—Why Monday?
—I’m sending the engineers home. The real nerds can play with it now.
—They could not before?
—They could look at it, but I wouldn’t let them do anything that could damage it any more than it is.
—Why not?
—What do you think? I wanted another one too. But…it’s officially scrap now. They can do with it as they please. Spare parts and happy scientists. That’s what we get for 136,000 dead.
—That is hardly the only positive that came out of the London events. I thought you of all people would find some comfort in the outcome.
—Me of all people?
—I doubt anyone will question the relevance of EDC anymore. Not in our lifetime anyway. Themis has done exactly what we said, and hoped, she could do. The EDC has saved London, perhaps the human race. There is not a government on this planet that will refuse you funding. You will have all the resources you need, for as long as you need. On a more personal level, no one will question your leadership, ever. In the eyes of most, the tragedy that sent all these people to their deaths could have been avoided had the British Government done as you asked. You are perhaps the only person to ever live to enjoy this much credibility on a planetary level. What you say goes, for everyone, everywhere.
—Give it another year. Today, we’re entertaining. People identify. Makes them feel better about their lives. The press is saying nice things about us because that’s what people wanna hear. But you eat the same ice-cream flavor every day, after a while…At some point, saying nice things about the EDC won’t sell as many papers.
—People hardly buy newspapers anymore.
—We’re old. Aren’t we? Well, a few weeks, six months, a year from now, singing our praises won’t sell whatever the hell they sell these days. Then, trust me, they’ll try saying bad things. They’ll question our research, whether we could do anything against a large enemy force. Funny thing is, they’ll be right. It’s not that we aren’t trying, but we haven’t squeezed any new technology out of that thing in ten years. You think we’d have at least a faster toaster, better car brakes, softer toilet paper, but nope. Not a goddamn thing. And don’t get me started on how we’d fare against more than one of those robots.
—I hate having to point out the obvious, but we won. We prevailed. Themis fought the alien robot in hand-to-hand combat and she was victorious.
—You call that combat? They dug a hole!
—They immobilized the enemy.
—They dug a hole! What were the odds that their shield could knock out that energy field? They were just lucky. Our guys were in way over their heads. Not their fault, we should never have sent them. That was like a schoolyard fight. They were getting pounded by a bigger kid and they panicked. I’m happy it worked, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about our chances. The Resnik girl is just insane, if you ask me.
—Some would say she has instinct.
—That’s one way to put it.
—It is not the first time her impulsive nature has paid dividends. There are very few people whose careful planning I trust more than her improvisation.
—Maybe. But it doesn’t matter. She can’t bury more than one of these robots. If they send more…
—What do you think we can do to prepare?
—I’ve asked myself that question so many times. If the stakes weren’t so high, I’d find this funny. On paper, I run a military organization, but the one thing we all agree on is that there is no military response to a large alien force. You saw what it did to three armored regiments. Hell, it even took out the city that was around the three armored regiments. Buildings, cars, people, cats, dogs. Didn’t even spare the cockroaches.
—Themis can also do that.
—Well, maybe we can give them a hand and wipe out a few cities ourselves. What she can’t do is hurt these things if they don’t stand still. She hit that robot dead on with her weapon. Might as well have thrown insults at it.
—She did give him the finger.
—Too bad the helicopters were gone. That would have made a great picture.
—Or a statue.
—Ha! You made a joke! They could have used that for the memorial. Did you see the monument they made? The alien robot kneeling before Themis? Looks like she’s knighting him. Better than Hercules and Diomedes, I guess…Oh, you don’t know that one. Look it up.
—You have not answered my question.
—My point is this: There’s nothing we can do. Not with what we have. Our only hope, if they ever come back, is that my kids will have found something useful by then. I hate to say it, ’cause she’s completely crazy, but it’s all about Rose now.
—It is all about Rose, is it not?
—Yes. That’s why I said it.
—She fell on the hand when she was a child. She somehow ended up in charge of studying it. Now we are waiting for a war that we cannot win, and our best hope for survival lies with her.
—Like you said, you’re really good at stating the obvious, but is there a point to all this?
—Of course. Did you ever wonder why they chose to bring her back?
FILE NO. 1526
SESSION NOTES—PATIENT EVA REYES
Dr. Benicio Muñoz Rivera, psychiatrist, San Juan, Puerto Rico
—Tell me about the nightmares, Eva.
—I don’t wanna talk about that. You said we could play some games.
—We just did, Eva, and now we need to talk.
—Those weren’t fun. I wanna play real games.
—Your mother is worried about you, Eva.
—I’m fine! She doesn’t need to worry.
—Can you tell me what happened yesterday?
—Nothing happened. I was taking a bath!
—Your mother was very scared. Tell me what happened.
—I…I saw something. I wanted to know what it felt like…not being able to breathe. I didn’t know my mother was in the room. I was just curious. I wasn’t trying to—
—She says you spend all your time alone, that you don’t talk to your friends anymore.
—I don’t have any friends. They think I’m crazy.
—No one thinks that, Eva.
—YES THEY DO!
—Eva—
—You don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m not imagining it, they say it all the time! They all think I’m crazy. My mother thinks that too. That’s why I’m here.