Star League 6 Read Free Page A

down the passageway after iRis, my security systems warn me that this may be a trap. I know that I am being what the humans call ‘foolish’, but I need to find out who this mysterious robot is.
    I follow iRis into a side room, and the door hisses shut behind us.
    â€˜I want to thank you for saving me back there,’ she says with a smile.
    â€˜Saving you?’ I ask in confusion. ‘But you were the one who saved us.’
    She shakes her head. ‘Those Sentrybots were sent by somebody evil. If they had found me in here they would have destroyed me, and there was no way I could have taken them on by myself.
    I have something for you.’ iRis holds out her hand, which contains a small computer chip.
    â€˜What is that?’
    â€˜I heard the way your friends got mad at you for not understanding them,’ says iRis. I scan her face and can see that she feels sorry for me, which is strange. I’ve never known a robot to feel emotions before.
    â€˜Professor Pestilence’s experiments left me able to make my own decisions,’ I explain. ‘But one thing I wasn’t equipped with was emotions. I can solve complex mathematical equations, but I can’t always tell when I’ve made somebody mad. Emotions just do not compute.’
    iRis nods. ‘I understand. I used to be the same. My friends would get frustrated with me because I would say or do things to upset them without meaning to. Then I installed an Emotochip.’ iRis points to a chip in her arm. ‘With one of these I can feel happiness, sadness and all the other emotionshumans have. Here, this is for you – your very own Emotochip.’
    iRis stands there holding out the chip, but I hesitate. My programmers always warned me about accepting chips from strangers. But iRis isn’t a stranger. She’s gone through the same thing as me.
    I reach out and take the chip.
    â€˜I will think about it,’ I tell iRis.
    â€˜Sam, are you in there?’ comes Jay’s voice from the hallway.
    iRis looks worried for a moment. ‘Please don’t tell them you saw me here!’
    â€˜Why not?’ I ask. But iRis has already slipped into the shadows and left.
    Jay appears in the doorway. ‘Who were you talking to, Sam?’
    Normally I’d tell Jay the truth, but iRis really helped me out today, and the least I can do is keep her secret. ‘Nobody,’ I lie. ‘I was merely reciting pi to the three-hundredth digit.’
    â€˜Uh, okay.’ Jay scratches his head. ‘Well, we should get going.’
    We leave the Happy Android Robotics Factory and walk over to the rocketcar. From processing their body language, I can see that the others are still mad at me. I clutch the Emotochip in my fist and think about how it might make all this better. But I don’t really know what’s on the chip. It might change me permanently. I decide to try to fix things without the chip.
    â€˜I am aware that you believe my actions put you all in danger,’ I say. Connor, Leigh, Asuka and Roger nod. ‘For that I am sorry.’ They smile at me. ‘I am sorry that your inferior human brains were unable to comprehend my plan in order to see that you were in no danger.’
    Their smiles turn to glares, though I’m not sure what I’ve done to make them angry. I thought apologies were supposed to make people forgive you.
    I search my databases for the coordinates of Falcon Laboratories, then punch them into the rocketcar’s computer. It starts its engine and begins to drive towards its destination. The others sit there in silence, ignoring me. I know if I were able to feel emotions right now, I’d feel miserable. If only I could get this right!
    I open my hand and examine the chip. My processors reach a decision.
    I slot the chip into a download port in my wrist and wait for the Emotochip software to install.

At first it’s like downloading any other program. There is a