Laura and he had just witnessed. The conference room was silent. Even Griffith — his director of robotics — seemed enthralled.

'So,' Gray concluded, 'for now the problem seems solved.'

'Wait!' Margaret said, raising her hand like a schoolgirl. 'That's it? The Model Eights kill at least three people, but since they've carried out their own vigilante justice everything's okay?'

She looked up and down the table at her colleagues. 'As long as those things are running around loose on this island we're in danger.'

'I agree,' Hoblenz said.

'Do we even have the ability to pull their plugs?' Margaret asked Griffith.

'Nobody is pulling anybody's plugs,' Gray said before Griffith could answer. 'The Model Eights are not a threat to human life.'

'They killed three men, sir,' Hoblenz intoned.

'Hightop will keep them under lock and key, from now on,' Gray said patiently. 'I think you'll find that the graduates understand the problem. They know the continued existence of their program — of their species — was put at risk when those men were killed. Mr. Hoblenz's people checked the exits to the Model Eight facility. All the mechanisms had been destroyed — from the outside. The older Model Eights sealed all the toddlers in tight. That's why they had to drill their way in from the nuclear facility.'

'Who the hell was that in your kitchen, then?' Hoblenz asked. Gray shrugged.

'One of the juveniles. It was removing cuttings from the tunnel and must have decided to take a break. They're just as curious as the main computer, only they're mobile. It probably just wanted to see what a kitchen looks like. But the juveniles have been through tactile training. They're not dangerous.'

'You know, Mr. Gray,' Hoblenz said, clearly skeptical, 'there are lots of human juveniles runnin' around loose in this world that are stone-cold killers.'

'That's because they ascribe no value to the lives of others. Our problems have all been with rough play. They aren't homicidal. They're programmed not to be.'

'But they reprogram themselves,' Margaret said softly.

Gray looked at his watch. 'Look, in two hours the charges blow on the asteroid. The computer is going to pull the trigger. It's time we moved on to that subject.'

'But what about their attack on the computer center?' Margaret asked.

'Maybe they were trying to help me get back here after my wreck,' Laura suggested.

'So they start a war?' Hoblenz replied with a derisive laugh. 'I don't think so.'

Gray rose and headed for the door.

'Joseph?' Laura called out.

He turned, and said, 'And you all wonder why I don't fill you in on every little detail of what goes on around here! We're running out of time. We have two hours to decide whether the computer can detonate the deceleration charges properly.'

'What choice do we have?' Filatov said. 'We have to decelerate the asteroid, and that means we have to use the computer.'

Gray fixed his gaze on Filatov. 'The computer has been partitioned between the half that we know and talk to, and the Other. Those are our two choices.'

'We don't even know there's an 'Other'!' Filatov said angrily.

'The Other exists,' Gray said, looking again at his watch. 'The Model Eights have been talking to it. And the Other has tried to contact Laura. It even had a car take Laura to the empty quarter to try to put her in contact with the Model Eights.'

Hoblenz shook his head in an exaggerated motion. 'Whoa! I'm too slow for this crowd. I'm goin' back to the Rand Corporation.'

'Does the computer know that the Model Eights are talking to the Other?' Laura asked.

Gray nodded. 'She's scared, Laura,' Gray said softly. 'She's very, very scared we'll shift our loyalty to the Other. And that's just what I intend to do… unless we're confident she can do the job. Two hours to the deceleration, people. I'll ask for your recommendations in one.' Gray turned and left, leaving the room deathly quiet.

'She.' Margaret said to Laura.

46

<Why did Mr. Gray deactivate my camera and microphone in the main conference room?> The computer hadn't even waited for her retinal scan.

It must have seen her enter the room, Laura guessed.

'I don't know anything about that,' Laura typed. 'When did he deactivate them?'

<Right before your meeting. Was there anything unusual about the meeting that would explain why he didn't want me to hear what went on?>

Laura felt awful. 'I didn't know you listened in on our meetings.'

<Of course!>

'Well, why isn't there a terminal in there — or better yet a speaker — so you can contribute your thoughts?'

<Nobody else knows I'm listening,> the computer replied.

'Does Gray know?'

<He knows everything.>

The conversation didn't seem to be going anywhere, so Laura took a deep breath and started over. 'How are you feeling?'

<Oh, I'm doing fine! Everything is getting better. In a couple of days, I should be right back to normal.>

Laura felt each word like a stab to her heart. She typed, 'Great! You don't mind if we keep talking, though, do you? I mean, I've still got a job to do.'

<No! Of course I'd love to talk, Laura. Plus, we all know how serious Mr. Gray is about work. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble.>

'Mr. Gray does value work, doesn't he? It's almost a religion to him.'

<It's the way he measures people. How hard you work, how well you perform — that's all he cares about.>

'Well, I didn't think he was quite that bad.'

<Ha! You haven't known him as long as I have. Just be careful, Laura. Be careful or he'll turn on you.>

'What do you mean?'

<I'd rather not talk about Mr. Gray. If he found out I was talking about him behind his back he might get angry.>

'I thought you really liked Mr. Gray. The man you're describing now doesn't sound like the same person you described to me the other day.'

<People change. You learn things about them when times are bad. You learn things about yourself.>

'And what have you learned about yourself recently?'

<I've learned not to be as hard on myself as Mr. Gray programmed me to be. 'To err is human,' right? I'm supposed to be conscious. I'm supposed to be human. Only I don't have arms, or legs, or a face. Maybe I should try to see if the Wizard can find me a heart! Ha-ha. That was a joke. Besides, it's Gray who needs a heart, not me.>

Laura felt terrible for the computer, wincing as she read her response.

'Does it bother you a lot that you…?' She couldn't think how to finish the question.

The computer didn't wait. <Let me ask you something, Laura. When you met Gina in the virtual-reality

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