Stanley felt uneasy. There was something about the way Hiro looked at him.
“Welcome to your new home,” said Hiro, sweeping his arm toward Stanley with the grace of a ballet dancer.
Stanley, completely caught off guard by this reversal, gawked at him. In that moment, he even admired the man.
“Thank you, Mr. Mori,” said Dan, bowing down as before.
“This means a lot to me,” said Stanley, bowing to them both. “Thank you.”
Chapter 2
Shannon put down her paintbrush when she heard Evan honking. Throwing on her winter coat, she picked up the engagement ring out of the jewelry box and kissed it. She had told him she wasn’t ready yet — but that it wasn’t a “No.” If it hadn’t been for the years she had spent with his good side, she would never have tolerated his bad side — even that tolerance had reached its limit. If it hadn’t been for this baby, she would have left him.
He picked her up as she danced along the driveway, twisting her around in the air effortlessly. Tall and strong, he made her feel like a little girl. He wasn’t a handsome man. Actually, he could be downright terrifying. His whole face looked like it was caving in on itself. Deep-set eyes, cheeks imploding where his rotten molars had fallen out, and a fat, ugly nose that had been broken half a dozen times. His good looks had faded inexplicably over the years, but Evan refused to get himself checked out by a doctor — they were all androids. She knew there was something wrong, but he became furious any time she brought it up. So, she was forced to silently watch him fall apart. And with it, their relationship. That is, until she found out she was pregnant.
The neighbor’s blinds flickered.
Shannon smiled, unable to be bothered by their nosiness on this fine day.
“Ready, babe?” asked Evan.
“Yeah.”
Seven months pregnant, Shannon was showing significantly. With her hand under her belly, she said, “I’m craving burritos.”
“This early?”
“Breakfast burritos?”
He nodded, calling in the order. “We’ll pick it up on the way to Paul’s.”
Shannon lit up. “I’ve been thinking about names. I want to call her ‘Sophie.’”
“I knew you’d pick that one,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.
She hugged him, thinking about their relationship. They had been together for years; much of that had been rocky. Had she not invested so much of her life with him — and had there been enough decent men — she would have ended things. But she didn’t, and it was because of her own cowardice. But things were finally looking up.
“You’re kidding me!” said Evan, pulling to the side of the road across from a Darlin’ Donuts and rolling down his window. He stared at the man walking out.
The man’s eyes lit up. “Good morning, Deputy.”
Evan frowned. “Really, Paul?”
Paul stopped walking. A look of hesitation messed up his face.
Shannon felt bad for her AI-loathing boyfriend. Evan did his best to support his fellow man, but when someone went to an establishment like Darlin’ Donuts — run completely by AI — Evan became mean. Scary mean.
Paul took his brown paper bag and tossed it in the trash.
“Need a ride?” said Evan.
Paul got into the back seat. “Thank you.”
“What am I going to do with you?”
“What do you mean?”
Paul’s nervous face nodded toward Darlin’ Donuts, his cheeks tightly stretched, as if Evan had yanked them toward his ears. “I wanted a quick bite. It’s not like I was about to sign Annie the android up to work at my tavern.”
“It’s the principle.” Evan wrapped his arm around the back of the headrest, pulling himself around to look straight into Paul’s eyes. “We need to stand together against the toasters. What sort of message does it send to the children when they see you sipping on Annie’s Darlachino?”
Paul sighed. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Shannon knew what would happen if it didn’t. Paul was a nice guy. She hoped he would be more careful.
“You should come by the Coliseum some time. There’s nothing quite like seeing these abominations tear themselves apart. We could let you have a round or two with them.”
Paul ran his fingers along the seatbelt. “Not really my thing.”
Evan glared at him.
“But I could learn to appreciate it.”
Shannon dreamed away, imagining what it was going to be like to be a mom. She was going to love Sophie even if the world fell apart.
As they arrived at the Mexican restaurant, a thin, older man was standing by the curb. He handed Evan a brown paper bag. “Here you go, Deputy. I really appreciate you looking after my family.”
“Not a problem,” said Evan, turning around to stare at Paul. “We humans need to stick together.”
Shannon noted an uncomfortable smile from the man outside.
“Couldn’t agree more,” said the man. “We continue to employ one hundred percent humans, even if that means going short-staffed for a while.”
“You’re doing us all a favor. We need a purpose, and it’s people like you who provide it.”
“And you, Deputy.”
Shannon smiled. Evan could be a rough man, occasionally needing to put the fear of God into people, but he had good intentions. He was keeping the city clean and making sure his fellow man could live a righteous life without the machines. Employing dozens of men and women, he gave people a purpose in this time of despair. And for those who could not bear it, he provided them with unending bliss, protecting them with round-the-clock security.
He would be a tough but good father.
Stanley gleamed at the amazingly fluid movements of his beautiful cyborg. Had it not been for the long, still pauses where he simply did nothing, Dan would have been readily mistaken as human. “Sorry about the smell. I quit smoking today, so it won’t be like this in the future.”
Dan made no response. Feeling awkward, Stanley looked around for something to do. He was already thinking of different protocols he could write to improve Dan’s functionality,
