several options. Unfortunately, since Philip is being held without official charges, and thus outside the normal detainment procedure, no progress can be made along official channels.”
“Surely you can take legal action against them. The College of Law must have some young, fresh councilor who would be willing to prosecute the Security chair for what’s been done, someone who would be willing to work for the glory alone.”
“Impossible. There is no evidence of his incarceration. In order to demonstrate conclusively that Security has Philip in custody, we would have to prove that he is nowhere else in the entire vapor, and also that he is not dead. Security would only have to continue barricading against all outside attention to maintain their position. Infiltrating the Security holding area on our own initiative is the only way to secure Philip’s release.”
Eve sat at the table silently for a moment, and then she appeared to reach a decision. There was a question that she had been meaning to ask. “So if it is so important that Dr. Abrams be released that you would defy the entire Security department on his behalf, why did you come for me first? What is so important about me?”
“I couldn’t say,” said Raymond.
“You mean that you don’t know, or that you know and won’t tell?”
“A mixture of both, I think. There is certainly something about you that makes you physically different from the rest of us, Eve. Brian suspects that he knows what it is, but he and I both know that your physical uniqueness is only the start of what makes you important. The truth, Eve, is that only Philip knows why you are the way you are. It should be he who tells you.”
Eve sat at the table for an entire minute, not moving, just thinking about everything that had happened to her. She thought about the robots she had met at Crownstone, who were willing to risk so much because of her. She thought about Philip, who had set her existence in motion, and whom the others trusted to have a plan for everything, to be able to make everything make sense for them.
“Thank you, Raymond,” she said as she rose to leave. “I will think about what you said. I’ll see you at the next meeting.” She walked to the door, and Raymond opened it for her.
19
Two days rolled by. The robots had more meetings to discuss details of their plan. Discreet packages of undisclosed origin arrived by private courier. Brian went over some of the work he had done for the Security department, reminding himself of some of the particulars of their non-Scintilla systems. Eve spent most of her time wandering around the building exploring.
On the evening before the big day, Eve was looking for Will to ask him about the job, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. He wasn’t in his room, and he wasn’t meeting with Raymond. He could have been out on an errand in the city, but she couldn’t risk calling him for fear that the Department of Infrastructure might be listening for her voice.
On her way down to the front desk to ask the guard about Will, she ran into Lucy.
“Lucy, have you seen Will? I wanted to ask him something.”
“Yeah, he’s at the club downstairs. He wanted to have a good time with Linn before the job tomorrow.”
“Linn?”
“She’s the board operator at Ergonomix. Oh, you haven’t seen the club yet, have you?”
“Yes, I saw it the day I arrived, before the meeting.”
“Oh, but there’s never anything happening there in the middle of the day. You’ve got to see it at dusk, when it’s full of people! Come on, I was just going down there myself.”
Eve let Lucy lead her to the first floor. As they approached the club, Eve could hear the thump of loud music and the white noise of voices. It reminded her of her first job at the restaurant, except much louder and more festive.
Eve followed Lucy through the door of Ergonomix, where she was greeted with a wall of music and the sound of revelry. Brightly colored
“Surely you can take legal action against them. The College of Law must have some young, fresh councilor who would be willing to prosecute the Security chair for what’s been done, someone who would be willing to work for the glory alone.”
“Impossible. There is no evidence of his incarceration. In order to demonstrate conclusively that Security has Philip in custody, we would have to prove that he is nowhere else in the entire vapor, and also that he is not dead. Security would only have to continue barricading against all outside attention to maintain their position. Infiltrating the Security holding area on our own initiative is the only way to secure Philip’s release.”
Eve sat at the table silently for a moment, and then she appeared to reach a decision. There was a question that she had been meaning to ask. “So if it is so important that Dr. Abrams be released that you would defy the entire Security department on his behalf, why did you come for me first? What is so important about me?”
“I couldn’t say,” said Raymond.
“You mean that you don’t know, or that you know and won’t tell?”
“A mixture of both, I think. There is certainly something about you that makes you physically different from the rest of us, Eve. Brian suspects that he knows what it is, but he and I both know that your physical uniqueness is only the start of what makes you important. The truth, Eve, is that only Philip knows why you are the way you are. It should be he who tells you.”
Eve sat at the table for an entire minute, not moving, just thinking about everything that had happened to her. She thought about the robots she had met at Crownstone, who were willing to risk so much because of her. She thought about Philip, who had set her existence in motion, and whom the others trusted to have a plan for everything, to be able to make everything make sense for them.
“Thank you, Raymond,” she said as she rose to leave. “I will think about what you said. I’ll see you at the next meeting.” She walked to the door, and Raymond opened it for her.
19
Two days rolled by. The robots had more meetings to discuss details of their plan. Discreet packages of undisclosed origin arrived by private courier. Brian went over some of the work he had done for the Security department, reminding himself of some of the particulars of their non-Scintilla systems. Eve spent most of her time wandering around the building exploring.
On the evening before the big day, Eve was looking for Will to ask him about the job, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. He wasn’t in his room, and he wasn’t meeting with Raymond. He could have been out on an errand in the city, but she couldn’t risk calling him for fear that the Department of Infrastructure might be listening for her voice.
On her way down to the front desk to ask the guard about Will, she ran into Lucy.
“Lucy, have you seen Will? I wanted to ask him something.”
“Yeah, he’s at the club downstairs. He wanted to have a good time with Linn before the job tomorrow.”
“Linn?”
“She’s the board operator at Ergonomix. Oh, you haven’t seen the club yet, have you?”
“Yes, I saw it the day I arrived, before the meeting.”
“Oh, but there’s never anything happening there in the middle of the day. You’ve got to see it at dusk, when it’s full of people! Come on, I was just going down there myself.”
Eve let Lucy lead her to the first floor. As they approached the club, Eve could hear the thump of loud music and the white noise of voices. It reminded her of her first job at the restaurant, except much louder and more festive.
Eve followed Lucy through the door of Ergonomix, where she was greeted with a wall of music and the sound of revelry. Brightly colored
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