"Allen Steele - Agape Among The Robots" - читать интересную книгу автора (Steele Allen)

But then Samson stopped. He bowed from the waist, as if he was a gentleman who happened
upon a lovely young woman while strolling through the woods. KathyтАЩs face changed from fear to
amusement; she stepped aside, and Samson straightened up and walked past her.

"Oh, very good," Jim murmured. "Good object recognition."

I let out my breath and moved my hand away from the keyboard.

Samson continued walking toward Delilah. As he approached the bench where she sat, his right
hand opened the cargo panel on his chest, and reached inside. At this point, he was supposed
to pull out an apple and offer it to the other robot. He had gotten that part right yesterday, until
he decided that slamming the apple against her head was an appropriate sign of affection. On
either side of me, I could see Donna, Keith, and Bob stiffening ever so slightly.

But what Samson produced wasnтАЩt an apple, but a heart.

Not the organic sort, but the St. ValentineтАЩs Day variety: a red plastic toy of the sort you might
place within a bouquet of roses you send to your true love.

From the edge of the clearing, Kathy Veder watched as Samson stepped around the bench and,
with grace and tenderness, held it out to Delilah.

Delilah remained still, her hands still folded in her lap, her fishbowl head staring straight ahead.

"Please," I heard Phil whisper.

And then DelilahтАЩs head moved toward Samson, as if noticing his presence for the first time. She
raised her left arm, opened her palm and turned it upward, and waited.

Samson took another step forward and, ever so carefully, placed the heart in her hand.

Kathy folded her arms across her chest, covered her mouth with her hand. She was watching
the robots, but her gaze kept flickering toward us, toward the window behind which Phil stood.

I glanced at Phil. He was silent, but his posture was exactly like KathyтАЩs.

Delilah took the heart and placed it in her lap. Samson bowed just as he had done for Kathy, but

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he remained rooted in his tracks until Delilah raised her left hand and, in a very ladylike fashion,
motioned for him to join her on the bench.

Samson took two steps closer, turned around, and sat down next to Delilah, his hands coming to
rest on the bench.

Then Delilah laid her right hand upon his left hand.

And then both robots became still.