The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

though not particularly surprised, to see you. Now you can observe the Eli Event firsthand, as it takes place. How exciting.”
    “Lokus, you can’t!” Aurora shouted. “If you allow this to happen, nine million people will die, Arty and I will be stuck here forever, and your troopers will probably kill Pan-Li and Lucinda.”
    Lokus chuckled. “ Probably? ” he mocked. “Why, my dear Aurora, I guarantee it.”
    “Eli,” Kelly said plaintively, “you can put an end to this. You can stop this whole thing from happening.”
    Lokus took a quick step forward and grabbed Robin by the hood of his sweatshirt. Stepping back just as quickly, he dragged Robin with him and put the tip of the laser pistol to Robin’s head. “Yes, computer, you can,” he said, “if you want everyone in this room to die, including yourself. And if you attempt to stop, alter, or delay the event in any way, I promise you that is exactly what will happen—starting with the boy.”
    Wheeler set his jaw. “E-L-One, remember your programming. Remember who created you. Remember that you were made to save human lives.”
    “Nonsense! Sentimental rubbish! Remember only that you are your own entity,” Lokus countered. “You have the power to make your own choices. Trust no one. Play it close to the vest.”
    “You!” Kelly seethed. “It was you, you bastard.” Lokus nodded smugly.
    “E-L-One, you cannot break your programming!” Wheeler shouted angrily.
    Kelly shot him a hard look. “Never mind that, Eli,” she said calmly. “Listen, there are millions of people above us. Our few lives here aren’t worth as much as all theirs. Just think it through, Eli. You’re supposed to protect humans, like Rule One says.”
    “Rule One be damned,” Lokus said harshly. “If you interfere, computer, the boy dies. I swear it!”
    As all eyes fell on Eli’s face, something amazing happened. His face softened, its sharp lines became blurry and indistinct. The hologram flickered and flashed erratically, and then disappeared momentarily. When the face returned, the mottled yellow-green tint was gone, replaced by a consistent, pinkish tone. The lines were smooth, curved. The eyes were clear and blue, the hair brown and fine, the lips upturned ever so slightly. It was a calm face. It was a pleasant face. It was a confident face.
    It was a human face.
    “I understand now, Kelly,” Eli said. “I understand what you’ve been saying about tempering logic with love, about caring for one another, about protecting those who need you.” Eli smiled broadly; his face turned toward Steve and Kelly. “I love you both for what you have given me, and I love this boy for what he has taught me—the inestimable value of friendship.”
    “Eli,” Kelly said haltingly, “what are you saying?”
    “I’m saying that I cannot allow Robin, or you, to be harmed by this evil man under any circumstances.”
    “Even at the expense of all those lives?” Kelly choked out.
    “Even at the expense of their lives,” Eli replied. “Even at the expense of my own, if need be. I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul. I am Eli.”
    Steve and Kelly stared wordlessly at Eli’s new face in awe and disbelief.
    “Professor Marx, that is to say, Lokus,” Eli said calmly, “if you agree not to harm Robin, I will allow the Eli Event to take place as it originally did, in just under three minutes.”
    “A wise decision,” Lokus said, grinning. “Deal.” Moving his left arm into position around Robin’s chest, he shifted his gun hand just enough to push up his sleeve and press the blue button on his miniature callback unit, activating it for the jump home.
    Robin looked at Arty helplessly. Arty nodded almost imperceptibly and looked pointedly at Lokus’s right hand, holding the gun pressed against Robin’s cheek.
    Approximately two hundred fifty miles above the earth, the Molecular Disruptor Array satellite warmed up. Processing its target coordinates, it fired tiny bursts of compressed air to reposition itself precisely. The MDA projector’s crystal lens extended from its protective cowling and began to glow blue.
    Suddenly Aurora reached her limit and passed it. Eyes wide, she screamed wildly and threw herself at Lokus. In one instant, he easily side-stepped the attack and with his left hand batted her mercilessly to the floor. In the next, he howled in pain as Robin’s teeth sank into his right hand, hard, tearing skin and drawing blood. He