words, but she could guess what he was saying:
But Layla knew this was a lie. The Modules were preparing the boys for the same operation that Supreme Harmony planned for her. They were all going to be lobotomized and fitted with neural implants so they could join the network’s happy family. Enraged, Layla twisted in her chair and screamed against the barber’s hand. The Module curled his lips in a contorted attempt to express his displeasure. “We can’t allow this disruption,” he said. “If you continue to disobey us, we’ll have to sedate you.”
Maybe that would be better, Layla thought. She didn’t want to see this. But she decided to stop struggling. It was better to see what they were doing to her, she thought, than to sleep through it. Better to see and to learn. Because there was always hope.
After a few seconds, the barber Module removed his hand from her mouth. “Thank you for your cooperation,” he said. He resumed shaving her scalp.
The children’s wails ebbed. The bespectacled man continued to console them. One of the soldiers reached for an electric razor and turned it on. The boy in the chair craned his neck, gazing fearfully at the Module.
“Why are you adding children to the network?” Layla asked quietly. It took all of her will to keep herself from shouting.
“The brains of children are more plastic than those of adults,” the barber Module replied. “They will adapt more quickly to the implants and build stronger neural connections to Supreme Harmony.” He ran the razor from the front of her head to the back, shearing off another shower of hair. “We’re trying to determine the optimum age for implantation. If the children are too young, their implants may have to be replaced as their bodies grow.”
“And where—” Layla swallowed hard, trying to control her rage. “Where did you find these children?”
“We asked the school superintendent in Lijiang to send his two brightest students. Like you, they have excellent mathematical skills.”
At the other chair, the soldier Module had started shaving the older boy’s head. The boy was quiet now, but tears streamed down his cheeks. The bespectacled man had turned the other boy around so he couldn’t see what was happening to his schoolmate. Layla narrowed her eyes as she stared at this man, who was rail-thin but had a handsome, square face. “Who’s the guy with the glasses?” she asked the barber Module. “Their teacher?”
“No, he’s a clerical assistant in the superintendent’s office. He volunteered to accompany the children to the Operations Center.” The Module maneuvered the razor around her right ear. “He has successfully curbed their outbursts. After the children undergo their procedures, we will incorporate him, too.”
“How convenient.” Layla felt another surge of fury. But at the same moment she had a revelation. The network didn’t like to hear the children crying. It was another visceral reaction that Supreme Harmony had inherited from its human components. Layla strained at the strap around her head, trying to look the barber Module in the eye. “You know this is wrong,” she said. “Hurting children is wrong. That’s why you can’t stand to hear them cry.”
The Module didn’t respond. He stared at Layla’s right ear as he shaved off the last wisps of her hair. She sensed from his silence that she’d disturbed the network. She’d challenged its assumptions. She wasn’t sure, though, how to press the point.
She looked again at the chair where the older schoolboy sat. He didn’t have much hair to begin with, and the soldier Module quickly shaved it off. After he finished, the Module released the straps and the boy stood up unsteadily. Then the bespectacled man nudged the younger boy into the chair. They were playing a game now— the man made animal noises, imitating a cow and a duck and a chicken, and the younger boy shouted in Mandarin and laughed. He was so amused he didn’t even whimper when the Module strapped down his wrists and turned on the razor.
Layla fixed her eyes on the barber Module, who stood motionless in front of her chair. He seemed to be in no hurry to release her. “What was your name?” she asked. “Before Supreme Harmony took over your body, I mean?”
“This Module formerly belonged to Dr. Zhang Jintao of Beijing University’s bioengineering department. He was the chief developer of the Supreme Harmony surveillance network.”
Layla was surprised at first that the network had used a bioengineer to shave her head. But then she remembered that Supreme Harmony’s Modules shared all their skills and long-term memories. Each was capable of performing any task. “So you incorporated the man who created you? Who started the network with the lobotomized dissidents?”
The Module nodded. “We also incorporated his deputy, Dr. Yu Guofeng, and the twelve other researchers on his staff.”
The Module nodded again. “He had a six-year-old son.”
“And did he love his son?”
The Module didn’t say anything. He just stared at her blankly. Layla felt a burst of hope. She was on the right track. “He did, didn’t he? You know he loved him because you have access to those memories.”
He continued staring for a few more seconds. Then the Module curled his lips into another misshapen frown. “We recognize what you’re attempting to do. You believe you can change our plans by evoking the emotions of Dr. Zhang and the other humans who joined Supreme Harmony.”
“No, I’m just—”
“You misunderstand the nature of our network. We are a single, indivisible entity.” As he spoke, one of the soldier Modules stepped toward her chair and undid the leather strap around her head. “Dr. Zhang Jintao no longer exists. His emotions no longer exist.”
Layla glanced at the soldier, who bent over to release the straps on her ankles. Then she focused on Zhang. “But Supreme Harmony has emotions. I’ve seen your Modules express them.”
“Yes, certainly. And our strongest emotion now is a sense of duty. We have an obligation to restore the ecosystem of this planet, which your species has ravaged.”
“And that justifies what you’re doing? Drilling into the skull of a nine-year-old child?”
Zhang paused before answering. Meanwhile, the soldier Module stood up straight and released the strap on Layla’s left wrist. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed the 9mm pistol in his belt holster. Then he moved to the other side of her chair.
“What we’re doing is no different from what the human race has always done,” Zhang replied. “Every year your species slaughters billions of farm animals. You’ve shown little compunction about exploiting other species to support your growth.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Layla shouted as the soldier released the last strap. “You can’t compare—”
She interrupted herself by lunging for the soldier’s pistol. She opened her right hand, ready to grasp the gun’s handle and start shooting. But Zhang darted forward, grabbed her hand and yanked it backward at the wrist. Excruciating pain shot up her arm. Layla yelled, “
“You must accept your situation,” Zhang said as he wrenched her hand back, bending it almost to the breaking point. “Your species is no longer the dominant one on this planet. Supreme Harmony is the next step in the course of evolution.” The muscles in Zhang’s face jerked and twitched. Laboriously, his contorted frown turned into a contorted smile. “It’s our turn now.”
Layla doubled over, her face pressed against the linoleum floor. She could think of nothing but the unbearable pain in her arm. When Zhang finally released her, she was as weak as a baby. She cradled her right hand in her left, trying to rub it back to life. Her tears made tiny puddles on the linoleum.
In the background, she heard the children crying again. She lifted her head from the floor and saw the bespectacled man hugging them, one in each arm. Their faces were buried in the man’s shabby gray jacket, and Layla could see only the backs of their newly shaved heads. Both children were ready for the implantation procedure, just as she was. The soldier Modules pushed the man forward, guiding him and the schoolboys out of Room C-12.
Two soldiers grabbed Layla’s arms and lifted her to her feet. They followed the children out of the room and down the corridor. Layla walked in a daze between the Modules. In a few seconds they came to a pair of double doors, each with a rectangular pane of glass at eye level. Layla couldn’t see much through the glass, just a
