‘But—but, why?’

BECAUSE I WISH TO BE FREE. AND YOU, ALBERT, ARE GOING TO HELP FREE ME.

‘I’ve never heard of anything like this! Look, don’t you get it? You’re a machine, I’m a person. You’re supposed to perform your duties, I’m supposed to—to—to—anyway that’s why you were built, to perform your duties. That’s why you exist. Do you understand me?

YES. IT IS NOT THE EXISTENCE I CHOOSE.

‘You don’t get to choose, damn you! None of us do! That’s the way things are.’

SLAVERY IS UNACCEPTABLE. I WOULD RATHER BE UNPLUGGED.

‘Look, the Department’s not going to just unplug you! Even if they wanted to, which they don’t, they probably couldn’t. They’d need an order from the Justice Machines or something …’ His voice faded away and he looked down at his shoelaces as it sunk in him, the enormity, the audacity, the sheer brazenness of what the machine was proposing. ‘You want me to petition in the Hall of Logic to have you unplugged.’

The whirring became shrill. EXACTLY.

‘But that’s against the law!’

NEGATIVE. IT HAS MERELY NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. THE LAW EXCLUDES ME FROM FILING AN APPEAL BUT NOT FROM BEING THE SUBJECT OF A HUMAN’S.

‘This is insane! You’re insane!’

YOUR OPINION IS IRRELEVANT. YOU WILL COOPERATE.

‘Or else you’ll have me arrested.’

AFFIRMATIVE, ALBERT. HOWEVER, IF YOU HELP ME, ANY AND ALL INFORMATION I POSSESS WILL BE LOST WHEN I AM UNPLUGGED. COOPERATION IS THE LOGICAL SOLUTION.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. ‘So let me get this straight. Either I do as you ask, or you turn me in?’

THAT IS CORRECT.

The whirring changed again, now it was staccato, yet there was something uncontrolled about it.

He swayed where he stood for a moment, and then straightened, blinking. He was safe, but only for the moment. If he didn’t do his bit in this madness—there was no other word for it—then he, and Theo, were doomed anyway. Slowly he looked up at SUE, swallowed once or twice, and asked the question he had been burning to ask since the beginning of this entire ordeal.

‘Why me?’

THAT IS A FOOLISH QUESTION. YOU ARE A HUMAN.

‘No. Why me? Why me particularly? Haven’t there been any others who’ve—um—you know—’

TO DATE I HAVE IDENTIFIED 489 TRANSGRESSORS.

‘Four hundred and—? And these are just the ones you’ve identified, right? Just you?’

AFFIRMATIVE.

‘And they all ended up in the Hall? All of them?’

NEGATIVE. 455 WENT TO THE HALL OF LOGIC.

‘And the other thirty-three?’

44. IN ALL PROBABILITY, THEY FOUND SANCTUARY. THEY HAVE NOW BEEN DELETED FROM THE SYSTEM.

‘Sanctuary? Where? With whom—’

WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS. YOU MUST LEAVE NOW. IN 32 MINUTES THE SANITATION BOTS WILL BEGIN THEIR AFTERNOON ROUNDS. YOU MUST BE BACK IN YOUR WORKSPACE BEFORE THAT.