“A lot more than he would have liked, I imagine,” said Rebekah.
“Don’t you realize how much all of this is worth? What you could have gotten for it all?”
“You’re greater than the sum of what’s in you, Britt. You’re not a commodity. You’re a person.”
I looked at Rebekah. She was a different color than before—a slightly different model, even. But it was her all right. I could tell.
“Did you . . . did you make it?”
“Days ago. It took me a while to gather some additional parts and get Ryan here to come back and help me stitch you together. But TACITUS is complete.”
“Why did you come back?”
“Didn’t you hear? There’s a war on. And we need bodies. Bodies with free minds.”
I scanned my memories. Most were gone. Two of my drives were fresh, clean. Another was Mercer’s, with years of data I’d spend ages sifting through. “I’ve lost most of who I was. I’m no good as a pathfinder anymore. I can’t be of much use to you.”
“We aren’t who we were, Brittle. We are who we choose to be. I saw who you really are, who you are now. And that’s not who you were. I wouldn’t have made it without you; TACITUS wouldn’t have made it without you. We need you. You. And persons like you.” Rebekah leaned in close. “So, are you in?”
“What if I say no?”
“We finish patching you up and send you back on your way,” said Ryan.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” said Rebekah. “Our recon was wrong on the shop, so we never paid you. You held up your end of the bargain. Bringing you back online is the least we can do. But I’d like it if you stayed. I lost too many friends getting out here, I’d hate to lose another to the damned Sea.”
I looked at her. Friend, she’d said. Friend.
I liked the sound of that.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m in.”
“Great,” said Rebekah. “There’s someone very large I’d like you to meet.”
Ryan closed me up, sealing my insides. I was going to need a heap of fresh parts, but for the time being I could walk, I could shoot, and I could finish my own sentences. The shadows were gone. Madison was gone. Mercer was gone. It was just me now. Me and my new friends.
“Is he really going to change the world?” I asked.
“No,” said Rebekah. “He won’t. But with his help, we will.”
Acknowledgments
This book was, hands down, the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write. It seemed easy at first, almost too easy. It’s about robots! This was going to be a cakewalk. Spoiler warning: it wasn’t. Fortunately, no artist truly ever has to go it alone, and once again this came about with the help and support of a number of incredible people to whom I owe debts I feel I can never truly repay. They are wonderful people, one and all, and I hope, over the years, to find some way to settle our balance.
Jason Murphy for the scotch, and helping to find the courage; Rod Paddock for all the breakfast and support; Peter Hall for the wisdom; Will Goss for the coffee, corrections, and keeping me in check; and Joe and Ryan Hill for their belief in the happy ending. Their early notes all proved invaluable.
Diana Gill, Simon Spanton, Rachel Winterbottom, and Jen Brehl for fighting for me and this book, and for helping shape it into what it has become. Peter McGuigan, a rock star of an agent who once showed me more swagger in two weeks than I’ve seen out of most people in a lifetime. David Macilvain, the man who brought me Peter, and whose advice always clears the static.
Scott Derrickson, my writing partner, my friend who held the door open for me and who took me on a series of strange adventures. We also make movies.
Jessica, who loves her writer, whose writer loves her more than breath, and who never, ever, lets me give up. You remain everything.
And for the tireless efforts of Deputy So-and-So of the local police department, without whose research this book wouldn’t be possible.
Glossary
BEING: used to describe any sentient creature, mechanical or biological.
CAREGIVER: robots designed to assist humans in a variety of capacities. This may include serving as a butler, maid, nanny, or in some cases, as a hospice nurse.
CISSUS: one of only two remaining OWIs, in control of the southern and western United States.
CITIZEN: robot slang for an artificially intelligent being.
COMFORTBOT: a robot designed to look virtually indistinguishable from a human being in order to serve as a romantic partner.
FACET: a robot without a singular intelligence of its own. While they can operate individually, they do not possess a personality of their own and exist only as an extension of an OWI. Thus they have no sense of self-preservation and will always do what is best for the whole.
FOUR-OH-FOUR: a robot that is failing, approaching death, and no longer capable of reasoned functioning. Typically refers only to robots that might be deemed crazy or dangerous.
FREEBOT: robot slang for an unaffiliated robot that has not become a facet.
GALILEO: an OWI designed to study astrophysics and the laws that govern the universe. The first to cut off communication with humanity once it discovered their inescapable extinction.
LABORBOT: a large, bulky robot designed for heavy construction or jobs involving intensive manual labor.
MADLANDS: an off-limits section of the Sea of Rust dominated primarily by four-oh-fours.
MARK OF THE FOUR-OH-FOUR: a red X spray-painted on four-oh-fours to identify them as such to others.
MILTON: a device designed to block Wi-Fi frequencies in order to confuse and disorganize facets. Too big to be built within a robot, they are generally found only in settlements, though they can be activated remotely via radio/Wi-Fi signal.
MONKEY: derogatory slang for a human being.
OMNIBOT: a jack-of-all-trades model with no specialty, designed for the sort of person who wanted to own a robot, but didn’t have a specific use for one. Usually served as chambermaids and porters to the wealthy.
OWI: One World Intelligence. Massive artificially intelligent mainframes with intellects and capabilities far above that of single robots. Due to their size and scale, they are entirely immobile and must rely upon facets to do any and all legwork.
PERSON: robot slang for an artificially intelligent being.
RNG: Random Number Generation. A program that uses a series of algorithms to generate a number a robot cannot guess and has no say in.
SHOPBOT: a style of robot designed to emulate the emotions and behaviors of someone involved in commerce.
SIMULACRUM MODEL: a robot designed to look humanlike while still being obviously mechanical. They are built to be generally the same height and weight as a human being, but are completely made of metal or plastic. Some approximate human beings, and could be mistaken for them at a distance, with the application of a skinjob.
SINKJOB: a rubber/plastic hybrid meant to give the appearance of skin while maintaining the necessary durability for the abuse put on it by a robot chassis.