"How do you know?"
The dealer pulled himself erect and hobbled to the sleeping neutroid.
He knelt beside it and stroked a small bare shoulder gently.
"Peony," he breathed. "Peony, girl--wake up."
Its fluffy tail twitched for a moment. Then it sat up, rubbing its eyes
and yawning. It _looked_ normal, like a two-year-old girl with soft
brown eyes. It pouted at O'Reilley for awakening it. It saw Norris and
ignored him, apparently too sleepy to be frightened.
"How's my Peony-girl?" the dealer purred.
It licked its lips. "Wanna g'ass o' water, Daddy," it said drowsily.
Norris caught his breath. No K-99 should be able to make a speech that
long, even when it reached the developmental limit. He glanced at
O'Reilley. The old man nodded slowly, then went to the kitchen for a
glass of water. She drank greedily and eyed her foster-parent.
"Daddy crying."
O'Reilley glowered at her and blew his nose solemnly. "Don't be silly,
child. Now get your coat on and go with Mister Norris. He's taking you
for a ride in his truck. Won't that be fine?"
"I don't want to. I wanna stay here."
"_Peeony!_ On with you!"
She brought her coat and stared at Norris with childish contempt. "Can
Daddy go, too?"
"Be on your way!" growled O'Reilley. "I got things to do."
"We're coming back?"
"Of course you're coming back! _Git_ now--or shall I get my spanking
switch?"
Peony strolled out the door ahead of Norris.
"Oh, inspector, would you be punching the night latch for me as you
leave the shop? I think I'll be closing for the day."
Norris paused at the head of the stairs, looking back at the old man.
But O'Reilley closed himself inside and the lock clicked. The agent
sighed and glanced down at the small being beside him.
"Want me to carry you, Peony?"
She sniffed disdainfully. She hopped upon the banister and slid down
ahead of him. Her motor-responses were typically neutroid--something
like a monkey, something like a squirrel. But there was no question
about it; she was one of Delmont's deviants. He wondered what they
would do with her in central lab. He could remember no instance of an
intelligent mutant getting into the market.
Somehow he could not consign her to a cage in the back of the truck. He
drove home while she sat beside him on the front seat. She watched the
scenery and remained aloof, occasionally looking around to ask, "Can we
go back now?"
Norris could not bring himself to answer.
* * * * *
When he got home, he led her into the house and stopped in the hall to
call Chief Franklin. The operator said, "His office doesn't answer,
sir. Shall I give you the robot locator?"
Norris hesitated. His wife came into the hall. She stooped to grin at
Peony, and Peony said, "Do you live here, too?" Anne gasped and sat on
the floor to stare.
Norris said, "Cancel the call. It'll wait till tomorrow." He dropped
the phone quickly.
"What series is it?" Anne asked excitedly. "I never saw one that could
talk."
"_It_ is a _she_," he said. "And she's a series unto herself. Some of
Delmont's work."
Peony was looking from one to the other of them with a baffled face.
"Can we go back now?"
Norris shook his head. "You're going to spend the night with us,
Peony," he said softly. "Your daddy wants you to."
His wife was watching him thoughtfully. Norris looked aside and plucked
nervously at a corner of the telephone book. Suddenly she caught
Peony's hand and led her toward the kitchen.
"Come on, baby, let's go find a cookie or something."
Norris started out the front door, but in a moment Anne was back. She
caught at his collar and tugged. "Not so fast!"
He turned to frown. Her face accused him at a six-inch range.
"Just what do you think you're going to do with that child?"