Page 15 of Atticus
“Don’t worry, you’ll catch on eventually. Come on, I want to get there early.”
* * *
As we pull into the middle school parking lot, Lucy minimizes her many notes and scribblings that she opened on her tablet, looking up with wide eyes at the flashes of red and blue police lights. Two patrol cars are parked along the curb near the drop-off area. The students won’t arrive for another half hour or so.
Principal Carlisle stands with two members of law enforcement, dressed in all black, armed and patched. As Lucy and I exit the car, they notice me, speaking out of earshot. Carlisle’s mouth is a thin and dour line. She turns abruptly on her heel and heads back into the school alone.
“Wonder what this is about,” Lucy mutters. “Don’t worry, I won’t throw you to the wolves.”
“I don’t see any wolves,” I reply, looking around. “Are there wolves here? Strange. Wolves are generally found in forested areas away from human settlements.”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a change in her. Her back straightens a little more; her shoulders square. She walks with purpose, a sense of self-assurance and dignity in every step as she approaches the officers, who part ways. A young woman heads toward her patrol car, leaving a shorter, yet sturdily built man with a brown complexion to finish up his notes on an illuminated tablet, stylus tapping here and there as he completes his report.
“Is everything all right?” Lucy asks.
His expression is serious. “You’re Lucy Warren?”
“Yes.”
“And this is the school’s new android?” He motions to me.
“Yes. Atticus.”
The officer nods slightly. “Atticus. Now, that’s a helluva good name for a teaching droid. Good choice,” he says quietly as he taps away.
I watch him work inquisitively. “Thank you.”
“Oh, he’s polite too. Wonders never cease,” the officer replies, eyebrows up as he nods. “You’re welcome.”
“Is something wrong?” Lucy asks.
The officer puts his report away. “There was a break-in. Some troublemakers tossed a brick through a classroom window on the ground floor and climbed through. Left a mess.”
Lucy gasps. “You’re kidding. But...the alarms?”
“Bypassed them. It’s an older system. It’s not linked to all of the windows, only the ones that can open from the inside. And even then, the alarms typically only go off if there are break-ins from the entryways.”
“Ah, I see,” Lucy remarks. “Foolproof.”
That makes the officer laugh. “Yeah, something like that.” He extends his hand to her. “Trey Washington. I’m the school resource officer here at Vautrin. The lady that just took off is from the local precinct, but I’m around every day.”
She shakes his hand firmly. I regard the exchange passively, though I note a slight uptick in Trey’s core temperature as well as a distinct change in his body language. He opens himself up, tension in his muscles lessening as he turns toward her. A quick scan through databases, and I recognize it for what it is.
Attraction. Trey Washington is attracted to Lucy. My steel skeletal mainframe slowly stiffens as I study him carefully, trying to make sense of my own reaction to this realization.
“Did they vandalize or take anything?” Lucy asks.
“No, nothing.” He gestures to me. “We’re thinking they were looking for your friend here.”
“Me?” I ask quizzically.Someone was trying to damage me? Why?
“Not too many people in this town are keen on having an android in school. If they did some damage, enough to get him sent back, I think a lot of folks would breathe a collective sigh of relief.” He winks at Lucy. “You know, can’t be inviting our future robot overlords into our kids’ classrooms.”
“Well,” Lucy says. “They’ll just have to get used to him.”
“Hey, I’m with you,” Trey scoffs with a shake of his head. “Born and raised in New Carnegie before I moved to Chicago for police work. Between both cities, literally nothing fazes me these days. But people around here get worked up about the weather, so you can imagine how pissy they’re getting about this android.”
