The Bridge | Bots 'R Us

Chapter 10 | Auld Lang Syne

WASHINGTON CITY, NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL

HOME

OCTOBER 134 AE

On the stage of the Humanists' virtual world, the first minute of Sarah's visit looked grand and light. In my recollection, it was more nuanced. I couldn't wait to squeeze her in my arms but also feared her judgment. I thought about how she would react to the First Councilor's speech that would stream that night live. I didn't need her opinion on my love life; it was complicated enough with Simone and Jonah becoming fast friends after their first meeting. Yet, I yearned for her tales of wisdom and bravery. At every visit, she would open new horizons for me. Dad was jealous of her. He thought I listened to her more than I listened to him. He wasn't wrong. I respected his advice, but I admired Sarah's insights, maybe because she was more like a big sister to me than a mother figure.

Sarah never stopped fighting. Ever since she turned her back on fame and fortune in the Wong family, she pursued her ideals and sought a better understanding of the world around us. She would often hint that she knew much more than she dared to share. That night, I wanted her to show her hand. She hadn't invited herself on a workday just to say hi. She knew what was brewing and needed some behind-the-scenes information from her insider cousin-son. I, on the other hand, needed to hear the pulse from her side of the world. I would bring up my big data, and she would counter with bone-deep felt human experience. I knew she would be right, eventually, and I would still draw my own conclusions.

My door lock lit up green twice, signaling that my visitor was already in, and the door opened to a smiling, embracing, tanned, and beaming pioneer lady.

"Come here, Day! I need to squeeze you tight," Sarah said as I passed the door. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you, too. Auntie!" I sighed with relief. I anticipated the activist, and it was the cousin-mom who greeted me. From that first moment, she established that her thought-leader business was secondary to our family bond. When we were in that mode, I liked to call her Auntie. Not so much because it's how Hawaiians refer to an older woman from your friend and family circle, but because she had earned the gravitas of people twice her age from an already rich life. Maybe it was also my signal that I was ready for her sweetness and generosity.

"How are you dealing with all this, sweetums? Must have been a rough day, uh?" she asked.

I told her how unsettling it was: "Can you imagine? Jonah and Simone in the same room! I've tried so hard to keep those two separate. I worried so much they would hate each other—and me even more after that, but at the end of the day, I was the fifth wheel!"

She looked at me in silence with eyes that were shouting, "Really!"

"That, and the end of the world, yes!" I said with a brush of my hand. But I didn't want to tell her about Wong's show-and-tell, yet, or gossip about this and that Councilor's reaction. I wanted to hear what the buzz was from her side of the world. Maybe she already had a good idea of what Councilor Chavez would announce.

"It's not a secret; everybody is talking about it on every channel all around the world!" she replied. Sarah was worried about me because she was worried about all of us. I was so focused on my research, I had missed the events of the day after the Consultation. She told me how the East Asian Council, so eager to pose as the saviors of our civilization, had already leaked the core of the plan to the press before the end of the meeting. "Councilor Chavez will have to use all her motherly warmth to soften the blow," Sarah said. "Some people are freaking out! An old lady sitting next to me in the shuttle told me, horrified, 'I don't want to become a robot!' But then, others are taking it in strides: A few blocks later, I also saw kids mobdancing robot moves. Very interesting times."