"I trust Hope," I said after taking a glance at the big man. "Hope sent the robots here and she said that they were safe and we didn't need to worry a...out them. I have to take her word for it." You're going to trust the word of another machine?" Dork muttered shaking his head."Yes," I stated with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "Hope may be a machine but she is our ally and we share the same goals and desires." For now," Dork grunted dismissively. "I still don't trust these machines." I know. Spurgeon,” I said when Les led me to Noel Spurgeon’s study.It was late on Monday evening because I’d gone to karate practice before driving up to Glencoe. Samantha had arranged for me to talk with her dad, and then talk with her parents together.“Good evening, Steve. I suppose at this point, you should call me Noel.”“Thanks. I assume Samantha told you what she wants to do?”He nodded, “Actually, she asked my permission. I was surprised by that. Was that your doing?”“Yes. May I speak. My uh, wow. She turned up pregnant one day, and wouldn’t tell her parents who the father was. They originally took her there to see if they could get a blood test done. Erin had been so worried that they were going to have her have an abortion. She told them that even though things didn’t work out between her and the guy and that she no longer feels romantic feelings towards him,” Bree looked sad at those words, “she still loved her baby and didn’t want to kill it. But it turns out they. “Why do you think he went there with you?”“To protect me, I guess.”“So you proceeded to show him that you didn’t need his protection,” Gary said.“Right.”“Why?”“I don’t want people thinking they have to protect me.”“I guess that makes sense. I mean that’s why you left Arizona and moved here,” Gary said.“That’s right. My mothers were smothering me.”Gary settled back in his chair and crossed his legs. He smiled. It was more of a smug smile than a friendly smile.Betsy watched him for a minute. It.