Read Online Less Than Human by Maxine McArthur - Free Book Online

Even embarrassed for Grandpa, who was always so careful not to be
     emotional about anything, but was now red with rage. She backed out of the workshop into the relative coolness of the garden.
    Mari was sitting on the big rock under the twisted pine tree with her back to Eleanor, talking to someone on her phone. Eleanor
     caught a glimpse of the face in the phone—young and male.
    “… terrible. But are you sure? … okay, I’ll see you in an hour.”
    She got up and turned around. Her expression, soft and inward-looking, tightened when she saw Eleanor. She slipped the phone
     into her shorts pocket and ran her hand over her bob.
    “I have to go,” she said. “A friend just called. We, um, have an assignment due.”
    “You know, if you ever need to talk about anything …” Eleanor began.
    “Mari-chan!” Yoshiko opened the door. “We haven’t finished soaking the plums.”
    “I’m sorry, Mother. I just got an urgent call and I have to go back now.”
    “Is this because of the implants? Mari-chan, you know your father and I…”
    “No, Mother. I have to meet someone.” She pushed past Yoshiko. “I’ll get my bag.”
    Yoshiko looked at Eleanor as if it was her fault. “Did she say anything to you?”
    “She said she has an assignment due.”
    Yoshiko frowned disbelievingly. “Why didn’t she say that earlier? Where’s Kazu-san?”
    “In the workshop.” Eleanor didn’t mention the fight with Grandpa. Yoshiko would blame her for that, too.
    Yoshiko clicked her tongue in annoyance and went into the workshop.
    Mari rushed out the door, cramming her feet into sandals. “Mother, I’ll phone,” she yelled at the workshop door. “Nice seeing
     you, Aunt Eleanor,” she added, then clattered down the path and out the gate.
    Eleanor waved, but Mari didn’t look back.
    That night, back in the Betta, Eleanor couldn’t sleep. For once it wasn’t because of robots.
    “Masao?” She poked him gently in the ribs.
    He gave a barely awake grunt.
    “Doesn’t it bother you that Grandpa won’t let me help out in the workshop?”
    Masao turned toward her with a groan. “I never let Grandpa bother me. He’d drive me mad.”
    “Today he said something strange. He practically accused Kazu of making some mistake.”
    Masao was silent. She waited with growing impatience. Masao was always slow with his opinions.
    “Grandpa’s probably thinking of Kazu’s failed venture,” he said finally.
    “Kazu? You’re kidding.”
    “No, really.” Masao shifted to face her. “A couple of years after the Quake, we were away that summer because you had a conference
     in Amsterdam.”
    She did remember. They took the obligatory souvenirs to Masao’s parents after they got back to Japan, but the atmosphere was
     tense there. She never asked why.
    “Kazu got together with some of his mates and rented part of the old milk factory building. You know, in the next block from
     ours. They were going to make robot toys you could program yourself, taking advantage of the slump after the Quake. They spent
     a lot of credit livelining the whole building for their equipment. It was the latest thing, but terribly expensive.”
    Liveline cabling had been invented before the Quake of 2006 but had not come into widespread use until afterward, when the
     rebuilding of Japan began. Liveline was the most secure of cabling, but even nine years later was still prohibitively expensive.
    Masao stroked her hip reflectively. “Kazu said the factory was a mess. They had to move a lot of big equipment abandoned by
     the milk company down into the basement. And then some other company …”
    “Mipendo,” interrupted Eleanor. “Brought out their personal robot line. Which ruined the market for small companies in that
     field.” Tomita had developed a similar, minor line, based on the Mipendo template.
    “That’s right.” Masao rolled onto his back again. “And Kazu went bust, along with the money he’d borrowed from Grandpa. Ever