Cascade Failure (The Inevitable Book 4) by Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant
Author:Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant [Platt, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sterling and Stone
Published: 2020-05-06T22:00:00+00:00
Chapter 27
âWe can create life,â Emerson said. âWeâre gods now.â
Hans rubbed his wrists. He didnât want to contradict the robot, lest he tell his cronies to bind them again.
Timper had no such compunctions. It was the four of them in the little room Emerson had cordoned off inside the cave system. The robot called Barney didnât seem remotely like a threat, and the rest of Emersonâs cronies werenât here.
âYouâre not talking about life,â Timper said. âYouâre talking about creating death.â
Emerson did something Hans had never heard a robot do in his half-millennium of life, either here in United Earth or across the sea in Oceana. He scoffed. Hans could approximate a scoff, same as a sigh or an exhale, but it was programming, designed to make him a more humanlike actor. Coming from Emerson â who looked as robotic as anything here, all chrome and harsh angles â it sounded genuine. Human.
âThereâs no difference,â Emerson said.
âMaybe I could explain the concept of difference.â
âTimper â¦â
She ignored him and kept her eyes on Emerson. A bulldog in a tiny womanâs skin. âYou donât scare us.â
Emersonâs whole face changed. For an iron, he was highly expressive. There was something in his evolved personality that added nuance to all that he said.
âScare you! I have no desire to scare you. Iâm bothered that youâd think it. Youâre my guests!â
Timper, never breaking eye contact, rubbed at her recently freed wrists.
Emerson saw the gesture, decided to meet it head-on. âIâm sorry my friends treated you roughly. We have security concerns. All that are here have been invited, but we can never be sure that nobody is talking. If the wrong sorts discovered our location? Well, that might be a problem.â
Barney fumbled and dropped a scrap of iron. Emerson looked over at him in the corner, then the robot retrieved it with clearly rattled nerves. âSorry.â
Emersonâs gaze lingered on Barney as if trying to figure him out, then returned to Timper and Hans.
âWe werenât invited,â Timper said.
âNo, but you were expected. You were welcome.â He gave a robotic shrug. âNecessary, even. Thor told me you said you came here looking for me â not to cause problems, but to get answers for your ⦠for your people, I suppose. Fortuitous, donât you think?â
âYou said you were expecting us,â Hans said.
âYes. Thatâs what makes it all extra fortuitous. Thatâs what makes our union special.â
Hansâs attention went to the device on the table between them. Emerson offered to demonstrate it, but he declined. Timper could see its circuitry with her enhanced eyes, as well as its use of Foam. That part, Hans made her repeat. It seemed to him that despite having never left United Earth or meeting anyone from Oceana, Emerson was using their technology.
âIâm not sure we really want to âcollaborateâ with you on this,â Hans said.
âBut why? Itâs the same technology that makes your ship fly. That lets you access our FreeNet as if it were a book sitting open on a counter. I was told youâd be coming.
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