"Why—why Toory—" Babs cried.
"I want to hold your hand and lead you, Miss Babs. I am going to do it now." Toory's great metal legs clanked as he took a slow step forward.
"The thing's gone wild," Higgins choked. "It's comin' at us! Tell it to keep away from us! You tell it—"
"W-wait, Toory," Babs whispered.
"You hear?" Higgins almost screamed, "You hear that, you crazy—"
"No," Toory said. The disobedience was a shattering thing. It so frightened Toory, hearing his own voice say it, that his huge body stood twitching with a chaos impossible to control.
"I am going to lead you home, Miss Babs. It is better for us to go home now."
It was more than just independent thinking. Toory didn't know what it was; but in all the tumult within him there seemed to be the knowledge that this was the only right thing for him to do. Now he was clanking forward with determined steps.
Higgins jumped behind Babs and gasped wildly, "You keep away!"
"No," Toory said.