Amistad was frowning throughout his wife's call. Did she just giggle at something that lecher said? "Thank you Henry, you have a great day too." Laura ended her call.
"How's Henry?" Amistad said unable to mask his disdain for the man.
"He's fine," Laura said looking at Amistad like he was a big baby.
"His wife is fine too," Laura said and she watched Amistad's emotions brighten on his face.
"His wife?"
"He got married last year," Laura elaborated. She knew her husband was jealous for no reason. She never had any feelings for Henry other than friendship.
"Did he?" Amistad's pitch raised. "Poor woman."
Laura rolled her eyes, but did not defend her friend. If she did it would just make Amistad jealous again.
"I miss you…" He said suddenly.
Her heart caught in her throat. "It's been a month," Laura said. She really missed her husband. Especially at night when he would just hold her to sleep. But she had her pride. As long as Meiri was in her home, she wouldn't be.
"I've asked Meiri to find another post," Amistad said. Both you and Violetta don't like her. I'd much rather have you home with me than anything else." He stared into her eyes.
Laura blushed at the intensity in his eyes. They had already been married for 11 years. How could he still make her blush!?
"We'll talk about it when she gets another post," Laura knew her husband was still hiding things from her. He was such a private person to begin with, but she had never felt that he was hiding things from her. Not until she saw Heath. She noticed Heath had dyed his hair to make it look more like his mother's. But she also noticed her husband dyed his hair to look the color of Heath's original hair. They slept together every night until the beginning of the month. Did he really think she hadn't noticed. What was he hiding from her?
Amistad had taken Laura home first. They parted amiably.
…
…
Now that Amistad was home again, he played back the previous day's events in his head. Violetta and he had packed her bag, and as she packed, he marked the checklist provided by his wife. Violetta was excited to go to school, but she was so aggrieved at leaving Araminty behind.
The sentence that had stuck with him was, "Don't let her be sad all by herself." And the night before, he had noticed the robot really did hold onto the toy his daughter had given her very gently as she charged.
His mind kept going back to the defective part. He knew his daughter would figure it out eventually. She was one smart little girl, and was very intuitive when it came to machines. There really was no way for his daughter's robot to have turned on. So now he needed to know what was going on with his daughter's robot?
He found the robot sitting in the workshop holding onto the stuffed animal that Violetta had given to her. Her. He didn't even think it was a robot anymore. The robot sat in the same spot she had charged in looking so… lost.
Amistad dragged a stool over in front of the robot and sat down. He didn't say anything and just watched her.
…
…
Araminty saw Amistad come into the workshop. She watched him pull up a stool, and just...sit...there...watching her. What was his problem? Why was he staring at her? She sat there as still as she could. It seemed that he sat just as still as her. His eyes were unmoving, staring into her own. She was so nervous. If she had sweat glands she was sure that there would be a puddle under her.
Amistad shifted in his seat, and Araminty flinched. If he hadn't been watching her so intently, he might not have seen it right away. Her grip on the stuffed animal had slowly gotten tighter as he had watched her. If he had not known that part was defective... If he had not been suspicious...Would he have noticed anything off about her at all? Probably not. Not until this robot had achieved whatever it was aiming for. He had checked the camera's. He didn't see anyone approach the house. So no one could have messed around with Violetta's project...right?
"I will only ask you today," Amistad began. If there was any intent to harm his family in any way, he would have the robot scrapped. "What are your intentions in this house, and toward my family?"
Araminty was hesitant to answer. How was a robot supposed to answer this? Heath hadn't taught her this yet!
"Answer," Amistad was ready to threaten the machine at any moment. It seemed to give out emotional responses. Would it be more honest with a threat or with a treat?
Araminty knew she had to respond. Amistad had frightened her. What should she say? Her intentions? Did she even have any? She knew she was to be Violetta's friend, according to the programming she had found installed. But Violetta had said she was more like her daughter. And children lived with their families until they grew up and got married right? 20 years, and she would be of age to marry. "I will live with Violetta for 20 years, and then get married to someone of my choosing. Then we will make offspring"
Amistad "..."
What? "Explain…" He had no idea what her intent was supposed to mean.
"Violetta said she is my mother, so I have to live with her for 20 years, and then I should get married after that."
"She's your... mother?" Amistad didn't like that. His daughter wasn't a mother. She was just a baby. "Not allowed." He said with a grimace on his face.
"It's not?" Araminty was confused. "If Violetta cannot be my mother, then what is she to me?"
Amistad thought about this momentarily. He sighed. "Follow me out of this room first. We'll go to the kitchen, I need a snack." He stood and headed to the door.
"Do I still need to pretend to be a robot?" Aramity asked. Amistad turned to look at her. Pretend to be a robot? He didn't respond. "Heath and Violetta both said I need to pretend to not be so smart, or have emotions. They said it could be dangerous for me if other people found out."
Amistad looked at his daughter's creation, still nervously holding the stuffed animal like it was a lifeline. She seemed to be attached to it. This bronze, silver and gold colored creature was no robot. He sighed. "Will you feel safer in here then? I can have a maid bring me something."
Araminty nodded.
"Alright then," He conceded. "Wait a moment while I get something to eat. Do you need anything?"
Araminty thought for a moment. She missed seeing the sky. She liked it since she first noticed it. But since that first day, they had closed the workshops overhead door, and not reopened it. "Can I look outside?" She pointed to the door.
His eyes followed her finger. The overhead door. Would she leave if he opened it? Was she trying to escape? He did not trust her. Not yet. "In a few minutes, after I've gotten my snack."
"Ok," Her voice had a hint of satisfaction in it. She was still trying to hide her emotions. And she was failing miserably. He sighed. Just what had his daughter done? How had it become like this? He had seen the programming. It was indeed ambitious, eventually leading up to creating a complex Artificial intelligence. But it was not at that stage yet. His daughter was right to tell her creation to hide her feelings for now. Until he trusted her, he would allow her to stay in the workshop. He would also teach the robot to act a bit more. Maybe he would get some books on theater so she could learn a bit better. Either way, she was not ready to be in front of the maids yet. If they bragged about the robot built in their families house... Who knows what kind of mess it would make.
He had to help his daughter keep this under wraps. He had to find out what had happened. He decided to look in the book again to see if there was anything he had missed that could shed light on this situation.