Time Was (51 page)

Learn to do what?
asked his hands.

“Sign,” whispered Killaine.

“I dunno.”

I dunno.

“Itzy,” said Killaine, not taking her gaze from Roy's face. “What's going on here? Is this your idea of a joke?”

“I swear, Sis, I
swear
I had nothing to do with this.”

“Roy,” said Killaine. “Can you . . . can you say something to me without speaking?”

“Huh?”

Huh?

“Talk to me with your hands. Don't say anything out loud, okay?”

Okay.

Killaine and Itazura looked at each other in astonishment.

“Roy,” said Killaine, slowly, very calmly, “Is there anything you want to know about, well . . . about anything?”

Yeah.

“And what might that be?”

Who is Singer?

Again, Killaine and Itazura exchanged astonished looks.

“So we have no race memory, huh, Itzy?” asked Killaine.

Itazura was speechless.

Roy tapped Killaine's arm.
Do you know Singer?

“Yes, Roy, I . . . I knew him. He was my friend.”

Could you tell me about him?

Killaine nodded her head, holding back any further tears as she at last touched the newest member of the family, putting her arm around his shoulder and leading him toward the kitchen where she intended to share some milk and cookies with him.

Was he nice?
signed Roy.

“He was wonderful,” whispered Killaine.

Tell me 'bout him, please?

“Okay, shhh, listen: Time was, robots like Singer were a wonder to humankind, the culmination of its dreams of merging the mechanical with the humanistic in order to form the basis for a more enlightened and advanced society.”

Huh?

Killaine smiled at him. “They were way cool.”

And soon, she was able to look at him as Roy.

Only Roy.

Her absent friend would have wanted it that way.

Later that night, in what many would call the “wee hours,” a moth fluttered near the bright front porch light of the I-Bots' current home.

It neared the hot bulb, circled, hovered dangerously close.

Then it sensed something about the house, maybe emanating from somewhere inside.

It moved closer to the bulb and the fruition of its life.

Then—and no one was there to guess why—at the moment when it should have slammed its body against the light and screamed its insect scream as wings burst into flame, it veered to the side, circled the light one last time, and flew off into the darkness.

Choosing to live a little while longer.

Choosing life, if only for one more day.

And knowing that, after all, there was another day to choose.

GARY A. BRAUNBECK
is the author of over eighty published short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror, and suspense, as well as of the acclaimed collection
Things Left Behind
. He lives in Ohio.

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This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of
the authors' imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events
or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

T
IME WAS.
Copyright © 1998 by BIG Entertainment, Inc. All
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ISBN 0-06-105295-7

EPub Edition November 2013 ISBN 9780061861765

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First printing: June 1998

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