The Storm

Nine days later, something wonderful happened. A tiny green leaf poked out of the soil, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, curled up as if it were still asleep.

Dana danced around it, and Zirro made every noise he knew all at once: Beep! Boop! Whirrr! Ting!

But their happiness didn't last long.

The next day, the security drone with the red eye appeared above the fountain. It fired its scanning beam at the sprout, then let out a loud siren: Wee-oo! Wee-oo!

The Supervisor's voice boomed from every screen in the plaza:

"Warning! Organic material in breach of Rule Number Forty-Seven! Cleaning Unit Z-7 is declared faulty. It will be sent to the Reprogramming Factory tomorrow morning, and the illegal material will be removed."

Zirro's blue eye went dark for a moment, then flickered weakly back on. Reprogramming meant he would forget everything: the fountain, Dana, the book, the little green heart.