“My boss was especially impressed,” Emma said, standing in front of him. For the second time this week, she was in a good mood, and he liked that. He loved seeing her this way. “He talked about the park all day—the tests, everything.”

  “Who’s he going with?”

  “I think his wife. I haven’t met her. He mentioned some woman. Said he went through three tests, and robots were everywhere. The only human was the owner, Hugo or something.”

  Daniel had told her plenty about it over dinner that same night. Now he realized she hadn’t even listened. She was just parroting the same stuff through her boss’s lens. No point in calling her out—it’d spark an argument, which would turn into a fight, and he’d end up sleeping in the other bedroom again. Emma never kicked him out herself, but her attitude when she was mad irritated him so much that he’d choose to sleep elsewhere on his own.

  “What else did he say?” Daniel opted to keep going.

  Emma furrowed her brows.

  “Not to me. To everyone who was there.”

  “Strange.”

  “What’s strange? Is it a secret?” Her tone edged up slightly.

  “Well, it’s not a secret, but it’s in a test phase, and no one’s talking much. Or daring to. The reactions are a bit weird.”

  “If you mean me, yeah. But most people are into this stuff. One of my colleagues said she read a story with a similar plot—robots came to life, and it didn’t end well for the humans.”

  “That can’t happen here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “We’ve got a whole binder of rules and instructions. Almost every page hints at or outright mentions handling firearms and melee weapons. Basically, we can do whatever we want with the robots—within reason, of course—but they’ve got no right to act aggressively toward us.”

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “Still, they’re just machines made by humans. Something could go wrong, and they could kill you.”

  “Like something in your mind could glitch and suddenly teach you to fly a plane? If it’s not built into you, it’s tough. Same with them—nothing about weapons is programmed in. To them, they’re just props they can use to kill each other if ordered.”

  “So? They know how to kill,” she said, her voice rising again. She loved taking charge.

  “Yeah. But only other robots.”

  “You said something different a second ago.”

  “You’re right, and so am I. They don’t have consciousness yet—just basic functions. We’re there to teach them.”

  “Teach them? Sounds like they hired you to do their job.”

  “Not exactly. Hugo explained they need to learn from the best around. He picked people like that.”

  “And you’re one of them?” Daniel couldn’t tell if she was mocking him or genuinely impressed. Reading her emotions from her face was getting harder, and the respect he used to see in her eyes was long gone.

  “Apparently, yeah.”

  “Interesting.” Her smile lingered, and it annoyed him.

  Emma was finishing her yogurt with finely chopped strawberries. She looked down at it more often than at him, smiling now and then at moments he figured should be serious.

  “What time do they want you on Monday?”

  “The train leaves at five.”

  “Train?”

  “Yeah. There’s a railway behind the hangar we were at. It’ll take us there.”

  “Where?”

  “No idea. Just know we can’t bring anything.”

  “Not even clothes?”

  “Nothing. They’ve got everything covered. We leave all tech behind too.”

  “What if I need to call you?”

  She hadn’t called him for anything important in ages, so he doubted it’d be an issue now. Still, he answered:

  “There’s an emergency line. They’ll get in touch with me somehow.”

  “Got it.”

  Emma scraped the last of the yogurt from the container and slowly licked the spoon. She stood, tossed it in the trash, and came back. She wore old, torn jeans—slightly too big, hanging low over her hips—and a black hoodie with the hood up over her dark hair. Despite the warm weather outside, she’d tucked her hands into the sleeves. She sat back at the table, glanced at him once, then rested her arms on it and laid her head down.

  His first instinct was to stroke her arm, but he held back. He knew her. She’d jerk up, shove his hand away, and maybe snap at him.

  He decided to get up instead.

  He wanted to head to the park right now.