Human Sister

in a deep breath while seeming to listen to the earphone; then he growled, “You’re lying! Our agreement was that you’d tell the truth. When was the last time you saw any of the Sentirens?”
    “Don’t answer that!” Copley interjected. “Mr. Casey, we have an agreement as to the scope of this inquiry. If Sara has seen any Sentirens—and I am not saying she has—I’m saying that if she has seen any Sentirens during the statute of limitations period of the last seven years and not reported it, then she might be subject to criminal prosecution, and I’m not going to let her answer questions that might incriminate her. Nor am I going to permit any further deviations from our agreed scope of inquiry.”
    “Ms. Copley, may I remind you that there are over three thousand people, some of them very important people, being held hostage by those… things ! Those terrorists.”
    “So, ask Sara what she knows that might help you resolve this crisis. Whether she saw Sentirens last Christmas or seven Christmases ago is irrelevant.”
    “I asked her whether she had any reason to believe those things will harm the hostages, and she lied. Our agreement was that she would tell the truth. She’s the one who broke the agreement. Perhaps we need to resort to more effective methods of interrogation on her. And on the rest of them.”
    My heart began galloping again as my thoughts raced back to what had happened a few months before.
    “I understand that you didn’t get far with your more effective methods the last time you tried them on her and nearly killed her,” Copley said. “Believe me when I swear that I will not hesitate to go to the district attorney on my own initiative—even if my client orders me not to—if anything even remotely similar happens again.”
    “Why, Ms. Copley, from the sincere sound of your voice, I could almost for an instant think I’m listening to a seasoned criminal attorney who hasn’t yet learned she can’t believe a single word her clients tell her.”
    “Dead bodies of what were perfectly healthy sixteen-year-old young women don’t lie, Mr. Casey. Nor do they tell you anything that might be helpful to your lunar mess. So why don’t we just continue as agreed?”
    Casey listened to his earphone. “All right. We’ll give you one last chance, Sara. The last time you saw the Sentirens, whenever that was, did they give you any reason to believe that they or other androids might harm humans?”
    “I want to speak with Ms. Copley privately,” I said.
    Casey again paused to listen to silent interlocutors, then stood up. “We’ll take a break. A short break. I’ll be waiting just outside the door.”
    Copley lifted her case onto the table and opened it, revealing what appeared to be two heavily shielded goggles and bands of sensors much like the bands Grandpa had used with his algetor. She explained that with the use of this device, we could carry on a secure conversation. The bands would cover our lips, cheeks, and throat, and would transmit information through a cable to the goggles covering our eyes. She said that once the device was properly adjusted, we could distinctly subvocalize words—silently think them just to the point that our lips and tongues twitched slightly but no further—and the words so subvocalized would be projected onto our retinas.
    I half-expected Casey to come storming in at any moment, but we were left undisturbed to communicate in this private and surprisingly simple and effective way. She asked whether I had lied. I told her no, that I didn’t believe the androids would harm anyone, except to defend themselves or Mom or Dad, but that I’d had a negative experience with Second Brother that, at the time, had resulted in my having concerns. I told her about my broken finger and about my desire to keep the incident secret. I also told her about my conversations with Mom regarding Second Brother’s actions.
    After we completed our private conversation and took a bathroom break, Casey rejoined us. Copley told him I’d had contact with a Sentiren when I was a young girl. Whether I’d had contact with Sentirens or other androids within the past seven years would not be answered, nor would any questions be answered if the answers might lead one to conclude that I might have had such contact.
    “I will, however,” she continued, “relay certain facts to you regarding your question as to whether Sara has any reason to be concerned that the androids