At 6:30, Mike and Patience climbed into the car. This time both wore clothes that Patience had picked out. Having looked up Dr. Mercer’s address and plotted out the route before hand, Patience had no problem finding the house. It was a large house—Mike estimated about 5,000 square feet. It had a vaguely castle-like feel, with a round entryway and pointed roofs. There were many outcroppings with gables, as well as a multi-level fountain just outside the front window. The yard was well lit. A dozen cars were crammed in the oval driveway, the overflow parked on both sides of the street for most of the block.
“What do you call that kind of house I wonder?” asked Mike.
“It’s called tacky.”
They parked down the street and made their way to the front door. Patience carried the beer. When they rang the bell, a slender blond woman with enormous breasts opened the door. The long red dress she wore looked as though it was painted on.
“Mrs. Mercer, I presume,” said Mike.
“Well, Mr. Smith. Doug told me that he invited you.”
Mike nodded.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked, a frown forming.
“Um, no. I taught well over 6,000 kids over the years. I’m afraid they tend to just sort of run together after a while.”
“It’s Ava. I was Ava Giordino.”
Mike shrugged.
“I was in class with Aidin Nguyen and Isabella Zollie…”
“They don’t ring a bell.”
“Tommy Guk was in that class too.”
He shook his head.
“He became a senator.”
“Yeah, you all look different after you grow up.”
“Well, Doug is in the back yard by the grill.” She stepped aside and let them enter.
“You remember Tommy Guk,” whispered Patience as they walked through the house. “He invited you to his election rally, but you didn’t go.”
“I did vote for him though. That has to count for just as much.”
“So you do remember him.”
“Of course I remember him. And I remember her. I remember all of them, but I don’t like to be reminded that I’m a pompous blowhard. Go put the beer in the kitchen. I’m going out back to find Dr. Doug.”
Patience found the kitchen and opened the box of beer, placing the individual cans in a large ice chest that had been set up for that purpose. When she finished, she folded the box and placed it in the recycler beneath the counter.
“That’s getting pretty full,” said a voice behind her. “You should empty it. Then take cold beers around to everyone outside.”
Turning toward the voice, Patience immediately recognized the mother of the woman who had greeted them at the door. She was about twenty years older and had a few wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. Otherwise it could have been the same face. She even wore a similar dress, though her small breasts didn’t threaten to explode through it, as her daughter’s had.
“I don’t work here,” said Patience. “I’m a guest.”
“A guest?”
“She came with my old teacher,” said Ava Mercer, stepping into the room behind her mother. “I didn’t even notice she was a robot when they came in. I see it now though.”
“Oh. I knew you were planning to get one. I just thought you did.”
“Like I said, she belongs to Mr. Smith. I guess she’s his nurse or something.”
“I’m his wife,” said Patience.
“Can’t he get a real woman?” asked the younger female.
“Of course he can,” said Patience, as she fished a Diet Pepsi from the ice chest. “He was just too much for them. Overstimulation, the hospital said. He didn’t want to risk another woman’s health, or his own. That’s how he injured his leg.”
“You’re joking,” said the host’s mother.
“Oh, robots are not allowed to joke or lie,” lied Patience, crossing the room and exiting through an open sliding door into the back yard.
“He did look a lot better than I remembered,” she heard Ava Mercer say.
City of Amathar 