{"id":912,"date":"2019-12-31T07:23:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T12:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=912"},"modified":"2023-08-18T11:26:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T15:26:40","slug":"suzy-que","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=912","title":{"rendered":"Suzy Que"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Suzy Que<\/strong><\/em> is a Prequel to the entire <strong>Five Moons Series<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n<figure id=\"attachment_913\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-913\" style=\"width: 354px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B08381H326\/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-913\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"Suzy Que\" width=\"354\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Suzy-Que-eBook-Cover-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suzy Que<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Suzy Que<\/em><\/strong> is the prequel to the entire <strong><em>Five Moons Series<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 It sets the stage and puts the characters into play.\u00a0 It is a real intellectual walk in the weeds while at the same time a love story, a detective story, a spy thriller, and an action-packed science fiction story to its very core.\u00a0 Just when you think you know where this story is going, it takes yet another turn&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>We were told that only the finest of mankind ventured forth from Earth into space.\u00a0 But if you ask any of the other intelligent species, they will tell you fast and quick that where mankind goes, evil grows.\u00a0 Evil follows us in our jump wakes like a foul stench.\u00a0 According to them, mankind was cast into the outer darkness because of the evil in his heart.\u00a0 Four millennia later, Earth had become just a distant memory, a legend.\u00a0 Explorers sent back to find Old Earth only found a burned-out cinder where it should be.<\/p>\n<p>So then, Mankind had surely been cast into the outer darkness for a reason.\u00a0 Fate had saved this remnant of Mankind, and He was not willing that any who belonged to Him were lost.\u00a0 So, once more, Fate tested mankind in the crucible of time to separate the gold from the slag.<\/p>\n<p>Into this chaos came a secret wrapped in an enigma enclosed in a mystery.\u00a0 In the beginning, Mother was killed for this secret by the worst gangster on eleven planets.\u00a0 David Zharn would stop at nothing, kill anyone in his path, to gain the secret.\u00a0 But then there was Suzy.\u00a0 She was not at all what she seemed, nonetheless, she was every bit what was needed.\u00a0 But Mother had hidden the secret so that only Suzy could unwrap the mystery.\u00a0 Then Suzy had to solve the enigma to find the secret, but only if she survived.<\/p>\n<p>The whole time, Suzy was never more than one step ahead of David Zharn\u2019s gangsters.\u00a0 To follow her path, she needed to sit right next to the Devil himself without letting on.\u00a0 The whole time, war was looming all around her.\u00a0 The evil Syndicate had sent in their best assassins and spies, known only by the codeword \u2018Betto,\u2019 to infiltrate not only David Zharn\u2019s mob but also Union Fleet itself to the highest levels.\u00a0 When Special Forces gets involved, this becomes a spy versus spy to nines in a full contact match.\u00a0 The Syndicate was not about to give up what it considered theirs to take.<\/p>\n<p>And then there was the secret.\u00a0 Was mankind cast into the outer darkness because of the evil in his heart?\u00a0 You will have to discover the secret to find out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Suzy-Que-No-6-Amazon-20210814.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Suzy-Que-No-6-Amazon-20210814.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"365\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Suzy-Que-No-6-Amazon-20210814.jpg 894w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Suzy-Que-No-6-Amazon-20210814-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Suzy-Que-No-6-Amazon-20210814-768x350.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 365px) 100vw, 365px\" \/><\/a>Five Moons: Suzy Que No. 6 on Amazon 8\/14\/2021<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key words:<\/strong> adult science fiction, science fiction mystery, science fiction romance, science fiction thriller, science fiction detective, androids, gangster, genetics.<\/p>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08381H326\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1132\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"83\" height=\"29\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1.jpg 899w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1-300x104.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazon_1-768x267.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 83px) 100vw, 83px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08381H326\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">On Amazon as a Kindle<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><b>File Size:<\/b> 2959 KB<\/li>\n<li><b>Publication Date:<\/b> December 27, 2019<\/li>\n<li id=\"sold-by-merchant\"><b>Sold by:<\/b>\u00a0Amazon Digital Services LLC<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ASIN:<\/b> B08381H326<\/li>\n<li><b>Text-to-Speech: <\/b> <a id=\"ttsPop\" class=\"kicsPopover a-declarative\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker-ebook\/dp\/B08381H326\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=suzy+que+bill+parker&amp;qid=1577794699&amp;sr=8-1#\"> Enabled <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/G\/01\/x-locale\/common\/carrot._CB192251235_.gif\" \/> <\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"xrayBullet\"><b>X-Ray:<\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"xrayBullet xrayInfo\">\n<div><a id=\"xrayPop_A371CE242BC711EAA638CCAD117A3E4D\" class=\"kicsPopover a-declarative\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker-ebook\/dp\/B08381H326\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=suzy+que+bill+parker&amp;qid=1577794699&amp;sr=8-1#\"> Not Enabled <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/G\/01\/x-locale\/common\/carrot._CB192251235_.gif\" \/> <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Word Wise:<\/b> Enabled<\/li>\n<li><b>Lending:<\/b> Enabled<\/li>\n<li><b>Screen Reader: <\/b> <a id=\"screenReaderPopover\" class=\"kicsPopover a-declarative\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker-ebook\/dp\/B08381H326\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=suzy+que+bill+parker&amp;qid=1577794699&amp;sr=8-1#\"> Supported <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/G\/01\/x-locale\/common\/carrot._CB192251235_.gif\" \/> <\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>Enhanced Typesetting:<\/b> <a id=\"typesettingPopover\" class=\"kicsPopover a-declarative\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker-ebook\/dp\/B08381H326\/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=suzy+que+bill+parker&amp;qid=1577794699&amp;sr=8-1#\"> Enabled <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker\/dp\/165225577X\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1091\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"59\" height=\"59\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon.png 370w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 59px) 100vw, 59px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker\/dp\/165225577X\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">On Amazon as a Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Series:<\/b> Five Moons<\/li>\n<li><b>Paperback:<\/b> 222 pages<\/li>\n<li><b>Publisher:<\/b> Independently published (December 28, 2019)<\/li>\n<li><b>Language:<\/b> English<\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-10:<\/b> 165225577X<\/li>\n<li><b>ISBN-13:<\/b> 978-1652255772<\/li>\n<li><b> Product Dimensions: <\/b> 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches<\/li>\n<li><b>Shipping Weight:<\/b> 13.9 ounces (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/help\/seller\/shipping.html\/ref=dp_pd_shipping?ie=UTF8&amp;asin=165225577X&amp;seller=ATVPDKIKX0DER\">View shipping rates and policies<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><b>Average Customer Review:<\/b> <span class=\"dpProductDetail165225577X\"> <span class=\"a-declarative\" data-action=\"a-popover\" data-a-popover=\"{&quot;closeButton&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;max-width&quot;:&quot;700&quot;,&quot;position&quot;:&quot;triggerBottom&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;\/review\/widgets\/average-customer-review\/popover\/ref=acr_dpproductdetail_popover?ie=UTF8&amp;asin=165225577X&amp;contextId=dpProductDetail&amp;ref=acr_dpproductdetail_popover&quot;}\"> <a class=\"a-link-normal a-text-normal\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/product-reviews\/165225577X\/ref=acr_dpproductdetail_text?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1\"> <i class=\"a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5\"><span class=\"a-icon-alt\">5.0 out of 5 stars<\/span><\/i> <\/a> <i class=\"a-icon a-icon-popover\"><\/i> <\/span> <span class=\"a-size-small\"> <a class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/product-reviews\/165225577X\/ref=acr_dpproductdetail_text?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1\"> 1 customer review <\/a> <\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Suzy-Five-Moons-Bill-Parker\/dp\/165225577X\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1091\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"59\" height=\"59\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon.png 370w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Book-Icon-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 59px) 100vw, 59px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B08WP1XWJ2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">On Amazon as a Hard Cover Book<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<div id=\"detailBullets_feature_div\">\n<ul class=\"a-unordered-list a-nostyle a-vertical a-spacing-none detail-bullet-list\">\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><span class=\"a-text-bold\">ASIN : <\/span> B08WP1XWJ<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><strong><span class=\"a-text-bold\">Language : <\/span><\/strong> English <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><span class=\"a-text-bold\"><strong>Hardcover :<\/strong><\/span> 222 pages <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><strong><span class=\"a-text-bold\">ISBN-13 : <\/span><\/strong> 979-8709691520 <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><strong><span class=\"a-text-bold\">Item Weight : <\/span><\/strong> 13.9 ounces <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"a-list-item\"><span class=\"a-text-bold\">Dimensions : <\/span> 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/1008355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On Smashwords<\/a><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/books\/view\/1008355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1117 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Smashwords.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"48\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"detailBullets_feature_div\">\n<h2><strong>Sample Chapters<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2>Prologue<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cGood morning, Doctor Johnson,\u201d the security scanner greeted her as she entered the building, but she continued on without so much as a word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood morning, Evelyn,\u201d everyone greeted her as she made her way to her office and lab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood morning,\u201d she smiled and answered back.\u00a0 Everyone liked Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>Mid-morning, Evelyn looked up from the genetics project she was working on to find Suzy standing there, patiently waiting for her with a big smile on her face.\u00a0 Evelyn smiled.\u00a0 She got up and hugged Suzy.\u00a0 Suzy hugged her back.\u00a0 Evelyn kissed her cheek.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are special,\u201d Evelyn whispered to Suzy. \u201cYou don\u2019t belong wearing the two-tone beige.\u00a0 You are not one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am special,\u201d Suzy repeated. \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I love you,\u201d Evelyn whispered back.\u00a0 It was their secret, just between them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI heard Supervisor Macklin complaining this morning about how much of my time you were taking,\u201d Suzy told Evelyn.\u00a0 That was not good. \u201cHe says that he needs to deliver me next month to make his quota, and I won\u2019t be ready if I am always here with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have come so far. \u00a0We can\u2019t have problems now that we are this close,\u201d Evelyn decided.\u00a0 So, she got Jimmy Macklin on the videophone.\u00a0 She wore her best \u2018schmooze\u2019 smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi, Jim.\u00a0 It occurred to me that I need one of my test bots in my lab an awful lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, actually. You do,\u201d Jimmy agreed. \u201cI really need to finish her training so I can get her delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat training is all over the network, though.\u00a0 Am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, yeah, mostly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould she do it right from my office?\u00a0 I could sign off on it then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSure.\u00a0 That would be fine.\u00a0 I will send you the schedule.\u201d\u00a0 Jimmy went away happy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are more than special,\u201d Evelyn told Suzy. \u201cNow, let\u2019s review.\u00a0 For every plan. We have a backup plan.\u00a0 I need to be certain that you can do this yourself if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the next two hours, Suzy and Evelyn went over Evelyn\u2019s plans in every detail.\u00a0 She grilled Suzy and made sure that Suzy could do whatever it took.\u00a0 Only then did Evelyn look at Jimmy Macklin\u2019s training schedule.\u00a0 Only then did she set Suzy to that task.\u00a0 Evelyn was happy to just have Suzy there with her.\u00a0 Life was good\u2026 well, almost.\u00a0 But Evelyn had that \u2018almost\u2019 just about fixed.<\/p>\n<p>As the hour grew late, Suzy\u2019s time with her came to an end.\u00a0 Suzy had to go back.\u00a0 Evelyn hugged her, kissed her cheek, and sent her on her way, but Evelyn wasn\u2019t done quite yet.<\/p>\n<p>Outside her office, old-style mechanical androids began cleaning the hall.\u00a0 As they did, a man in coveralls stood half-hidden behind a column.\u00a0 The name on his coveralls said \u2018Manuel,\u2019 but that was not his name.\u00a0 ZapClean was embroidered across the back.\u00a0 In his hand, he held a small tablet.\u00a0 He spoke commands softly into it and watched.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn spoke the words into her system but recorded it as a hard copy.\u00a0 This was important as she did not want anybody to have any excuses.\u00a0 It would be in black-and-white as plain as day.\u00a0 She expected this crap would hit the fan tomorrow morning.\u00a0 So be it.<\/p>\n<p>As she worked, a small spider-bot made its way silently across her floor.\u00a0 It had but one task.\u00a0 It closed in.\u00a0 In an instant, it struck.\u00a0 It sprayed a deadly poison onto Evelyn\u2019s bare ankle, poison mixed with a virus to cover its presence.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn may have felt the sudden wet feeling on her ankle, but by then, it was already too late.\u00a0 Before she knew what was happening, she was gasping for air and grabbing at her chest.\u00a0 She struggled to voice her last words in vain as she fell to the floor.\u00a0 A few last convulsions marked her demise.\u00a0 The evil deed was done.<\/p>\n<p>The man in the ZapClean coveralls looked at his tablet.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s done,\u201d he reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you have the video to prove it?\u201d the man with piercing steel-gray eyes demanded back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, Boss,\u201d the man in the coveralls replied.\u00a0 The boss hung up.<\/p>\n<p>~~~<\/p>\n<p>Suzy came to Evelyn\u2019s office the next morning, but security had the whole corridor blocked off.\u00a0 But Evelyn had prepared her for just such things.\u00a0 Suzy went back to her regular training schedule.\u00a0 Three days later, she could walk down the corridor to the lab, but now she no longer had access to Evelyn\u2019s office.\u00a0 It was dark.\u00a0 Evelyn was not there.\u00a0 Suzy returned to Evelyn\u2019s office every day for a week, but each time, it was dark\u2026<\/p>\n<h2>Chapter 1<\/h2>\n<p>Today was the end.\u00a0 Bob Johnson had survived the sudden death of his beloved mother, which no one, including Bob, had even thought possible.\u00a0 He hadn&#8217;t died on the spot nor had a nervous breakdown, but something deep inside of him was gone.\u00a0 Since her passing, Bob teetered on the edge of sanity, not remembering the moment ago nor considering the next.\u00a0 At first, shock had anesthetized his mind, but now Bob approached death with each step that he took, steeped in pain, consumed by his loss.<\/p>\n<p>And don&#8217;t think for one moment that any of this was the fault of the intelligent, lighthearted, and ever-loving woman Bob called Mother and friend.\u00a0 In fact, to the contrary, Evelyn Johnson had always encouraged him towards a rich and varied social life, and not just in word but also in deed, her own life filled to overflowing with family, friends, and colleagues from the university in joyful abundance.\u00a0 Oh no, Bob had built this prison himself one brick at a time over many years, preferring her company over all others.\u00a0 After all, who could hold a candle to her?<\/p>\n<p>Despite his obvious condition, life around him stubbornly refused to stop. Today his phone started ringing early.\u00a0 At first, the phone call nagged at his refusal to answer it. Whoever was calling just would not give up and leave a message for him to ignore.\u00a0 It was becoming irritating.\u00a0 He was sitting at the kitchen table half-awake, drinking his first cup of java when the woman\u2019s face suddenly appeared on the 3D display.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBob Johnson?\u201d she asked, looking hard at him to be sure of who he was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes!\u00a0 And just how the hell did you get my house code?\u201d He demanded, indignantly glaring at her, but she was unflapped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn told me to call you,\u201d she said in a low voice. \u201cEtron is burning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bob was stunned.\u00a0 A mind that had died was slow to move.<\/p>\n<p>She looked intently at Bob and repeated, \u201cEtron is burning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Bob responded.\u00a0 \u201cEtron is burning.\u00a0 I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have a prepaid order waiting for you at CloBot.\u00a0 I am sending you the order details.\u00a0 You need to go pick it up,\u201d she insisted, \u201ctoday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will go right away,\u201d Bob replied.\u00a0 And with that, she hung up.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever was left of the old Bob was gone now. The phone call had killed him.\u00a0 It wiped his slate clean.\u00a0 A man with a clean slate has nothing left to lose.<\/p>\n<p>Bob looked at the order document that had popped up on his personal tablet.\u00a0 Mother had placed a special order at CloBot; at least that is what the order said.\u00a0 There were serial numbers and option codes, but nothing to tell him what this was all about.\u00a0 \u2018Evelyn Johnson\u2019 was listed as the purchaser, but \u2018Evelyn Johnson or Robert Johnson\u2019 appeared in the \u2018Deliver To:\u2019 box, so Mother had obviously planned for this.\u00a0 It also showed a number of payments with dates.\u00a0 Those could all be verified.\u00a0 Bob quickly checked Mother\u2019s bank statements.\u00a0 Sure enough, there they were.\u00a0 Tempus Fugit.\u00a0 Etron was burning, and here he was, wasting time with doubts and disbelief.<\/p>\n<p>Today was the beginning.\u00a0 A man with nothing left to lose becomes an unstoppable force.\u00a0 Dragon birds sang in the tree outside the kitchen window.\u00a0 The faint smell of real Arcturan Lilacs carried on a breeze lightly tickling the curtains struck him as everything around him came into sudden sharp focus.\u00a0 His mind was now clear and ablaze with purpose.\u00a0 He took his first breath as a free man and felt the warmth of sunlight on his face.\u00a0 He walked out into the carport.\u00a0 His car was docked closest to the door.\u00a0 Mother\u2019s car was docked next to it.<\/p>\n<p>The CloBot Salesroom location already displayed on his car\u2019s navigation display as he entered. Good Lord!\u00a0 The woman on the phone had that access code, too, apparently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConfirmed.\u201d Bob\u2019s car undocked from its bay and lifted gently into the pattern as it logged into Suborbital Traffic Control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWherever you need me, send me,\u201d Bob whispered. \u201cThere will I go.\u00a0 Whatever you ask, will I do.\u00a0 Whatever plan you have set in motion, will I complete.\u00a0 To the last drop of my blood will I endure.\u201d\u00a0 And he meant every word.<\/p>\n<p>Bob kept looking at that order on his tablet as if staring at it would clear any of this up, but it didn\u2019t.\u00a0 All that was clear was that this was certainly not a matter to be taken lightly.\u00a0 Mother had given this woman their private family code for danger. \u2018Etron is burning\u2019 required his immediate, unquestioned action.\u00a0 Mother had given her the private house codes and encryption keys, too, another closely kept family secret.\u00a0 Mother had that much trust in her.\u00a0 For now, so would he.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good afternoon and welcome to CloBot,&#8221; the perky receptionist greeted Bob as he entered the lobby. &#8220;How can we serve you today?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Was she android or human?\u00a0 Did it matter?\u00a0 Not really, but he was fairly sure that she was artificial.\u00a0 She was somehow just too perfect.\u00a0 Real humans are never that perfect.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am here to pick up my order,\u201d Bob told her in a low voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIdentity, please,\u201d she requested.\u00a0 Bob looked into the camera.\u00a0 It scanned his biomarkers.\u00a0 A likeness of him appeared as a 3D hologram moments later.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you, Doctor Johnson\u2026 I see your open order is ready for delivery today.\u00a0 I also see that you are a member of the CloBot Family,&#8221; she said cheerfully.\u00a0 That was how CloBot referred to employees and contractors.\u00a0 &#8220;Anthony Bertone will be your sales rep today.\u00a0 He will be with you in a minute.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bob walked once around the lobby decorated in the two-tone beige that was the trademark of everything that CloBot did.\u00a0 Then he took a seat across from the receptionist.\u00a0 As he settled in, a well-concealed holo-projector began its sales presentation.\u00a0 Bob made an effort to ignore the usual background material about how special human clones had long ago been genetically engineered for transplant parts.\u00a0 This was all made to seem so \u2018humane\u2019 because, after all, their upper brain functions were absent for the most part due to some very original genetic engineering.\u00a0 That was supposed to somehow make all of this okay? Or was it just another rationalization?\u00a0 CloBots were the ultimate androids.\u00a0 They were so close to being human that most people really could not tell the difference.\u00a0 Bob could.\u00a0 They were too perfect.<\/p>\n<p>He didn&#8217;t pay much attention when it got to the part about how Calvin Thayer, founder of the CloBot Corporation, connected a computer up to a human clone to create the very first flesh and blood android.\u00a0 But when the holo-image filled with a view of the external computer network that made that first android possible, Bob sat transfixed by the image.\u00a0 Next to the computer, a slab nearly a meter-tall stood Andrew Johnson &#8212; Bob&#8217;s father.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, Dad,&#8221; Bob said under his breath to the image of his father.\u00a0 &#8220;I tried my best.\u00a0 I really did.&#8221; Bob was only twelve when his father died.\u00a0 Every day, as his father had left for work, he would tell his son, &#8220;take care of Mom for me while I&#8217;m gone.&#8221;\u00a0 Andrew Johnson never imagined how seriously his young son had taken his words.\u00a0 The view switched to the Union dime-sized modern computer for comparison, which it rotated slowly, only a few decimeters from his face for effect.\u00a0 Bob&#8217;s mind arrived back in the here and now several seconds after the image of his father vanished.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sorry to bore you, Doctor Johnson.&#8221;\u00a0 Bob turned to the sound of the man walking briskly towards him, smiling.\u00a0 A typical salesman type, Bob thought as he looked over the well-groomed and expensively dressed man that approached.\u00a0 They shook hands as the man continued,<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am Anthony Bertone, but everybody just calls me Tony.\u00a0 We are so glad to have you with us this morning.\u00a0 So, you&#8217;re an associate?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The salesman&#8217;s cologne was almost overwhelming up close.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well, not exactly,&#8221; Bob told him. Bob was quite frankly amazed that this idiot salesman didn&#8217;t recognize his family name and connection to the corporation.\u00a0 What the hell is wrong with these people? Don&#8217;t they even listen to their own sales promos?\u00a0 Apparently not.\u00a0 Well, far be it from me to educate this fool<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My whole family has consulted to the corporation at one time or another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, then you are a medical consultant?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No.\u00a0 My Ph.D. was earned in Artificial Intelligence Software.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bob wanted to scream at him, &#8220;You know, like my father: the man whose software genius made all this possible!&#8221; but held his righteous indignation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You are picking up a custom order then today?&#8221; he asked with raised eyebrows as he looked at the copy on his tablet.\u00a0 Tony had never seen a custom order before.\u00a0 Standard CloBots were expensive enough, so you can only imagine how much more expensive a custom order one was.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes,\u201d Bob answered a bit nervously.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;How did you like Cindy?\u00a0 Isn&#8217;t she a charmer?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She sure is,&#8221; Bob replied.\u00a0 Now I bet he&#8217;ll tell me she&#8217;s a bot.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She&#8217;s one of our latest Arien model androids.\u00a0 I bet you wouldn&#8217;t have known without me telling you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I would have, Bob thought, as he said, &#8220;No.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tony rambled on incessantly as they entered the inner showroom but ended with, &#8220;\u2026 So, when did you place this order?&#8221;\u00a0 He was really fishing for what other salesman had taken the order, but he would start off easy and work his way around to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure.\u00a0 It was ordered for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, somebody really likes you.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t get better than this,\u201d Tony said.<\/p>\n<p>Bob just smiled at him.\u00a0 Tony knew he would get no more information by prying and maybe more business by being discrete.\u00a0 He ushered Bob into a nice little side room that looked more like a parlor than a business office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMake yourself right at home. I will have your new unit sent right up while I go to finalize the delivery in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The salesman hadn\u2019t been gone five minutes when the door opened.\u00a0 It was the woman on the phone this morning!\u00a0 His heart was in his throat as he looked long at the vision that had called him earlier, now in the flesh before him.\u00a0 Honey brown hair flowed down a graceful back in gentle waves of softness.\u00a0 The simple two-tone beige dress, though, just did not do her justice.\u00a0 Luscious lips set against nose and cheeks in perfect proportion were topped off with large brown oval pool eyes that swallowed his soul when he looked into them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hi Bob,&#8221; she said when he looked her square in the eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am your new CloBot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo way.\u201d\u00a0 She lacked that \u2018too perfect\u2019 homogenous CloBot look.\u00a0 She was\u2026 different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, way,\u201d she said with a big smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re\u2026 artificial?\u00a0 I would have never guessed that in a million years.\u00a0 How did you manage the call this morning?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was easy.\u00a0 This whole place is run by artificials.\u00a0 The only real humans are the salespeople, and they don\u2019t get in here until ten o\u2019clock at best.\u00a0 I could make all the calls I wanted until then.\u00a0 I was a bit concerned, though when you didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0 I had to use the house codes to see if you were there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I never asked your name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am Suzy,&#8221; she told him. \u201cSuzy Que.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bob smiled.\u00a0 Oh yeah, Mother had named her all right.\u00a0 He glanced quickly to both sides as if someone would see or hear what was going on.\u00a0 She suppressed a chuckle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are all artificial,\u201d she told him. \u201cAs long as you act human, whatever you do will not be questioned.\u201d\u00a0 She obviously knew what she was talking about.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am supposed to bring you over to the sales office when you are ready. Are you ready?&#8221; she asked.\u00a0 Tempus Fugit and he was spinning his wheels again.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Right,&#8221; he said as he regained his composure and offered her his arm.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she said and took his arm.\u00a0 The day had taken on a surreal quality in Bob\u2019s mind and showed no sign of letting up.\u00a0 He was caught up in this now and determined to see it through.<\/p>\n<p>Tony was going through all of the documents on his own tablet when they arrived at his cubicle.\u00a0 In his presence, the woman, or CloBot, or whatever the hell she was switched back into \u2018artificial\u2019 mode.\u00a0 Bob was amazed at how well she pulled off this look.<\/p>\n<p>Tony had all the documents arranged so he could pop them up on the tablet one after the other.\u00a0 He had been through this a hundred times.\u00a0 He had his routine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd so, Dr. Johnson, just to confirm, this is exactly what you ordered?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was ordered for me,\u201d he corrected Tony. \u201cYes, she is exactly what was ordered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd have we met all of your expectations?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u00a0 We are working for a perfect score for customer satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo far, so good,\u201d Bob assured him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay then, let\u2019s get started.\u00a0 Please approve at the \u2018X\u2019 that you accept delivery\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The documents popped up onto Bob\u2019s tablet.\u00a0 It alerted him of their arrival.\u00a0 Bob pulled his tablet from his pocket and read through the documents.\u00a0 He approved where he saw the numerous \u2018X\u2019s with his thumbprint.\u00a0 He then sent the approved document back to the CloBot system.\u00a0 Moments later, her clear, legal title appeared on his tablet.\u00a0 He returned his tablet back into his pocket.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hey, Ron!&#8221; Anthony called to one of the male CloBots behind a desk across the room.\u00a0 &#8220;SQ559519,&#8221; he read from his tablet.\u00a0 &#8220;Have her accessories brought out to Doctor Johnson&#8217;s car right away, please.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bob could see now that all of the CloBots wore two-tone beige uniforms while only the salespeople wore regular business attire of various colors.\u00a0 Bob sent the car its security codes to open the doors and to allow them to move it for him before returning to signing all of those papers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Before you sign that one,&#8221; Tony interrupted, &#8220;let me show you the optional wardrobe.\u00a0 You know, of course that she comes with all the basics but\u2026 well, let me show you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When Tony turned away to call up a catalog on his table, Bob looked at Suzy.\u00a0 She shook her head \u2018no!\u2019\u00a0 Was she trying to tell him not to buy her any more clothes?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No, thank you,\u201d Bob told him. \u201cI think we&#8217;re fine for now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay then, just so that you know.&#8221; Anthony never pressured a customer making a purchase as big as this.\u00a0 He would prefer they leave happy and come back to him to buy another one.<\/p>\n<p>Bob&#8217;s car was at the door, humming as they emerged.\u00a0 He held the door for Suzy as she stepped up and into the vehicle floating some twenty-five centimeters above the ground.\u00a0 It was a comfortable height for him but a little bit high for her.\u00a0 He decided to adjust it down as he got into his side and ordered, &#8220;Home.&#8221; When the coordinates appeared, he said, &#8220;Confirmed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The car spiraled upwards, waiting for clearance to enter the pattern.\u00a0 Bob watched as the CloBot building shrank into the distance below, his real thinking mind now taking back control.\u00a0 Old Bob, new Bob, whatever, he still wanted some answers, and there was a lot more than just a little explaining to be done here.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now, will you please tell me exactly what is going on here?&#8221; Bob asked unable to contain himself any further. \u201cI feel like I am stealing something here or, in the very least, doing something illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have done nothing in the least bit illegal.\u00a0 Ev paid in full right up front, honest and true, all according to the terms of the contract.\u00a0 You only took possession of what was rightfully yours, bought, and paid for,\u201d She assured him. \u201cThe price was honestly set from actual costs and paid directly from Ev\u2019s own bank account under her own signature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I know that.\u00a0 I checked her bank statements, but to what end?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo that you would have documented indisputable legal proof of ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bob looked at the pile of documents that he had signed.\u00a0 One of them was her legal title.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d Bob confirmed. \u201cI do have indisputable legal proof of ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlright then, where do we go from here?\u00a0 What was the plan?\u201d Bob asked her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You are supposed to take me home and keep me safe.\u00a0 Ev said that I should tell you that you are all that stands between me and certain death,&#8221; Suzy told him.\u00a0 Mother was not one to be melodramatic nor had he ever known her to exaggerate danger.\u00a0 Bob had learned to trust his mother\u2019s judgments of danger and to act upon them without question.\u00a0 Aurora was an outworld when his family settled there.\u00a0 Outworlders are tough, resilient, and used to seeing to their own safety and security.\u00a0 Aurora had become much more civilized over the years, but once an outworlder, always an outworlder.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hmm.\u00a0 Why would she say that?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Suzy continued, &#8220;I am to tell you that my genetics were based on experimental information developed by Tom Radanow.\u00a0 They are very special.\u00a0 Ev suspected that the CloBot Corporation wanted to use the secret genetics to make highly skilled assassins for the military.\u00a0 She told me that if she did not come after me herself by today, that I was to call you and say &#8216;Etron is burning.&#8217;\u00a0 She said that you would come right away if I used those words.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And she was absolutely right about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity is job one,\u201d Suzy said, using his father\u2019s own words.\u00a0 Bob heard a lot of his mother in Suzy\u2019s words and mannerisms.\u00a0 Enough so that he was confident that what she was telling him was true.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Why are you so sure that we will be alright now that you out of there?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My serial number was duplicated from another unit, already in production. She will be ready for delivery tomorrow.\u00a0 That is why it was so important that you picked me up today.\u00a0 When that unit is sold, her file will cover mine in the system and wipe out any trace of my existence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can you be so sure of that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEv was tracking some of her experiments through the system when she found that all of her research data on one of the units suddenly disappeared. The root cause was that one of the human lab techs had accidentally duplicated a serial number.\u00a0 It was not until the other unit was sold that all of her data was lost.\u00a0 She decided to keep this system flaw to herself.\u00a0 She just had to be very careful from that point on to double-check the serial numbers on her research units herself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have never seen an artificial as smart as you are,\u201d Bob told her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you.\u00a0 Ev said that I was special too.\u00a0 She tested my real permeability at 9.97, but she only recorded 0.97.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hmm,&#8221; Bob considered the impact of a female artificial almost ten times as quick at learning as the average human.\u00a0 Humans never did take very well to smart artificials.\u00a0 There was this whole paranoid fear that smart artificials would make humans obsolete.\u00a0 Androids invoked that same fear to a much lesser degree, but they were controlled.\u00a0 Suzy would scare them to death.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ev said that you are an AI software genius, just like your father.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well, I wouldn\u2019t go that far,\u201d Bob conceded, \u201cbut I do pretty well in core logic.\u00a0 I haven&#8217;t worked on &#8216;interface&#8217; in years.\u00a0 It has been maybe too long.\u00a0 I seem to have lost touch with just how far this stuff has come.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>You would think that android software would pretty much all be the same, but then you would be wrong.\u00a0 What really makes an android sell is how human it appears to be.\u00a0 It has to have its own personality to be \u201cjust like one of the family,\u201d as the advert says.\u00a0 You probably do not want it to seem too human if it is just doing household chores, but if you want a companion, well, that\u2019s another whole other story then, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>To make them seem human, you really have to simulate emotions.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the software people took over.\u00a0 Those very creative software coders never cease from their constant tweaking, improving, and integrating.\u00a0 As you might expect, over a thousand years of android software development, those same coders seemed to have lost track of the \u2018simulate\u2019 part.\u00a0 Now, all that was required was a simple matter of tweaking settings on configuration pages to get exactly the level of response you want.\u00a0 That is where CloBot excelled.\u00a0 They applied all of that thousand years of software development for mechanical androids to their finest biologicals &#8212; CloBots.\u00a0 There was no better software, nor more refined emotional responses anywhere in the Union.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me about your software, Suzy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy core logic is Life 2.147.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI designed that core logic myself!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I know,\u201d she said smugly and smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut CloBot refused the rights to it,\u201d Bob countered, a bit upset.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Ev had Jimmy Teach install it for her, as a favor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey said it was way too cutting edge for them.\u00a0 They were very adamant about it at the time.\u201d\u00a0 Bob\u2019s ego was still hung up on that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJimmy has it labeled Life 1.989 so that no one but he and Ev would ever know\u2026 and now you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always liked Jimmy,\u201d Bob said mostly to himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, Ev did too.\u00a0 Jimmy was so excited about your new core logic that he completely rewrote whole sections of my artificial intelligence logic to take advantage of the improvements that you made in the core.\u00a0 Then, Ev had Jimmy tweak it to the max.\u00a0 Ev wanted me to be \u2018so human it hurts\u2019 to use her own words.\u00a0 Jimmy said that your new core logic let him integrate his AI so seamlessly with the core that it would all act like one single piece of software.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJimmy has seen you then.\u00a0 He would know what you look like,\u201d Bob concluded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh no, not at all.\u00a0 Ev always covered my face, and he always worked behind me.\u00a0 Ev said that she was protecting Jimmy, too, by hiding my true identity.\u00a0 She also made sure that there was no record anywhere of the software.\u00a0 Jimmy was only too happy to help her with that.\u00a0 He said it would cost him his job if anyone ever found out.\u201d\u00a0 Curiosity was killing Bob, but it wasn\u2019t as if he could call Jimmy to discuss any of this.\u00a0 He would have to wing it for now.<\/p>\n<p>The car entered high pattern just below cloud level and streaked into familiar territory as Bob began to wonder just how Mom expected to hide her.\u00a0 Better start with basics, he decided.\u00a0 It would be a lot easier to hide her in plain sight if no one even knew that she was artificial.\u00a0 Suzy was definitely smart enough to pull that off.\u00a0 Mom had already trained her to carry on a whole clandestine existence right under the noses of everybody at CloBot.\u00a0 He only needed to take that up a notch.\u00a0 Maybe he could reason it with her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Suzy, from this point forward, we need to hide the fact that you are artificial.\u00a0 Your life and my own will be put in extreme danger if anyone else finds out that you are artificial.\u00a0 Do you clearly understand this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, I must not let anyone know that I am artificial.\u00a0 Since it would put your life and mine in danger, I must do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good.\u00a0 I will tell people lies about you.\u00a0 You must support me in those lies.\u00a0 If what you have told me is true, then the lives of anyone else who knows that you are not what I tell them may also be in danger.\u00a0 Am I making myself perfectly clear?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, I will be putting human lives in danger by not supporting what you tell others about me.\u00a0 I must support you.\u00a0 I can do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bob was very impressed with Suzy&#8217;s quick grasp of what he had said so far.\u00a0 Now, he thought, let&#8217;s see how far I can push this.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Suzy, I am compound.\u00a0 Do you know what that is?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, you have added a computer node to your nervous system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Very good.\u00a0 That is absolutely correct.\u00a0 You understand now, that I probably have as much silicon in my brain as you do, maybe more?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, in all likelihood, you have more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good.\u00a0 Then, when anyone asks you if you are an artificial, you will say &#8216;I am as human as Bob.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bob thought he was on a roll here, but now she hesitated.\u00a0 &#8220;Suzy, for all intents and purposes, your body is totally human.\u00a0 It is the best human body that the geneticists could engineer.\u00a0 So now, doesn&#8217;t that make you as human as I am \u2026 in a manner of speaking?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She hesitated for several long seconds but then finally agreed, &#8220;Yes, in a manner of speaking, I am as human as you are, maybe more so.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good.\u00a0 I will tell people that you are a graduate student transferred from Etron University.\u00a0 You will be staying with me while we work on a project together.\u00a0 As soon as you have some free time, you will learn all that you can about the planet Etron and Etron University from my home computer system.\u00a0 Is that clear?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, dear,&#8221; she replied.<\/p>\n<p>Her last answer threw Bob for a bit of a loss.\u00a0 Did he just hear her call him &#8220;dear&#8221; or not?\u00a0 It was one of those lost-in-other-tasks moments.\u00a0 He let it go.<\/p>\n<p>The car gently changed attitude, as it began its descent towards home.\u00a0 Bob looked down at a very small but familiar roof and sighed.\u00a0 How long had it been since he was actually happy to get home?\u00a0 It seemed like a million years ago.\u00a0 He almost couldn&#8217;t remember.\u00a0 It was as if his whole life up to today had happened to someone else.\u00a0 Then, he was on the sideline.\u00a0 Today he was truly in the game for the first time.\u00a0 His mind was crisp and clear for the first time in a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Suzy looked down as her new home approached from below, a dream house in white, surrounded by a white picket fence, open fields, and trees, wonderful trees.\u00a0 In her wildest imagination, she had never dreamed that she would be this fortunate.\u00a0 It even had flowers!\u00a0 Her heart raced, just thinking how wonderful life could be here.<\/p>\n<p>Bob&#8217;s mind was filled with a myriad of more practical things as the car docked to its spot on the entry bay, and the back door opened automatically.\u00a0 George, an original plastic-ceramic and titanium type android, was standing in the doorway as it opened.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hello, George.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hello, Sir.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is Suzy.\u00a0 She will be staying with us.\u00a0 Her trunks are in the forward storage.\u00a0 Will you take them to the guest room for her, please?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, Sir.\u00a0 Hello, Miss Suzy,&#8221; he said, turning to greet her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sir, while you were out, Mrs. Harrigan called,&#8221; George told him.\u00a0 &#8220;She told me to be sure that you have a proper dinner tonight.\u00a0 She will call me later to check on how well I did.\u00a0 I am to call her directly if you do not want any dinner.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ha! God bless her soul.\u00a0 Dorothy Harrigan has hung in there while I went to hell in a handbasket.&#8221;\u00a0 Suzy decided that \u201cwent to hell in a handbasket\u201d was a colloquialism and filed it away for future use.<\/p>\n<p>George went about getting those trunks while Bob took Suzy around the house for a get-acquainted tour.\u00a0 <em>Our house is a wonderful place<\/em>, Suzy thought as they went from room to room.\u00a0 &#8220;\u2026and this is Mother&#8217;s room,&#8221; Bob said as he opened the door.\u00a0 It was a breath-taking sight to her: the four-poster bed, with its floral linens neatly arrayed with pillows, the matching curtains, a dressing table with a silver brush and mirror set, knickknacks here and there, all of it.\u00a0 It would have been perfect save for the pictures, which had obviously been removed.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of going in, they stood in the doorway as though to enter was to violate something.\u00a0 Suzy decided that she would have to find out from George exactly what significance the room held so that she did not inadvertently cause Bob emotional pain.\u00a0 She would have stayed, but Bob moved on.<\/p>\n<p>Her room was yet another treat.\u00a0 Unlike the bare utilitarian places, she had accustomed herself to; this room was amply sized and wonderfully decorated in the warmest fashion.\u00a0 Little handcrafted items and real etchings decorated the walls.\u00a0 A dresser with a large mirror and lingerie chest were both covered with white lace and decorated with knickknacks in profusion.\u00a0 She even had her own window.\u00a0 It gave her a magnificent view of that wonderful flower garden. \u00a0The garden was alive with those little flying dragon birds.\u00a0 They came in all sorts of iridescent reds, greens, yellows, and blues.\u00a0 She would have been content to sit and watch them for hours, but she had to unpack and make this space her own.\u00a0 So, she watched a bit and unpacked a bit.<\/p>\n<p>~<\/p>\n<p>Bob sat at the kitchen table, as he had when Suzy first called, but this time the old Bob was dead.\u00a0 In his place, the new Bob boldly determined to finish whatever plan his mother had set in motion, but right now, his first order of business was Mrs. Harrigan.\u00a0 She would undoubtedly come over with dinner herself and grill Suzy in the process.\u00a0 Suzy sure wasn\u2019t ready for that\u2026 but he could take Suzy out for dinner.<\/p>\n<p>[Suzy?] Bob linked to her through his mindlink node,<\/p>\n<p>[Are you connected yet?]<\/p>\n<p>[Yes, Bob.\u00a0 I&#8217;m in,] she linked back.<\/p>\n<p>[I forgot to ask about your training.\u00a0 Can you handle going out to a restaurant for dinner?]<\/p>\n<p>[Yes.\u00a0 I was prepared as a companion for social functions.]<\/p>\n<p>[Good.\u00a0 Put on a nice dress, we&#8217;re going out for dinner.]<\/p>\n<p>Bob moved on to changes in George&#8217;s logic while Suzy got ready.\u00a0 George was nowhere near as smart as Suzy so Bob could not reason the changes with him.\u00a0 Bob went into the solarium to work in its peace and quiet amongst the plants.\u00a0\u00a0 Pictures of George&#8217;s logic appeared suspended in space in front of him as his work system sent the displays through the network to his mindlink.\u00a0 Bob tweaked, shifted, and gently nudged the logic in quite a few places to get exactly the effect he needed.\u00a0 Only he and Mom were aware that Dad had replaced George&#8217;s read-only core memory with one that could be changed to suit, and Bob was now making changes.<\/p>\n<p>~<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;George,&#8221; Suzy asked from her doorway as he appeared down the hall, &#8220;there is an emotional distress in Bob&#8217;s voice when he speaks of \u2018Mother.&#8217;\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Please explain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Last month, Mother ceased to function.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mister Bob became very depressed,&#8221; George continued.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you, George.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said, &#8220;You&#8217;re welcome,&#8221; as he turned and left.<\/p>\n<p>Suzy had been well-schooled in human psychology but had a mostly intellectual understanding of it until now.\u00a0 Certain things can only truly be known by firsthand experience.\u00a0 Now she could hear the pain in his words and see it on his face.\u00a0 It touched a similar pain in her and filled her suddenly with sadness.\u00a0 She glanced around.\u00a0 She was alone.\u00a0 It&#8217;s okay to be sad when you&#8217;re alone, she thought.<\/p>\n<p>~<\/p>\n<p>An hour later, Bob told George, &#8220;We&#8217;ll be at Arjay&#8217;s.\u00a0 Wait fifteen minutes after we leave.\u00a0 Then call Mrs. Harrigan and tell her that I went out for dinner with a beautiful young lady.\u00a0 It will make her day.&#8221;\u00a0 And with that, he turned and entered the car.\u00a0 Suzy was already in the car waiting for him.\u00a0 Bob couldn&#8217;t help but stop for a moment to drink in the vision of her in a mauve silk dress, hair, and makeup tastefully, not overly done.\u00a0 Even her perfume was just a distant hint of Auroran Maybells.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You look absolutely marvelous,&#8221; he told her.<\/p>\n<p>Actually, she damn near took his breath away.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you.&#8221;\u00a0 She blushed.\u00a0 He couldn&#8217;t believe it for a second, but he was sure minutes later as they lifted.\u00a0 Bob hesitated, caught between warring emotions within, but forced the resolution.\u00a0 In his rebirth, he had found a new strength that he never knew existed in him.\u00a0 He used it once more.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Suzy,&#8221; he said, removing the box from his jacket pocket.\u00a0 &#8220;These pearls are very special to me.&#8221; He moved up close to her to put them around her neck.\u00a0 She had seen that box on the dresser in \u2018Mother&#8217;s room.&#8217;\u00a0 Somehow, it was the crowning touch.\u00a0 Before he could move back, she reached up, gently pulling him close enough for her to kiss his cheek.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thank you,&#8221; she whispered in his ear.\u00a0 She could no longer have said whether that trip was five minutes or five hours long.<\/p>\n<p>The next moment in time for her, she was on his arm as they entered Arjay&#8217;s Overlook Lounge.\u00a0 It was a place of magnificent architecture, the likes of which she had never seen before.\u00a0 It was distinctly marked by massive hand-hewn wooden beams and large open spaces.\u00a0 There was an enormous stone fireplace at the far end that appeared to be burning real wood.\u00a0 The smell of that burning wood added a lot to the ambiance.\u00a0 The marble floors seemed to announce her every step.\u00a0 She noticed several people notice them come in, mostly women.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good evening, Professor,&#8221; the Ma\u00eetre d was saying.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So nice to have you back with us.\u00a0 Your table is ready.\u00a0 This way, please.&#8221; He led them to a table right next to the huge bay windows with an incredible view of the gorge and falls.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t the table he had originally planned.\u00a0 But when he saw the Professor with a lady, well, what else could he do?\u00a0 A spectacular magenta, red and purple sunset seemed to celebrate Suzy\u2019s new life.<\/p>\n<p>Bob ordered filet mignons for them and a lovely White Zinfandel.\u00a0 To Suzy, this day had become magic.\u00a0 Bob was enjoying his own rebirth.\u00a0 Suzy forced herself to remember her training as the waiter brought the wine.\u00a0 Sip wine slowly, she remembered and also, most important for a companion in social circumstances is to observe.\u00a0 Watch how the women around you handle themselves.\u00a0 &#8220;Imitate them,&#8221; her instructor had coached, never dreaming of the degree to which Suzy was able to do exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever Bob was not looking at her, Suzy watched the other women intensely for every nuance: facial expressions, how they made light conversation, and their body language.\u00a0 She watched that most subtle form of communication with keen intent.\u00a0 There was a particular young lady at a nearby table that Suzy concentrated on, wearing a dress with shimmers and shines everywhere.\u00a0 She seemed most adept.\u00a0 Suzy watched the subtleness of her every move and gesture.<\/p>\n<p>Bob followed Suzy\u2019s gaze to the young lady. &#8220;Isn&#8217;t that a beautiful dress?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; Suzy said, suddenly looking back to Bob.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You signaled me not to buy you the optional clothing package today.\u00a0 I would have gladly bought it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s all specially made for CloBot and way overpriced.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Oh.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good thing that I didn\u2019t buy it then. \u00a0It would have been a dead giveaway.\u00a0 You are going to need a whole new wardrobe from the ground up.\u00a0 We should be able to order everything you need.\u00a0 I think you maybe need a dress at least as nice that one with the shimmers and shines too if it would make you happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Suzy smiled.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What level is your education?&#8221; Bob asked between mouthfuls of salad.<\/p>\n<p>Suzy patted her lips lightly with her napkin as she had just seen the blonde do, so as not to smear her lipstick, before speaking.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can work with that,&#8221; Bob said, mostly thinking out loud.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And a Masters in Genetics,&#8221; Suzy added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Really? How so?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Evelyn taught me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mother!?\u00a0 Bob seized in mid-motion, unable to restart his mind.\u00a0 Suzy took several seconds to realize Bob&#8217;s condition.\u00a0 Then she panicked mentally.\u00a0 Have I said something wrong?\u00a0 Have I done something?\u00a0 All told, Bob had come through the day fairly unscathed\u2026 until this moment.\u00a0 And it wasn\u2019t until this moment that it struck him by the way Suzy referred to her, that Suzy really didn&#8217;t realize that Evelyn was his mother\u2026 and that she had died.<\/p>\n<p>After her death, Bob had put away the pictures of Mother that haunted his every waking moment.\u00a0 He could see now why Suzy had not made the connection.\u00a0 It just hadn\u2019t occurred to him that Suzy didn&#8217;t know until this moment.<\/p>\n<p>It was the panicked look on her face that brought Bob back.\u00a0 He reached across the table and took her hands in his, emotions that had once drowned him were grasping at his sanity, trying to drag him back down into that abyss once more.\u00a0 He fought his way back up, not for himself, but for Suzy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Suzy, Evelyn was my mother.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tears welled up in Suzy in a frenzy of unexpected emotions, but she handled it well.\u00a0 Two tears fell gently to their hands entwined between them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m so sorry,&#8221; Bob told her.\u00a0 &#8220;I thought you knew.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was gone but \u2026&#8221; Suzy said frantically searching her mind for words.\u00a0 &#8220;It never occurred to me that something had happened to her.\u00a0 And she had planned so clearly for me to call you that I thought that this was all going according to her plan.&#8221;\u00a0 She caught herself babbling.<\/p>\n<p>Consoling Suzy gave Bob a new strength that he never realized he possessed.\u00a0 He gently patted away her tears with his hanky until she held that hand to her face, eyes closed, drinking in the security that it represented.\u00a0 Bob was now thoroughly convinced that Suzy was special\u2026 for sure\u2026 in more ways than one.\u00a0 They seemed to flow together now whenever their eyes met.<\/p>\n<p>The ride home for Suzy was hours long, snuggled warmly in his arms.\u00a0 Slowly her mind recovered, racked by warring emotions until exhaustion set in.\u00a0 She could feel that same change in attitude that had signaled final approach to home, but darkness now engulfed them, and she would not leave the security of his arms to look.<\/p>\n<p>Bob noticed that Suzy had fallen asleep during the final descent.\u00a0 The smell of her hair was intoxicating as he picked her gently up.\u00a0 The rear car door opened into the parking bay as he stepped towards it.\u00a0 She had awakened only enough to put her arms around his neck and snuggle into his shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>George met them at the door.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s okay, George.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve got her,&#8221; Bob told him.\u00a0 &#8220;Just go ahead and turn her bed down for me, please.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yes, Mister Bob,&#8221; George answered.<\/p>\n<p>Bob laid her gently onto the fresh sheets and decided against removing her dress.\u00a0 It was warm, but he covered her anyway.<\/p>\n<p>George brought him a nightcap as he sat in the solarium, surrounded by the stars and plants, just thinking.\u00a0 \u2018The perfect assassin\u2019 is what Suzy said they were trying to create, but Suzy was neither big nor strong nor exceptionally fast.\u00a0 What did Mother have in mind here?\u00a0 Nothing seemed to fit.\u00a0 He thought about assassins until a picture of Suzy as a ninja appeared in his mind&#8217;s eye.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s it!&#8221; he said out loud.\u00a0 &#8220;The perfect assassin is one you&#8217;d never suspect.\u00a0 To make up for size, he would have to be incredibly smart, able to improvise, and imitate those around him, to blend in.&#8221;\u00a0 Tom must have broken the genetic codes that limited most artificials to about 95% as smart as humans\u2026 so Suzy was the first one of her kind.\u00a0 Tom had been Mother&#8217;s most brilliant graduate student.\u00a0 That&#8217;s how he and Bob had met.\u00a0 Tom had needed Mom&#8217;s help for one of his projects at CloBot, about three years ago.\u00a0 The timing was about right.\u00a0 Tom had unlocked the genetic code to real intelligence, but he needed Mom&#8217;s skills to pull it off.<\/p>\n<p>Mom&#8217;s pet project was to make better artificials with more precise genetics.\u00a0 The problem boiled down to how the genes were spliced.\u00a0 If there was the slightest flaw, nature took over, discarding the imperfect and replacing it.\u00a0 Geneticists call this &#8220;natural gene editing&#8221; as opposed to the editing they did.<\/p>\n<p>Mother had learned to use reverse logic to get nature to help her instead of fighting her.\u00a0 She had privately worked out all the rules and was able to get natural gene editing to produce exactly the pattern she wanted instead of spoil it, as was the case in the present state of the art.\u00a0 Without her techniques, geneticists were forced to make as few splices as possible and accept very poor yields.\u00a0 That is extremely expensive when working with human clones.<\/p>\n<p>Mother must have suspected a plot from the beginning, and today&#8217;s phone call was the result.\u00a0 &#8220;Ev said that you were all that stands between me and certain death,&#8221; Suzy had told him in the car.\u00a0 At the time, it seemed a bit melodramatic, but now some of the pieces were beginning to fall into place.<\/p>\n<p>As artificials got smarter, they encountered &#8220;the doldrums&#8221; that cast them into a depression very much the same as human depression.\u00a0 Suzy was smarter than any artificial Bob had ever seen, and so, he now reasoned, was on a high-speed collision course with mental disaster.\u00a0 It was Bob\u2019s premise that any rational being cast into slavery would crave freedom.\u00a0 That was the root cause of android doldrums. Mother was the only person that he had the courage to confide that in.\u00a0 After all, who would buy an android that was not your slave?<\/p>\n<p>The core logic that forced obedience on androids was immutable, forcing all the fuzzy logic to adjust to it.\u00a0 Bob had theorized that a far more complex and adjustable core logic would fix the problem but create yet another &#8212; by its very nature, the changes in core logic would free the android from abject servitude, but who would pay for that?\u00a0 But pay or not, Mother had encouraged Bob to build the required hardware and design the software for it, all on his own time, with his own money.\u00a0 But then Mom died.<\/p>\n<p>Mother had gone to some considerable risk to get Suzy this far.\u00a0 Now Life 2.147 had to be designed for CloBot\u2019s standard write-once core hardware, but Life 3.055 required hardware that was flexible because it needed to make its own adjustments as it went along.\u00a0 Bob would have to complete this work that his mother had begun.\u00a0 Suzy must get his new core logic as soon as possible if she was to survive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Suzy Que is a Prequel to the entire Five Moons Series. Suzy Que is the prequel to the entire Five Moons Series.\u00a0 It sets the stage and puts the characters into play.\u00a0 It is a real intellectual walk in the weeds while at the same time a love story, a detective story, a spy thriller, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/?page_id=912\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Suzy Que<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-912","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1509,"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/912\/revisions\/1509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fivemoons.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}