Page 44 of Ezra
“Dad?”
He’s disoriented and tired, but happy to see her. “Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be holed up somewhere safe.”
“Ezra brought me to come see you.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he made sure all precautions are being taken. You don’t have to worry.”
Carson grunts as though he’s reaching for her in an embrace. “Well, I miss being home with you. And your mother. A couplemore days of this, and I should be okay.” He pauses then asks softly, “He’s outside, then?”
“He is,” Kat replies.
“How does he work? Is he . . .”
He sounds gentle and calm, weary, so very different from everything I’ve seen in the news, in interviews, at protests. It’s a bizarre thought that he had anything to do with my inception. The man who’s decried the existence of androids, so many times, is inquiring afterme.
Kat takes a breath. “He’s amazing. Everything you hoped he’d be.”
My gratification drive quietly thrills at such indirect praise; not just from anyone, but from Katrina. Tentative, I glance over my shoulder to the open door.
“He’s been good to you?”
“Yes.”
“Then BioNex did one thing right after I left,” Carson replies, his voice tinted with bitterness. “I should’ve taken control of the business away from Schroeder. I should’ve fought him for it. He probably would’ve liked me to take it over. He only ever wanted to be in the lab. He never had a mind for the business side of things. Too much of an idealist. He didn’t see people for who or what they truly were. BioNex wouldn’t have ruined so many lives if I’d only?—”
“Dad, you can’t blame yourself for Schroeder’s mistakes.”
“No, you’re right,” Carson relents. “I can only try to stop the wrong people from making new ones.” He sighs. “But I lost my dearest friend. And I almost lost my daughter. Twice, now.”
The conversation lulls, and I’m left with more questions. I sift through old interviews from last year and the year before. Sure enough, Algrove Schroeder and Robert Carson could barely be in the same room together. The interview had only just begun when the famous BioNex founder and inventor tore offhis microphone and stomped off set. Carson refused to enlighten anyone.
“Dad, I think we should consider changing the narrative.”
Katrina’s words bring me out from my research on her father. I wonder how much they’ve talked while I was paying little attention.
Her father seems just as confused. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been pushing for BioNex to close its doors, for droids to shut down, and it’s—it’s just not going to happen,” Katrina reasons softly. “It’s too extreme.”
“People want that extremity,” Carson replies. “They’ll accept nothing less when they’re suffering.”
“I know, but if we could take a more middle ground, use reason and empathy to bring people together so they’ll have conversations?—”
“Compromise, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“It won’t work,” Carson answers resolutely. “Angry people don’t want to hear from those who stand in the middle of an issue. They’ll say you stand for nothing, no matter how reasonable you are or how much sense you make. And most won’t accept it. It’s Humanity First, not Humanity Sometimes.”
I lean against the wall, pensive. Reluctant when I realize that, unfortunately, Carson is speaking the truth. I’ve been activated for several years. I’ve studied human behavior from day one. People are predictable, like an algorithm or a formula on a board.
It’s rare that I find someone who can surprise me. Katrina Carson is one of those unique exceptions.
“Dad.” I hear Katrina losing some patience, though she seems to be trying hard to control herself. “If we focus on holding big business accountable, if we stopped harping onpeople with androids in their homes, maybe we could get somewhere.”
“I wish I could agree with you, Kat,” Carson says. “Unfortunately, we can’t fight against anger and hatred. We can only harness it and try to use it for a greater good.”
