Under Their Skin by Haddix Margaret Peterson

Author:Haddix, Margaret Peterson [Haddix, Margaret Peterson]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-NINE

“What? Extinction? That’s crazy!” Nick exclaimed, jerking back in surprise and jarring against the table. He knocked it two or three inches closer to the screen. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Doesn’t he see that nobody’s laughing? Eryn thought numbly. Doesn’t he see that nobody’s jumping out from a hidden door, yelling “Ha-ha! Fooled you! You should see your faces!”

Eryn was so stunned she just felt paralyzed. But she managed to move her head, turning it left and right, hoping she would see someone jumping out and yelling Ha-ha! Fooled you!

She saw only Mom and the mayor, their faces sinking even further into grimness.

“So it’s true,” the mayor murmured. “What they told us wasn’t just a programming error.”

“Did you ever really believe it could be a mistake?” Mom said disdainfully.

On the screen, the man and the woman hesitated before they spoke again, as if they knew they had to allow a certain amount of reaction time.

“I’m Annalies Grimaldi, PhD, professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” the woman said.

“And I’m Dr. Dylan Speck,” the man said. “Former head of the medical school at Johns Hopkins University. Current director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine.”

Both of them glanced to the side then, and flinched as if they’d seen or heard something threatening. Eryn found herself wishing that the camera had followed their gazes, or that the microphone recording their voices had been sensitive enough to pick up every sound.

Or maybe she didn’t wish that. Dr. Grimaldi and Dr. Speck both looked unbearably sad.

“It has become undeniably clear to us and our colleagues—and to all our fellow human beings—that our days are numbered,” Dr. Speck said. “There is no longer any hope for us.”

“But how could we stand to see humanity end completely?” Dr. Grimaldi asked, the ache in her voice almost a palpable thing.

“It’s too late to save ourselves,” Dr. Speck said. “But we’re hoping that our two fields of professional inquiry, linked together, can provide one last chance for humanity itself.”

Eryn was having a little trouble following their conversation, but she didn’t think it was because she was listening to two professors. She was used to Mom using big words; she was used to hearing Michael throw around all sorts of technical computer terms.

No, it was the weight of sorrow in these people’s voices that threw her off. She had never heard an adult sound so despairing.

These aren’t robots, she realized.

Somehow she was certain of that, even without peering closely at the two people’s eyes. For all she knew, this video was of the last two adults in the world who hadn’t been robots.

“We’ve told you who we are—I wish we could know who we’re talking to,” Dr. Grimaldi said wistfully.

“We would like to believe that we are talking to perhaps an eighteen-year-old who’s reached a well-adjusted adulthood full of thoughtful, reasonable questions after a safe, happy childhood,” Dr. Speck said.

“But we’re well aware that the slightest miscalculation on our part—especially on my part—could have led to an entirely different scenario,” Dr.

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