(Author Note: This is the second story in a series.
For best results, read chapter 1, "A Yankee At St. Michael's Hall", first.)

Dinner on the first evening of term was a formal affair, with all the guest masters being treated to gourmet fare in the headmaster's private dining room. The cuisine was French, which perfectly suited Auguste Barbacane, Ph.D. A native of Rouen, the historic capital of the Normandy region of France, Barbacane had trouble finding really good French cuisine since moving to the New England region of the United States more than 20 years ago.

Auguste Barbacane was not the kind of man who typically gorged himself, but that evening he had been unable to resist the gourmet French feast laid out on the table. Now he simply sat, sipping Calvados Domfrontais - an apple-pear brandy made in Normandy, but hard to find in the United States. In his youth Barbacane held aspirations of becoming an athlete, but now he looked like nothing more than a middle-aged academic. That was, in fact, what he was - although he was actually a professor of psychology at Tufts University, not the high school French master he was pretending to be that week. Although Barbacane appeared to be sitting there passively sipping fruit brandy, he was in fact listening to the conversations that swirled around the headmaster's table.

"Headmaster" Edward Perkins was, in reality, a senior robotics engineer for Immersive Technologies Limited, the London Stock Exchange-listed firm that owned Victorian World, and several other historical immersion theme parks in the UK, including Sherwood Forest World. Perkins was in charge of the operation and maintenance of all androids in service at St. Michael's Hall.

Another of Perkins' major jobs at Victorian World appeared to be dispelling the many myths surrounding the androids used at the park that were believed by some of the guests.

MYTH: The Immersive Technologies Limited (ITL) "Androids" used at their parks are actually cyborgs that combine robotic brains and machinery/skeletons with real human skin and musculature.

FACT: ITL only deploys androids at their parks, including Victorian World. Androids are 100% artificial creations with no biological components. The latest 21st century technologies enabled ITL to simulate human skin and muscles in a very realistic fashion.

MYTH: The ITL Androids consist of human brains in artificial bodies. The human brain feels real pain, which explains their realistic reactions to pain stimuli.

FACT: The androids at Victorian World have completely artificial brains that are incapable of experiencing actual pain. These robotic brains are programmed to respond to stimuli as though they were feeling pain.

MYTH: The ITL androids have "Positronic Brains" that act as the central processing and decision-making computers on board.

FACT: The "Positronic Brain" is a purely fictional construct first imagined by famed science fiction author Issac Asimov. At the time that Asimov was writing his earliest robot stories (late 1930s) the positron was a recently discovered particle and so it was used as the basis for the new fictional buzzword. This fictional construct has been used in other science fiction stories through the years, most notably in the Star Trek franchise, where the android character Data was said to have a form of positronic brain.

MYTH: All ITL androids have been programmed with a version of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. These laws being:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

This final myth, when recounted by another guest, caused both Auguste Barbacane and his friend, Eric Collins, to laugh out loud. Both men were avid readers of science fiction and had discussed Asimov and his laws on several occasions. The "Three Laws of Robotics" were used as a plot device in the Asimov stories, and were total fiction. The funniest part was that even in the fictional world the laws didn't work very well. At least half of the Asimov robot stories involved robots running into problems with humans (or other robots) because of misinterpretation of one or more of the "Three Laws".

As Auguste and Eric chuckled, Edward Perkins very patiently explained that the ITL androids really ran on highly customized hardware and software. The main ITL processing hardware design, while officially classified as confidential trade secret information, had been publicly acknowledged to be a form of enhanced neural network. That was all that Perkins was allowed to reveal to his guests.

"So there are no safeguards on these androids?" protested Brian Parker. The young Englishman was the guest who had repeated the Asimov's Three Laws myth. He seemed to be smarting from the laughter directed at him by the young American and the middle-aged Frenchman.

"On the contrary," said Perkins, "our androids are programmed to be completely non-violent. Any violence that takes place in our parks is committed by guests, or by actors employed by the park."

"So there is no possibility of being injured while in this park?" said James Fielding, a middle-aged Englishman who was roleplaying the Latin Master that week.

"Well," said Perkins, "wherever humans are involved, there is always some possibility of them being injured - that is a simple fact of life. Like if a guest or staff member fell down some stairs. We do a lot of amazing things here at Victorian World, but normal physical laws still apply at all times."

"Fair enough," said Fielding, "but the androids themselves would never injure us?"

"Not intentionally," said Perkins. "But there could be situations where it could happen accidentally. For example, if you order one of our androids to stand on a chair, it will comply provided that noone else is sitting or standing on the chair at the time. If you kick the chair out from under the android at that point, the android could fall on you or another nearby human, causing accidental injury."

"Just for clarification," said Eric Collins, who was himself a computer engineer and faculty member at Tufts University, "you said an android will stand on a chair if 'noone else' is sitting or standing on that chair. What if another android is sitting or standing on the chair, instead of a human?"

"Our androids make no distinction between humans and other androids," said Perkins. "In fact only a few of our later model androids are even aware that they are themselves androids."

"So the android boys here at the school will never attack each other?" said Parker.

"No," said Perkins. "They are programmed to get into arguments and to tease each other. But they will never progress to pushing, shoving, and outright brawls like real boys do in similar situations. This is the area where our androids are the least realistic, but you can't have everything. Safety must come first."

"You said most of your androids aren't aware that they are androids," said Fielding. "So they think they are human?"

"To the extent that they actually 'think'," said Perkins, "the androids do believe that they are human, yes."

"Are they alive?" said Parker.

"Biologically they are not alive," said Perkins, "being manufactured entirely of mineral components. At what point artificial intelligence might become 'self aware', and whether that equates to 'being alive' is not really a technical question, at least not one for an engineer."

"Doctor Barbacane?" said Parker. "You're a psychologist, what do you think?"

"Well," said Barbacane, clearing his throat as he considered his answer. "I think your question is more properly a philosophical one, not a...."

"Don't dodge the question!" said Collins, grinning, "You're always doing that."

Barbacane put up his left hand in the universal sign language for 'stop'. "I will answer the question, mon ami. I merely wanted to point out that I consider it a philosophical question, not a psychological one."

"So what is your answer?" said Parker.

"It depends," said Barbacane. "If the androids become self-aware enough to think they are alive, then they might be. Until then, they are probably not alive."

"Wait," said Fielding, "you dodged the question after all."

"Told you!" said Collins, "He's always doing that."

Barbacane shrugged and said, "There are no definitive answers to philosophical questions, my friends." Collins chuckled and the conversation continued on. Meanwhile Barbacane decided that he had had enough decadence... and philosophy of automated systems... for one night. He drained the rest of the brandy from his glass and rose from the dinner table. After saying good night to his "colleagues" he headed for his study.

A short time later Doctor Barbacane sat in his study reviewing a French grammar text. He was a native speaker of Norman French, of course, but he was surprised at how much work this role-playing was turning into. He had been living and working in the United States for more than 20 years and that had taken a toll on his fluency in French.

In addition to being the new French Master for the next week, Barbacane had chosen the "Housemaster Option" at St. Michael's Hall. For an extra £250, Barbacane was also housemaster of Barnum House, one of the four residential houses at the school. This provided several benefits. Each evening a few boys from each house earned an invitation to "Report to their Housemaster" in his study before lights out. This was a guaranteed chance to punish several boys each night, plus the housemasters were the only "guest masters" allowed to cane the boys on their bare bottoms.

Barbacane's reading was interrupted by a respectful knock on the door of his study. He set aside the French grammar text before saying, "Enter!"

The door opened and Adrian Finch, an 18-year-old member of the upper sixth form, entered the room. The grey blazer that Finch wore over his standard St. Michaels school uniform signified that he was a prefect. "Good evening, sir."

"Good evening, Finch," said Barbacane. Finch was the senior prefect in Barnum House, and therefore in charge of collecting the boys who were on report each evening and making sure they presented themselves as required. "It seems I will be busy tonight."

"Unfortunately, yes, sir. Three in all: Cobbold, Dishell and Pyman."

Barbacane shook his head. "Is this typical, three out of 42 in a single night?"

"No, sir," said Finch, a thoughful look on his earnest young face. "One or two is more typical, but some of the lads can be a bit... boisterous... until they settle into a new school year."

"And some of them are curious about how strict their new housemaster may be?" said Barbacane.

A wry smile came to Finch's face. "I would imagine so, sir."

Barbacane couldn't help returning the smile. He had an initial meeting with Finch over tea the previous evening and found the young man charming. As a psychologist, Barbacane was trained to read human body language. He wasn't sure how ITL did it, but all of the androids that he had conversed with so far at Victorian World were hard to distinguish from real human beings. There was occasionally a slightly longer than expected pause in conversations, and the trained observer who spent enough time with the androids could tell that they stood or sat slightly too still when at rest. The androids did not exhibit all the normal small body movements that humans do without thinking about them, apart from blinking eyes. Other than that, they seemed completely human. "Why don't we see if I can leave an impression on these curiosity seekers?"

"Yes, sir," said Finch, taking his housemaster's cue and becoming serious again. He handed a list to Barbacane. "I'm sure the lads will calm down after the first few days of term."

The housemaster nodded his agreement as he examined the list and then said, "Very well, Finch. Let's have Cobbold in here first."

"Yes, sir." Finch opened the door and left the room. Within a few moments a younger boy, clad only in a linen night shirt, entered the room and closed the door behind him. The boy, who appeared to be about 14 years old, approached the housemaster's desk, then stood still, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Cobbold, is it?" said Barbacane. "Fourth Form?"

"Yes sir," said Cobbold.

"Is this your first term here at St. Michael's?"

"No sir," said Cobbold, "I've been here since First Form."

"So you're beginning your fourth year here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then presumably at some point during the last three years you were made aware of the school rules?"

"Yes, sir."

"Including the rule that students are not allowed out of their dorm rooms after lights out?"

"Yes, sir."

"A rule you broke last night."

Cobbold sighed. "Yes, sir."

"You should have known better," said Barbacane, "so I'm going to make an example of you."

Cobbold nodded, but was unable to find anything to say in response.

As Barbacane stood, he grasped the cane sitting on his desk. The boy, who presumably hadn't noticed it before, stared openly at the cane. The man moved from behind his desk and approached the sofa at the side of the room. He tapped the arm of the sofa lightly with the cane. "Bend over here, lad. Night shirt raised."

Cobbold reluctantly approached the sofa, and raised up his night shirt as he bent over the over-stuffed arm as ordered. As he moved into position, Barbacane admired the beautifully sculpted pair of buttocks he was about thrash. Once he was in position, Barbacane wasted no more time, tapping his cane lightly across the center of the presented bottom, making the twin cheeks twitch slightly. He reached back, swung the cane down and.... Tthhwwwwaaaaaccckk!

The night shirt, which had slipped up over Cobbold's head - which was face down on a sofa cushion - helped to muffle his gasp as the first stroke struck home. The immediate visible result was some clenching as the bottom absorbed the pain. A few seconds later, as Barbacane was lining up the cane for the second stroke, he actually saw the weal appear where the cane had struck. Perfection! After another few seconds of admiring the new stripe on the otherwise perfect backside, he reached back again, swung the cane down and.... Tthhwwwwaaaaaccckk!

Barbacane was determined to make an example of young Cobbold, and gave him six hearty cuts of the cane before allowing the lad to get up and pull down his night shirt, covering a pair of well-striped buttocks.

Soon enough the second "guest" of the evening, Ronald Dishell, a 13-year-old third former, had taken his place over the end of the sofa. As he applied the requisite six stripes to the cringing buttocks, Barbacane noticed one oddity about the boy androids... except for size, their buttocks were startling similar. Of course their shape was magnificent, nearing perfection, so Barbacane wasn't going to complain about that.

He certainly found nothing to complain about with the buttocks presented by Pyman, a 15-year-old fifth former who was the last miscreant to be dealt with that evening. Although the lad was easily able to keep himself quiet as six bright stripes were imprinted on his posterior by the cane, the muscles in his gorgeous bottom cheeks flexed involuntarily in anticipation of each new stroke.

After the final boy had been dismissed and Finch escorted his charges back to their dorms, Barbacane poured himself a nightcap of Napoleon brandy and returned to his desk. Before resuming his study of the French grammar text, Barbacane enjoyed a few sips of brandy and a good laugh at the fusion of the latest modern robotic technology and ancient disciplinary techniques that had just occurred in his study, entirely for his own amusement.