“Yeah, I saw on the news. They keep showing the fight between you and Tanaka. Thought you’d come to blows.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Daniel replied, sitting on a kitchen chair. “We mostly fight about stupid things but this time... He killed her. He actually killed her.”
Grace walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. She took out a loaf of bread and some lunch meat. “I can see both your points, actually. She was a robot, but she also had feelings and could think for herself. I’m no expert, but that sort of makes it seem like she’s alive. But she’s a robot, so she couldn’t have a soul. He really wasn’t killing anything that God created, so is that really murder?”
“I’ll be honest, I hadn’t thought about the God and soul angle.”
She stared making him the sandwich. “Not many do anymore. I don’t know what to say really. I mean, in your line of work fighting a thinking, living robot might seem normal. But to me, it’s just really weird.”
“No, it’s weird, even to me.” Daniel replied. “I have a feeling this is going to set some sort of precedent. Now that robots can think and feel, we need to figure out what to do with them. I’m not smart enough to know for sure. All I do know is, I told Tanaka not to kill her and he did. That’s wrong.”
“I never got the impression that Tanaka has ever listened to you.” Grace pushed the sandwich to Daniel who took it.
He lifted the sandwich and took a bite. “Hmm, ham. I like ham. And no, Tanaka has never really listened to me. I’m the eldest though; he really should listen to me every once in a while.”
Grace took a bite her own sandwich. “Will you guys be okay?”
“Yeah, we will. Eventually. Don’t see how I can live my life without him around. We’ll figure this out, but we both need time. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I do.” She said taking another bite. “So, what now?”
“Now, I finish my sandwich and find out what’s going on in Haven. I think something’s wrong.”
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth opened. “Oh, you didn’t hear? No, how could you have.”
“Hear what?”
“Haven, it’s been taken over by some sort of maniac. Killed lots of people. The city was burning for a while. Some army of men in suits of armor attacked. It’s a mess.”
Daniel let the soak in for a moment. His city was in trouble and he was here in Vegas. He didn’t want to speculate about what had happened but he really wished he was there to help. “Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my brother.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. He dialed Tanaka’s number and waited for him to answer. “You decided to ditch my brother and ask me out?”
“Tanaka, it’s me.”
“Shit,” Tanaka replied. “Was hoping to get lucky like you did with Grace.”
“You drunk?”
“Not nearly as drunk as I want to be, but getting there. What the hell do you want?”
Daniel did his best to not let the anger building in his gut show in his voice. He had the feeling even if did, Tanaka wouldn’t have noticed. “Haven is in trouble. We need to get there as fast as we can.”
“What do you mean, trouble?”
“Someone has taken it over. Many are dead. I’ll get as much information as I can, but we need to be on the next flight to Haven. We need to do what we can to help them.”
Tanaka was silent for a while. Daniel heard the background noise of slot machines and people talking. He heard people yelling drink orders and a person replying with how much they owed. “Fine,” Tanaka finally said. “I’ll meet you at the airport tomorrow. We’ll get the first flight out. You spend some time with your girlfriend, and I’ll spend some time getting wasted. See you tomorrow morning. Don’t call me again tonight.”
Daniel gave the phone back to Grace. “Thanks. He’s going to be difficult to work with but we have to head home. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Grace replied. “When will you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. I have a feeling we won’t be able to get to Haven the normal way, but we will get there. He was right about one thing. I can use some sleep.”
“Well,” Grace said, lifting her eyebrow just a tad. He found it very alluring. The anger he felt for Tanaka was slowly ebbing, being replaced with a much better emotion. “It’s never too early to go to bed, right?”
He smiled, “Lead the way. This could be the only time we have to spend together until I leave.”
“Then let’s make it count,” she replied, grabbing his hand then dragging him up the steps and into her bedroom where she slammed the door shut.
The Evolutionite Chronicles Book Two: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas Page 24