Blake sees the light

Have you ever thought of it that wayIm afraid I havent. May I quote youShe stopped, but I didnt say anything. I let her eyes mist up and her mind travel back. She had lots of time to cover. I heard about it later, and when they called us blasphemers and demoncreators, I always thought of him. Robbie was a nonvocal robot. He couldnt speak. He was made and sold in 1996. Those were the days before extreme specialization, so he was sold as a nursemaidAs a whatAs a nursemaidRobbie NINETYEIGHT NINETYNINE ONE HUNDRED. Gloria withdrew her chubby little forearm from before her eyes and stood for a moment, wrinkling her nose and blinking in the sunlight.

Then, trying to watch in all directions at once, she withdrew a few cautious steps from the tree against which she had been leaning. She craned her neck to investigate the possibilities of a clump of bushes to the right and then withdrew farther to obtain a better angle for vieg its dark recesses. The quiet was profound except for the incessant buzzing of insects and the occasional chirrup of some hardy bird, braving the midday sun. Gloria pouted, I bet he went inside the house, and Ive told him a times that thats not fair.With tiny lips pressed together tightly and a severe frown crinkling her forehead, she moved determinedly toward the twostory building up past the driveway. Too late she heard the rustling sound behind her, followed by the distinctive and rhythmic clumpclump of Robbies metal feet. She whirled about to see her triumphing companion emerge from hiding and make for the hometree at full speed.

Gloria shrieked in dismay. Wait, Robbie That wasnt fair, Robbie You promised you wouldnt run until I found you. Her little feet could make no headway at all against Robbies giant strides. Then, within ten feet of the goal, Robbies pace slowed suddenly to the merest of crawls, and Gloria, with one final burst of wild speed, dashed pantingly past him to touch the welcome bark of hometree first. Gleefully, she turned on the faithful Robbie, and with the basest of ingratitude, rewarded him for his sacrifice by taunting him cruelly for a lack of running ability.

Robbie cant run, she shouted at the top of her eightyear. old voice.

I can beat him any day. I can beat him any day. She chanted the words in a shrill rhythm. Robbie didnt answer, of coursenot in words. He pantomimed running instead, inching away until Gloria found herself running after him as he dodged her narrowly, forcing her to veer in helpless circles, little arms outstretched and fanning at the air. Robbie, she squealed, stand still And the laughter was forced out of her in breathless jerks.

Until he turned suddenly and caught her up, whirling her round, so that for her the world fell away for a moment with a blue emptiness beneath, and green trees stretching hungrily downward toward the void.

Then she was down in the gr again, leaning against Robbies leg and still holding a hard, metal finger. After a while, her breath returned. She pushed uselessly at her disheveled hair in vague imitation of one of her mothers gestures and twisted to see if her dress were torn.

She slapped her hand against Robbies torso, Bad boy Ill spank youAnd Robbie cowered, holding his hands over his face so that she had to add, No, I t, Robbie. I t spank you. But anyway, its my turn to hide how because youve got longer legs and you promised not to run till I found you.Robbie nodded his head a small parallelepiped with rounded edges and corners attached to a similar but much larger parallelepiped that served as torso by means of a short, flexible stalk and obediently faced the tree. A thin, metal film descended over his glog eyes and from within his body came a steady, resonant ticking. Dont peek now and dont skip any numbers, warned Gloria, and scurried for cover. With unvarying regularity, seconds were ticked off, and at the hundredth, up went the eyelids, and the glog red of Robbies eyes swept the prospect. They rested for a moment on a bit of colorful gingham that protruded from behind a boulder. He advanced a few steps and convinced himself that it was Gloria who squatted behind it.