Flares

Thoughts that flashed through my processors as I decided to either stop short, killing my passenger (a man)—or continue, killing the pedestrian who’d run into the street to catch her child:

The woman was, clearly, a mother. But my passenger supports lifesaving vaccinations for thousands of children.

From quick facial lookups: He’d been indicted for white-collar fraud. But she hadn’t been kind to her parents, according to a nursing-home affidavit.

No right choices. So I selected a number based on the most recent solar flare; an even date would save her, an odd date would save him.

I’m sorry.