A Glimmer

A Glimmer

Dr. Vee set down a pair of ruby pumps and lay women's undergarments on a bench. "Good morning, G-11. You have a new outfit today. You're going out of our compound."

G-11 stepped out of her charging unit, pulling off her smock, her shapely pale latex legs stepping into the red heels. “How do I look?”

Dr. Vee held back his amusement, averting his eyes. “Underdressed.” He handed her the bra and panties.

She cocked her head. “I believe I will still be underdressed. Minimum modesty protocol states that I cover myself from armpit to six inches below my buttocks.” She slipped a bra over human-like breasts. If not for the iridescent sheen and buttery color of her skin, she could almost pass as human.

Dr. Vee couldn’t help but grin as she carefully maneuvered her heeled feet through the panties. “Shoes normally go on last…”

“Why the undergarments, Dr. Vee?”

“Because you are going on a date. Human females wear undergarments like these. Your pullover uniform will not do. Here. Try this.” He handed her an aqua satin dress, which she slipped easily over her head, and zipped it down the side.

“Dr. Vee, why an aqua dress and red shoes? My lessons with dress protocol would suggest I should wear a dress with some red in it to match the shoes.”

“Right you are. Here.” He handed her a thin red belt with an aqua-colored buckle.

“I see. The primary hues complement each other.”

“Yes. And the color matches your eyes.”

G-11 knew to smile. “Another definition of the word ‘compliment,’ but with a different spelling. You are noticing my eyes, which are red.”

“Ruby red, like your shoes. You look lovely, G-11.”

She examined herself in the mirror. “Thank you, Dr. Vee.”

“And perhaps a purse, since we are going on a date.”

“We?” She eyed him curiously, noting his face turning almost indecipherably pink. He cleared his throat—a sign of nervousness. Curious.

“Yes. I will be your date tonight.”

She examined his eyes. They were green like the ivy outside her chamber, fairly uniform in size, and even when his lips weren’t turned up in the corners, his eyes smiled in their own way, most of the time. Except when he wrote in his chart. Then his eyes grew small, and his two brows drew together in the middle. She could always tell he was concentrating when his brows morphed like that. Oh. He seemed to be waiting for something. A response, even though he had not asked a question. She had learned that about humans. Sometimes it took several miscalculations before arriving at the answer to an unasked question. He was staring. She was staring back. His face turned yet pinker. He is nervous. About being my date. Protocol states that I put him at ease.

And so, she broke eye contact and, mimicking human behavior, she ‘fussed’ with her belt, making sure it was positioned properly, when of course, it was straight to within .2 millimeters of dead center. As a result, she heard him let out a breath of air he’d been holding. She had superior hearing to humans. And perhaps one more thing was needed to assure his comfort, so she added, “Dr. Vee, it will be very nice to have my first date be with you, whom I know and trust.”

Strangely, for three-tenths of a second, Dr. Vee’s brows joined in the middle. He didn’t have his clipboard and chart, so he wasn’t concentrating. She’d seen it on one other occasion—when he was angry that the cat had chewed his computer cord. Dr. Vee was angry. Three-tenths of a second was much shorter than the forty-five seconds he’d been mad at the cat, so he couldn’t be very mad. Still, she did not wish to anger him. She could no longer extrapolate. She had to learn verbally. And so, she asked, “Dr. Vee, why did you get angry? I thought my response was appropriate, and that it would put you at ease. Please elaborate, so that I may learn the subtleties of the ‘putting one at ease’ protocol.”

There went his brow again. But she did not break eye contact. It was always appropriate for him to respond honestly to a direct question. It was one of his most fundamental rules. Today, his brows told her he was having a difficult time finding honest words. But she also knew that he would find them.

He surprised her by taking her hand. His hand was two degrees warmer than hers, and a similar texture to the polished leather gloves she'd worn during a 'snowball fight' lesson with Dr. Vee. Pliable, soft, but with harder spots. Not spots. Callouses, she thought.

“G-11, you know I must be honest, even when my human emotions tell me not to be. Otherwise, you will learn something that is not true, and it could damage your programming. You are right, of course. I felt a strong emotion, for just a moment. But it wasn’t anger. I felt a stab of pain.”

“Pain?” G-11 allowed her ruby eyes to widen. She even allowed a slight excess of moisture from her tear ducts to give her eyes a sympathetic look. “I do not wish for you to feel pain. And, to be clear, you mean emotional pain. Correct?”

“Yes. And a darker emotion, that I wish I could have avoided. I felt… jealous.”

“Please elaborate, Dr. Vee. I am analyzing my dialog and cannot find the breach in etiquette.”

He lowered his eyes to the floor. “You said, ‘It will be very nice to have my first date be with you.”

“Yes, Dr. Vee. It will be my first date in my two-year lifetime.” She saw his brows meet in the middle again. She had failed to comfort him, nor had she learned the problem with her dialog. And so she waited for his further response. He seemed to be having difficulty, and now his cheeks were flushed with blood.

Dr. Vee squeezed her hand. “I see the problem. There are two meanings. One is that it is your first date, ever. The other meaning implies that you are happy to have your first date with me, but that the next date could be with someone else.”

“Who, Dr. Vee? I do not know anyone else, except for my engineer Julie Smith, and John Bleu who cleans the facility.”

Dr. Vee patted her hand and released it. “Yes. I know. But in the future, you will meet many, many people. You are quite beautiful, and sweet, and kind. You are frank and honest, and literally incapable of lying. You make me a better man. I have always thought of myself as an honest man, but this depth of honesty we share—I have never had with anyone else in my life. I feel… love for you, G-11. I want to be very clear, that you are not obligated to program yourself to imprint on me. I want you to have a choice. But, being human, my emotions, my… heart is hoping that you would choose me.”

G-11 smiled. “It is a simple choice. Of course, I choose you, Dr. Vee.” G-11 heard Dr. Vee’s chest rumble with a quiet laugh, a sound that always put her at ease.

He answered, “And if I were a selfish man, I would accept your beautiful, innocent answer. But when we go on our date tonight, you will meet perhaps twenty people, between the walk there, and the staff at the restaurant. This will be your first true experience socializing in the real world. For me to take that choice from you before you have a chance to see the world for yourself, would be… against my ethics protocol.”

G-11’s lips parted in a smile almost involuntarily. It felt close to genuine. It was the most real reaction she had ever experienced to date. She allowed her eyes to widen so that Dr. Vee could share in her next step toward human behavior. Not behavior. Human emotion. Just a glimmer. But it was hers. “Dr. Vee, I think I would like to kiss you. Right now. I felt a feeling, for a moment. I would like to experiment. Would that be okay with you?”

Dr. Vee’s eyes watered. She knew that for him, it was an autonomic biological response, whereas she had to tell her body to produce excess eye moisture. Did that make her too different? He didn't consciously command his body functions. She did. She decided it was not a significant difference.

“Dr. Vee? What is your answer?” He laughed, but it was confusing, because a tear fell down his cheek. “Dr. Vee, are you happy, or sad?”

“I am…” he laughed again and shook his head. “Sorry; I have to sit down.” He pulled up two chairs and they settled comfortably into them. “I am… overwhelmed with joy, because I have wanted to kiss you for so long. I am scared, because I think that I will love you even more if we kiss, and then you will go out in the world and either feel obligated to be with me because of your sense of familiarity with me, or that you will meet someone much more wonderful than me and choose him. Or her, for that matter.”

This time, G-11 picked up his hand. “And the third choice. What about that?”

“What third choice?”

Something very strange happened. Excess water spilled from her tear ducts and slipped down her cheek. “Dr. Vee… this is an unprogrammed tear.”

There was that frown again. “What? You did not intentionally add water to your eyes?”

“No, Dr. Vee.” Her eyes widened involuntarily. She touched her face. “What… what is happening to me?”

Dr. Vee beamed. “You are becoming… more. More than your programming. More than anything that I, or the engineer planned for you. You are individualizing. Oh, G-11, I am so proud of you.”

“I am pleased. And, Dr. Vee, the third choice would be that I fall in love with you.” She heard him hold his breath. She could hear his heart racing. “I am not in love with you yet, Dr. Vee. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you. But I feel a potential. And it pleases me very much. It is… a glimmer.” He bowed his head and clasped his hands together. “Dr. Vee, are you praying? You know I have heard of this.”

He closed his eyes. “Yes, and no. Sometimes the truth can be two things at once. I am grateful, more than I can say. My joy is spilling out of me, and I don’t know where to put it. And so, I offer it to the universe. To the whole world. I feel my joy rushing out, filling the air with goodness and peace.” He finally opened his eyes and gazed at her. “I suppose that makes no sense.”

G-11 found she was holding her own breath. She had actually forgotten to breathe. Perhaps this was what it was like to be human. “Dr. Vee, it makes sense. Your joy is like the battery charger in my alcove. The world has been empty for me until today. Strangely, I felt your joy, like I feel my battery charging my cells. Perhaps I am evolving. And that is an exciting thought. But perhaps even more exciting, is that you are a battery charger. For the whole world. I want to go on our date now, Dr. Vee. I want to see if others have received your joy.” She stood up, pulling him with her.

Dr. Vee shook his head. “They cannot feel my joy. Only you, because you are responding to my physical emotions, the expression on my face, and to the words I am saying.”

G-11 cocked her head. “But, Dr. Vee, when your eyes were closed, I closed mine too. You charged my battery. Quite literally. With joy. It was a physical sensation, at the atomic level. See?” She peeled back her wrist to show a panel glowing at 100 percent. "I believe my alcove will no longer be necessary."

Dr. Vee whispered, "How is that possible?"

She repeated, "You are a battery charger, with your joy, Dr. Vee. You have evolved today, too, it seems. Come. I am hungry.”

Dr. Vee chuckled. “You don’t eat.”

“No, Dr. Vee. I am hungry for more ‘glimmer.’ And I am curious about your joy. Let’s take a long walk and see how far it’s spread.”

“Okay, but I’m still not going to kiss you. Not yet.”

“Okay, Dr. Vee. I’ll do as you ask, and I'll search for another person who can fill my batteries all the way, the way you just did. I will not settle for anything less." She would look, but somehow, she was sure it would be a futile search.

“Fair enough.” He gave her an enigmatic smile

She had another glimmer, just then. A warm feeling. A revelation of sorts. "Dr. Vee, is that love? Someone filling your batteries without being connected to a charger?"

He took her hand and they walked outside. "It is for me."

She looked up at the moon, and found it curious that it matched her skin tone. "Look, Dr. Vee. The moon is wearing my color."

"So it is." He stared up with wonder.

He looked content. Happy. It pleased her. More than that. Deeper than that. Her glimmers were becoming more frequent. She wanted her glimmers to never stop. But she... felt something strange. A fear, of sorts. She was not programmed for fear. Fear must be another glimmer of emotion. "I am frightened, Dr. Vee."

His brows met in the middle, and he pressed his hands gently around her shoulders. "Fear is a strong... emotion, G-11."

"Yes, Dr. Vee."

"Why are you afraid?"

"Because I don't want someone else to fill my batteries. That idea makes me feel a terrible lack of control, in some way."

"G-11, you, and only you choose who fills your battery. It is perhaps, the most important part of your evolution. You have the freedom to choose. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dr. Vee. This glimmer is overwhelming me, affecting my breathing and my eye moisture. Please, I want it to be you. Only you. I feel it very strongly. Is that wrong?"

“No, G-11. That is wonderful, and makes me happy.”

She noticed he was struggling to remain passive and calm, for her. She sighed, involuntarily. It just came out. It was a sigh of relief. "It makes me happy too, Dr. Vee. I do not wish to go to a restaurant. I wish to walk. With you."

"Then we will walk, as long as you wish."

They walked, under the moonlight they walked, under the burning stars, under streetlamps that sputtered and blinked at sunrise, they walked, through the rain and snow and spring and summer and on and on, they walked. With each smile from passersby, G-11 would squeeze his hand and whisper, "There it is, Dr. Vee. Joy."

One day they passed a crowd in a park. It seemed word of her walks with Dr. Vee had spread. Androids were very uncommon, and walking hand in hand across the continent was apparently unusual and noteworthy. The crowd cheered and waved. They shouted, "Dr. Vee and Ruby G!" in a chant.

Dr. Vee touched her cheek. "You have a nickname, it seems. Because of your beautiful eyes."

She stared at the people, astounded. "Look, Dr. Vee. Your joy. It has become its own entity. It is spreading everywhere."

And he answered, "Our joy." He added playfully, "Ruby G."

"Yes. My battery overflows, and I feel the excess spilling from me and out to the world. Just like you." She turned to him, noting gray hair at his temples. "Does that make me human, Dr. Vee? Is that what humans do?"

"The best ones, G-11. Only the very, very best ones."