"Ken Rand - The Henry and the Martha" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rand Ken)

Then the Henry got up from the bed, stood over the Martha a moment, then
arranged its arms over its chest, and pressed its knees together. The Henry spent a
few minutes arranging the body, clearly dead, then it stood silent for a few more
minutes, gazing down at its mate. Its shoulders slumped.

Then, head bowed, it walked into the toilet room, and closed the door.

No doubt the tape in the toilet room would show the Henry as we had found
it—head down, slumped, dejected.

The Director’s pouch blanched as he watched the murder and I thought he’d
pass out, but then a medical came in. He was agitated, even paler than the Director,
when he motioned him aside for a conference. The others—A-nan and I and the
security people—moved away from the two as their conference grew heated.

The Director swore. The medical cringed, and we feared he would be
disposed where he stood.

Worse, the Director looked confused.

In a moment, he ordered the medical away—”Figure something out!” he said
to his retreating back.

Then he waved us to gather around him. We did. “The Martha cannot be
revived. The Henry, I’m told, suffers some—” he waved thumbs, “—some medical
problem. It means the exhibit is lost.”
 “Lost?” A-nan and I said together.

“Cannot be revived, malfunctioned beyond repair, both humans. Both. The
exhibit will not just be delayed, but shut down. For good. Forever.”

A-nan swooned, but I held her up and she recovered.

“Steady,” the Director said. “I need answers, not fainting spells. Answers!”

The security guards looked at each other in distress. The Director turned to
us. “Experts on humans, you two, the experts. Well, if you don’t come up with
something, soon, you’ll be...”

Disposed. We knew.

I linked with medical and asked for details, putting them on a room monitor so
we could all hear. No good. For some medical reason I didn’t understand, the
Martha couldn’t be reanimated.

The Henry lived but it had been damaged in a way that the medicals expected
it would never be as animated as it had been. One said he expected the Henry to
forever sit and stare at the floor, defecating on itself, that we’d have to force-feed it.