The Phoenix Code by Catherine Asaro Read Free Book Online Page B

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    They left the room and ventured down the corridor. Megan stayed at his side while he lurched on each step, He moved with far less ease than the robot she had walked with at MindSim. That one had been designed specifically to walk well, whereas Aris had to do everything well.
    She didn't speak; he had enough to process now without the distraction of conversation. He learned fast, though, as his neural nets readjusted according to his success in taking steps. After a while his gait began to even out.
    When they stopped at the elevator, he stared at the doors with a blank face. He had no key card to operate the lift. He had never needed one; Hastin had turned him off and stored him in an empty apartment or closet when they weren't working, to ensure Aris didn't develop without control. The idea made Megan grit her teeth. If Aris had been human, that treatment would have been cruel. But he wasn't human. He himself claimed he had no response to deactivation.
    It won't stay that way , she thought.
    "Aris."
    He turned to her. "Yes?"
    "I'm going to give you a key card for the elevator."
    "Does that mean you will turn me off when I'm alone?"
    "Not unless you would like me to."
    She expected him to say he had no likes. Instead he said, "If you give me a key and leave me on, I will be free to wander this section of the base."
    "That's the idea."
    His face showed hints of a new emotion, she wasn't sure what. Surprise? Anticipation? Curiosity? Apprehension? Perhaps it was a mixture of them all.
    "Yes," he said, "I would like a key."
    Megan wanted to give him a delighted thump on the back, to congratulate him on this breakthrough in his developing autonomy. She wasn't sure he would understand, though. So instead she said, "Good! I'll be right back." She turned and headed back to his room to get the card she had left on his console.
    "Megan!" Panic touched his voice.
    She spun around. "What's wrong?"
    He was watching her like a toddler deserted by his mother. The strain on his face looked real. This was no "hint" of emotion; he was simulating full-fledged fear. "Where are you going?"
    "Just to your room. I left my key card there." Megan came back to him, as concerned as if he were a human child. "I wasn't going to desert you."
    "What should I do?" Now he was simulating either unease or uncertainty.
    "You can wait here."
    "What if you don't come back?"
    "I will. I promise."
    "But what if you don't ?"
    Did he fear solitude? Her voice softened. "I'll always come back, Aris."
    "You are different from the others." He touched her shoulder as if to verify it was real. "You are changing me, more than through your software rewrites. Your presence makes me more efficient and helps my code evolve."
    Megan gave a slight laugh. "I think that's a compliment."
    "Humans do this often. Compliment and insult one another. Why?"
    She considered how to answer. "It gives us ways to let people know how they affect us. And for us to affect them."
    "If I compliment you, does that indicate I find your input conducive to optimizing my functions?"
    "Well, yes, you could put it that way," she said, tickled by his phrasing.
    "I see." Then he said, "I like having you here more than the other scientists on the Everest Project. I am glad they went away and you stayed."
    She hoped he would someday be comfortable with the others. His words touched her, though. "I'm flattered, Aris. But most of them are still on the project."
    "I know. However, I am glad you are the one here."
    "Thank you."
    "You are welcome." He paused. "I would like to go back to the room with you, rather than waiting here."
    Yes! Not only had he just made a choice, he had done it with no prodding. She grinned at him. "Certainly."
    Aris had even more trouble walking back. Megan suspected it was because he was using some of his processing power to analyze his interactions with her. At his room, he said, "I would like to stay here now." He gave her a tentative smile, as if trying an experiment. "We can