The New Humans

Chapter 22

Am I dead? There was a peaceful silence around him that made him think he was in heavens. The sound of the metal, the roars, and the rattling of the robot's paws had ceased. He raised his head; the robot had collapsed to the ground and lay motionless.

He almost cried with joy. He rested his head on the floor. What the hell happened? Ash didn't even remember what he had said exactly, but the words from the ball must have disabled that thing.

When the floor became too cold and uncomfortable, Ash stood up. He walked past the robot, careful not to get too close. The snake moved its eyes left and right but otherwise remained motionless.

Ash retraced then his steps in search of the vase with the snake. While walking, he heard footsteps behind him. He hid in a hallway. It sounded like several people were approaching, but who could say? It could be another monster with a hundred feet. Then from around a corner appeared an army of robots over six feet tall, wearing long tunics in garish colors and dozens of heavy necklaces and jewelry. Ash felt a flicker in his stomach, the way an adopted child might feel when he met his natural parents for the first time. These were the savants, the same ones he had glimpsed at Luther Wall's funeral and could never forget.

"Holy . . ."

One of the savants turned toward Ash and said with a voice that seemed to come out of an amplifier, "Here he is."

All the savants directed their gaze toward him. They must have been keeping an eye on him from the moment he had entered.

"Who are you?" asked a savant dressed in a green tunic.

Ash stuttered, "I am . . . I'm Asher Mack. I'm a Numa," he said in the hope of creating a feeling of friendship.

"What are you doing here?" asked the same savant.

"Nothing. I didn't mean to . . . I . . . I'm sorry, I arrived here by mistake. I don't want to do anything bad; if you'll allow me to go back, I, please . . ."

"How did you get here?"

"The ball brought me here," said Ash. He pulled the ball out of his pocket and held his arm out so they could see it. "It belonged to Luther Wall."

One of savants took a step toward Ash. The savants all had identical faces, a plastic oval with two camera lenses in place of eyes. This one was different from the others because he wore a red tunic, large necklaces in the shape of crescent moons, and a black cloth around his head.

"May I see it?" asked the savant.

Ash nodded. The savant took the ball from his hands.

"Where did you get it?" he asked.

"I found it in Luther's house. The day of his funeral."

"It chose you, is that right?"

How does he know?

The savant asked again, "Why are you here? Why have you followed its directions?"

Ash shrugged. "Curiosity."

The savant nodded. "Curiosity is a great virtue." He turned to the other savants. "Don't worry, the boy has no bad intentions. I'll take care of it."

The others departed without saying a word, as if Ash was a nuisance they were glad to be rid of. The savant in the red tunic stared at him as if doing some mental calculations. Then he bent his head and said, "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Albert Einstein Schrödinger Maxwell Bohr, the discoverer of the galaxy of Rama, inventor of a thousand medications, master of the Gis language, great architect, master mechanic, inventor of a hundred races, and ambassador of the savants. But you can call me Albert."