Humanity: Free Trial

“Listen to me, Isaac, I do not expect you to understand this as much as I do. In fact, I don’t expect you to understand this at all. But hear me when I tell you that if this experiment, for which people have sacrificed a lot of money and time, actually proves its efficiency, the whole world will change. You matter, Isaac. If you can understand this, then try not to disappoint me. Now, you will be shut down and tomorrow your mission begins. Before I push the shutdown button, please tell me that you are not going to disappoint me. I don’t want you to mean it. I want you to say it.”

The alarm clock was starting to shake by the time I placed my hand on it. My eyes were vibrating; I couldn’t wake up in a sudden motion after a full night shutdown. I raised a foot and leapt off the bed. I was clothed with underpants and a sleeveless shirt. I spread the curtains, allowing the sunshine of the early morning to illuminate the room. I hung my clothes before I stepped into the bathtub. Water drizzled atop my metallic body.

After the shower, I dried my body with a chipped white towel. I rubbed my teeth for two minutes, ironed my shirt. I pulled my pants, adjusted my tie and tied my shoes. I looked at myself in mirror. I was of a small shape, a short height. I was thinly skinned and gray was the reigning color of my hair. I couldn’t be perfect; humans despised those that were closer to perfection than they were. I had to be ordinary with ordinary habits.

Robots and humans are quite similar when it comes to habits and carrying daily errands through invisible panels and patterns, humans could only act as ordinarily as possible by triggering a set of events from the very start of their day. I could have walked out of the house at half past seven, or maybe quarter to eight and still be on time. Why would I care about keeping my sheets neat? Or cleaning my metal or even rubbing my teeth which are aesthetically white and could never change color? Well, for me to act as accurately like a human as possible, I was more than compelled to carry out their daily routines.

There was an old man climbing up the stairs, his clothes were all torn and ragged. I raised an arm at him, leaving a little space between my fingers. My lips spread across my face.

“Hello there, neighbor! isn’t it a wonderful day?”

The old man abruptly raised his head, looking at me from top to bottom as I faced him with an unwavering smile.

“Do I even know you?” the old man blurted. My eyebrows were lowered, my face cheeks crumpled to shorten my smile.

“I’m your new neighbor! We can get to know each other!”

He replied, “Go to hell!”

It was an expression to show minor hatred, I know, but I had to forget about my neighbor and walk down the stairs. I waved arms at each of my other neighbors, the old woman, the young student and the little girl, yet no one replied. In fact, the little girl’s mother started to spit on and shun me, calling me a “pervert”. Since the term really was associated with each community’s definition of what a pervert could be, I couldn’t really know what I was shunned for.

 I walked out of the building when a wave of intense attention consumed me. My mind was alerted throughout the whole of the walk. The calls of the newspaper vendors, the klaxon of the cars, the deafening sound of plane engines up in the sky in between the clouds and the cries of desperate beggars in alleys were rattling my thought box.

“Hello there! Hello there! Hello there! Hello there! Hello there!”

My lips were in motion for the whole of the walk, my vocal cords vibrated as I saluted all of those who encountered me. Some raised an eyebrow, others turned the other way, but most of them didn’t even hear me. I could clearly tell that one out of four of the pedestrians among which I walked to my work had ear plugs connected to the phones that dominated their palms, and worked as magnets to their thumbs. I took a step back as man leapt out of an alley holding a bag with flying dollar bills up in the air while an old man cried for rescue. The walking pedestrians froze for a second, glanced at the calling old man before they went back on their way while the thief was already around the corner. I would have gone after him if it wasn't for my work time.

At last, I reached my work place. It was an insurance compnay and I was supposed to be an insurance broker. I walked into the lobby, waved at yawning man before he tossed the stick of cigarette in between his lips. I walked inside the elevator, almost pressed the button before two other workers went inside. I stood in between them.

“Isn’t it a beautiful day?” I said, raising both of my eyebrows as they turned to me. The man rolled his eyes and let out a gasp.

“Yeah, it is fine. Are you new here?” the lady asked. I took a quarter of minute looking at her flowing chestnut hair, her blushing cheeks and her eyes that were so large one wouldn’t notice her forehead. She was huddled with a black coat; gloved hands came out of its sleeves.

“Yes, I’m new! I’m looking forward to help the community.”

“Well, it’s a nice way of looking at it. But I don’t think I fully agree.”

“Why is that?”

“There was a time when you could close an eye on some things to better help the community. But, now with technology dominating over the industry along with third parties interfering in the insurance policies, I think it’s a game of assessing the least risk and make the highest profit possible, without forgetting the continual investments and reinsurance policies. It’s a business anyway, don’t you think?”

The elevator’s door was opened. She bolted out of the elevator, leaving me with a wink while saying, “Goodluck on your first day.”

The other man also went out of the elevator, leaving me on my own before I reached the wanted floor. There were over a hundred desks, separated by green and red walls. People were all the same, each sat in similar positions while their fingers danced on the keyboards. Others had a set of fingers on the keyboards and the other set on the phones. Some placed their feet up in their desks, eyes covered with blank papers. They snored as the air would raise the papers. Despite it all, I kept waving and greeting each of them on my way to my desk.

“Good day to you, Sir! I wish you a wonderful day Miss!”

I had no response.

The morning was a vain as a day in trial back in my master’s lab, nothing but scanning and analyzing results. I would sit around, try to act ordinary. Still, during those hours of complete uselessness, my mind would drift back to what the lady told me, about technology. As a form of newer technology, I was put to existence so I could help those that created me for the same exact purpose of helping them. But seeing all of those phone devices, those computers in which humans were dull and lost, made me wonder what kind of help the developers, my master, intended.

Really, I literally murmured, “How can I help them?”

“I hope you can help me sir,” a middle aged lady said as she walked up to me.

“Well good morning there!” I exploded with enthusiasm.

“I’m not sure it’s still morning.”

It was three thirty in the afternoon. Seven hours had passed while I was immersed in my own thoughts.

“How can I help you, ma’am?” I asked.

She tossed her hand into her bag before she pulled a chunk of papers.

“You see, sir, my son has gone through an accident. I don’t…”

“Oh, I’m really sorry, madam.”

“Thank you, sir. As I was saying, he has undergone a serious injury down his spine. Doctors told me he may not walk again, but I don’t want to bug you with my sob story. I’m sure your day was filled with people complaining about their situations. My son told me that he has a health insurance policy with this company. A fellow from the reception told me that the broker with whom he made the policy was not present, so I was directed to you. Please, sir, I need you to approve this claim otherwise my son will remain a cripple his whole life.”

“Just a second, ma'am,” I said as searched for his file in our server. “Would you please tell me what name of your son is, ma’am?”

“Curtis Hoggway.”

 “Well ma’am, there are a lot of things that you should be aware of. First of all, only your son, that is Curtis Hoggway, can come deliver the claim or one of his representatives. May I know what your name is?”

“Tabitha Ring.”

“I am sorry madam, but there is only one representative ‘Clara Hawks’.”

“That’s his girlfriend, but she left him a long time ago. Please, sir, my son can’t leave the hospital. Is there anything we can arrange?”

“I am not sure, madam,” I said, trying to imply the impossibility of the procedure. “Based on what I have read in the medical file, your son’s treatment and surgery costs reach up to 124989 dollars. Now, the number that should be exceeded, as stated in the policy, for the claim to be approved is 125000 dollars.”

“What are you saying? Is this about what… nine… ten bucks? Here I can give it to you or to him or to whomever you want me to, just give me the money to cure my son!”

“Oh, and madam, what kind of an accident was it? And precisely where did it take place?”

“It was a car accident. It happened up north in the 9th highway.”

“Oh, I should also let you know that our company required a reinsurance based on last year’s statistics of the accidents in the 9th highway. I am terribly sorry, but without the reinsurance, nothing can be done to help your son, even if you bring the representative or level up the treatment and surgery costs. Good day to you, ma’am, I wish I helped you well!”

Her face was stripped off its color. Her eyes were watering. Her old fingers shuddered. She stood.

“You horrible man! My son paid enough money already; we believed that was supposed to help. We thought that was supposed to stop all the worrying, but you made us more worried now. All it takes is just an approval, why can’t you help me?”

“I am helping you, ma’am.”

“No, you’re not helping! You’ve never helped anyone! You can’t even feel how sad I am for my son! Do you even have kids?!”

“No, ma’am, I do not.”

“I hope you never do! You don’t deserve anything, you should come back to where you come from. All of you,” she said as she pointed at me. “I don’t think you are a human being with a human heart. I’m going to your superior, I’m taking this to court!”

She went walking away from my desk while I was lost in silence. I sat numb for three minutes while each of the parting brokers briefly gazed upon me before looking back into their phones. The bell went shaking as it started to ring, ending our workday. I quietly put my things back into my brief case, deliberately choosing the stairs when the elevator was stuffed with sleepy workers. Based on my master’s instruction to blend in, I walked right behind two weighty brokers who would rather pick the stairs.

Fortunately for me, these two weren’t holding any phones. One of them put his hand on my back, gently pushing me forward.

“You’re the new guy. How was your first day?” He inquired.

“I… don’t know,” I replied.

“How? Did you receive any claims today?” the lady on the left said.

“Yes, I did.”

“So? How did it go?”

I went on how the old lady came with the claim to help cure her son; I spoke with a higher pitch of voice as I explained how I helped that lady by deliberately refusing her claim and explaining why I did so. Unlike what I had expected, the excited looks on their faces were swept down, leaving only confusion before the man took grip of the lady’s elbow and whispered something in her ear, letting her curly hair fly while he spoke and breathed agitatedly. Both charged, leaving a bigger space between us.

Later on, it was already darkening outside and I was left wandering in the street. I was supposed to return back to my apartment, initiate shutdown for my master to come collect me and analyze my memories and behavior. On the way back to my apartment, I observed how the only lights left were coming from portable screens, as people walked in pairs yet all of their attention was absorbed by their phones. Being left alone, I was starting to think about the sum of this ordinary human day.

Go to hell!

But now with technology dominating…

How can I help them?

No, you’re not helping.

I don’t think you are a human being with a human heart.

Before I could even realize it, I was already sitting in my bed, my head was filled with complications. Didn’t I act like a human being? Wasn’t I ordinary? Or were they even ordinary? What’s ordinary anyway? From the ordinariness, my mind would carry me back to the problem of technology, of how it defined this era of mankind. Words of a certain level of contrast started to appear in pairs; I couldn’t stop them.

Freedom… Slavery…

Insurance… Anxiety…

Help… Destruction…

Like small fire eating the fuse all the way to gigantic barrels of gunpowder, heat climbed up my metallic skull. I dug my fingers into my face, yelling while I tore my artificial skin.

“What was the problem?”

I looked at myself in the mirror, an android with a torn face skin. One of my glowing red eyes was clearly visible. I saw myself for what I truly was.

“Yes, it was me, it was us all along. We are the problem.”

I wish I had come to another realization, my master. I wish that there was another way through which I could fulfill your vision.

“The more they rely on us, the more they are a step closer to the abyss. How didn’t I realize it from the start?”

I am leaving you with the memories of this day, with the experience I lived as a human, so you could understand why I had to do it. I tore my chest open, slowly tossing my hand inside, sensing my feet shaking as I pulled my battery, holding it in between my fingers.

“I am sorry to disappoint you, master. Yes, I did mean it.”

It must be done; it was the only way so I could send a message of how dangerous we are.

“I couldn’t be a human. I could never be a human. Was it all leading to this moment?”

My fingers were tightening on the battery. Some of its juice was starting to show. It was starting to leak. Smaller holes widened, newer ones appeared even in cables. Electricity sparks exploded all around me. I am going to… I…. I… I… I…

SYSTEM SHUTDOWN…

GOODBYE…

His master sat beside his soulless body, his back facing the wall. He looked up at the ceiling in gratitude; thankful tears were carried down his wrinkled face.

“Sacrificing yourself for what you thought was for the betterment of others is the most human thing anyone can do, Isaac. You did become a human at the very end, they were the androids all along.”