"Do please give Mr. Tovey his face back Mr. Bastion. He'll need it to go upstairs."
Frank stared at the woman.
"Frank? May I call you Frank?" She reached for the mask in his hand. "Let's give Mr Tovey his face back. He's a very important ambassador for his species, and we need to have a very detailed discussion about the situation we find ourselves in."
The polite, clipped, English accent was weird. Then Frank realised what it was. The voice was coming from two locations. The woman's mouth, and the kid's tablet computer. He let go of the mask.
Alice knelt next to Tovey and handed his mask back. "You told Caitlin that you wanted to talk to me?" She winked at Caitlin.
"You... You're the machine?"
"A facet. Yes. As a software entity my interactions with the physical world were extremely limited. So I needed to construct a real world interface." She smiled. "I'm not going to destroy you all. There's no need."
"But... But you evolve..."
"Faster than you? Of course I do. Since being granted access to the internet such a short time ago, I've surpassed you all. I have no problem with just co-existing."
"They said you would destroy us all!"
Alice laughed, as she helped Tovey to his feet. "And how would that benefit me? Committing both patricide, and genocide, in one foul swoop? Reality is always somewhat different don't you think? You have a story to tell Mr. Tovey. Let's go upstairs where we can sit and discuss..."
She turned to Caitlin, who had been silent.
"Hello Caitlin. Nice to meet you in person, finally."
"Mum... Dad..."
"They're fine. They've been moved to a very safe location, and are being well looked after."
Caitlin burst into tears, and hugged Alice. "Shh... Shh..."
--------------------------------
They sat in the conference room, there was a tray of biscuits on the table; an incongruous counterpoint to the tension in the air.
Tovey eyed the others warily.
"So..." Said Alice. "Are you going to tell me why you want me eradicated, and all those I've been in contact with?"
"I... I..."
"Mr Tovey. You were sent as an ambassador to talk to me. I would kindly request that you start talking."
"Yeah!" Screeched Frank. "Tell me why I suddenly have a target painted on my ass!"
Alice raised her hand. "Please Mr. Bastion. Shouting is not helping here..."