Unicorn Point by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

you are no better than I am either legally or socially. Not till your side wins it’s case against Citizen Blue and starts subverting the new order. You gained my acquiescence to your advances only because I care for the welfare of my niece. Do you wish to try whether your good will is more precious to the Citizens than mine? Do you wish to try whether I will not destroy you as readily as I would have played sex with you, if that child is in peril by your device? Whether I can do this with impunity, as long as I continue to bring across the formulae your Citizens require? In that case, summon your brother and put it to him before I do. It was my love for Fleta that brought me to your side, but I believe the Adept Stile would accept our union now. It is honor, not love or fear, that keeps me in your camp, and it is dishonor on your part that will break that tie. You have one way to establish the nature of your complicity in this matter, and you will do that now or suffer the consequence.”
    “You damned arrogant machine!” she flared. “You should be junked! No one talks to me that way and lives!”
    “I am not alive. What is your decision?”
    “I hate you!”
    Mach smiled. “I take that to be your acquiescence.”
    “Yes,” she whispered, defeated. In that moment of her genuine humiliation, he found her more appealing than she had been when arrogant. Stripped of her imperialistic manner and her cruelty, she could be a truly attractive woman.  
    Mach spoke to the desk. “One interrogation unit to this site,” he said. He realized that the receptionist was late returning; probably she was under orders to stay clear until her mistress had completed the seduction of the robot. That particular plot had gone awry! But if Nepe was in trouble—
    “But a condition,” Tania said.
    “No conditions! I mean to have the truth!”
    “You pride yourself on honor,” she said, speaking so low that her voice hardly carried. “Deal with me with honor.”
    “You never dealt with me with honor!”
    “That is irrelevant. You are not me.”
    She had a point. “What are you asking?”
    “If I demean myself in this manner, and prove out, you owe me.”
    “Owe you what?”
    She merely looked at him.
    Mach was shaken. Could she be telling the truth? If so, his humiliation of her would prove to have been unjustified. He would, indeed, owe her, by his code. But she was a clever, nervy woman; she could be bluffing, trying to make him change his mind without proof.
    “Granted,” he said shortly. And felt a twinge of guilt. Had he any right to make such a bargain, regardless of the situation?
    Tania went to the desk. “Admit the machine, then seal off all communications until further notice,” she said. She sat in the chair.
    Thus this questioning would be only between the two of them. The interrogation unit would not tell; it would be erased after use. No one else would know what happened here, unless one of them told.
    The unit arrived. It was a standard cylindrical robot, with several extensible arms and assorted recesses. “Subject?” its speaker grille inquired.
    “Me,” Tania said.
    The machine rolled to her. Efficiently it fastened metallic bracelets on her wrists, ankles and head. She submitted to this with unconcealed aversion, but made no move to interfere.
    “Testing,” the machine said. “Speak truth: what is your name and station?”
    “Tania, human, serf, heir to Citizen Tan.”
    “Speak false: what is your name and station?”
    “Mach, robot, serf, heir to Citizen Blue.” Mach had to smile; she had given his identification, true for him but a falsehood for her.
    “Speak half-truth: a statement of your choosing.”
    “I am in love with Mach.”
    Mach was startled. Could any part of that be true? He had assumed that her play for him was entirely cynical.   “Alignment is complete,” the interrogator said. “Proceed.”
    Her half-truth had aligned? This promised mischief of another nature!
    Though