“I mean, don’t people want to feel loved? To love somebody in return? Surely that is not possible with a machine!”
“There is affection involved,” Dariux protested. “Some people have stayed with the same robot for years, even when more advanced models have become available. When asked why, they say they are fond of its quirks. Isn’t that a sign of this emotion you call love? The behavior has no logical explanation.”
Dale looked straight at Olivia as he replied to Dariux. “I don’t think Livvy is talking about the partiality you may feel for an inanimate object. Or even the affection one might feel towards a dog or another animal who has served us well. She is talking about a deep bond between two souls.”
He felt that bond. Did she feel it too? “A bond so strong you can’t imagine life without each other, because nobody can replace that person in your heart or your life.”
Dale spoke from his heart. He was not used to expressing his feelings aloud, much less in front of people who didn’t seem to understand what love was. But he needed to do so now, even though it made him feel vulnerable. These people had the power to take her away, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her. He was willing Livvy to listen to his unspoken plea. Please stay with me. I love you. I need you!
He stared at Livvy with all his fierce emotions burning in his eyes.
But she didn’t once look at him. Her gaze kept skittering around. Her hands had gone lifeless in her lap. Never had he seen her so diminished, dejected. Not even when she had thought him a madman and then realized that she had been transported in time. She had been shocked and scared. But nothing like the bone deep despondency he saw in her now. She looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He couldn’t bear it. But what could he do? Every fiber of his body demanded that he do something, anything, to keep her with him. But he couldn’t.
It had to be her decision.
CHAPTER 58 - To stay or to go...that’s the question
OLIVIA TRIED TO TELLherself it was what she wanted. She had to leave; she couldn’t abandon her parents and niece. And Dale would never agree to come with her. Dale... he looked so stoic. How did he really feel about her leaving? Was that speech an oblique declaration of love? Was he as devastated as she?
For their part, Kalli and Dariux appeared equal parts fascinated and mystified. This was exactly what they had come to find out about. Heck, they had traveled through time for this. But they obviously didn’t understand it. It was tragic, really. How humanity had come so far in technology that they were able to travel in time, yet had forgotten about the very essence of what made them human.
Unbearably saddened by the complexities of love and the human spirit, Livvy asked the only remaining question. “Are you here to take me back to my time?”
“Yes,” Dariux answered. “That is why we are here. We will finish this mission and depart a week from Sunday. We will take you back to more or less the exact moment when you were transported. Nobody from your time will have had time to miss you or notice you were absent.”
“I see. That is good then. Wouldn’t want to worry my parents,” Livvy said, looking down at her hands. She still hadn’t looked at Dale, but she could feel his agony beside her. It echoed in her own heart.
“I just want to add something,” Kalli said, “because you don’t seem very happy. Leaving or staying is your decision. We would never try to force you one way or the other.”
Dariux’s head snapped back, his eyes flashing at Kalli. “Transporting her here was an accident. We can’t leave her here. We don’t know the consequences. It’s dangerous.”
“Consequences could be already underway without us knowing. She should be allowed to decide.”
“I don’t agree.” He bit out.
“That’s because you don’t understand the very emotion we came to investigate.” Kalli replied, her nostrils flaring.
