4

Keith Galbraith placed his palm against the ident-pad and held still while the opti-scanner flashed a beam of brilliant blue against his left iris. He then dashed through the opened door and stepped quickly down the large empty hall, his footfalls as anxious as his pulse. He stopped at one of many anonymous looking doors, caught his breath, and entered as calmly as possible in his irritated state.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, rushing into the room, forcing a conciliatory smile when an attractive woman in dark business attire glared quickly up at him. The glare was instantaneous, gone in a nanosecond, and the smile that replaced it was more convincing than his own. Jacqueline Bell was better at making such presentations.

“That’s fine, Keith,” she said with eerily genuine sincerity, “We were just wrapping up here.” She gestured to the couple sitting across from her. “You’ve met the Zimmermans?”

Keith shook his head. Jackie knew he’d not met the trial couple, but this approach tended to put everybody on an even footing by implying that he was not working with Jackie in any concerted manner and that Cyberchild was already a blossoming commercial enterprise with scores of employees who might not know what each other was up to. Either innuendo was patently false. He and Jackie worked hand in hand on everything, and Cyberchild, an unofficial subsidiary of Automated Enterprises Inc, consisted of only seven people; three of which were in an unnamed little department that handled “acquisitions”, three people who did actual design and programming; and one very calculating, very beautiful lawyer.

Jacqueline cocked her head as if surprised by the fact they’d not met. “Well, this is Julia and Medford Zimmerman, and they have decided to take little Tommy for a test ride.” She winked at the couple when she said this. They laughed, a little too forcefully in Keith’s opinion.

“Great!” Keith said, tapping his knuckles against the mahogany surface of the conference table. Julia’s smile faltered for an instant. “Well,” Keith continued, “Tommy is awake and ready to go and if you folks are ready to meet him.”

The man, Medford, gazed cautiously at his wife, but she expressed no such hesitation, rising instantly and gathering her bag, her face aglow with anticipation.

“Well, just follow me,” Keith said, and led the expectant couple out of the room and down the wall into the restricted area, where waited the innocent-faced little machine that would irrevocably change their lives.

5

“Hello Tommy,” Julia said, kneeling down to take the little fake hand in her own. She felt a tremor of excitement at the site of the Mecha, and the realistic feeling of its hand on hers only served to accentuate this sensation.

“Hi,” the little freckled Mecha responded with an easy smile, and then stepped forward, reaching up to offer the woman a hug. Keith almost cringed at the way she beamed and wrapped her arms around Tommy when it did this. Overkill, he decided instantly. He hadn’t needed to add that touch. Jacqueline winked triumphantly at him, but he crossed his fingers behind his back as Medford stepped up and put his hand out.

“Great to meet you Tommy,” the man said, cautiously. The little bot smiled up, hesitating for an instant before the ‘endearing’ routine kicked in.

“Great to meet you, too!” it replied and reached to shake the man’s hand. Keith decided that there was a bit too much enthusiasm programmed into that response. But the man didn’t seem to notice. Something passed over his face, some distraction that had not been there before, and Keith suddenly wondered on what grounds the CLA had denied their application. The woman seemed a little too eager and the man equally reticent. But Keith shrugged the thought off. It wasn’t his concern. He picked up a large black folder and offered it to the couple.

“Here is the activation procedure and maintenance instructions,” he said, holding the folder in their general direction, letting them decide who was going to take it.

The woman stepped up quickly and almost snatched it from his hand. She offered an apologetic smile when she realized how her action must have appeared.

“Take your time with activation,” Keith said. “Remember, once it’s done it cannot be undone.” He let his words stand for a moment. “And please, feel free to call if you have any questions or…” he glanced at Jacqueline, “…problems,” he concluded. Jacqueline flashed him a quick frown.

6

Outside, the two watched silently as the Zimmerman’s led the imitation boy down the ramp and onto the lot where a company driver was waiting to take them back to their own cruiser, in the parking structure. Keith hissed between his teeth as the car door slammed shut.

Jacqueline ignored the sound. “Well, this is going well,” she said cheerfully. “Automated gives us the go ahead on these things, and we’ll be retiring ourselves.”

Keith snorted in response. “I’m telling you, we should have waited for Hobby to finish his trials before-“

“Don’t ever let me hear you say that name,” Jacqueline interrupted, abandoning her pleasant façade.

“Fine. But I’m not catching any of this crap when it hits the fan,” Keith replied, just as forcefully.

They both presented a confident smile as the cruiser rolled by. The Zimmerman woman waved happily through the tinted windows, apparently elated that she’d been chosen for this secret little trial.

7

Text excerpt from Statement of Julia Contreras Zimmerman:

“When do I … Oh. Is it recording? OK. Um… Let me say up front that we had no idea about the nature of their company. Excuse me? Oh, right. I am Julia Contreras Zimmerman, 9714 Exeter Terrace, Shadow Creek, Virginia. I am recording this testimony for the record on the matter of Zimmerman versus Cyberchild. Anyway, they took advantage of us. I mean, we sat in the damn conference room with that lying Bell woman and she made us sign all those damn agreements. Then the other guy came in. Gallagher? No… Galbraith! Keith Galbraith. But neither of them once mentioned any problem! I mean, if we had known about it, we would have just waited, you know, bought one off the shelf. They knew we were desperate and … Oh, I’m rambling. I’m sorry. Let me start from the beginning…”

8

It didn’t take long for Julia to decide Tommy was to be the child that had so long been denied her. She’d quickly grown used to the little simulator following her about, its smooth, freckled face twisted in curiosity as it went through the initial process of memorizing the house and grounds.

“What’s that mean, Julia?” Tommy would ask when she used a word that it had, apparently, not heard before. Julia wasn’t bothered by the mechanical repetition of the phrase, the fact that it was repeated the exact same way each time it was used. Nor was she bothered by the fact that Tommy would ask the meaning of simple words like “landscape” or ”rambling” while easily comprehending terms like “obfuscation”, when she and Medford had been discussing things. She’d let these matters pass. To analyze the programming inconsistencies in her little boy ruined the illusion that she so desperately craved.

Medford wasn’t as thrilled by the Mecha, but it was having a positive effect on his wife’s depression and that was a good thing. He did a decent job of affecting enthusiasm, smiling and laughing at all the right moments. He was patient the time he’d found Tommy standing in his room, apparently memorizing the place, or the time he found it in the parking bay, investigating the premises as it acclimated to the house. He’d been in a hurry on that day, watching in quiet annoyance as it eyed everything carefully: the cruiser, the sleeping mech-bot parked in its spot in the wall. Tommy had only shown cursory interest in the mech-bot but had seemed to hover around the security system longer than necessary and Medford was relieved when it finally made its way back up the staircase into the house.

He left immediately afterward. He had an appointment to keep.

9

“So, are you going to keep it?” Medford had inquired over dinner that night. The smile with which Julia responded made clear her intentions. “Good,” he said and cast a glance at the little fake boy who sat patently at the table while his new “parents” ate. When it realized that Medford was watching, it smiled quickly back and prepared to respond to whatever comments the man was going to make. But Medford just went back to his meal as Tommy stared expectantly, and the little bot eventually turned away.