RoboNomics

Chapter 20

"Hm," says Miriam.

"What? What is it?" I ask.

"It's a great idea," she says. "There's only one problem, remember? Chris."

"Does he have to know about it?"

"He'll find out sooner or later." I follow her gaze and catch Bill giving us a sidelong glance from where he sits at the group of four desks beside ours.

I've bitten my tongue about Chris ever since I joined the Group. But I can't help but wonder what he and the former garbage collectors do all day. Even though I prefer that he keep his distance, I want to ask Miriam about him. I want her to bring him up in conversation. Every time we speak, I wait for her to say his name.

"Look, I think it's a great idea," Henri says. "And I don't think we can wait around for his highness to reappear and rubber stamp this. We have to act, and fast."

There are whoops of approval from around the room.

"Amit, Bill, I'll show you what I did the last time." Henri strides away, gathering some of the new members around one of the table quads. They're already at work.

No one is listening to me now. Even so, when I look at Miriam, I lower my voice.

"I guess we have no choice but to tell Chris eventually," I say. "If we ever see him, right?"

"He's probably just busy," she says.

"Miriam, can I ask you something? What... where does he go all the time? With Joe and the others?"

"I dunno. I guess to go talk to the union bosses. Or maybe to talk to politicians. All I know is he thinks it's important."

I'm not satisfied by her answer. I want to know more about what goes on when Chris leaves these four walls.

#

For a string of days, the membership campaign goes off without a hitch. Younger nurses who've seen the way the wind is blowing are open to joining. Then the first few to be laid off appear in the Movement loft.

But as quickly as we find success, the tide turns. Our messages in public forums are attacked. Our posts are hijacked. There's a groundswell of people who call us Luddites, who call us socialists, who proclaim to be pro-human work, but anti-strike and anti-union.

"What are they saying now?" I ask Henri as I enter the loft one morning. I sit down and log into my AR workspace before he even replies.

"They're threatening anyone who joins us. Even if they show interest, they're attacked. It's pretty graphic stuff, I don't think you'll want to see it."

"No, I want to..." I trail off as I suddenly see what he's seeing. As the ugliness of death threats and worse spills into my vision, I rack my brain for what to do. "We have to stick to the plan," I conclude, still reading. "And our message. This is a space safe for anyone displaced by an android. We have to –"

The words that I've been scrolling through suddenly disappear when a hand lands on my shoulder.

It's Chris.

"What are you doing?" He asks bluntly.

My heart takes off like a racehorse even as I register the disapproval apparent on his face. "We're... we're –"

"Andrea, didn't I tell you what I thought about the machines? Didn't I tell you that includes...those?" He gestures toward my eyes.

"I know, I know. But I had to –"

"You didn't have to do anything," he barks.

When whole groups of new members look over at the two of us, and then at each other with confusion, he seems to notice them for the first time.