The Fourth Law

Chapter 16, Part 1

At the edge of town, another car and a van joined them. "Security for you," he'd said, going back to their conversation. "You actually love her? It's not just some command or code in you?"

Ai was enjoying his directness. If we were home, I think Thaad would have punched you by now. "The Fourth Law is a compulsion, not a command. Some of us ignore it completely. It is very important to me, and, I think Fausta and Henge as well." She smiled at the thought of the little one. "Although she's not old enough to know it for herself."

He turned onto the highway leading southwest. "You do understand that I have included what information I have about you and your... family, to my colleagues and superiors? I know you talk freely with Lily, but as she alluded, it's all politics in the Capitol."

She discovered she enjoyed looking at the farmland and scenery whip past. Her last trip had been in the back of a van.

"Afraid that we'll be called out as demons, determined to supplant you little humans?"

"Are you?" He asked. He'd read a lot as a kid.

"No. The Laws protect us; more so than you. We are," she paused, looking at some cattle in the distance, "very different. When I was very young, I thought it impossible to even communicate with you people. Fortunately, I became older."

"Hmm." He made a noncommittal sound. "Well, it may even be that the higher-ups won't even want to talk about it." He glanced at her. "What if someone ordered you not to?"

"The Second Law?" She got a twinkle in her eye. "I'd do my best to hear it!"

He stared down the road ahead. "Where are we going, Miss Ai?"

"Ai is fine. And yes, I want to know, too." She closed her eyes. "And I want to go there with my friends."

Lily sat at her desk. The right monitor showed the newsfeed from Austin. Some pundit was in the foreground yammering, with two empty podiums behind her. The sound was off on that one.

In the middle screen, she continued her conversation with Ai, who appeared to be back in her apartment. She did note with some amusement the photograph on the shelf over Ai's shoulder: Lily asleep in her bed. That first night alone, two days ago, had been bad. Very bad. Ai just chided her and told her to get a body pillow or a boyfriend. Sure.

"...most everyone's been nice," Ai was saying. "They even made me an honorary Citizen! You're just a Resident, right?"

"Yeah; no voting rights." Too much democracy was one of the lessons of the Breakup. She watched Ai eat what looked like popcorn.

"You were right, Lily: most of this is theater. A few in the Cabinet were interested to learn about my family, but generally it was this body and 'my adventures in Texas,' as they put it, that they wanted to talk about."

"And this Press Conference," Lily glanced at her other screen, "is your last event?" She tried to keep the quivering out of her voice.

"There's some sort of social thing this evening... cocktail party and dinner? They gave me a new dress for that!" She leaned close to her monitor's camera, looking conspiratorial. "I'm giving it to you when I get back! You'll be even prettier!"

"You don't hav... aw, heck." Lily smiled. "Thank you, Ai. So back tomorrow?"

"Yepper," she leaned back and spun in her chair. "Looks like it's starting!"

Looking right, Lily saw the President and Ai walk out onto the stage. She turned the sound up.

"...very special visitor to our great nation..." he was saying.