself.”
    The young primitive’s attitude could present
a problem. He might be injured through some accident or even be
attacked by wild dogs, although such cases were extremely rare.
Those would not be problems from the PM’s perspective. The boy’s
quick demise would actually prevent the real problem. Fortunately
for him, Galactic Federation law prohibited the corporation from
taking active steps to achieve this result. A more likely outcome
would be that the lad would survive and eventually come across
another human settlement where he might exchange information and,
worse, encourage some people there to explore and find even more
villages. The PM could not allow the primitives to wander all over
the planet trading goods and information. They were already
difficult enough to manage.
    “That would be a serious mistake,” Tam
warned him. “You don’t know what’s out there.”
    “That’s why I need to go!” the boy
insisted.
    “ Humans, ” Tam said silently. “ I
don’t think I’ll ever understand them. They are such a peculiar
species. I think they look for problems. ”
    “ I think you may be right, ” his
partner replied, but unlike his companion, he no longer considered
this a negative trait.
    The trader focused a cold, serious gaze on
the boy before him. “The ways are dangerous. There are great
distances between villages. You will have no shelter at night. No
friends to help you. Your home spirits and ancestors cannot protect
you if you leave them behind. You will be alone.”
    “If you can do it, I can do it,” the boy
said.
    “Are you sure?” the trader asked
suggestively.
    “I don’t see why not. I can bring food and a
blanket, and I even know how to make fire if I have to. What else
do I need?”
    “You won’t know until you need it, will you?
And then it will be too late.”
    “You’re just trying to scare me. Some people
say the Master Traders have protective magic, but I don’t think so.
I think they just know stuff we don’t.”
    “ He’s got you pegged, there, ” MO-126
said.
    “ You’re not helping, ” the trade
android transmitted.
    “ You want help? Here’s help. The boy’s
name is Utrek. Impress him with your magic. ”
    The trader grinned. “Magic? What could
possibly make anyone think we have magic…, Utrek?”
    The boy’s eyes widened. “How do you know my
name?”
    “I’m sure I must have heard it somewhere. It
certainly isn’t magic.”
    “ Clever, ” MO-126 said. “ And you
didn’t even lie to him. ” Androids found outright lying
difficult. They could do it, but it made them uncomfortable. Being
intentionally incorrect upset their inherent need for accuracy and
made them feel like they were about to develop an imagination or
suffer some other malfunction. They could, however, bend truths
into knots no primitive logician could find the ends to.
    “ Thank you. I thought it was pretty good,
too. ”
    Tam continued to stare at Utrek as if the
two were having a contest, which the trader eventually won when the
boy turned and walked away.
    “ That should do for now, ” the trade
android signaled as he took the leads of the pack animals, “ but
I think we should call for special surveillance just to be on the
safe side. ”
    “ I’ll do it, ” MO-126 said. He
switched frequencies and sent a message to Field Operations.
“ Surveillance Drones requested to monitor Semiautonomous
Production Cell 42-A. Adolescent male primitive known as Utrek
poses an unsupervised migration risk. Mitigation actions may be
required. ”
    They left the village, plodding slowly over
trackless terrain. In a way, he regretted the necessity of
restricting the humans’ freedom of movement, but he understood that
it really was for their own good. Allowing them to run free would
be poor stewardship. Not only would it harm the corporation’s
interests, it would harm the humans as well. If left unmanaged,
their territorial instincts