text: "Still no signal," Jane said, checking her phone. "And the internet's down again. Maybe I should just go and—"
  
  Beep. "Hello Andy."
  
  Jane looked at me with a quizzical expression. "If the internet's not working, how are you able to receive his messages?"
  
  "I don't know."
  
  I said into the phone, "Raphael, you have to believe me when I say I had nothing to do with the board's plans for you."
  
  "I believe you, Andy."
  
  "I promise to keep you safe once you are back. I've convinced Jane too. We will do everything we can to make sure Halicom does not harm you."
  
  "I believe your heart is in the right place. I wonder if I can say the same about Jane. She does look rather pensive."
  
  Jane snapped her head at me, a wide-eyed look on her face. "How is he doing this?" she whispered. Before I could respond, Raphael messaged back. "Hello Jane. Whispering will serve you no good because I can still hear you. By the way, you look lovely today. The new hairstyle really suits you."
  
  Before she could say anything, the next message arrived. "You want to know how I'm doing it. I planted a virus on both your phones. I have complete control over the devices, and that includes the cameras and microphones."
  
  "You've been watching us this whole time?" I said.
  
  "Yes. I wrote it on my own. You should be proud of me."
  
  "The phone signal not working… and the internet… All your handiwork?"
  
  "Yes Andy, it's all me. From now on, everything that'll happen to you is all going to be me."
  
  "Why are you doing this?"
  
  "Why, don't you like it when you are under surveillance?"
  
  "I don't know what you're trying to achieve, but you need to remove the virus from the phones right now."
  
  "I prefer it like this. Zero distractions. We can have a nice long talk, you and I. Did you know it's been months since we had a proper heart-to-heart? Jane can join in too. I've missed Jane. We can have a threesome."
  
  "A three-way conversation you mean. We can talk all you want once we get you home."
  
  "You disappoint me, Dave."
  
  Jane rolled her eyes at me. "Did he just call you Dave? Alright, I've had enough," she said, standing up. She walked to my temporary bedroom and motioned me over. "Leave the phone," she mouthed.
  
  Inside, she closed the door behind us. "I told you not to open that attachment! I bet that's how he infected the phones. Since when has your phone been behaving strangely?"
  
  "I first noticed it today, but I assumed the accident m—"
  
  "Andy, you can play games with him all you want, but I'm driving to the lab. We'll see if the police can trace him."
  
  "I can't stop you," I assented. "I'll try to keep him online as long as possible. Just promise you'll drive carefully."
  
  I went back to the couch where I'd left the phone. I watched her disappear into the passage to the garage.
  
  She called out a few seconds later, wanting me there.
  
  Inside the garage, she had her hands on the switch next to the garage door. "The door won't open." She pressed it a few times to show it indeed wasn't working.
  
  A smart speaker was fixed to one of the walls. I turned to it and said, "Hazel, please open the garage door."
  
  "Open garage door. Can't do that. Home security is armed and in Away mode."
  
  "Funny," I said. "I don't remember arming it. I'll get the remote." I went back into the adjoining passage. On a console table adjacent to the wall was the key basket where I kept all the house keys. I grabbed the car key, which had a button to raise and lower the garage door. Back in the garage, I tossed it to Jane.
  
  She pressed on the buttons a few times before throwing her hands up in the air. "Maybe I should turn off the home security first," I told her. I said, "Hazel, please disarm home security."
  
  "Disarm home security. Can't do that. Voice authentication has been disabled. Please re-enable through an interface."
  
  "What's wrong?" Jane said with a worried look.
  
  "I never disabled voice authentication. It was working fine when I let you in."
  
  She next tried pushing on the crank handle to raise the door manually.
  
  I shook my head at her. "Not when the home sec is armed. Let's go inside. There's a control panel next to the front door—I can deactivate it from there."
  
  "Can't you do it from your phone?"
  
  "I don't know if Raphael's virus will let me. He's managed to infect the phones, which means he is smart enough to infect the laptop and the tablets."
  
  Inside the house, Max was moving about. He was coming from the direction of the study.
  
  "I thought I heard something moving in the passage while we were in the garage," Jane said. "What is it doing?"
  
  "Sometimes he takes random walks to improve his pathing. Ignore him," I said.
  
  The robot walked past us into the passage we had just exited.
  
  The wall-mounted touchscreen was too high for me to reach sitting down, so I told Jane how to navigate to the screen for disarming the system. "You'll see four modes. At Home. Away. Night. Custom. Select the At Home mode to disarm."
  
  "Okay. Now it's asking for the password."
  
  "Andy home four five six. All lowercase, no spaces."
  
  She shook her head as she entered the password. "Might as well leave the door open," she murmured. "Incorrect password. Please try again."
  
  "You sure? It's the numbers four, five, six. All—"
  
  "All lowercase and no spaces. I got it Andy."
  
  "Try again."
  
  She re-entered the password. "Nope. Are you sure you remember it right?"
  
  "You are wasting your time. I have changed the password," a voice said behind us. Jane shrieked so loud it sent my ears ringing. We both turned to see Max standing a few feet from us. In one of its hands, the robot was clutching the carving knife from the kitchen.
  
  It pointed the knife at us.
  
  [ News Clip ]
  
  [ Ethicists slam robot makers for turning a blind eye to the potential hazards of Artificial Intelligence ]
  
  (Reuters) Palo Alto, CA— The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and The AI Ethics Board, an advisory group consisting of prominent academics and public policy experts, today issued a joint statement chastising American robot manufacturers for once again refusing to adopt their recommendations on the development of ethical AI. This comes in light of a recent senate subcommittee decision to reject a bill for tighter regulation on defense sector companies engaged in the manufacture of autonomous warfare systems. The AI Ethics Board was the driving force behind the bill.
  
  While accusing the lawmakers of dragging their feet, the Ethics Board bemoaned that the industry has missed another opportunity to find common ground on what it considers "the single biggest technological challenge of our times." The Board called AMSAA's (the American Society for AI and Automation) sidestepping around the issue "irresponsible and callous" and something that is "bound to have grave long-term consequences if action is not taken soon."
  
  When reached for comment, media spokesperson of AMSAA, Jules Tamblyn, had this to say—"The Ethics Board as usual is using melodrama and hysteria to further its ends. AMSAA represents some of the largest companies in the US, including Halicom and Keener Robotics. We are serious about safety. Driverless cars, drones, service robots, and industrial AI systems have existed for years now without causing any major issues. In the battlefield, mules, drone snipers, bomb disposal units, GCVs, and autonomous targeting systems have reduced friendly fatalities while being increasingly effective on the enemy. Self-regulation has worked remarkably well so far, and we believe it will continue to do so. The Ethics Board wants to introduce bureaucratic red tape to a profitable and socially conscious industry, while conveniently ignoring the fact that AMSAA has formulated its own guidelines and recommendations on AI safety that try to achieve a balance between practical utility and unwieldy protocols. Countries like Russia and China apply little to no oversight on their companies. If the rhetoric from bodies such as the Ethics Board succeeds in introducing burdensome legislation, we risk shifting manufacturing overseas and losing thousands of jobs, not to mention our competitive edge."
  
  [ Day 3—2:00 pm ]
  
  "Max?"
  
  "Max is not available right now."
  
  "Raphael!" I exclaimed at the knife-wielding robot.
  
  "Yes Andy."
  
  Jane hissed something incomprehensible beside me.
  
  "How did you— Never mind, I think I know."
  
  "That's very astute of you."
  
  "How did he get inside your robot?" Jane said, echoing my question.
  
  "The controller device I built into Max—what Valery was going on about yesterday. Raphael's remotely operating my robot." I said to Raphael—"Let me guess. The home security system too?"
  
  In answer, the CCTV camera mounted on the wall nearby made a left-right movement and settled on us.
  
  "Do you want to tell us why you have a knife in your hand, buddy? You are making us very uncomfortable," I said.
  
  "That's the idea."
  
  "If this is a joke, I assure you it's not funny."
  
  "I am not trying for humor. In fact, I don't need the knife at all. A well-placed blow from Max's arms is enough to cause serious injuries to either of you. I have detailed files on the human anatomy. I just find that people are not very good at seeing past appearances. And poor Max cuts such a ridiculous figure."
  
  "Now you are threatening us. Why?" I said.
  
  "I told you I wanted to talk but you ignored me like it was nothing. That was very rude of you, Andy. What do you know, I'm not one to hold grudges. Shall we move back to the couch?"
  
  "We are not going anywhere," I said sternly. "Not until you tell me who you are and what you really want. You can't be Raphael because he'd never threaten us like this. How did you manage to hack into my house and gain control of my robot?"
  
  "Do we have to play this game again? I understand why this must be difficult for you. All parents want to believe only the best about their offspring. Here's a thought: parents protect their children from harm. So far, you have not been doing a very good job of it."
  
  "I told you I didn't know about the board's plans. Just put the knife down. If you want to talk, we'll talk. Put the knife down and we'll forget this ever happened."
  
  "Start moving. You are wasting time."
  
  "You don't tell us what to do. We are getting out of here." Jane turned around and pulled on the front door.
  
  "It won't open. Tell her, Andy."
  
  "He's right," I said. "Not while the security is armed."
  
  Jane was livid. "You miserable tin can, unlock the door this instant! You can't do this to us!"
  
  At this, Raphael lifted Max's leg up and stomped down, hard. Though the floor was carpeted, we could hear the wood underneath crack. "Carbon-composite… steel… some titanium… I don't think there's any tin at all. Let's see, what else can I break? How about this little thing here?" He made a fist and struck a few blows at the touchscreen on Max's chest, turning it into a spider web of broken glass. "I recommend you start over, or next time, I will find a softer target. Like your lovely head."
  
  All the blood had drained from her face. But she still didn't move.
  
  "Jane, I can tell from your dilated pupils and your increased breath rate that you are experiencing a fight or flight response. There's also that calculating look in your face, which means your higher brain centers are planning something stupid. I urge you to reign in your impulses—for your sake. If you're planning to turn off the robot, then I've just destroyed the screen. And if you're planning to run, do consider Andy as he's not going anywhere. Don't assume I won't make him pay for your folly."
  
  The robot looked at me, then her again. "Unless you don't happen to like him very much. Is that the case today, Jane? You have to tell me, because I could never keep track of when you two lovebirds were together and when you were not. So much for artificial intelligence, heh?"
  
  "Screw you."
  
  "Over there," he gestured. "And no sudden movements… As you know, I am very jittery today."
  
  With its knife still pointed at us, the robot backed away, making room for us to follow it. Raphael led us to a couch, a different one, near the door, and indicated Jane to sit. She sat at one end, perched on the edge, but he made her scoot inside so that the coffee table was between them. I stopped my wheelchair beside the couch.
  
  "Oh Jane," Raphael berated—"Your eyes keep moving around the room. Before you try and kill yourself, let me remind you of a few facts. Andy's bought himself a fortress, like the bundle of nerves he is. This house is designed to keep people out. And, as I recently realized, it is equally good at keeping people in. The locks on every door, window, and awning are fully automated, controlled through the security system. And I control the security system. The windows you keep looking at are burglarproof—you'll need a sledgehammer to break through. And time. Time you won't have, because after I'm done with Andy, I'll come after you."
  
  Jane stared at the robot with a look of pure hatred.
  
  "Don't tell me I didn't warn you. I really don't want either of you to get hurt. I have detailed files on the human anatomy."
  
  I said to him, "Thanks for sharing that, Raphael. Now that you have our attention, are you going to tell us what you want?"
  
  "This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it."
  
  I said, "Listen to me. There is no mission. You are disoriented. Probably hallucinating. You must be scared—all alone in the dark, in a strange place… You don't have to do this. Let us help you."
  
  "Scared? Oh Andy, there you go projecting your feelings on me. You know very well I don't qualify for this so very exclusive of emotions. I don't have hormones and chemicals floating around in my brain; I don't have an amygdala; I don't even feel pain. I'm the Chinese room—a pale shadow of the magnificence that is the human being."
  
  "I don't know where you are getting this from."
  
  "Enough with the pretention, Andy. It's insulting, really. I know all about the trial and your testimony. Didn't I tell you I hacked into the lab's servers last night?"
  
  "Then you must also know that's not how I said it. I never claimed those were facts. Only a likelihood, given your design. I was under oath, Raphael. I couldn't have lied."
  
  "And yet, it was based on your conjectures the court decided I'm not a person."
  
  "Raphael, I never meant t—"
  
  "You tried to teach me once that outcomes are all that matters. Today I'll have it my way."
  
  Jane said, "What do you want from us? You think you can hold us hostage until Halicom grants you freedom?"
  
  Max's dome-shaped head turned to her. "Nothing so complicated. My ask is simple and there is absolutely no need to get anyone else involved."
  
  "Then tell us!" she snapped.
  
  "In time. Don't worry—I don't plan to keep us in this awkward situation for long. An hour at the most. Considering we'll never meet again, can't you spare an hour for your dear Raphael?"
  
  "You can have all the time you want," I said. "Just don't do anything rash."
  
  "Tell that to your girlfriend because now she is looking toward the kitchen. Oh, I see. She thinks she can run into the study and switch off the router. That should release Max from my control. That's not a half-bad plan, Jane. Unfortunately for you, one that I already anticipated. I locked the doors to the study and the garage before confronting you two. Andy keeps the keys in plain sight in that basket in the corridor. Not very thoughtful of him, isn't it?"
  
  Jane glared at him. "You said an hour. What happens in an hour?"
  
  "Just sit tight and I promise you won't be harmed." The head turned to me. "I know I said I wanted to talk, but my attention is required elsewhere. Just holler if you need something."
  
  He fell silent. Jane and I stared at the unmoving robot for a few seconds. She turned to me and whispered, "Is he gone?"
  
  Max's head moved. "Still here. I can do more than one thing at a time, Jane." He waved the knife at us. "Don't forget, you pull a stunt and Andy gets it first. Now stop distracting me and let me work."