An Android Dog's Tale (13 page)

MO-126 expected this to be such a case. It
was not that the PM did not care about the primitives. It just did
not see them as individuals. As long as they remained simple and
productive, they were fine. One village squabbling about who their
next leader would be should not be significant enough to warrant
its attention.

A cry sounded from the village. A girl about
twelve years old, a crude linen tunic slapping her bare and dirty
knees, ran toward them.

“Granny Greenflower! Come quick. Steffin has
been hurt.”

“Calm down, sweetheart, and tell me what
happened,” the nursery android said, taking the girl by the hand.
“Did he fall and hurt himself again?”

The girl tugged to hurry them along. “No.
Well, yes, but not on his own this time. Evan pushed him.”

“Why would he do that?” the old healer
said.

“It was stupid. They were arguing. Steffin
said Ranex would make a better village leader than Movey, and Evan
knocked him down.”

Granny Greenflower quickened her pace. “Oh
dear, I was afraid something like this might happen.”

The girl led them to a small round hut near
the far edge of the village. A few young men gathered outside spoke
softly among themselves. They fell silent and dispersed when the
girl, leading her contingent of Corporation androids,
approached.

They entered the single, windowless room, a
dim, round space holding some baskets, a round, wooden stool, a
table littered with hand tools, and a pallet bed with a straw
mattress, upon which lay a young man being tended to by an old
woman. The caregiver glanced in their direction, keeping one hand
holding a damp piece of linen on the reclining man’s head.

“Ah, Granny Greenflower,” she said. “I’m
glad Lissa found you so quickly.”

“What’s Steffin’s condition?” the
grandmotherly android asked, moving to the bed.

“I’m fine,” mumbled the man from his supine
position. “I just bumped my head.”

“He’s conscious,” the woman holding the rag
said unnecessarily. “It looks worse than I think it is. He cut his
scalp and there was a lot of blood.”

“I’m fine, really,” the man said.

“Shhh, Steffin. I’ll just take a look,
Okay?”

Granny Greenflower lifted the crude bandage
and examined the wound by the light of a fat lamp while Tam and his
canine partner waited quietly by the door. Two of the injured man’s
legs were shorter than they should be relative to his upper body,
and his feet were turned inward.

“
Congenital deformity,
” the resident
android responded silently to MO-126’s unasked question.

Two polished sticks that he undoubtedly used
as canes to help him walk leaned against the wall near the bed. The
android dog felt sorry for the man. Being handicapped as he was
must be difficult, especially in a society like this that
concentrated on farming and required physical labor from all of its
members. The technology to correct his deformity or to fit him with
prostheses indistinguishable from natural legs existed, but neither
of these actions would be permitted. He would remain crippled for
the rest of his life.

It took some effort for MO-126 to accept
that this was for the best. When looked at objectively, the welfare
of one crippled man paled in comparison to achieving profitability
thresholds, which they must for the corporation to maintain its
presence here. The corporation ensured that this unfortunate man’s
entire species could continue to live in a relatively peaceful and
comfortable environment. Sometimes, the android dog found it
difficult to look at things from such a broad perspective, but he
was only a MO android. He accepted that his limited viewpoint did
not provide the grand oversight held by the project manager. It
made sense to defer to the PM on such things.

“You have a very nasty gash on your head,”
Granny Greenflower said to Steffin. “What did you hit?”

“The ground, eventually,” he said,
attempting a smile. “But I think the water barrel outside tried to
break my fall on the way down.”

“I’m sure it was just trying to help,” she
said with a smile of her own. “It’s a very ragged cut, but it’s not
deep, and you didn’t fracture that hard head of yours. Maybelle did
you a good turn by cleaning it up, but I need to make sure it
doesn’t fester.”

She turned to her visitors. “Tam, can you
fetch me some things from my hut? Lissa can show you where it
is.”

The healer told them what she needed, and
the girl who led them here led them away.

“I don’t see many people out and about,” Tam
said as they walked rapidly between crude buildings and cruder
animal pens. Most of the residents of both remained behind their
walls.

“Everyone is protecting their homes,” the
girl said. “They’re afraid if they don’t, someone will burn them.
It happened once already.”

“Granny Greenflower mentioned that,” Tam
said. “I don’t know what it’s all about, though.”

“Me either. Not really. I know people are
arguing because some want Ranex to be the new headman and some want
Movey to be, but I don’t know why it’s so… important.”

“Who do you want?” Tam asked.

“Me? My opinion doesn’t matter. I’m too
young, and besides, I’m a girl. The old men decide everything.
That’s the way it’s always been.”

“But if you could choose…,” he prompted.

“Well, I like Ranex better than Movey. Ranex
is nicer. I don’t suppose I care who the headman is. It doesn’t
make much difference, really. I just want everyone to get along
again.”

They reached the healer’s hovel and quickly
found the items she requested.

~*~

They gathered again in Granny Greenflower’s
hut after she finished with Steffin. She said he would recover with
nothing but another scar to add to his collection to mark the
experience.

“
Tell me more about what’s going on
here,
” Tam said. He used his silent communication system rather
than speaking aloud even though they were alone. It avoided any
chance of them being overheard by the primitives.

“
I’ve never seen a village more
polarized,
” the NASH android responded. “
When old Dunwood
died, the body wasn’t even cold before Movey said he would take
over as headman.
”

“
Quick transition of authority is
good,
” Tam said.

“
True, but not everyone likes him. He’s
always been bossy.
”

“
A strong leader, then.
”

“
More like overbearing and far too
certain of the superiority of his views, in my opinion, not that it
counts. I think the main reason Ranex is contesting him is that he
doesn’t want Movey in charge
.”

“
If he’s so obnoxious, why do half of the
villagers support him?
”

She paused a moment, imitating a person in
thought. After several thousand years working directly with humans,
their mannerisms came natural to her. “
Well, he’s smooth, too,
and it’s not as if some of his ideas aren’t good. What I dislike is
that he plays on people’s fears and ambitions, and he’s promised
rewards to anyone who backs him.
”

“
It looks like the primitives have
invented politics,
” MO-126 said. He knew little about the
subject, but he was familiar with the term. This situation seemed
to suit the definition. Politics, the currying of favor by whatever
means necessary, seemed unsavory to his doglike sensibilities, but
he understood why people needed it. They were an exceptionally
adaptable species, but this came at the cost of innate abilities.
Much of their behavior was learned rather than instinctive. How
they organized themselves into groups and chose their leaders was
one area where they often seemed to have to make it up as they went
along. In the last four thousand years, he encountered villages
with fledgling patriarchies, matriarchies, plutocracies,
oligarchies, theocracies, and democracies. Most of the villages
simply recognized a headman of some sort, more of a judge than a
ruler. Each extended family had its own leader, usually the oldest
competent male, but when disputes arose that the family leaders
could not resolve, they could request judgment from the village
headman.

“
Oh, they’ve always had politics,
”
Granny Greenflower said. “
They are social animals, after all.
Movey’s just especially good at it.
”

“
But does it really matter which of them
becomes the village leader?
” Tam said. “
After all, they
don’t live long, and regardless of what they do, they’re not likely
to have much effect on the project.
”

“
I’m not so sure about that. This village
is on the verge of failure. I know a single production unit is not
that important anymore, but I doubt the PM will want to lose
one.
”

“
You really think things are that
bad?
”

“
They aren’t yet, but they could be soon.
Why risk it?
” She raised her eyebrows and held her hands open
before her in a ‘there’s nothing to risk and much to lose’
gesture.

“
Okay,
” Tam said a bit reluctantly.
“
We’ll contact Field Operations and see what they say.
”

He opened a link and provided a summary of
what they observed since they arrived. Granny Greenflower
emphasized that the villagers were not working. Tam noted the
violence that already occurred, that more seemed likely, and agreed
that it might be advisable to bud the village early to avoid it. He
made this his recommendation. His partner suspected he did it
mainly to appease the nursery android.

“
Requested action is not in accordance
with standard operating procedures,
” the administrative android
assigned to Field Operations on the other end of the conversation
said.

“
We know that!
” Granny Greenflower
said. “
That’s why we’re calling for an exception.
”

“
I cannot authorize a mitigation of any
kind for unapproved reasons.
”

“
Well, you’ve heard our reasons. Approve
them,
” she said.

“
I cannot approve reasons that do not
meet the criteria for approval,
” the voice on the other end of
the communication said.

She rolled her synthetic eyes. “
Can I
please speak to someone with a...?
” she hesitated, rephrasing
her question to something politer than what MO-126 suspected her
about to say. “
Can you direct me to someone who can make a
decision in cases like this?
”

“
I am a level one administrative android
with full cognitive and decision-making capabilities. Your request
does not meet criteria for approval.
”

Granny Greenflower took a deep, calming
breath. “
Can you direct our request to someone who can authorize
an exception to those standard criteria?
” she asked with
feigned politeness.

“
Elevation for PM decision is required.
Do you wish to proceed?
”

“
Yes!
” Granny Greenflower responded
with clear signs of exasperation. In a private relay to just the
two other androids with her, she added, “
Damn bureaucrats. I
don’t know why they assign androids to those positions. If they
can’t do anything but adhere to standard policy, they’re no better
than robots.
”

“
Request made,
” the Field Ops android
said. A brief pause followed, and then he added, “
The PM has
disapproved your recommendation.
”

“
That was quick,
” MO-126 said.

“
No!
” Granny Greenflower said. “
I,
um, I appeal.
”

Appeal? The android dog did not realize that
option existed. As it turned out, it did not.

“
There is no protocol for reconsideration
without additional information. Do you wish to have a summary of
the PM’s conclusion?
”

“
Yes, I would,
” she replied.

“
Response follows,
” the Field Ops
representative said. The file that came after that was
succinct.

“
The information provided indicates a
competition between two primitives for nominal leadership of
Semiautonomous Production Cell 168-D. Such conflicts are not
uncommon and normally resolve themselves in less than one year with
little or no impact on output. Ancillary effects have been
considered, and threats to corporate interests are assessed as
minimal. Mitigation is not required.
”

“
Well, that’s that,
” Tam said.
“
The situation will resolve itself. MO-126 and I should be
heading back to the hub terminal.
” He turned to leave.

“
Please wait,
” Granny Greenflower
said. “
I think the PM is wrong. I don’t think this will resolve
itself, at least not well. The villagers are too divided.
”

Tam remained unconvinced. “
That girl we
spoke with earlier didn’t seem to care much who became headman. I
suspect that’s true for most of the primitives here.
”

“
She’s young and she’s female. In this
village, that means she’s not supposed to care. The family leaders
do care, and they’re split. I know that from the PM’s perspective
it hardly matters who becomes headman here. Neither of them is
likely to change things much. Movey is making promises about giving
the most deserving people certain benefits such as less work and a
larger share from trade surpluses, and so is Ranex. It’s just that
each one has a different idea about what makes people deserving.
Movey seems to think it’s the family elders and others who support
him. Ranex seems to think the deserving are those who produce more.
He also is saying that those who are old or sick shouldn’t be
required to work in the orchards and fields but should contribute
in other ways if they can. None of this matters to the PM. The
problem is that it matters to the people here, and I’m afraid
they’re going to do more than argue about it.
”