Free Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter Page B

Asimov 3000’s own children breathed. It was another robot innovation, aclever illusion that the humans hadn’t thought to include and that robots had taken on themselves. A slight rise and fall of the chest at the right time, and we were oh so human.
    He would have to explain to Mary how delicate Beachstone was, although he thought that yesterday would be enough of a lesson. I would have thought last week would have been enough of a lesson, but I guess I would have been wrong. No, yesterday was enough of a lesson.
    Asimov 3000 realized that he had not leaned back when he intended to lean back. He tried again. He couldn’t. Tried again. Leaned back too hard, as all three commands acted at once. He kicked out his legs to prevent the chair from tipping back.
    Master Vandley had had a human from town come and take care of the new will. The human had brought an assistant to act as a witness. Asimov 3000 was a permissible second witness. The will had been unnecessary, but Master Vandley had been a businessman, and he liked his business tidy. Barren Cove was Asimov 3000’s. Its clean running water, which had been unused for five years, was Asimov 3000’s.
    Beachstone breathed.
    Asimov 3000 would have liked to see him grow up. But that also meant seeing him grow old. I should reboot, Asimov 3000 thought. I should sleep. And yet, perhaps it was only fitting if the children took over. At least they would have known a human.

9.
    â€œOPENING CLOSETS?”
    I looked up to see Clarke stepping into the cabana, and then, before I could answer him, the bicycle girl appeared behind him. Flustered, I turned my head every which way, scanning around me as though I had lost something, avoiding seeing them.
    Dean shut off her recording. The sound of the ocean filled the sudden silence.
    Clarke sat at the table and kicked his legs up. “That’s the past, Sapien. Old news. Time to live in the now.”
    The bicycle girl circled in place, spinning only one wheel while keeping the other stationary. I watched her as she surveyed the room. “Can I help you?” I said.
    Clarke’s momentum was thrown off by the question. He must have planned his entrance but hadn’t thought beyond that, let alone what to do if I actually answered. He took his legs down and leaned on the table. “That’s Jenny,” he said. “Jenny, Sapien.”
    Jenny turned and looked at me. “Hi,” she said. I hid my damaged hand under the table. Aside from the bicycle wheels and the pink hair, she appeared normal in every way. Clarke was much more monstrous. I tried to catch her eye, but she was looking at something on the floor that I couldn’t see because Clarke was in the way. Besides, I had seen the floor many times; it was just tile.
    â€œSapien!” Clarke said, drawing my attention. He hadn’t anticipated the effect Jenny would have on me. He wanted me disconcerted, but he wanted me to listen to him. “We came to invite you to party.”
    â€œParty?”
    He pulled out some memory chips from his pocket and tossed them on the table. They clinked against the glass. “We’re gonna get fucked up, you know? Go into town. Meet some of our friends.” He jumped up, standing on the chair. “Party!”
    Jenny came around the table. She seemed to float. She put her hand on my shoulder and slid it across to the other shoulder as she wheeled behind me. She leaned down, her hair brushing the side of my face. Pink, I thought. “Come on,” she said. “It’ll be fun.”
    Clarke raised his head, screamed, and jumped onto the built-in cabinet that lined one of the walls yelling, “Party!”
    â€œI promise,” Jenny said in my ear.
    Clarke jumped onto Jenny’s back. She was unprepared for the weight and our heads knocked. By the time I looked up she had wheeled around in front of me. She moved so fast. She wheeled back and forth in place with Clarke riding