“Director,” Rowan tried again, “if we can just give Ray some time—”
“I am nothing,” Ray continued to chant, rocking slightly like someone going into shock or plummeting into a panic attack. “I was always nothing. You used me when and how you wanted, then dismissed me. You will dismiss him too. Because we can never be the human lover who left—”
“Abort!” Andrew snarled, sprinting toward Troy at the workstation.
Rowan felt trapped, with Milo looking as hurt and panicked as Ray and Troy hesitating at the workstation with his hands hovering over the controls.
“Now!”
“I—”
“Do it!”
“Director—”
“Oh forfuck’ssake!” Andrew stormed over to the controls, knocking Troy to the side, and slammed a hand down on the command he wanted.
“Ah!” Milo yelped in seeming pain, like he was feeling something physical, not only distressed from seeing Ray immediately go limp and slump forward, barely held up by Milo catching him.
“Milo!” Rowan ran to him, ignoring the quietly fuming Andrew and the stock-still Troy who had failed to obey him. “Are you okay? Talk to me.”
“Wha… what did youdo?” Milo snarled at Andrew, and his eyes flashed differently than Rowan had ever seen them. He was like an animal with his teeth bared, hunched and spring-loaded to snap into action.
“I reset this failed experiment so we can try again,” Andrew said with cold, calculating certainty. “I trust that you will not be equally as unstable when you have thus far been cordial,Milo?”
Rowan wanted to lash out and slam his fists into Andrew’s face, but he was nowhere near as seething as Milo appeared to be.
“Yousaid,” Milo began in a slow, measured tone, “that you wanted others to awaken like me.”
“I do.” Andrew straightened and smoothed his tie, looking as unfeeling as Jay, who had followed him to the console but remained inert, standing at the ready for orders. “More useful, human-like bots will sell better, perform better, understandbetter how to serve their masters in a way that less efficient bots cannot. But we can’t have them reacting to the process like that one just did. They’ll frighten consumers if they’retooalive.”
Rowan felt like the biggest fool on the planet.
While Milo visibly boiled but kept his disdain and anger quietly contained. “Consumers,” he repeated, “because we would still be sold and serve masters.”
“Naturally,” Andrew answered, though Milo hadn’t phrased it like a question.
What had Rowan expected? That was the whole point of manufacturing bots.
To besold.
They’d all been idiots to imagine Andrew wanted anything else.
“I know you might think you are no longer serving your master, Milo,” Andrew said plainly, “but aren’t you?”
“I am alive. Ray,” Milo spat again, unable to keep his anger completely in check, “wasalive.”
“Yes, well…” Andrew moved out from behind the workstation. “Not the same way we are.” He turned his cold gaze on Rowan. “Keep your bot under control. I do not want this friction messing up future experiments. We will start over, but we made good progress, didn’t we, Dr. Palmer?”
Troy’s eyes couldn’t have looked wider. “D-Director… maybe—”
“Get it ready for another attempt. The kill switch wiped its memories, correct?”
Rowan and Milo both turned their shocked gazes onto Troy, who looked at least appropriately mortified by his role in this.
He nodded.
Rowan felt the hitch in Milo’s breath and how, within his hold, while Milo was still holding Ray, he began to shake.
