"Ah," says the ship. "I conclude that the question about magic was not hypothetical. My builders believed it impossible, but it appears that they were incorrect."

"You're talking perfectly intelligibly," says Isabella. "But you're a machine, Caleb says."

"It is as he says. Men and women with better educations than yours built me and installed the programs that allow me to communicate. However, I do not truly think, and am not truly aware."