Human Company | Page 5

in my hand. The clay like material
deformed when I squeezed it and came apart when I dug my fingers
into it.
I smoothed the battery back to its ball shape and looked at Flasher. Up
close she looked too big to play with. A dozen feet seemed close
enough, so I leaned over and threw the battery underhanded to her.

She was lazy! Flasher's sensors barely moved as she casually opened a
manipulator to capture the battery. She stuffed the ball into a hole in
her body then resumed her posture of quiet watching.
I picked another battery out of Tiny's shirt and pitched it well above
Flasher's head. In a blur of sudden motion, wing fabric unsnapped; legs
pushed the body upright; and a manipulator extended to snag the
battery out of the air.
After the battery disappeared into the hole, Flasher stayed up, looking
alert and ready. So I threw the next battery as hard as I could, high and
well away from her, out over the water.
The throw was not fair, but Flasher sprang gamely backwards into the
air, pushing with her powerful legs and spreading her wing fabric for
balance. She did catch the battery, at the peak of her leap, but had no
chance to right herself. She fell on her backside, and although Tiny and
I ducked, we were soaked from the splash.
As I took the last battery from Tiny, Flasher righted herself in the
shallow water, getting her legs set underneath her, ready to spring in
any direction. But instead of throwing the battery, I stepped to the edge
of the lake, holding it out to her. Her sensors rotated suspiciously as she
puzzled out the new rules of the game.
When I remained still, Flasher crept forward, looming over me. I made
myself hold my pose, resisting the urge to back away from her. Slowly
her manipulator jaws closed over my hand and stripped the battery
from my grasp.
I moved between the two manipulators and touched Flasher's body. It
was smooth and warm and gave just a little when I pushed hard. She
was patient with me as I poked and prodded at one of her manipulators.
For grasping, it had two powerful jaws that could rotate to any angle.
And for finer tasks, the jaws could fold back to let tendrils get at the
work. Her sensor stalks, I noticed, had bent forward so she could track
my explorations.

"Come on, let's take a ride around the lake," Tiny invited. She stepped
on the joint where the first leg joined the body and scampered up onto
Flasher's back. Then she held down her hand and helped me climb
behind her. She slid up between the sensor stalks and had me sit behind
her with my arms around her waist.
"Swim, Flasher, Swim," she commanded.
Flasher turned in the water and stroked gently away from the shore.
"She understands you?" I asked.
"Sure she does, I know all the commands, I'll show you, say, 'Left,
Flasher, Left,' only loud so she can hear."
It was fun -- learning to ride the mechanical. I liked the feel of the
powerful legs pushing us across the lake, the feel of the noon sun
drying the splash of cold water, and even the feel of my arms around
the little human girl.
#
When we returned to our starting point I jumped off. "Come on," I said.
"Let's take her to the ledge. I want to fly her."
"Fly? It's too dangerous."
"I thought you wanted to be friends."
"You can meet all the mechanicals, we can have a swim in the lake."
I raised my arms. "Come, Flasher, Come."
Water cascaded down her sides as she heaved herself onto the bank and
followed me towards the crater wall.
"Wait," Tiny cried. "Wait, we've got to put on her harness."
I lowered my arms to stop the mechanical. "All right," I said. "But

make up your mind. If you want to be friends, you've got to help me
when I want."
I helped Tiny carry a cushion out from the storage cave. The leather
straps coiled on its top made it heavy and awkward to handle, but with
Tiny pulling and me pushing, we lifted it onto Flasher's back.
Afterwards, Tiny made Flasher rise high on her legs so she could drop
loose straps to me while I ran them under the mechanical's body and
threw them back up.
Once the harness was secure, Tiny pulled me up and we rode Flasher
up the ramp. At the ledge, a tight knot formed in my stomach when
Tiny made me lie down on the cushion. It positioned me up front
between the sensor stalks, forcing me to look down past Flasher's body
into the depths