“So they’re just for show, then. To make us feel safe. Well, I don’t.” She stood. “We must speak with General Morgan.”
Howe said, “You’ll get your wish very soon. I was informed he and his wife have invited you both to their house for dinner tonight. Mrs. Morgan is a very good cook.”
That probably wasn’t what Maggie Taylor had in mind, but when a general invites you to dinner, you go. She nodded.
Colonel Howe said to Specialist Kemp, “Escort Number 20 back to its cell and dry it off, then shut it down.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kemp said to Bucky, “Number 20, stand up and return to your cell.”
The robot immediately stood, then turned around and shuffled back toward the open holding cell door.
Brodie said, “Nice meeting you, Bucky. I hope they recycle you into tank armor.”
Bucky stopped walking. It stood frozen a moment with its back to them. Brodie and Taylor exchanged a look.
Kemp said sternly, “Number 20. Return to your cell.”
Bucky continued into the holding cell, and the SPC followed.
They all left the brig, and Colonel Howe checked her watch. “Your dinner with the general is at nineteen-hundred. In about one hour.Your luggage has already been delivered to your residence.” She said to Spencer, “I am going back to my office. Please escort Mr. Brodie and Ms. Taylor to their house and show them the location of General Morgan’s house.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The colonel excused herself, as did Sergeant Mendez. Dixon said to Brodie and Taylor, “I hope that was instructive.”
Taylor replied, “It was chilling. And somewhat frustrating.”
Dixon nodded. “They’re not programmed for the art of conversation. It’s too bad you don’t have the opportunity to see them in action on the battlefield.”
Brodie said, “I would be perfectly fine if no one ever gets that opportunity again.”
Dixon looked at him. “I understand this is unfamiliar, Scott. You’re used to dealing with human suspects.”
“I might still be.”
She gave a tight smile. “Right. But we are working with a very complex system, and it might take time to find what went wrong. Roger Ames was a colleague and a friend, and I will do everything in my abilities to get to the bottom of it.” She looked at Spencer. “I know the captain feels the same way.”
Spencer nodded.
Taylor asked, “Why did Bucky stop walking when Scott said the thing about it getting recycled? It was almost like it wanted to respond… but stopped itself.”
“That was a little odd,” admitted Dixon.
“It heard you address it,” said Spencer. “It stopped to listen, maybe to hear if there was going to be a command. Let’s not overthink it.”
Dixon checked her watch. “I’m going back to the lab. I’ve got at least two Diet Cokes’ worth of work to do.” She turned to leave, then stopped herself and looked back at Brodie. “You called it Bucky. In that moment when it stopped walking.”
“I was told that’s the Rangers’ nickname for it.”
“Among themselves. They don’t talk to the bots. No one else uses those names, and the units aren’t programmed to recognize them. They don’t answer to them. It shouldn’t have even known you were addressing it.”
Taylor said, “Context clues.”
Dixon shook her head. “These things don’t do context clues, Maggie.”
Captain Spencer said, “They’re not designed to walk with manacles—maybe it was being careful with its footing.”
Dixon said to him, “After what happened to the major, we need to be on a hair-trigger alert for any anomalies, no matter how small.”
