Chapter 11
The Choice
The remainder of the weekend passed quietly.
Almost suspiciously quietly.
No police. No RCAM representatives. No unfamiliar black SUVs parked outside Jane’s house.
Nothing.
Jane checked her email constantly.
Still nothing.
No recovery notices, corporate demands, or alerts asking about Cam.
Chris spent part of Sunday stabilizing Cam’s chest damage. He isolated the crushed communications components, secured the damaged wiring, and reshaped the chest panel enough to lock it back into place.
The result wasn’t pretty, but it was safe.
“I can’t fully repair the long-range array without RCAM parts,” Chris explained. “His local systems are working, and the damaged circuits won’t cause any additional problems. But the telemetry stays offline.”
Jane looked toward Cam. “Meaning RCAM still can’t find him through it.”
“Correct,” Cam said.
Chris glanced at her. “For now.”
By Sunday afternoon, some of Jane’s panic had faded into exhaustion.
Cam remained mostly quiet. Sometimes he stood near the living-room window observing the traffic outside. Other times he helped Jane with small tasks without being asked.
Once, she found him reorganizing an entire kitchen cabinet for efficiency.
That lasted approximately ten minutes before she made him put everything back where it belonged.
On Sunday evening, Chris packed his tools near the front door.
“Well,” he said, “nobody has kicked down the door yet, so I’m calling that a positive sign.”
Jane folded her arms. “I still don’t like not knowing what RCAM is doing.”
“Neither do I.”
Chris glanced toward Cam, who stood quietly nearby.
“But until they make a move, we don’t do anything stupid.”
Jane nodded.
They agreed to have dinner again later in the week before Chris finally headed home. After the lights of his SUV disappeared down the driveway, the house felt strangely quiet.
Monday morning arrived cold and gray.
By the time Jane sat down at her desk, Cam had already prepared coffee and fed Seymour. He stood nearby holding out her mug.
“I estimated elevated caffeine requirements this morning.”
Jane accepted it automatically. “You estimated correctly.”
She powered on her computer.
The desktop had barely finished loading when the RCAM participant portal opened in the browser.
Jane froze.
A white corporate screen filled the monitor.
RCAM SYSTEMS BETA PARTICIPANT NOTICE
Her stomach dropped.
“Oh no.”
The page loaded slowly.
For a moment, she genuinely believed this was it.
They had found him.
Cam turned toward the screen but said nothing.
Finally, the message appeared.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN OUR BETA ROBOT TEST.
AS A TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION, YOU WILL SOON RECEIVE A PACKAGE.