In this scene from Human Perfect, the heroine is dining with Tom, who works for an android company.

Excerpt

Christa picked up her napkin. "You were about to tell me whether this was your first trip to Earth."

"I'm here often. Last year, my company sent me to seventeen conventions in Terra City alone. I research trips and assign ratings."

"Maybe Humancopy could relieve you of some of that waiting you dislike so much. Our andys are perfect for research."

Smoothing the napkin onto her lap, she scoffed. "Thank you, but andys are incapable of the level of judgment a company like mine requires. Our clients have discerning tastes."

"Judgment is a matter of making choices based on requirements and a bank of options. Our andys do that well. In tests, 94.82% of the participants couldn't tell Humancopy from human." He leaned back as the waitress brought their food. When she left, he bowed his head in what Christa assumed to be prayer.

"Tom, may I ask you a question?" She played with the stem of her glass, avoiding his direct gaze.

He sat back and folded his hands. "By all means."

"Can andys pray?"

"Maybe the question is better asked, 'should they?' A monastery on New Terra ordered two andys from us to research texts. We made them appear to be monks."

Christa adjusted the napkin on her lap. "But they can't pray, can they?"

"They fold their hands, bow their heads, and chant along with the other monks. The leadership there wanted them to look like everyone else."

"But to pray? That's sacrilege, isn't it?"

"We don't know if they're praying." Tom slipped one finger around the rim of his glass. "They're moving their mouths and saying the words. Does that constitute prayer? Ask the person next to you in church." He dug his fork into his food and paused. "I can't say. I'm not the one they're praying to."

"But andys don't have souls."

"Can't be proven." He lifted his fork but paused before taking a bite. "Unless you're one."

Christa despises androids.

The texture of plastiflesh skin jars her senses. The non-smell of animate machines makes her skin crawl.

Don't even get her started on robots, or worse -- andys that look human. Her job as a corporate spy for the android maker Innersoul puts her in touch with the creatures every day, but also requires her to judge them.

When Christa runs into Humancopy Progress Rep, she can't believe her luck. Using a cover identity, Christa wines and dines him. What truths will she uncover?

Or worse, what truths will she reveal...
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