Read How It Ends: Part 1 - The Evaluation for Free Online

DKI.
He’s a senior vice president. He will give you the specifics as to
where you are going.”
    “Going?”
    “Yes. You’ll be meeting and observing this
robot Kilgore in action. You will then compile your notes and
present them to DKI.”
    “Is this a formal evaluation?” Sidney asked.
His heartbeat quickened.
    “Yes. And the access is unprecedented.”

    * * *

    It arrived at his office via currier. It was
a thick package in a padded manila envelope. It sprayed gray
packing material in the air when he tore it open. He dug through
the debris with his meaty hands. His fingers rooting and then
pulling out the packet. The word CONFIDENTIAL was splashed across
every page.
    He felt a tingling sensation at the ends of
his fingers and in his groin. He understood vaguely that this was
excitement. He opened the technical manuals with a deep breath, as
if he were about to jump off the high board in a diving pool. It
was a mix of trembling anticipation and stomach dropping fear.
Manuals and schematics and design documents and software diagrams
were all closely guarded secrets. To be in possession of them was
to be in a position of power. He was a knowledgeable man with a
deep understanding of robotics. But rare it was when someone had
the specs for the inner workings of the robots themselves.
Especially not working prototypes like the medical robots.
    Not to mention the added bonus of being able
to write an evaluation. An evaluation. A robotic evaluation. A
document that would enter the worshipped pantheon of robotic
literature. He had dreamed about such a moment as this. He had
practiced lectures based on such fictional writings in his car or
in his shower, and sometimes in front of his bathroom mirror. He
had thanked the gathered crowd for bestowing upon him the award in
robotic literature, presented to him by way of his dashboard. He’d
dreamt of such a time as this and now it was at hand. The book he
had planned on early robotics development was thrust out of his
mind. A mental trash dump to clear space for this new project.
    He placed the documents on his work desk.
He’d taken the time to clean it off before the package arrived.
Everything had to be pristine for such holy relics as robot
schematics. Everything had to be clean, readied for the sacrifice
to these metallic gods.
    He placed the documents on the desk with the
cover page facing up.
    He turned it over and began reading at page
one.
    He pored over every word.
    His fingertips tingled with the feeling of
pins and needles.
    This would be exciting.

    * * *

    He ran into Brian later that day. Brian was
just coming back to the building.
    “On your way out?” Brian asked.
    “Yes. I’ve got some research to do.”
    “Started your new book then?”
    “No, not actually.”
    “What do you have going on?”
    Sidney did not answer. He considered Brian
carefully. Should I tell him? Dangerous. Brian was not known
for ruthlessness, but he was not above scheming to get what he
wanted. There was of course no way to know if he wanted to take
part in an evaluation or not. But he was a professor of robotics.
Who wouldn’t want that?
    Brian was fond of power games. He was fond
of young women. He was dangerous.
    Sidney was known for his fondness of
donuts.
    “An outside project,” he said. “Nothing
special.”
    “External? Nice. Research or
consultative?”
    “A bit of both, I suppose.”
    “Sounds interesting.”
    He could be so pushy sometimes ,
Sidney thought. He could be so insightful. Damn him. But he
hasn’t really asked me anything. How can that be pushy?
    “Not really. Mainly research and
interviews.”
    “With people.”
    Damn him .
    “No,” said Sidney. “Well, yes and no. With
people and robots.”
    “Really?”
    Brian said nothing else but stared at
Sidney. Sidney began to feel uncomfortable under the younger man’s
stare. As if he were trying to stare into Sidney’s soul. Trying to
burrow into it. Trying to steal it for his own. Brian struck him