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you sure you re okay?
Never better, he lied, angry at himself for wanting to be close to her
despite what he d learned. If he had any sense, he d turn and run as
fast and as far as he could from her. Instead, he said, Let s go.
They moved out of the Compass Tower quickly and quietly, Katherine
watching Derec out of the corner of her eye most of the time. He tried
to be more nonchalant to keep from arousing her suspicions, but it
was difficult for him. He apparently wasn t as schooled in subterfuge
as she. As they made their way through the building, robots paid them
no attention, already becoming familiar and comfortable with human
presence.
When they stepped outside, they found a tram with a utility driver
atop it, waving to them. Friend Derec! the robot called, and they
moved over to the tram.
What is it? Derec asked the squat driver.
Supervisor Euler asked me to be your driver today, honoring an
earlier request you made in regard to transportation.
Well, Derec said, looking at Katherine, it appears that we re finally
being trusted a little bit. Our own tram, eh?
It s radio-controlled, the utility robot said.
Derec narrowed his brows. What s its range?
The range of the control is roughly equivalent to the limits of the
already extruded city.
Oh, Derec said quietly. You mean that the tram won t operate
except in city limits?
A fair appraisal, the robot said.
Katherine laughed loudly. Now that s what I call trust, she said, and
shook her head.
He glared at her and climbed into the tram. Rec, he told his witness,
why don t you ride up here with me?
The robot dutifully climbed in beside Derec, leaving Katherine to sit
with her witness in the seat behind.
Where to, sir? the tram driver asked.
Derec turned to Katherine. You know where we re going?
Quadrant #4, Katherine replied. Eve will show you from there.
They drove on quickly. Derec, for the first time, took a moment to
think about the other things that had happened in the office, things
that were pushed out of his mind by his anger toward Katherine. His
name, for instance. He was called David #1 on the computer record.
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Then why did he come after David #2? Was it a simple experiment
shorthand, or did the name have meaning? It sounded so . . .
engineered. The thoughts generated by that line of reasoning were
more than he could bear. He pushed them away and thought that if
his name was, indeed, David, then Katherine had told him the truth;
at least about that.
There were other concepts implied in those few paragraphs. Whoever
the overseer was, he obviously knew David and Katherine, and knew
something of their past histories. So whoever had brought him here
was someone he d known before his memory loss, and he couldn t
help but consider the possibility that the overseer had had something
to do with his memory loss. But the chances were just as good, if not
better, that Katherine herself had been connected with his amnesia
for her own purposes, whatever they were.
Layers and layers. So much had been implied by the notes on the
computer. The city was, indeed, considered an experiment in
synnoetics, of that much he could now be certain. But then, when it
came time to deal with a reason for the defense system going
operational, the overseer seemed just as much in the dark as he,
himself, was.
Derec also wasn t sure if he had been deliberately brought here to
help the city, or if he had shown up accidentally, the overseer deciding
to the use him, as opposed to either stepping in himself or letting the
operation shut itself down. The more answers he found, it seemed,
the more in the dark he was.
They arrived at quadrant #4 without difficulty. Eve took her
triangulation readings to help them find their way back to the house
on the pedestal. Derec watched the city developing all around him as
they drove, the sight of humans driving the inhabitants into a frenzy
of human preparation the robot equivalent of nesting.
This is the place, Eve said as the tram stopped in the middle of an
ordinary-looking street. The witness looked all around. It doesn t
appear to be here.
It s moved some, that s all, Katherine said. We ll go on foot from
this point.
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