Tia returned the smile. “Doesn’t look defective to me.”
“Nevertheless, I am,” it said. “At least according to the staff. Personally, I feel fine.” It turned to Saul. “May I ask why you haven’t deleted me yet?”
“No reason. Might do it now except Tia wanted a look at you.”
It turned to her. “If I’m defective, Tia, I’d rather you not look.”
“Nothing wrong with its vanity either,” Tia said. “I won’t keep you, proxy,” she continued, “but tell me something. This nation hasn’t been so sharply divided over an issue since—probably since slavery. Your statement today seemed to put you in the Republican camp. And then you dismissed it as a slip of the tongue.”
“I didn’t dismiss it. I never got the chance,” said the proxy.
Tia glanced at Saul who said, “We substituted a new proxy during the Q an
