How It Ends: Part 1 - The Evaluation Read Online Free PDF Page A

turned to the gaunt man.
    “What do you think?”
    “I have no wish to hound Eric,” the gaunt
man said. “He’s proven himself a resourceful intelligent and
profitable member of the executive management. But if an
independent review is the will of this committee, I will not
object.”
    “It is,” the thickset man said.
    “Let’s take the vote to be sure. All in
favor?”
    Two said Aye. The gaunt man added his
Aye.
    “Very well,” the younger man said. “We’ll
set up an independent review of the robotic physician program. NYU
has a number of robotics professors that are highly qualified for
this. We will contact one of their professors. Eric, you will
provide the list of currently practicing robot doctors available to
be reviewed. With only five it should be a short list. We’ll go
through it and select one at random.”
    “Very well.”
    “That’s it for today. Thank you.”

    * * *

    The moment he returned he barked at his
valet model “Get me all the logs for the five robots in the
physicans program.” The robot, a valet model but one Eric used as
his personal administrative assistant, began searching through the
company’s document retention sites for Eric’s request.
    Eric spent the rest of the day reviewing
each of the five robots’ performance logs, looking for any
legitimate reason to remove one or more from consideration for the
evaluation. Page after page of detailed analysis of diagnostic
sessions, emotional sensitivity training, conversational mechanics
uploads, anything and everything that these robotic doctors had
undergone since entering their beta phase.
    Any robot would do. They were all
perfect.
    The light from the setting sun slanted into
the windows of his office and struck Eric across the face. He stood
looking out the window with his back to his office. The building
was tall enough that he could see the river. The Hudson spread
before him in a dizzying display of light reflecting off the
water.
    The end of the day neared and still Eric
waited impatiently for the board’s decision. The sooner this
process began, the sooner he would be vindicated.
    The sun sank. Eric watched it.
    He turned back to his desk when the sun
finally disappeared under the horizon. The phone rang on his desk.
He picked it up.
    “Yes?”
    “We’ve made our decision, Eric,” the younger
board member said.
    Eric looked at the computer screen on his
desk. Five numbers. Five robots.
    “Robot 781907356. Robot name: Kilgore.”
    “Kilgore it is.”
    “I will pass the information onto NYU. We’ll
let them select the specialist. You need to prep the robot.”
    “I will. Can I make a request?”
    “Yes.”
    “There’s one professor there I have a poor
relationship with. Brian Coleman. Although I don’t like the idea of
this review, if it must happen, then anyone but him.”
    There was silence on the other end of the
phone. Eric felt compelled to speak.
    “We don’t want a bad review because of bad
blood, do we?”
    “Very well. Anything else?”
    “No.”
    The line went dead. He hung up the phone. He
didn’t like this. Not one bit. But there was nothing he could do to
stop it.

Chapter Four
    The phone rang on Sidney’s desk. He picked
it up.
    “Yes? Oh, hello, Dean Whittaker. What can I
do for you? ... I have classes, obviously, but nothing I can’t get
someone to cover. Otherwise I’m fairly free. ... Certainly. I’m
always interested to hear about opportunities. Okay. I’ll see you
at two-thirty.”
    Sidney hung up the phone. He fingered the
time of his meeting with Dean Whittaker in his handheld. He ran his
finger down the rest of the day and flicked through the pages to
review the remainder of the week. Yes, he was free.

    * * *

    Sidney took a deep breath. He was not a man
prone to tremble in the presence of power. Dean Whittaker was
another story. The Dean of the College of Robotic Studies at NYU
held considerable power both within the university and without.
This man had decided futures