The Library - Seventh Story

Stories

“Would you say she passed?” No. 4 asked No. 5. They both evaluated Gwen with critical looks, like project managers running through a punch list at the end of a project.

“I don’t know. What other tests do you think we could run?” No. 5 replied. “Call No. 1, he might have some logical routines to run her through we didn’t think about.”

Gwen smiled, insecure.

She was feeling very self-conscious in the face of this evaluation process, which made her feel like a product.

“What’s up with you guys?” She said, eventually. “Pass? Pass what? Is this some sort of test or something?”

“That looked very natural, didn’t it?” No. 4 turned to No.5. “I sure couldn’t tell. How about you, No. 1?”

“I don’t know,” No. 1 came closer and stared uncomfortably, as if he expected some standard reaction.

“What test?” Gwen raised her voice, and they all stopped and looked at her.

“The Touring test, dear,” No. 4 replied, kindly.

“Hilarious,” Gwen brooded.

“I definitely couldn’t tell,” No. 1 smiled, relieved.

“Congratulations, team, we got lift-off.”