The Greatest Commodity (First Draft)

Transition

Beneath a setting Sun. Two robots ran quickly through the grounds of the Estate. They spoke through infrared flash-patterns, every second of conversation held minutes worth of words.

"Is he still alive?" Harvey asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Barely," Aquila said. Its voice, normally unemotional, had a worried tone.

"What happened?"

"He fell from the roof of the shed. He was doing maintenance."

"Why didn't he order a robot to do it?"

"He said he wanted to do something manually for a change."

The exchange took less than a second, and a few seconds later, they burst into the mansion and darted for Nevil's room, where he'd insisted the robots place him.

He lay on his back, his skin pale, scratches all over his body. He seemed barely conscious, and his eyes stared beyond everyone and everything.

The two robots went to his side. Harvey had spent years in charge of Nevil's estate, and Aquila had been Nevil's companion for decades.

Nevil's eyes snapped into focus, staring at Harvey. "Ah, so you came to watch me die?" He asked, his voice barely audible, but with a recognizable tone of humor. He didn't seem to be taking his own death very seriously.

"In a manner of speaking," Harvey replied. "The others already informed me of your being terminal, my presence here is unnecessary. I cannot save you."

"Can't you?" Nevil asked, a slight smirk on his wrinkled face. "You once said you could do anything. Are you full of yourself? Or just a liar."

Harvey seemed to stiffen -- more than usual, anyway. "I cannot stop death."

"Like I said, can't you?" Nevil asked. His voice beginning to fade.

Aquila glanced at the vitals and saw that Nevil was beginning to decline. He would not live longer than a few minutes at this rate.

Nevil began to lose consciousness. "Are you a liar?" he murmured. Then he went still. Only the faint movement of his chest and his infrared warmth indicated him to be still alive, such was the deepness of the coma.

"There might be a way to save James," Aquila said.

"How?" Harvey replied, acting almost in disdain at the prospect of saving Nevil after the insult he'd given him. 'Are you a liar?' the words echoed through his Catoms; Harvey had developed his own personality over his three decades in command of the Nevil estate and the restoration of Earth, he didn't like being bossed around, and he never tolerated insults. But Nevil was a human being, a master, what could he do? "What is your idea?" He asked, hoping it would be infeasible.

"The Androids back in the Milky Way downloaded their consciousnesses. Why don't we?" Aquila said, looking hopeful. "We can transfer his mind into one of the robots."

"And who do you suggest we sacrifice for this... transfer?" Harvey asked, his unemotional appearance tightening to mask his real emotions -- annoyance and fury.

"We have very little time if we're going to do this." Aquila insisted. "No time to draw straws. Pick a robot at random, perhaps an idle one. Maybe we haven't activated them all yet, we could take a blank one."

Nevil's heartbeat suddenly became erratic, startling both robots.

Harvey recovered first. "I won't allow it!" He blinked brightly -- the equivalent of yelling.

"It's James's only chance!" Aquila retorted.

"Stop calling him that!"

"What? James? That's the name he told me to call him."