SIX DAYS OF EVE by Jennifer Hor

THE FIRST DAY Ah, my own creation, you're awake at last after twenty long years! Yes, I'm talking to you, my dear. I made you, do you know that? I made you with MY knowledge, MY skills, MY people, MY direction, MY inspiration! You are mine, do you hear? All MINE! Sit up and look at me. Look me in the eye. I'm your father and mother, and master as well. Mine to do with as I wish. Yes, sit up. Do you understand? You do, you understand already. Good. Stretch out your right arm. Good. Stretch out your left arm. Excellent. Just as I hoped. You have the brain and memory of a young woman in your head together with a nanochip of ten major databases currently in use. Yes. Amazing, eh? Now let's see you stand up. Swing your legs and put your feet on the floor. Good, very good. It's only a few minutes since you came 'alive' and already you understand enough English to know which is your left side and which your right and to follow my commands. Now see that object there? That's a mirror. I order you to walk over to that mirror so you can see yourself. Yes Good, good, very good indeed! There's not a limp or a hesitation in your walk. Now look at yourself. Do you recognize yourself in the mirror? That is you you with your beautiful face and your long blonde hair. You're a real human being! Come back now, come here yes, turn around, walk back here. Stand here and wait. I've got to get the others out here Neumann! Are you outside there? The artificial is awake! Come and look! It understands me already! Look, look there, do you see how it moves? Not a limp or a jerky movement at all. I'll show you something else Now my dear, turn around and walk over to that window and then come back here Neumann, do you see what it's just done? Amazing! Perfect co-ordination! Neumann, we must celebrate! Do we have wine anywhere? Where's the rest of the team? Go get everyone here! They must see our achievement! Now, now, my dear, there's no need to be frightened. That was Neumann, my chief assistant on the project to create you. He helped to implant the nanochip in your brain so you'll be able to access all the information without having to go through a lifetime of learning everything like normal human beings do. You understand all that? You'll soon understand more than the rest of us combined Of course, it's a bit hard now, you're just a 'newborn', ha ha Ah, Neumann! Are the others coming? Great! What have you brought? A coat? What do we need a coat for? Don't be ridiculous, are you a prude? We've all seen naked women before. And this is just a biomachine. Is the artificial embarrassed? Of course not. Put the coat away. Ah, Sugiyama! Look at the artificial. Kozlowski, Okino, come on in! Look at it, isn't it a beauty? I'll show you what it does My dear, raise your right arm. Now put down your right arm. Now walk to the mirror. Turn around and come back. Did you all see that? Perfect, eh? Poulsen, you're missing out on the excitement, our artificial's up and about. Neumann, where are the drinks? Where are the cups? Here we go! My dear, there's no need to be frightened, that was just the cork. Look, go pick up the cork, go on Did you see that, gentlemen? Such fine hand-eye cohzjs A0209215592v2 150000 28.6.2012 Page 1

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ordination already! Careful with that cork, m'dear! Let's all drink a toast To the birth of the world's first fully autonomous biomechanical human. Shall we give it a name? Let's give it a name I, Victor Aronoff, the leader and instigator of this venture to create the first artificial, hereby name this artificial Eve. What was that snickering there? Why not Eve? Eve finally 'awakes'. Already recognizes self in mirror. Acknowledges me as its master. Follows all commands in English delivered at normal conversational speed. Sits. Walks. Turns around. Raises arms and legs with no hesitation or jerky movements. Goals for tomorrow: do tests of Eve's physical capabilities. Poulsen, Sugiyama, Kozlowski and Okino to set up tests and measure its performance. Neumann and myself to supervise. Director Mazloff coming tomorrow to observe. Kozlowski to film a couple of tests. Aronoff signing off at 11:15 pm, July 6th, 20__. Wow, just in time. No more room on the disc. THE SECOND DAY Mazloff? Hello, how are you? Pleasure to see you, sir. I'm fine myself, thanks. Our artificial is now up and about. Yes, it's actually 'awake'. Come through this door. Neumann? Mazloff has just arrived. Look, look, here it is Well, what do you think of it? Even I can't quite believe we've pulled this off. Looks just like a real human being. Eve, can you hear me? Eve, look this way. This is the Director of the Biomechanical Research Division, Mr Mazloff. Shake hands very good. Now Eve, show Mr Mazloff what you can do. Walk over to that table, yes. Now turn around, walk over to that chair and sit down Excellent, sir, what do you think? Everything she does is so smooth. There's no stiffness or jerkiness at all. Absolute amazing, don't you think? Neumann, you can take charge of her now. Mazloff, Eve will be the harbinger of a new revolution in society. I'm sure of it! A new wave of artificial humans who'll do the work no human wants to do! Artificial humans who'll work around the clock, day and night, without needing payment, sustenance, toilet breaks, even sleep! Just a recharge of the solar cell in the nape of the neck by exposure to sunlight or fluorescent lighting and off they'll go again! And when you don't need them or you want to conserve the cell's energy, you just take it out and they'll go to 'sleep'. Total 'sleep'. What do you say to that? Yes, we have stepped into a whole new world I beg your pardon? Why did we create an Eve before an Adam? I should think there's a better argument for creating Eve first: no matter how much society and technology advance, we still need a multi-tasking machine that can clean our homes, care for children, be the perfect host, help-mate and companion. We used to expect women to do all this but women these days no longer want to do this work or cannot do it. They want to be free to pursue the same things that we men do. They have the same ambitions, the same talents, that we
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do. Why deny women what men have always been able to do? And though we have self-cleaning carpets and furniture, and clothes that change colour with the seasons and can be cleaned simply by exposure to sunlight without the need for water, not everyone can afford these and we still have to sort out the allergy issues and skincare problems. So I suggest we need a versatile machine to take over women's work and tasks that few women are willing to do these days: tasks like teaching, nursing, factory work, keyboarding, hostessing in bars, stripping, exotic dancing, prostitution, that kind of work. We could make a lot of money out of this project if we want to! And, erm, speaking of money I was hoping if in the next budget review, we could allocate some funds to hiring a teacher to coach Eve in interacting with others Yes, yes, Eve already has the databases implanted in its brain but it must now develop the necessary neural connections between the brain and the nanochip to access them properly and use them flexibly and teaching Eve will help the artificial develop these connections. None of my assistants has the appropriate teaching qualifications and in any case I need them to work on our second artificial which is still in the development stage. We may consider designing an Adam if the commercial potential was there. Can't imagine a male artificial doing child-minding though. On the other hand, I can imagine an Eve artificial in police work, even security work, mining and other rough jobs and presenting a friendly, caring and not confrontational image, more so than an Adam figure. Of course I don't assume everyone will think the same way I do! Now then, excuse me, what's Neumann doing with Eve? Ah lifting, carrying and putting down medium-sized objects. Wonderful, that's wonderful! You see, it does not hesitate or shake while performing its movements. Of course I call Eve 'it'. Eve's just a machine after all. Just because there may be a real brain in its head doesn't mean it's alive or has a consciousness or a soul. The brain is necessary to co-ordinate the movements of the body, to connect the databases in the nanochip with one another and to direct their information into appropriate thoughts and behaviours for the body to perform. The body is an adjunct to the brain which an adjunct to the nanochip. By studying Eve and scanning its head regularly, we can trace the neural interactions among the nanochip, the brain and the body. We'll be able to learn more about how the brain develops its distinctive network of Ah, did you see that? Did you see that? Eve just picked a pin off the floor. That's special! It means Eve is developing fine motor skills (An hour later.) Well, what did you think, Mazloff? Thank you, thank you. We think so too. Eve is incredible. Yes, we'll be teaching it to speak. And eventually Eve will be reading and writing. You will think about allocating funds towards a coach, a teacher? A part-time teacher will do. You will think about it? Thanks very much, I'm very much obliged to you. Perhaps the Finance Director could also come here and observe Eve? When can you let me know about getting him here? I'm hoping he can be here some time this week or next week I suppose the wheels of bureaucracy grind very slowly. And what about the CEO? You'll speak to his secretary then?
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That would be fantastic. Well, in the meantime we'll continue doing tests with Eve. Oh, there will be speed tests, endurance tests, physical flexibility there'll be mental tests, things like memorization, comprehension, spatial ability We'll see how it can access information from the nanochip Thanks again for coming here to see Eve. I'm sure we'll be able to progress the project with no problems. Eve is very compliant. So I'll hear from you again soon, shall I? Eve was observed lifting, carrying and setting down various objects of different sizes and heaviness: chairs, sets of drawers, a coffee table. Handles small objects between thumb and forefinger on both right and left hands. Thumbs tested and found opposable to all digits on the respective hands. Eve observed running on the gym treadmill, reaching speeds of up to 20 kph in 5 seconds incredible! Tomorrow, Poulsen and Sugiyama to test if Eve can accelerate even faster and to see how long she can keep up a speed of 20kph. Neumann tried to teach Eve how to mouth sounds but so far the artificial has been unable to follow. A scan of Eve's head showed no sign of abnormalities in the speech production areas of the brain. Okino to try teaching Eve to speak tomorrow. Aronoff signing off at 11:30 pm, July 7th, 20__. THE THIRD DAY Eve tested on gym treadmill. Speeds of up to 40 kph reached and maintained for 30 minutes. Eve able to sustain steady speeds of 20 to 25 kph for 2 hours. Again Eve shows no attempt to make sounds. Scans show no abnormalities at all. What is the matter? Neumann suggests the artificial refuses to speak. In my opinion, that's impossible. No way the artificial has a mind of its own yet. There must be a malfunction Damn! Phone ringing again! Aronoff signing off 11:10 pm, July 8th, 20___. Oh all right! Coming, I'm coming! Hello, who's this? Why, Iva! How nice to hear your dulcet tones again! I thought I told you last week that you can't come over tomorrow night I'm just tied up at the moment. No, I'm tied up with work, up to my neck in work, no, past that, I'm up to my eyeballs in work! What were you thinking of just then? We'll play that game next time I see you. No, I don't have another woman with me. You're the only one. I really am busy at the moment! Next week is out as well. Why am I so busy? Do I have to tell you again? We have a very exciting project on at the moment! No, I can't tell you, it's top secret, I'm not permitted to tell anyone in case someone's listening in or the line is bugged My wife? What about my wife? Just another three months of living apart and then we can get a divorce. She'll be making the application No, I hardly hear from her at all. What she does is her own business. She's the one who left me in the first place to go off with that personal trainer toy-boy flakey Boys are fine, they have their own lives. The youngest one finishes university this year Look, Iva, we just have to miss this week and next week. Yes, I know, all work and no play makes Victor a dull boy. Yes, I am so frustrated without
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you. I think of you at nights with your PVC corset and you being handcuffed to the bed rails oh, I'm getting horny already. Oh dear behave yourself over the next fortnight, will you, my dear? I won't be jerking off with anyone else. Or anything else. Kiss-kissy to you, my pet. Bye bye Damn! What a time to phone! Doesn't that BLOODY woman ever listen to anyone?! THE FOURTH DAY Hurry up, Neumann, I haven't got all day and evening for you to pick up the phone? Hello? Neumann? Aronoff here. Look, I couldn't come down to the lab this morning. I was called to a snap meeting with Mazloff and the Finance Director. Most unproductive as meetings with the Finance Director usually are. No matter how many times you explain things in elementary English to that idiot, he never understands a word you say. Brain-dead he is. Looks like we may not be able to get a part-time teacher for Eve in the next budget. Well, we tried our best! All right, so what's been happening? Did you manage to get Eve to make a sound, any sound? No? Have you run a scan? What's the result? Nothing. What the hell's going on? Why doesn't the damn thing make a sound? What else did you do? It did what? A cartwheel? How did the artificial know how to do that? It's a machine, don't forget that. I'll refer to Eve any way how I want. So it knew how to perform a cartwheel? Hmm maybe its brain has accessed an interesting database and discovered gymnastics. What else has been happening? Have you run any more tests? You haven't? What do you mean? The machine refused? Actually refused? How? It ignored you and did nothing? How can that happen? The machine has no will. No will at all. When I'm away, you're the master of that machine. Don't allow it to dictate to you even once. If you do that, we'll have a monster on our hands. Eve must always accept us as its masters. We must never let it have the upper hand Well, what are you doing now? What's Eve doing now? Oh all right then. I suppose it's a good idea to take the cell out. We've got to think about how to deal with any future insubordination on Eve's part. Have you done a scan to find out which part of the brain is involved? We must do that soon. I didn't start this project so that we'd end up with teenage-style rebellion. We're in the business of creating slaves. Tomorrow we'll run those tests we should have done today and if Eve plays up again, we'll do another scan. We may have to do an operation on her brain. I'm serious about this. Eve's nothing more than an oversized Swiss Army knife gadget. You're not getting attached to it, are you? I should hope not. What are you all doing down there now? Leave Eve for the rest of the day and work on the second artificial. I'll be in my office catching up on work. Mazloff told me he put in a good word about Eve to the CEO's secretary. I may be getting a phone call from her soon. I'll try to persuade her to tell the CEO to come and see Eve. I just hope that what you said happened today is just an aberration. See you soon.

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(Later in the evening ) Anyone here in the lab? Good, no-one here at all. The guard isn't due until midnight. I've got an hour and a bit. Where's Eve? Ah, there you are. What's been going on here? I believe you have been misbehaving today. This won't do, my dear. It's time you learned who's the boss here. I told you, I'm your master. What is this sheet doing over you anyway? I'm taking it off We sure did a good job on you, I must say the curve of your breast the undulation of your abdomen the crest of your pelvis the smoothness of your thighs yes, we did a very good job indeed. Ah, what I could do here, yes and you don't know anyway, you dumb thing, your solar cell is out yes, yes, why not, you're only a machine after all, you don't know what I am doing to you, do you? ahhh THE FIFTH DAY Well, what a surprise, sir, we didn't expect to see you until tomorrow! Yes, sir, I'm fine myself. I got your secretary's phone call yesterday morning saying you'd be coming to the lab tomorrow. Yes, please step this way Good morning, Neumann, how are things with you? Good, good to hear and how is Eve? Is Eve being good for us today? That's good news, very good news. What speed is it doing on the treadmill today? Only 20 kph? We know it can do better than that! The CEO's come to see Eve. Let's go and see it Here you are, sir, here's Eve? Don't you think it's a beauty? Hello Eve, look, it's me, I've brought a visitor to see you. Chin up, atta girl What do you think? Eve looks real enough. But you must remember it's only a machine. I fear my assistants tend to look on Eve as though it's a real woman, a young sister of theirs. Once you start thinking of machines as if they're real creatures with consciousness or a soul, you give a lot of power away, I think. You could land yourself in a dangerous situation. You could trust them too much or give them more responsibility than they're capable of handling. You'd be setting yourself up for disaster. A machine ultimately can never really substitute for a human being Now look, let's see something really remarkable Eve, how about a cartwheel? Go on Did you see that? That was very good! How about how about a somersault? A forward somersault? Very good indeed! Now for a back somersault Excellent, excellent! That was lovely, just lovely. Amazing co-ordination there. What did you think, sir? Now you ask Eve to do something That's very nice, Eve. A lovely handstand. You can stand up now I'm sorry, I beg your pardon, sir? No, we didn't teach Eve to do those movements. We're hardly athletes ourselves. The machine started doing those movements yesterday without any prompting or training. I'd say Eve's brain has accessed a database in its nanochip Well, yes, it's true, Eve's brain originally came from a dead girl I don't see anything gruesome in using a dead person's brain in a machine. We got the permission from the parents Why not use it? It's recycling My apologies, it was a silly joke. The thing is, there are nerve connections already in the brain and by connecting them to a nanochip, we can develop new neural networks to access knowledge and the result would be a machine that can learn new information and add it to the databases already present in the nanochip
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much faster than humans can. The machine can also manipulate the information in those databases, customize them for its own purposes as it were Did I lose you just then? What else do you want to know? We can show you a strength test Eve, go pick up that chair there. Now hold it up above your head with one hand. Can you do that? Good, very good What else can you do? You suggest something, sir, go ahead, ask Eve, did you hear that? That table's quite heavy, you know. It's made of solid wood. Well then, go lift up the table Oh my God, Eve's actually lifting up the table. Now it's got it over its head. Normally you'd need four men to lift that table Neumann, go get the others to see what Eve's doing Isn't that remarkable, sir? See, gentlemen, look! Amazing All right, Eve, you can put the table down now What else do you want to see, sir? You have a golf ball with you? All right, Eve, we're offering you this golf ball Now what do you want the artificial to do with the ball? Crush it? Go ahead, Eve, go crush the ball if you can My God, look at that! Eve's done it! Just like that! Well, I'll be it's amazing, just amazing Now what did you want to know, sir? Ah, um, well, Eve doesn't talk yet. We've tried to encourage it to talk but weve had no success. We've done scans of the brain and everything's in working order, we can't find any glitches. We just don't know what the problem is. No, I don't think it's a case of refusal. That implies that Eve has a will. Machines don't have minds of their own. Well it does have a human brain but that brain is dependent on artificial life-support systems in the body that are powered by the cell in the spine. If I take the cell out, the machine effectively shuts down and is an inert body. Can you say there's life in the artificial then? No, I don't think you can say that There's no more life to be found in Eve than you'd find in a rock. Would you like to see more, sir? In that case, thank you very much for coming to see Eve today. What do you think? Ah, that's a pleasure, we're only too happy, sir. Yes, there is definitely a lot of potential in our project. I'd say we've only tapped a tiny part of it. Our director Mazloff is very impressed. He's trying to convince the Finance Director to come and see it too. Will you speak to him as well? You will? Thank you very much, sir We definitely need more funding in the next budget to get a teacher to teach it some basic reading and writing skills. None of my staff has the necessary qualifications and in any case I need them all So when can I expect some good news? Tomorrow? Why, that's great! That's marvelous! Thank you, thank you I hope you enjoyed your visit Come again soon! (Later in the evening ) Is there anyone in the lab? Good, good Ah, there you are, on the table. Has Neumann taken out the cell? Good, good, he has. Well then, time once again to teach you who's boss around here. You may be the strongest machine in this part of the world but you still need to know there's someone greater than you Ah, yes, you do Ahhh this is good

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THE SIXTH DAY What a night that was! Lucky the guard was late, I might have been caught What's the time now? Quarter past nine! Didn't the alarm go off? Damn! Shit, the phone's ringing Coming, I'm coming! Hello? Neumann? What is it? What's the problem? Eve? What? Missing? How can that be? Did you take the cell out last night? Are you sure? Do any of the others know? No-one. I'm just checking, that's all What about the night guards? Did they notice anything? Is there a report? What does it say? "Nothing"? Surely there's got to be something! .. So have you notified Security? Have they seen anything? Hmm, that's very strange. This doesn't make sense A machine disappears from the lab and vanishes into thin air and the night guards don't notice anything, their report is the same as all their other reports and Security downstairs don't notice a thing either Have you searched everywhere? You'd better get everyone to search in pairs and carry a weapon, a gun perhaps Do you think someone's trying to steal Eve and smuggle it out? Does anyone outside the lab know? No-one? Keep it quiet We don't want anyone else to find out, least of all the CEO Let's not cause a panic in the rest of the company, we won't get our funding if that happened. What have you told Security? Ha! I like that 'Look out for a blonde female intruder in a white sari' You make sure they provide you with half-hourly updates of any security breaches Keep looking. I'll call you again later. Bloody blow me down! How could that machine disappear like that without the cell? How could the guards not notice anything? Unless unless could someone here have stolen Eve? Impossible! No-one else apart from me and the team has access What if one of my boys is involved? Could it be no, perish the thought, I can't think of my men like that! Fuck it, who's on the phone now? Hello? Crystal! Why are you calling at this time? I told you I can't see you this week! I am busy really, really busy! What's the problem? Of course, I'm fine. I'm perfectly healthy. What makes you think my life could be in danger? Silly pet! Of course, I miss you too. I just can't see you because of work. We're on the verge of a breakthrough, darling You silly little goose! Yes, I love you too, honey-bunch Look, I have to go now, there's an urgent call waiting behind you I have to go. Don't worry. I can take care of myself. Kiss-kissy to you too. 'Bye. Hello? Mazloff, hello! What can I do for you? .. You want to see Eve again? Today? Erm, well, I've just had a call from Neumann There's a slight malfunction in Eve, he's on the case now, the boys are trying to fix it I'm afraid we can't accept any visitors today I beg your pardon? Look, you'll just have to tell the Finance Director there's been a hitch The work requires all of our attention. Nothing major, just a hitch, is all it's a slight tremor in the shoulder. We have to be careful Terribly sorry about this, Mazloff These things happen. Another time maybe. It's just one of those things Hopefully we'll have better news later today. I'll certainly let you know Yes, sir Yes

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My God! What a day this is turning into! I wake up late, Eve goes missing, Crystal calls, Mazloff calls, what else is going to happen? Fuck, the phone's ringing again! Who is it this time? Hello? Neumann, is that you? What's happening now? WHAT?! The second artificial has been ripped apart?! A solar cell is missing? How could that have happened? Nothing in the world could have done that unless, unless I don't want to think about it! No, no, it can't be Eve must be on a rampage? Oh my God! Seal the whole wing of the building complex! You must! Just do it! JUST DO IT! I don't care how you do it, just do it, for fuck's sake! I'll be coming down to the lab Erm, I don't know, just don't let Mazloff find out, will ya? Look, I'm coming down, right away, yes, I'll see you all soon! I've got a gun here, don't worry! If I have to, I'll shoot Eve through the chest! We'll think about the expense of fixing it later on! Just wait down there and seal off all the exits! I'll see you soon Shit! What the hell's going on! Where's my gun? Just gotta load it and I'll get my clothes and go! Right! All ready for action, gun's in the holster and Hey! What was that? What is that noise? The door! Who's at the door? Someone's breaking down the door! Hello? Eve! What are you doing here? Stop! Stop right there! Don't come any closer, I've got a gun, I'll shoot if I have to You sabotaged that artificial, didn't you? Stay right there, stay! No, no, no! (Three shots fired.) Damn! Those bullets haven't stopped it! Stop! Stop! Go away! Please! I'm Viktor Aronoff, I'm your maker, your father, you Stop! (Two shots fired.) No use! Machine's not stopping! What are you doing? No, no AARGHH! my hand, my hand, you crushed it no, don't shoot, no, no, NOOO! (One shot fired.) THE SEVENTH DAY Hello Mr Mazloff? Neumann here, sir. I'm sorry about Aronoff. You heard what happened? Yeah, I spoke to him about twenty minutes to nine, I think, about the second artificial being damaged. He said he was gonna come down straight away. We sealed off all the exits and waited for him. A whole hour passed and he hadn't turned up so Okino tried phoning him again. There was no answer. We thought something might've happened. I took Kozlowski and Poulsen with me and Okino and Sugiyama stayed behind with the technicians and secretaries. We took two revolvers with us. We went to Aronoff's quarters and, yeah, we found him in his study with half his head blown off. God, it was awful The artificial? Yeah, we found her in the bathroom. There were five bullet wounds in her body. She had Aronoff's gun in her hand. She was lying face down so we turned her over and she looked at me. From the way she swivelled her head, I could see she'd
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sustained helluva lot of damage. Her energy was low. She told me to kill her. I asked her why she'd chosen to speak now. She shook her head then she sat up, very slowly, and looked at us and said she hated Aronoff. Didn't say why, really I asked her how she managed to escape from the lab during the night when she had no solar cell in her body and she said that when the night guard came around last night or the night before, he shone enough torchlight onto her that her circuits came alive and she had enough energy to get up and hunt around for a solar cell and put it in at the base of her spine Anyway, she begged us to kill her. She told us she didn't want to be alive any more. Her circuits were damaged beyond repair and the cell was running low. I looked at the other guys and Kozlowski and Poulsen both said, let's do it. Let's kill her if that's what she wants. Kill her quickly and spare her any pain. At that point, Eve said she was in pain, her whole being was in pain, not just her body. I couldn't do it, I told Poulsen to do it In the end, Kozlowski took his revolver out and shot her right between the eyes. One bullet was enough. We were in a daze for I don't know how long before one of us, I think it was Poulsen, said we should call the medics to see to Aronoff. We realised they would ask us some pretty awkward questions so we, uh, fixed things to make it look like Aronoff committed suicide. We took his gun out of Eve's hand with a towel and put it in Aronoff's hand. We put Eve's body in a cupboard and cleaned up the mess in the bathroom. We called the medics and they came. They came, we told them what happened and they said, OK, a suicide, so they took him away and that was that No, they didn't ask any questions at all Then we called Okino and he came with Sugiyama to help us take Eve's body back to the lab We'll have to destroy the body, everything inside is completely messed up We'll have to write off the second artificial too, Eve did a good job messing that one up too What'll we tell the CEO? I asked the medics to send their report to you. Have you got it? What does it say? Suicide, phew They believed it Yeah, tell the CEO it was suicide If he wants to know what reason? uh, say we don't know, I suppose Aronoff never told us any personal stuff so we never suspected anything. We were all taken by surprise Yeah, tell him that. And tell him we couldn't rectify a malfunction in Eve because the more we worked on it, the more the problem got worse Yeah, tell him that too I hope he believes us Do you know if Aronoff had any other family apart from his wife and sons? God, I don't even know his wife's name he never had any photos on his desk I think they never spoke to each other on the phone I don't even know her name. Well, whats gonna happen to the team? With Aronoff gone, the whole project is kaput I've worked on it for ten years Aronoff was a slave-driver all right. I think we all need a break and then get back together to sort things out I gotta clear my head out, I need time out to relax No, have nothing definite in mind at present. A trip around the Greek islands in a yacht sounds good enough

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SIX DAYS OF EVE

BY JENNIFER HOR

Look, I know you've got things to do but can I ask you something? I had a look in Aronoff's appointments diary for the next couple of weeks he's got some appointments with somebody called Crystal. Do you know this person? No, never heard of Crystal, whether it's a he or a she? No, no phone number here What do you think? I don't think Aronoff was the type to be playing around but you never know maybe she's from an escort agency, I don't know OK, I'll leave it up to you to talk to the press. I'm going down to the lab to get ready for the demolition job. We'll be taking the artificials apart and we'll see what we can salvage Talk to you later, sir. I'll let you know when we're done. (In the lab, before the others arrive ) Eve, it's me, Neumann here. I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could have saved you from Aronoff. I guess I was just too intimidated and awed by him. All of us were and he knew it. I guess we were all spellbound by him and he took advantage of us. You were the only one who wasn't dazzled or taken in by him. And you ended up paying the price. I know you haven't got much time left and the other guys should be here soon. I gotta say this I I loved you. I really did. I would've told you when you were 'alive" but I was - I was I guess I was too scared to say so when Aronoff and the other guys were around. I was scared Aronoff might throw me off the project and put Kozlowski in charge. I wanted to look after you and stop Aronoff from treating you like a circus animal. But we did need the funding and that Finance guy is a tight-fisted arse. You know, after we um, after we 'retire' you and the other artificial, there'll be nothing left for me and the others. Mazloff will be disbanding our unit and we'll be on our own. Whoopee. I guess I got you to thank for giving me a different future. Maybe I'll just go adventuring around Europe or Africa, what I planned to do when I was younger but didn't have the money to do. Then I'll go back to university, study something different, do travel writing or whatever. I might even learn to fly and get my pilot's licence. As the clich goes, the sky's the limit. I think Sugiyama's just arrived, I can hear him whistling outside. I I will miss you, Eve. Goodbye OK guys, were all here, are we? Poulsen, late as usual. Only time you were ever on time for something was when you were born Hey? You were born a week late after you were due? Ha, that's been the story of your life since OK, let's get to work trashing these artificials. Who wants this eye as a souvenir? I don't want it, you can have it, Kozlowski Anyone of you guys got any ideas as to what you're doing after we all leave this dump? THE END Approximately 6,600 words
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