Chapter 77: The First Law of Robotics

Author’s note.

Dr Mark, my amazing editor, has told me that my portrayal of the WitSec program is not quite accurate. It doesn’t surprise me, since everything I know about it I’ve gleaned from TV and the internet. While I normally like to be as authentic as possible, I’ve chosen to keep my inaccuracies in place, because they suit the story. Likewise I am asking you to bear with any thoughts you may have of ‘that wouldn’t happen like that’ and remember – when all’s said and done, you’re reading a story about psychic powers...

KR

PM.

The police officer spent about thirty minutes taking my statement, asking follow-up questions and finally getting me to read and sign what he’d written. He also issued me a receipt for my Glock, which he said they would get back to me when they’d completed their investigation. He warned me it might take some time.

Maggie and Dianna stayed for another hour after, going over the events of the evening with me over and over.

“Without doubt,” Maggie said, “you saved a man’s life tonight, possibly others too. The Marshals arrived just as you fired your weapon, but from what Dianna saw from the two others that you’d Compelled, the guy you shot was literally about to kill Carl. That little girl would have been left without a father.”

“And what about the kids of the guy I killed?” I asked. “Does he even have kids? Is he married? He’ll have a mother, a father, perhaps brothers and sisters...”

“The guy you killed,” Dianna told me, “was a criminal. A dangerous criminal who was manufacturing and selling drugs. He had no concern about the lives and families he destroyed with his poisons. I won’t say he deserved to die, because that’s not my call. What I will say is that Carl, June, and Carly DID NOT deserve what he was planning to do to them. YOU didn’t deserve to die at his hands for wanting to protect the innocent.

“You did what you had to do to stop him hurting others.”

“I could have stopped him without killing him,” I said.

“You can’t know that,” she argued. “You tried one power on him, and it didn’t work. You had less than a quarter of a second before he killed you. Once you’re dead your control over the other two vanishes and so you have three armed perps back in play. Then what? Marshals come bursting in and meet a hail of gunfire from three gunmen, a gun battle ensues, and who knows how many people die, including an innocent family with a two-year-old little girl.

“Think about that,” said Dianna. “I need you to come and see me tomorrow afternoon. My office at 2pm. Okay?”

I nodded to her.

She dug into her purse and pulled out a small bottle.

“I want you to take two of these before you go to bed,” she said. “They’ll help you sleep tonight.”

She handed me the bottle, and I took it mechanically, not sure whether I would take the tablets or not. The thought of sleep repelled me just now, I knew that I would dream, and in dreaming would relive the events of the night over and over again. I’d see the face of the man whom I’d robbed of life as it went from a sneer, to a scowl, and then showed shock and pain almost in the same instant as I murdered him.

After Maggie and Dianna left, I took myself out into the back yard, sat on one of the lawn chairs, and simply stared at the sky. The night was cold and, for once, there were few clouds. I looked up at the stars, my eye attracted to the slow progress of a jet, flying thousands of feet above me, seemingly crawling across the sky like a bug across glass. I wondered about the people aboard that flight. Where were they going? Where had they been? Their lives, their families.

I could feel the girls in the house, worrying about me. They’d wanted to follow me out, to be with me, but had sensed my need to be alone to try and reconcile what had happened, and come to terms with what I’d done, the life I’d taken.

I imagined that many people would say, ‘Good job kid. He was bad news, you did the right thing... ‘ But when is killing the right thing to do?

For some strange reason my mind presented Asimov’s first law of robotics. It seemed apt.

“A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm.”

In this case I was the robot. Inaction would have allowed Carl to be killed, action killed another human being. So did I have the right to determine which of the two human beings deserved to live or die. I kill one or he kills the other?

What’s more I didn’t know either of them. For all I knew Carl could have been Dracula and I just gunned down Van-Helsing. I’d reacted to a situation I’d been presented with, without knowing the full story.

Also, I’d used lethal force when I’d had a non-lethal option. I could have, should have, used TK to immobilise him. That way nobody needed to die. BUT I’d tried one power, and it hadn’t worked. If I’d have tried TK and that didn’t work, I’d have likely not had time to try anything else before I was killed.

So, I wasn’t protecting the innocent by killing the man, I was protecting myself. It was self defence. ONLY I didn’t need to be there in the first place. It’s not like the man came into my home, he was in a neighbors house and I went in after him. Not self-defence then?

Around and around my thoughts spun, presenting ever more ridiculous scenarios. I’d presented Carly as an obvious innocent. I was certain I could rely on that; she was a child. Only the gunman wasn’t pointing the gun at Carly, he was pointing it at Carl. Carl, who could just as easily have been a kidnapper holding the child captive, and I just murdered her would-be rescuer.

All through this maelstrom of thoughts and arguments and counter arguments I kept coming back to one thing, one fact that no matter what I said, couldn’t be denied. Tonight, I took a life. Tonight, a man, a living breathing human being, stopped doing both, and it was by my hand. No matter the reason, the excuse or justification, I ended a life tonight.

I heard footsteps approaching and brought my eyes down from the heavens. June, or Jane I guess, was standing a few feet away, Carly in her arms. The child, wide awake, was staring at me.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked me. I wondered if one of my girls had put her up to coming to talk to me. I doubted that anyone in either household would be sleeping much tonight. I didn’t know what time it was but guessed around three in the morning.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“He was going to kill Chris,” she said. I was confused for a moment and then realized that that must be Carl’s real name. “You didn’t have a choice.”

“I...” I began but couldn’t continue. She had no idea about powers, how could I explain that I did actually have a choice.

“And then he would have killed me,” she continued, walking toward me slowly.

“And then...” she stopped speaking as she stood in front of me. She bent forward a little, and placed her child into my lap. Carly for her part, simply snuggled into me, putting her little arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder. Out of reflex I put my arms around her, “he would have killed Kirsty.” She finished.

I looked down at the little girl in my arms. A wave of protectiveness for this little bundle of humanity washed over me. No matter what, she was an innocent, and there was no way I was going to let harm come to her. I may not have known the exact circumstances at the time, but I knew them now. The man with the gun WAS the bad guy and he HAD intended harm to innocents. He was going to hurt this beautiful little girl and there was no way that I was going to let that happen. If stopping him from hurting her meant using lethal force, then that was an unfortunate price, but one that was well worth paying.

I’d tried the non-lethal option and given him ample warning. Even without powers he could have, should have, done as commanded and dropped his weapon. If he’d surrendered as ordered, as the other two had, he would be alive even now. He was the one who’d determined his own fate.

I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling lighter. I was certainly by no means happy about what had transpired, and that I’d been forced to do something I’d never even considered I’d do, but at least now I’d be able to look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that my actions were justified. I didn’t like it, but I knew I’d be able to live with myself. Something I’d thought might never be possible again.

I guess the girls felt my change in mood, as the back door opened, and Mary came out, followed by everyone else in the house. They approached where I was sitting holding Kirsty. Mary smiled at me softly.

“I guess she feels safe with you,” she said quietly. I looked down at Kirsty, to find that she’d fallen asleep in my arms. Jane shook her head ruefully.

“I’ll know where to come,” she said, “when I can’t get her to settle.” She made no move to reclaim her daughter though. Mary sat beside me.

“Are you okay?” she echoed Jane’s question from earlier.

I thought about that for a moment.

“Not really,” I said. “I never ever thought I’d ever take a life like that, but when I consider the alternatives, I don’t think that I had a choice. He...” I stopped, realizing that I didn’t even know the name of the man I’d ended. “He would have...” I glanced down at Kirsty asleep in my arms. “I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Will you carry her up to bed?” Jane asked me.

Moving slowly so as not to wake the child, I stood and followed Jane into her yard and through the back door of the house. The very same door I’d entered less than three hours ago and killed a man I’d never met. The living room doors were closed and sealed with police tape. Jane led me into the hallway and to the stairs that led up to the second floor. Carl, sorry Chris, was standing at the top of the stairs looking down. I suspected that he’d been watching us through the bedroom window. I followed Jane up the stairs, Chris stepping aside as we passed, and Jane led me into Kirsty’s bedroom and over to her bed.

As gently as I could I laid the child down and pulled her blanket over her. She fussed for a second but settled quickly back into sleep. I turned to see that everybody had followed me up and there was a crowd peering through the door at me and Kirsty. I raised my eyebrows at them.

“Seriously?” I asked. “All of you?”

Josh grinned at me. “You just looked so cute we couldn’t resist,” he said quietly so as not to wake the sleeping child.

“Get out,” I mock scolded them all. “Parents only.”

They turned, filed down the stairs, and back out through the kitchen. Jane, Chris, and I followed them down.

“I’m sorry,” I said to Jane and Chris. “They...

“They wanted to make sure that you were okay,” said Chris. “And so did we. What you did ... you saved my life, saved all our lives. It’s a debt we’ll never be able to repay.”

What do you say to that? A million cliches went through my head, each one sounding more ridiculous than the last. In the end I chose none of them.

“You should try and get some sleep,” I said. “While Car ... sorry, Kirsty is sleeping.”

They both nodded and walked with me toward the kitchen door.

“We will.” Jane said. I scanned Chris checked his injuries and finding that, other than some bruising, he’d come out of things not to badly off. I considered doing some healing but couldn’t muster the will. He’d heal fine on his own.

I went out into their yard where everyone from my house was waiting for me. I turned to face the couple.

“Good night,” I said.

They watched from the doorway as we all made our way out of their yard into ours and, from there, into our house. I looked at the clock on the oven as we walked though the kitchen. It was just before 4am. Nearly time for me to get up.

I considered going to bed, but realized that I wasn’t the slightest bit tired. Instead, I went and showered, and started my daily routine. I went out for a run.

Neither Melanie nor Sarah joined me on the run. Both of them needed to get some sleep after all unless they were considering taking the day off school. I wondered if they would.

I wasn’t going to. I had my Ethics class this morning and, since that was the only class I ever attended, I didn’t intend to miss it.

Since I didn’t have Melanie and Sarah to slow me down, I ran almost fifteen miles, arriving back at the house just after six fifteen, tired but satisfied. Running had given me even more time to think and to reconcile the events of the previous night. I was certain that I’d never be okay with taking a life, and I was glad of that. The day I could kill someone and simply move on, I’d retire to a cave in a mountain somewhere and make sure that there were no people anywhere near me.

I used the family bathroom when I got back, not wanting to wake the girls, but when I emerged, I found them all awake and in the kitchen. Ness was just starting breakfast. They all looked tired.

“Why don’t you guys take the day?” I asked. “Last night was difficult for us all, and I’m sure you can all afford one day?”

“Are you taking the day?” asked Sarah.

“I have my one and only class of the week today,” I said. “I’ll be going to see Dianna this afternoon though.”

“We’re good,” said Jules. “I, for one, will be having an early night tonight, but I’m going to school today.”

“Same,” said Sarah.

“Me too,” said Ness.

Everyone else agreed.

I got hugs and kisses from the entire household, including Josh, as we all split off to start our days. They seemed to be going out of their way to let me know, each in their own way, that they loved me and they were there for me. Obviously, I was feeling it through the connection with my girls, but Sarah, Louise, and even Josh made a point of making sure I knew.

I was grateful for it. I had wondered if anyone would think any differently of me, now I was a killer.

“I’m going to ride in with you today,” said Melanie as we all split up. Normally I’d ride on my own, since rarely went to school at the same time as the others, given my weird schedule.

“Okay,” I said, opening the door for her, and closing it once she was inside.

I pulled out of the drive and headed in to school.

I had absolutely no idea how it had happened, but it seemed that everyone knew about what had transpired. At least that’s what it looked like. People were staring at me as I got out of my truck and made my way onto campus. As I walked into the building the student counsellor was waiting by the door.

“Mr. Stott,” she said as I drew close. “Might I have a minute of your time?”

“I’ll be late for class,” I told her, not really wanting to talk to her.

“I’ve already informed your professor,” she said. “He knows you’re going to be a few minutes late.”

I sighed. Melanie leaned in and kissed my cheek.

“See you at home later,” she said.

I nodded to her, and followed Jamie to her office. She closed the door behind her and then took a seat behind her desk.

I did not sit.

“Please,” she said. “Have a seat.”

“I’m good thanks.” I said. “I’m sorry but I’m missing my class. Can you please tell me what this is about?”

“You can’t guess?” she asked.

“I could,” I said, “but I stopped playing guessing games in third grade.”

“I wanted to see how you were coping,” she said. “Dianna told me what happened last night.”

“She had no right to do that,” I said.

“Yes,” Jamie contradicted me, “she did. As one healthcare professional to another, both of whom are involved in your care, it’s perfectly reasonable, and even expected, for her to share information with me.”

“Well,” I said. “I was fine. Now I’m pissed. Can I go?”

“I just wanted you to know that if you needed to talk...” she said.

“I don’t,” I said. “At least not to you. Now was that everything?”

Jamie sighed, and nodded.

I turned and left her office, walking quickly towards my ethics class.

As I approached the class I could hear talking. It was one of the students, not the professor. I wondered what they were debating. I opened the door and slipped in, intending to cause as little disturbance as possible and take my seat.

Silence descended on the room, and all eyes turned to me.

“Apologies Professor,” I said, “The school counsellor wanted a few moments.”

He smiled. “She did inform me beforehand,” he said. “Please, take your seat.”

“More likely they wanted to search him for weapons,” said a guy called Daryl, “to make sure he didn’t shoot up the school.”

I froze in place, for a moment, lost for words. I saw the professor turn toward the student, presumably to say something to him. Dana beat him to it though.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?” she shrieked at him.

“I know that he shot and killed someone last night,” Darryl defended himself. “I also remember him breaking Jasper’s arm. He’s a vicious, violent, murdering thug and he shouldn’t be allowed on campus.”

“Mr. Hobbs,” said the professor, before Dana could open her mouth again. “Kindly leave my class, and do not come back. I will inform the Dean that you have failed my course, and that I will not accept you into my class again.”

“What?” he said a look of incredulity on his face. “Why?”

“Two reasons,” the professor said. “Firstly, because you have shown that you have no concept of reasoned and logical argument. You have taken a piece of information, garnered from a very untrustworthy source, and drawn an exceptionally unsound conclusion from it. You have no idea of the circumstances of the events of last night. Nor indeed if Mr. Stott did, in fact, do what has been rumoured.”

“Secondly you made an unfounded and unprovoked attack on another student in my class. That is behavior that will not be tolerated. You may remember at the beginning of the year, we reiterated the rules of the class, which specifically outlaw such.

“Now, please leave my class.”

“If he goes,” said another of the kumbaya crowd, “then I’m going too.”

“That’s your choice,” said the professor. “Please bear in mind that there is a mandatory attendance requirement for the course. If you fail to meet it, then you will fail.”

In total five students left the class, glowering at me as they passed me, where I was still standing near the door.

“Please,” said the professor to me, “sit.”

I made my way to my seat, all eyes in the room on me.

“I presume,” he said, “that you’ve heard the rumours circulating.”

“Actually, no” I said. “I was grabbed by the Student Counsellor as soon as I arrived, and then came straight here afterward. I can guess though.”

He nodded.

“Before you arrived,” he said, “we were looking at one of the questions being considered for a Senior Thesis. The topic was ‘The ethics of forced good.’ That is to say, how ethical is it for an administration to enforce measures which are widely accepted as beneficial. We’ve seen schools mandating what a student can bring in their lunch pails, we’ve seen certain foods and drinks being heavily taxed based on their sugar content, we’ve seen the introduction of chemicals such as fluoride to our water supply to help promote dental health. How far should this go, or are we simply eroding people’s individual rights and taking away their abilities to think for themselves?”

He looked around the class.

“Comments anyone?”

Nobody spoke. Everyone was looking at me.

I looked at the professor. He grimaced, then sighed.

I looked around the room, and then stood.

“Apologies professor,” I said. “I didn’t mean to disrupt your lesson. I think it would be best if I just left.”

I could see he wanted to argue, wanted to tell me to sit my ass down, tell everyone else to get their heads out from up their asses, and get on with the class. He could tell it would be a waste of time.

“You’ll be credited with today’s attendance,” he said admitting defeat.

I crossed to the door, and opened it, letting myself out into the hall. There were several students, including Darryl and those who had walked out in support of him, standing outside, it seemed that they were in the process of organizing some kind of demonstration.

I strode through them and down the hallway, heading for the exit.

I half expected to have had my truck vandalized when I got back to it, but if anyone had thought of doing so, they hadn’t yet had time. I drove away from the campus and headed home.

I wondered whether I’d be able to pass the ethics class based on my attendance to date. There was another semester remaining to graduation. Perhaps I could view the sessions remotely, although I wouldn’t be able to contribute, I could at least see them.

I pulled my truck into the driveway, not bothering to put it into the garage, given I’d be going out to see Dianna in a few hours. I had time to kill now, but didn’t know what to do with it. Normally I’d have gotten some schoolwork done or had a hypnotherapy session. It was unusual for me to have spare time and I was at a loss as to what to do.

I went and sat in the yard.

I was angry. Angry at those idiots at the school who, without knowing anything about what had gone on, had condemned me and it seemed like they were going to try and force me out of the school. I was angry at the idiot who’d forced my hand the previous evening, but most of all I was angry at myself. Even though I’d come to terms with the necessity of doing what I did, I thought back to Maggie’s comment.

“You stepped right through the door and into full view. You didn’t pre-check the room. Anyone could have been standing behind the door and taken you out. You had no cover whatsoever.”

I hadn’t been trained, it was true, but I’d seen enough cop shows and movies that I should have known not to enter a room like that. If I’d been in cover, I could have taken more time. I’d distracted the gunman, and controlled the other two, so it was possible that if had I not been so visible and vulnerable, he may have decided not to try his luck. Or he could have taken a shot at me in cover, where I’d have been protected and I’d have had time to try other avenues, or the shot may have brought the Marshals in and they could have dealt with him, or, or, or...

Or, the thought suddenly occurred to me as I pondered this: he could have grabbed up Kirsty to use as a hostage and made a break for it. At that time, he didn’t know there were Marshals outside, so he would have gone out and could easily have got the little girl hurt or killed in the confusion.

My phone rang. I looked at the caller Id before answering, something I rarely did.

“Hey pops,” I said.

“Hi son,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“Could be better,” I said. “I expect one of the girls told you?”

“They did,” he said, “and I couldn’t be more proud if you were my own flesh and blood. You did good Caleb. You saved that family’s lives. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but this will all blow over. Jules told me about the rumour going around the school. Why don’t you come up here. There’s only two weeks of the semester left in any case. Give people a few weeks to cool off...”

I thought about that.

“What about the girls?” I said. “They can’t just drop out two weeks early, and even if they did that would leave Sarah here on her own.”

“They’ll manage without you for a little while,” he said.

“I’m not sure I’ll manage without them,” I told him, a catch in my voice.

“Just think about it,” he said. “I can have the jet there to pick you up in less than three hours.”

“I will,” I promised, and then paused.

“Pops,” I said, my voice small.

“Yes son?” he answered.

“I killed someone,” I said, tears starting to roll down my cheeks as my throat closed up.

“I know, son,” he said gently. “It’s never easy, nor should it be. The graveyard is full of soldiers who fell, fighting for what they believed in, but it’s those who fought and survived that suffered more. Not only do they have to reconcile what they were forced to do, and the loss of their friends, they have to put up with idiots who have no idea of what that soldier faced, and yet still tell him he was wrong to have done what he did. Vets have been facing those kind of assholes as long as soldiers have been serving. I know you’re not a soldier son, but it’s the same thing. You’ll see it again and again if you do decide to go into law enforcement. Everyone has a point to make, and they’re all wanting to score points off of you.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t join the FBI?” I asked.

“Not at all,” he said. “But you need to go in with your eyes open. For now, though, what I want you to do is to go in the house, go into the bathroom and look in the mirror. Take a good look at the person you see there. Then look him in the eye, and tell that person that what he did yesterday was the right thing to do. That person stood up against someone who was going to hurt innocent people, someone who would and could hurt a child, for no more offence than being the daughter of the man he had a beef with.

“You shouldn’t need to explain it to him, but tell that person why what he did was the right thing to do, and what’s more why, given the same circumstances, he should make exactly the same decisions he made last night.

“Finally, I want you to make that person a promise. I want you to promise him that you’ll learn everything you can from what happened last night so that if you’re ever in the same situation as he was, you will be better prepared, better organized, and better trained so you have the best outcome possible. Will you do that for me?”

“I...” I began, swallowing hard.

“He needs to hear it,” he went on. “So go do that now, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, regaining control.

“And Caleb,” he added.

“Yes?”

“Remember that you’re not alone,” he told me. “You’re surrounded by people that love you. Never forget that. Don’t push them, push us, away.”

“I won’t,” I said, realizing that last night I’d done just that. I’d felt the people in the house, even those that weren’t directly connected to me. I’d felt their concern, and their love, and I’d wanted to be alone.

I figured that Dean was talking metaphorically, but even so I did as he said. I went into the house, and into the family bathroom, where there was a large mirror over the sink. I took a long look at the man staring back at me. Anyone seeing me holding a discussion with myself in the mirror may have come to the conclusion that I was going mad, but it was quite the reverse. It was cathartic. I talked through the events of the previous night, asking and answering why I’d done what I’d done step by step. I asked myself why I’d chosen to chamber a round before entering the house. Why I’d not checked for more people in the room and, finally, why I’d decided to take the shot rather than try using TK to cope with the gunman.

I was forced to admit to myself that I’d made mistakes and, that given the same circumstances, I might have done things differently. I was also forced to admit to myself that I was not infallible. Almost since I’d gotten my powers I’d gotten used to being in control. Even during the plane crash I’d not had a moment’s worry, knowing full well that I’d be come out of things unscathed, because of my powers.

Last night had been the first time in a critical situation, where my powers had failed me. I’d come to rely on them, and they’d let me down. Yes, I’d panicked, and taken the shot, but even with the benefit of hindsight, and given the time pressure, I wasn’t sure that attempting to use my powers, after they’d failed once, would have been the right move.

It was a circular argument. I’d never know what would have happened if I had tried to use TK on the man. What I could be one hundred percent sure of was that Kirsty, and Jane, and Chris, and I, had come out of that situation alive and virtually uninjured. There were lessons to be learned, but I was alive to learn them.

“Next time,” I promised the man staring at me, “if there is a next time, I’ll do better. That, I promise you.”

I made it to the FBI office with ten minutes to spare. I walked through security, and was headed toward the elevator, when I heard a shout.

“Caleb,”

I turned to see Rosie walking toward me, from behind the desk. I smiled at her.

“Hey, Rosie,” I said. “How are you?”

“I heard what happened,” she said. “The whole office is talking about it.”

My heart sank.

“How are you holding up?” she asked.

“I’ll be okay,” I said, realizing after the fact that I was telling the truth.

“I know you have loads of people around you,” she said. “But if you ever need to talk to someone not quite so involved...”

“Thanks Rosie,” I said. “That’s kind.”

She handed me a post-it note. “My number,” she said, smiling slightly. “Call me. I mean if you want to talk.”

She leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the cheek and then rushed back toward the reception desk that she’d abandoned to come and talk to me. That actually made me smile.

I knocked on Dianna’s door on the stroke of two. She invited me in.