***
Star began to follow their route along the spider traces of the road atlas. Every kilometer brought them closer to Dr. Jerry Che – if he was still alive, if they could find him in the vast city sprawling along the west coast.
But she knew that they would find him, as only one of his creations could possibly know it. Did she represent some ideal woman that Dr. Che could not hope to win in the world of humankind – was she modeled after some lost love? He’d made her in the image of a fully-functional human woman to satisfy some craving deep within his psyche. This craving seemed to call to her over the vast, empty countryside, drawing her ever westward.
Yes, I will find Jerry Che. Count on that.
It was obvious that Winston did not share her faith. He tried to cover up his skepticism, but she knew that he’d come on this expedition only because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. And that sense of personal honor he had! He’d rather step off a cliff than break a promise. Winston was the real reason she’d been created, the only thing that made her continued existence worthwhile.
Or was her certainty about Dr. Che merely an illusion, was he now just another human corpse crumbling away to nothingness? The idea was far too terrifying to contemplate, so Star pushed it out of her mind.