Chapter 3

The last straw fell on a stormy night a month later.

That evening Howie spiked a high fever, his temperature climbing toward a hundred and four.

Rain came down in sheets outside. I carried him alone, couldn't even get the umbrella open, and stood at the curb for a full half hour before I finally flagged down a cab.

The ER was packed.

The smell of disinfectant, children crying, parents shoving to be seen faster, all of it churning together loud enough to lift the roof.

I held Howie through registration, through the blood draw, through the wait for the lab results.

I'd left in such a hurry I had only a thin nightgown on, rainwater still dripping down from my hair.

At the payment window, my card flashed insufficient balance.

Hands shaking, I dialed Rick.

It was the first time since the divorce that I'd reached out to him.

The phone rang a long time before it connected, and through it came loud music and a woman's coy laugh.

"Yeah? What do you want in the middle of the night?" Rick's tongue was thick. He'd clearly had too much to drink.

"Howie's running a high fever. We're at the hospital. I don't have enough money on me. Can you send me two thousand first?" I kept my voice low, almost begging.

"He's got a fever, take him to a doctor. What good is calling me? I don't have any money! Aren't you so capable? Weren't you the one who wanted the divorce? And now you know to come begging me?"

Rick let out a cold laugh and hung up on the spot.

Listening to the dial tone in my ear, I leaned against the cold hospital wall while the tears ran down without a sound.

The next day I dragged my exhausted body in to work.

My direct boss, who was also my best friend, Bianca Finch, saw something was wrong.

"Winnie, you can't keep grinding yourself down like this. You're going to break." Bianca handed me a hot coffee.

"What am I supposed to do? I've gone through three nannies, each one less reliable than the last. If I don't work, what am I supposed to raise Howie on?"

I shook my head with a bitter smile.

Bianca was quiet for a moment, then suddenly pulled a black-and-gold invitation out of her bag and pushed it across to me.

"Come somewhere with me this weekend."

It was a private tech expo held at a members-only club on the top floor of a building downtown.

Everyone who got in was either rich or well-connected.

In the middle of the exhibition hall, under a spotlight, stood a "man."

He was six-one, in a well-cut white shirt and black slacks, his features deep and flawless, his skin so fine you could even make out the faint down and the veins beneath it.

"This is the ninth-generation bionic robot nanny, the latest from Morningstar Technologies, code name 'Perfect Companion.'"

The salesman in the sharp suit smiled as he explained.

"He has the most advanced AI core in the world right now. He's fluent in eight major cuisines and handles every kind of housework. He even has basic emotion simulation, and can tutor every subject from elementary through high school perfectly."

"Most important of all, he's loyal forever. He'll never betray you, and he'll never complain."

I stood frozen where I was, my eyes locked on that "man."

The salesman took out a remote and pressed it.

The "man" slowly opened his eyes, a soft light glimmering in those deep eyes.

He turned his head, his gaze landing precisely on me, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile pitched just right.

"Hello, madam. I'm your personal steward, at your complete service."

In that instant I heard my own heart pounding.

Wasn't this exactly the cure for my life that I'd been dreaming of?

No endless fighting, no dodging responsibility, no betrayal. Only absolute obedience and perfect service.

"How much?" I heard my own dry, hoarse voice.

"The base unit is two point eight million. With the lifetime maintenance package and the emotion module unlocked, three point two eight million in total."

The salesman answered politely.

Three point two eight million.

That was the entire savings I'd set aside to trade for a school-district home.

I closed my eyes, and through my mind flashed Rick's sneering face, flashed the way Nanny Lambert rolled her eyes, flashed Howie's little face burning red in the hospital corridor.

"I'll take it."

I opened my eyes, pulled that gilded bank card out of my bag, and slapped it down hard on the table.

Bianca sucked in a sharp breath. "Winona, are you insane! That's the price of a whole house!"

"I'm not insane." I stared hard at the robot and said through my teeth, "I'm just buying my life back."