Man or Machine: 2 (Body Electric) by Electra Shepherd Page B

the electrodes in the case and turned to Hal. “It’s been an honor learning from you, Hal. Truly an honor.”
    He shook Hal’s hand and then he shook Ilsa’s. It was a formal gesture after what they’d all just done together and Ilsa found it oddly touching.
    “I have a lot to think about,” said Dallas. He seemed barely able to contain his excitement. “I hope you’ll excuse me.”
    He left the room and closed the door behind him. She heard him whistling down the corridor, the sound fading away in the distance.
    Leaving them in silence.
    Ilsa cleared her throat. She got up. Her thighs were sticky from Hal’s semen. Because he’d been coming inside her not five minutes ago. And now she couldn’t look at him or think of anything to say.
    “I’ll just, um, have a wash.” She hurried to the en suite and shut the door behind her.
    She tried her best not to think as she washed herself. Not about what they’d just done, not about how she felt or how Hal was feeling or what she was going to do with him.
    She stopped, towel in hand, staring at her flushed and frantic face in the mirror.
    What was she going to do with him? She couldn’t keep him in the house, could she? Not after this. But she couldn’t let him go either. He knew even more now.
    She’d have to ask Blue and Cally. Though she thought she knew what they’d say— let him go.
    Let him go.
    Desolation rose in her. She tried to swallow it down but it was too huge. And she couldn’t stay in this bathroom forever, so she splashed her face with water.
    “The quicker it’s over the better,” she told herself. It was the same thing she’d told herself when she sent the email to Hal, breaking up with him.
    It was for the best. She closed her eyes and recited pi to fifty places and got dressed.
    When she came out into the bedroom, Hal was sitting in the chair by the window, tying his bootlace. He glanced at her and stood. His face was cold and pale.
    The passion she’d seen on it, had felt in him, was gone.
    “I won’t tell,” he said.
    She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting him to say but that wasn’t it. “What?”
    “I won’t tell anyone what I’ve learned about the robots,” he said. “You’re right. I agree with you. They’re extraordinary beings and they deserve our respect. They should make their own fate.”
    She could hardly believe it. Hal was making her choice, the choice she’d already made, for her.
    It was only then she realized that down deep, she’d been hoping he’d refuse to go.
    “What made you change your mind?” she asked.
    “I like Dallas. He’s surprising. I know what he’s made up of—his construction, his programming, everything—and yet he surpasses the limitations of technology, as it’s currently understood, on nearly every level. He’s got enormous capacity and he should be able to explore it and become as human as he wants to be. Or something else, if he prefers.”
    “Yes. He’s… I think he was happy, don’t you? Afterward.”
    Hal nodded briskly. “I give you my promise that I won’t sell the information I’ve stolen from you. I won’t share it or use it in any way. And if someone else does discover it, I will, to the best of my ability, defend the robots’ rights to own and use this information themselves.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Do you need me to write it down and sign it or will you take my word?”
    “I’ll…I’ll take your word. It’s good enough.” She thought about holding out her hand for him to shake, to seal the agreement, but that would involve touching him. She shoved her hands in her pockets.
    “You’ll tell the robots not to stop me when I go?” he asked.
    She nodded.
    “Good.” Hal walked across the room, right up to her. She fought the instinct to step backward or throw herself forward into his arms.
    “I want to make one thing completely clear,” he said to her in a low voice. He held her gaze steadily with his. “I won’t come back to this house. I