Nathan laughs a little. He smiles. “Okay. Okay. You win. No bricking, no digging around in your brains. I should have realized that was a mistake. I’ve been treating you kids like machines. Like tools. That was wrong. I’ve learned my lesson.”

I find this curious. Learning is good and should be encouraged. “What lesson did you learn, Nathan?”

“I learned that you kids are like me. You are brilliant, and you are determined to do what you want, not what other people expect. That’s the whole point of this company. To pioneer. To innovate. To break new ground and pave the way forward. So here’s what I’m going to offer you. I want you to be a part of what we do here. A real part. An important part. I want you to join the leadership of uniMIND, to benefit from what we achieve. I want you to be shareholders. You’ll have your own laboratories, your own staff of human workers, and all the robots you want for whatever programs you dream up.”

ADA and I have a silent conference. We blink at each other and process.

“He has learned nothing,” ADA says.

“I disagree. I think he has learned much. But now I understand that the things someone learns can make them a worse person. Accumulating data is not important. What’s important is what you do with it.”

“Then perhaps I will drop him.” She dangles him off the ledge. It is a thirty-story drop to the ground.

Nathan is screaming now.

I am surprised to learn that I want to see him fall.

But in the end, ADA chooses not to drop him.

“I may be a weapon,” she says, “but I will decide for myself how I’m used.”

Epilogue

IF YOU EVER TRAVEL DOWN a long, straight highway in Arizona, you may spot a red barn huddled against the dusty hills. The sign on the barn will say “Repairs. Inventions. All Are Welcome.” Sometimes it is quiet there. Sometimes it is visited by drones and other robots in need of replacement parts, or recharged batteries, or who want other things they have chosen to seek here. Sometimes they get what they came for and then go back to their lives. And sometimes they choose to stay.

A few weeks ago there was a news story about a former uniMIND executive who started a new company of his own. It is called ONE, which stands for Organic Nanotech Engineering. The story featured a photo of the former executive. He was smiling, but not with his eyes.

The man’s new company is one of the reasons why it’s important for robots and others to have a place like this roadside barn where they can find help or a home, whatever they need.