Pink and Blue:

One day later, on their way home, they received another commission from Esmeralda.

"Judge this man's soul, and make your decision on what to request from me. Also, take a look at the soul of the lady he is trying to molest. You might like to ask me to pre-judge her soul, in the same way that I have pre-judged yours."

"Ok, we're off." said Blue.

They started walking in the indicated direction.

"What's with the extra step of pre-judging of the lady?" asked Pink.

"Wouldn't have a clue. But before we can get to that, I suggest we do as before, you immobilise him, we read his soul, then ask Esmeralda to act." said Blue.

Following their directions, they walked to a house, hopped over the fence, around the back, opened the back door and went to the first bedroom on the right. They looked at the two people there. One man, currently tying down a lady to a table... The man froze in surprise as they walked in.

Pink and Blue looked at the tableau. Looked in growing horror and what else was on the table, and on the shelf and bench next to the table.

Pink gasped.

Blue said "Hold him!"

Ten seconds later his body was on the floor and the unseen welcome committee had politely thanked them before disappearing with the man's soul.

"We need to look after the lady now." said Pink.

Pink placed her hand on the lady's free hand. "It's all right, now, he won't be hurting you or anyone else."

Blue moved to the other side of the table, and released her other hand which had been held to the table by a homemade manacle.

"Here, let us help you sit up, that's right, put your legs over the edge and let Pink support you as you stand."

The lady was white with fear, trembling and looking as if she might vomit at any moment. She was dressed in a short tight fitting skirt and a top designed to show off her assets. Blue hesitated slightly as he tried to remember something. But Pink was faster.

"You're Molly, the lady we helped out before!”

"That's right, the, err, worker, who was slapped by that man who didn't want to pay you." said Blue.

"You can just say prostitute, it's ok, I know what I am." said Molly, for the time being running on automatic and saying the first thing her mind could think of.

"Ah, sorry." said Blue.

Molly almost collapsed, so Pink ended up supporting her full weight.

"But, but, what happened? First that - horror - was going to, going to, “Molly was gagging and looked like she really was going to vomit.

Pink hugged her and patted her back. "It's all right, nothing is going to happen now."

Molly calmed down, a little. She looked down at the body. "And what was all of that? The man was dragged off by more - horrors - but his body is still here."

"Oh, you actually saw that part?" said Blue.

"Well, it was right in front of me."

"Hmm, interesting. I'll tell you what, what about we read your soul and in return you can take a look at ours? It could make the explanation a bit easier." said Pink.

"Huh?"

"For a start, let's get outside." said Blue.

They sat on a garden bench in the back yard of the man's house. Pink had carried out Molly, since she was still not fully functional, and gently placed her between the two of them.

"Comfortable?" said Pink.

Molly nodded her head.

Esmeralda gave Molly got a brief, comprehensive, run down on Pink and Blue. Not to any great detail but enough to make her realise that they were not your normal average teenagers. Enough so that she would be able to make an informed decision.

In return, Pink and Blue received a carefully selected montage of Molly's life and times. Esmeralda artfully avoided any of the yuckier parts of being a prostitute, since she really was looking after Pink's and Blue's peace of mind. But what she showed them was dramatic enough.

Images of Molly as a young girl, being looked after by her mother and father. Her father's death, her mother's decline into alcoholic stupor. Her first love affairs and the decisions that led her to start accepting money for them. Her long fight in keeping her mother alive and well, and her eventual failure as her mother died. The times she had co-operated in looking after her fellow workers when they had bouts of sickness, or were recovering from physical assaults. There were other good deeds as well. For example the extra effort she went to be kind to the client who was a eighteen year old boy, due to die in three month's time from cancer. The times she managed to change the minds of young ladies who were thinking of joining her profession. But there were also other times, other young ladies, for whom she didn't make any effort. There were times she was, effectively, the enabler for her clients, enabling them to cheat on their wives. There were all the little lies and deceits she told her clients, just to make them feel better and to get them to pay more. There was also the times she was beaten up on the job, or narrowly avoided being beaten up.

For Pink and Blue, it was like visiting a foreign country, a country with a completely different way, and not a very pleasant way either, of doing things. A country which, for all of its differences, was inexplicitly right next door to their nice and normal country, their own country where the people looked after each other and loved each other.

Molly: the now ex-prostitute

The three of them sat on the bench. After a while, Molly collected her wits sufficiently to start taking notice of her surroundings again. She turned her head to Pink, then to Blue.

"That's amazing, simply amazing. A pink, totally human, robot, and a reincarnated boy. Plus all of that judgement stuff. And an Alien Data Species in the sky." she shook her head in wonder.

"But, but, it doesn't change the fact that I was almost, almost..."

Blue and Pink waited until she was composed again.

"There is no way I can go back to doing what I was doing before - every time I see a strange man I'm going to start freaking out."

She shuddered. "Which probably wouldn't be all that good for business, anyway." she added, attempting to add a bit of levity to the discourse.

She lapsed back to being filled with fear and terror.

"What now? What do I do? I got into this job because I had no particular academic ability or desire to study. And nobody wants an ex-prostitute..."

She took a close look at Pink's hand, holding her arm. Warm to touch, totally human looking. "Still, just thinking about what you have shown me takes my mind of the horrors. For that, I'm grateful."

"About your future." said Blue, "We might be able to help you there, also. Esmeralda must have taken a liking to you, as she has offered to pre-judge you. Just like I and Pink were. So, presumably, you will end up with a completely changed outlook on life. You still don't know where that would lead you, but I think it would certainly change your options."

"Pre-judge. Just like you and Pink." Molly was silent for a moment.

"But, let me see, I met you first before Pink was pre-judged. And she was already sweet and innocent. And I'm sure you were, also, even before your judgement. Whereas me, well, I've certainly accumulated a few rough edges. If both of you found your pre-judgements somewhat tough going, how will I find it?"

"I suppose it will be hard going," said Pink. "But Esmeralda has offered, so I'm sure it will turn out all right."

Molly turned her head as if to look back, back into the house where the man's body still lay. Through her mind's eye she replayed the man's last moments, as his soul was dragged away to wherever he was going to.

"When you read my soul, how bad was it compared to that horror?" said Molly.

Both Blue and Pink laughed.

"There was absolutely no comparison!" said Pink.

"His soul was black throughout. Whereas, yours..." said Blue.

"Actually, it's interesting. We have just realised that, up to now, we have only read souls at the two extremes. Either ours, or completely psychopathic ones. Oh, and Blue has also had a brief glimpse into Earth Watch Prime's. Yours is the first one which is not at either extreme. But it is still not all that far from the good side; you do have some black patches here and there, but nowhere near as much as that man's." said Pink.

Molly did some thinking aloud. "If I get myself pre-judged now, it may be painful, but at least I vastly reduce my chances of being dragged off by, whatever they were, when I'm judged for real. And if I don't, then I will have to endure the pain anyway, and by the time I die I might have become worse."

Deep breath. Remember what happened in the end to that man. "Ok, I'll do it."

Esmeralda granted their wish.

And Molly did have a much worse time of it than the two teenagers did. It felt like minor surgery, without anaesthetic. Painful. Esmeralda dug around in her psyche, and found quite a number of little sins. Many that Molly had totally forgotten about, Each was surgically excised, with exquisite precision, and dangled before her eyes as Esmeralda carried out a debriefing for Molly's benefit, before it was flicked away into the abyss and the next was found. To balance out the pain, Esmeralda also highlighted the good that was in Molly's life, the love that she had given or received, gentle times enjoying her friend's company, the moments of laughter. The examination wound to its conclusion and Molly was back to her childhood, aged eight, sitting on her mother's lap as she read her a story. Warm, relaxing, protected.

"There you are, I will now give you back to the care of Pink and Blue." said Esmeralda's voice. The image from her childhood dissolved and she was back on the garden bench, being supported by Pink.

Pink and Blue:

To Molly it felt like hours. To Pink and Blue, it was just a moment. Molly gasped, and sagged. Pink caught her before she could fall off the bench.

"I think she's gone to sleep." said Pink.

"Right. We can take her back to your house and look after her. In the meanwhile, there's still a dead body inside..." said Blue.

"I'll call the police on your behalf." said Prime.

Considering the circumstances, both Janet and Charlie had elected to be the first responders to their call.

They found Blue and Pink outside, with Pink holding Molly's sleeping body.

"Are you sure she is OK?" said Janet.

"Yes, she's just sleeping. It's been a big shock to her. You will see why, when you go inside." said Blue.

"You must be physically very strong." said Charlie to Pink.

"Why, thanks."

Janet:

Charlie and Janet stood in the room, the body at their feet. They looked at the paraphernalia strewn around on the table and the benches.

"Gulp, I feel a little sick." said Charlie.

Janet patted his back. "Do you want to go outside? The others will be arriving soon."

"No, I think I'll be right. And what's this, some sort of diary?"

Charlie picked it up and perused various pages. "Yeah, it is some sort of diary. And I think I definitely will go outside. Some fresh air will do me good."

Looking several shades whiter than when he had entered, he left. Janet, being older and a more experienced police officer, stayed behind. She skimmed through the diary. There were names in it, some of which Janet recognised from previous unsolved cases. She carefully put the diary down. She looked at the body.

"Give him hell. Please. He certainly gets no mercy from me."

Janet and Charlie were now outside, taking down an initial statement from Pink and Blue. Molly was still out of it. By now, more police officers had arrived, and the crime scene investigation was in full swing.

"Well, boss, what do we do about Molly?" said Charlie.

Pink spoke up and said that they were happy to look after her for the time being.

"That's kind of irregular." said Janet. "But, on the other hand, she's got to go somewhere, and if the doctor says she's Ok, I suppose so..."

The doctor, who had been called in to certify that the man was dead, did say she was Ok.

"Ok, Ok." said Janet. "Charlie can drive you back to your house. We will call on you sometime soon. Just try not to generate any more bodies until we've had time to process this one, Ok?"

Molly:

The next day, at breakfast in Pink's place.

There was Pink and Blue and Martha present, as well as Molly. Without her makeup on, and still recovering from her ordeal, she looked like a wreck, particularly in the harsh morning light.

"Sorry for my looks, all of these creases and lines on my face. One of the results of my previous lifestyle." said Molly.

"That's fine, dear." said Martha. "What would you like for breakfast?"

A little later.

"I've been going over in my mind Pink's and Blue's stories. And I've decided I might as well go the full distance and get a radio link implant also. Is that acceptable?"

"No problems!" said Pink. "Prime is always delighted to be able to examine another human from close up."

Pink and Blue, already in their school uniforms, happily skipped off to school, leaving it all to Martha. So she did the honours, and under guidance from Horatio, led Molly to the room where the implanting units were.

That lunchtime, Pink and Blue sat on their bench at the school, and had a conversation with Martha and Molly, who were also having lunch, at Pink's house.

[I still feel like I'm out of balance and need to adjust to things.] said Molly.

[Feel free to stay as a visitor as long as you need to.] said Pink, [The house is plenty big enough to accommodate us all.]

[And now that you're a full member of the club, you don't have to worry about making a living.] said Prime. [At least, until you work out what you want to do.]

Charlie and Janet:

Charlie called in that evening and took down the statements from all concerned. He used the 'Standard Report for Angelic Assistance" again, filling it out on his police issued laptop.

He ran his hand through his hair.

I still don't quite believe this

And then clicked on the submit button.

It next appeared on Janet's computer terminal. Janet was working late, dealing with all the paperwork associated with the case. She raised her eyebrows, added her signature, and after a moment's hesitation, also sent it on.

Molly: Starting her new life

Molly stayed for a week. She helped Martha with the meals and the cleaning up, and spent the time wandering about. She also placed a few calls to her friends and work companions, saying she was all right but was taking some time out.

Eventually she announced at the evening meal: "Even if Horatio is getting good value out of me, I feel I must get out and do something. So, tomorrow I shall move back to my normal accommodations, and I will check up on various people I know."

"Fine, fine. You will always be in contact, anyway!" said Pink.

Her normal accommodation was in a large house with a couple of other ladies, also prostitutes. It made them feel safer, to have like minded companions within reach. Molly unlocked the front door and walked in.

"Hi, I'm back home!" she said.

Only to find the only other person home was a young lady, sitting on the sofa in the living area - with a black eye and bruises to her arms, and looking very sorry for herself.

"What happened!" said Molly. Although, of course, she knew perfectly well.

"Just another minor beating up from a client."

A week earlier, Molly would have sympathised and gotten her some tea or coffee. Now, however, she felt rage building up within her.

"There is no such thing as a minor beating up! You can't just let some man get away with this, it will only encourage more! If you give the man what he wants then he should damn well be grateful and pay his money! You deserve better than that! We provide a valuable service to society, you know!"

"Ah, we do?" The young lady attempted to parse the last statement, but found it too strange to cope with.

"Here, we are going to the hospital to make sure you are really Ok, then we are going to report it to the police." said Molly.

"But, but, didn't you always say it's too much bother for minor things like this?"

"That was then. This is now. I've changed my mind."

First stop, the Emergency Room at the local hospital. By chance, the doctor who took their case was Rebecca's father, doing his weekly stint on the coal face. However neither he nor Molly knew who the other was, yet.

"Well, young lady, you appeared to have escaped any serious injury, this time. Although blows to the eye are always problematical, just a little too much pressure in the wrong place and it could cause problems. Ah, perhaps you could try a, err, somewhat less stressful line of work?"

"Maybe."

Next stop, the police station.

"Ah, sorry to bother you, normally I wouldn't for such a minor case, but my friend Molly just insisted..."

"That's all right," said Sergeant Charlie. "Anything that leads to injuries is a valid cause of complaint. Hmm, where it can become irksome is if you withdraw your complaint before we can proceed..."

"Right. I shall make sure she doesn't back out!" said Molly.

Molly returned the lady to her house. And then, feeling all fired up and with energy to burn, she went out again, to visit some others she knew.

Within three days, she was organising a union for sex workers. Within a week she had made contacts with charitable and social outreach organisations, and was doing everything she could think of to enable their missions, but at the same time without stepping on their toes. This is where having a radio link to the world's most powerful artificial intelligence really paid off. Earth Watch Prime, with his vast links to the World Wide Web, could ferret out all sorts of information: like-minded organisations, people who may be willing to contribute in some way, governmental programmes that may be of help. Within three weeks, she had her own office, paid for by Prime of course, and was in constant contact with a large range of people. All at the grass roots level, as of yet she was not on the radar of anyone in real power.

Within a few more days:

"Hmm, err, Molly, we know that you are doing wonders in helping us, and helping lots of others in need, and I'm for one will always be grateful for your aid, but..."

This was the young lady Molly had first helped.

"Let me guess, having me live in the same accommodation as you is beginning to feel inappropriate, isn't it?" said Molly.

"Ah, yes, but no offense..."

"Actually, I was thinking the same. So no offense taken. And I will still be visiting to make sure everything is all right."

With that, Molly moved back to Pink's house.

Very soon after, Molly and Horatio ambushed Martha. It was at breakfast, after the teenagers had gone to school.

"Martha, you know how you have said you were aiming to find some work somewhere down the line?" said Molly.

"Ah, yes?"

"Well, how about you become my secretary and office assistant? I need someone to answer the phone and who knows the full extent of my circumstances." said Molly.

"But, but, I've never been an office worker. And, also, I'm kind of reluctant to work at a full time job, let alone two and a half jobs like you currently are." said Martha.

"Ah ha! This is where I come in!" said Horatio, making an appearance.

"Most of your work will be answering the phone and keeping the records and managing Molly's calendar. And guess who is the most proficient at that amongst us?"

"An alien data species intelligence?" said Martha.

"That's it! The story we will put out is that you physically attend the office only an hour or so a day, but at other times you are always in telephone contact. But, in actual fact, I will always be the one to answer the phone, and I will do all of the record keeping and arranging. All you need to do in your hour at the office is to open the snail mail and read it, thus allowing me to read it, and to put pieces of paper into the filing cabinet. Sounds easy?" said Horatio.

"I'm beginning to warm up to the idea. But what if someone rings you, and asks for something that requires my personal input?" said Martha.

"No worries. You are always just a radio link away, so if someone really wants your personal attention, I'll patch him or her through direct to you." said Horatio.

"Which leads me to the next topic..." said Molly.

"Ah, yes again?"

"Well, you are happy to keep on living here, where you can see Pink every day?" said Molly.

"Ah, yes?"

"Which means your own house is left vacant..."

"I think I can see where this is leading."

"In today's real estate market you wouldn't get much money selling it, but if you were prepared to let Horatio to continue paying the mortgage, I know a young couple with children who have just lost their jobs and are desperate to find accommodation in that area..."

Pink and Blue:

So that weekend Horatio arranged the hire of a Ute and Martha and Pink and Blue went out to Martha's house to move all of her personal stuff out.

"Actually, the garden needs a bit of a clean up too" said Martha. She looked expectantly at them, and in particular Pink.

"We get the message. You pack up your stuff, and we pull out all of the weeds. And Pink can do the heavy lifting." said Blue.

"Why, thank you." said Martha. "While you're about it, can Pink try removing that small tree in the corner. It always was a nuisance."

Pink bent over, got a firm grip on the tree trunk just above ground level. The trunk was about ten centimetres diameter. She revved up her main hydraulic pumps so much that Blue could actually hear them, a moderate hum. She slowly straightened, and as she did the tree, plus its root ball, reluctantly released its grip on earth and came out.

"Wow, that's impressive!" said Blue.

"Why, thanks." said Pink.

She violently shook the tree to dislodge all of the soil from the roots, and then broke the trunk and main branches into several pieces.

"Right Blue! Now you can do some work and put this into the bin."

"Yes, dear. Immediately."

Later that evening, when they were in their bedroom.

"Blue, I don't suppose you would like to give me a back massage. It's aching a little from pulling out that tree."

"Sure, take off your shirt and lie on the bed... Wait a minute, you're a robot, how can you have aching muscles?"

"Dumb idiot! I'm supposed to look as human as possible. So my muscles might be made of high strength flexible polymer plastics and be powered by hydraulics, unlike your biological muscles, but they look and act just like yours. And if I exert maximum force, they can become a just a little stretched, and I perceive it as muscle soreness, just like you do. And if my muscles are sore, a bit of massage can work wonders."

"Right. No worries."

Blue ran his hands down her back. "Where does it feel the sorest?"

"Right at the base of the spine."

Blue moved the hem of her panties down a bit, and got stuck into a bit of deep tissue work.

"And you can press with as much strength as you can manage!"

Two evenings later. It was well after tea, and Pink and Blue were just about to call it an evening when Molly arrived home. As she waved hello and made a beeline for the fridge where Martha had put her meal, Prime allowed them to overhear a small amount of Molly's current radio link activity. She was talking, via Earth Watch Prime, who then relayed it on to the normal mobile phone network.

"Right, I can make a meeting at, ah," Here Prime consulted the calendar and gave the time direct to Molly's current working memory, "At 1:00pm tomorrow. I know we have a small budget, but I'm also hopeful of getting another party to contribute something. He was an orphan once, and is willing to help out. But I can only go until 1:45pm, since I have another meeting with the hospital after care programme, ah, sorry, after that I'm then meeting with the Hungry Streets outreach programme, and, hmm, I can arrange another meeting the day after at 7:00pm, if that's all right, it is? Ok, it's in my calendar. Bye bye."

Click.

Molly put the meal in the microwave and sat down.

"Hi, teenagers! Have a busy day at school?"

Pink and Blue looked at each other.

"Where on earth do you get your energy from?" said Blue. "I mean, we come home and we think we're tired out from school, yet you make us look like we're doing nothing."

"I don't know. Maybe it's a side effect of being prejudged? Also, I would like to point out that having Horatio organise everything and keep it all straight in my mind is a big help."

"Hmm, maybe. We're going to bed. Good night." said Pink.

Molly: Reflecting on her new life

Molly spent another half hour on the phone arranging another meeting, before also retiring. As she composed herself to sleep, she, as always, could not help but run the terror through her mind's eye, again. Going out to that man's place. The first feelings of panic at his actions. Her rescue by Pink and Blue. The man's judgement. Her own prejudgement. Prime knew what she was thinking, but she saw no need to tell anyone else.

"If I had kept going the way I was, would I have ended up being judged like that man was?" she asked herself.

"What about the others around me, like that young lady whom I found had been beaten up when I came home?"

"What about the clients? Maybe some of them will end up having their souls dragged away."

"No way do I want that horror to be visited upon myself, or anyone else, if I can avoid it."

This is what fired her up and gave her the energy. Saving herself, and saving others. As long as she was active at this, she could keep the terror she had felt on that day under control. Content with her day's progress, she curled up in bed and drifted off to sleep.

Lex:

We shall take another little interlude, and briefly watch Lex again:

As we saw from his seduction of both Martha and Rebecca, Lex had considerable social engineering skills. Extremely high skills. For example, he had become a confidant with Premier Watson. So gradually and smoothly, that Watson did not quite realise just how much of his ambitions he was prepared to share with Lex. And just how much influence Lex exerted back.

They were in a private corner at some official party.

"Ah, Lex, I sometimes think that things are moving too slowly. I need to make my mark on history, show the world what I'm made of. And I need to do it fairly, by actually demonstrating my ability to be a leader, choose the correct goals to strive for, and to guide the people to achieve them. If given half a chance, most people will do their best help their country. It’s a matter of aligning the incentives so that, by acting in their own best interests, they also act in the interests of the whole." said Premier Watson.

"Of course, sometimes sacrifices must be made..." said Lex.

"Certainly. That is why a strong leader is required. If people must be sacrificed, it must be done in the most effective way possible. Do it wrong, and you will earn lifelong enemies. Do it right, and since people will only ever care about their selves and their immediate families, then you can get away with it. But, of course, it is wrong to sacrifice people unless there is a real need for it."

"Well, naturally. One wonders what sort of sacrifice would be necessary to hasten what you want?" said Lex.

"Well, if you look at similar situations in history, normally it is some manmade disaster like an attack by the enemy. Once that happens, then the people are all clamouring for a solution. So if a strong leader can step in and show the way, then ..."

"Just as a wild suggestion, why not arrange with Premier Johnson to have such an attack?"

"Eh?"

"Well, after all, you are still in continual contact, what with trade across the river and all of the shared infrastructure and so on. Of course, from his point of view, he would be seeing the attack as a means of exerting and strengthening his own hand."

"Ah. Ha Ha! That's a great joke!" said Watson.

"I agree! Let's go and see if the entertainment is starting." said Lex.

But the seed was planted. Lex was very hopeful. Especially since, he had already had almost the same conversation with Premier Johnson the previous night.

The Two Premiers:

The two Premiers did get together. At one of the many civic planning meetings that had to take place between the two sides, if they wished to keep the city running. They came to a cautious agreement. Of course, both expected to be the ones to gain the most from the arrangement, and both decided that the sacrifice, while regrettable, would be worthwhile.

Pink and Blue:

Pink and Blue gradually got used to their new status of having a certain amount of notoriety at their school. And next week, they discovered what real notoriety was.