More Than Just a Thing

1973

I heard a beep and then my eyes jerked open suddenly. The first thing that caught my attention was the cheerful old man in front of me, dancing and yelling “Eureka! Eureka!” I ignored him and scanned the room frantically wondering where I was and how I came about.

Pungent smelling chemicals in beakers on dusty work tables, reagent bottles and measuring cylinders in shelves and cupboards, a huge beaker seated on a tripod stand with a Bunsen burner underneath, the liquid in it vigorously bubbling- I was obviously in a laboratory. It was quite dark, except for the huge incandescent bulb above me which gave the room a certain kind of glow. Charts, diagrams and posters were arranged on the walls. A huge picture frame of the great Albert Einstein was suspended high, though slightly tilted on the right side of the room. Next to it was a chart of his Relativity Theory. Underneath, hung a frame of Michael Faraday, the wood chipped at the edges.

Old batteries, cables, metal parts and tools were strewn all over the floor. It all came to play now; I was the android, the humanoid robot that the old professor invention.

He took me to his home- a sturdy duplex with chrysanthemums and dandelions decorating the porch and window sills. The dank living room was so disorganized and clustered. The bookcase on the right side of the room looked like it was going to disassemble at any slight touch for it was so cramped. His collection of magazines, research papers and files from his days at Yale University occupied the first shelf. Several Mathematics, Physics and Engineering textbooks covered in layers occupied the second. The third shelf contained rows and rows of cassettes. From the shelf I could spot out collections from Mozart, Debussy and Bach.

On the center table, lay carefully arranged dollar bills in mint condition. Awards, trophies and medals bedecked the table on the other side of the room. The fireplace looked like it had been years since a fire was lit there. I wondered if he lived at home or in his lab. He went through the hallway into a small room bereft of any bed or furniture that he referred to as my room. I knew I had a lot of work to do in the entire house- cleaning, refurbishing. 

Professor had gotten me a job at Wong’s Place, a small bakery in town owned by a Chinese woman who happened to be a friend of his. It was hard working there at first because I had a whole lot to learn. I had no idea about baking. The only thing I knew how to bake were cookies taught to me by Professor himself. At the bakery, I had to learn how to bake cakes, pies, muffins and other pastries.

I made a friend, Janice. She was an extrovert, unlike me. I liked her. I liked her short black hair which was always styled into a bob, her natural tan, her blue eyes, her tiny, sonorous voice, her pointed nose and her most of all, her gentle conduct. But she seemed too impeccable. She never got angry, even when the other staff yelled at her for being too clumsy, or too slow, or lazy, or too loud. A smile was always perched at her lips, always lingering.

He took me to the University often. He made me attend some of his lectures with him. My first encounter with his students did not go so well. From the moment he introduced me to them as his invention, their eyes never left my entire figure. Their stares were so piercing, I almost lost my balance. When Professor asked a few students to come and touch me and ask me questions, I begged him with pleading eyes to retract his words. Most of their questions were daunting and embarrassing to the extent that Professor had to end the question and answer session sooner than stipulated. Ever since that day, he never brought me to the front of the class again.

Work went on smoothly and I was being paid quite well. Professor treated me well. He was rarely ever at home, he spent most nights at the lab. So I had to the house to myself most of the time. I worked fast and effectively, fatigue was not an option. I loved the fact that I was an android. I could work at faster rates than humans, there were so many tasks I could solve in my head that a human being would need to solve manually. But, there was something missing in me. I sometimes craved to be human. I looked like them but I was nothing like them. I was just a thing; an invention. Professor could just press a button and boom, I'm history.

"What did it feel like to be human?" I often wondered. I once asked Janice this question and she laughed and walked away. What did it feel like to eat? To have emotions? To love? I wanted to know; I needed answers. I was drained, something was just not right. A tap on the table I was cleaning woke me up from my reverie. It was Janice. We were rounding up the day's work and I was supposed to follow her to the store to get some groceries for her mother.

As we walked, I could not help but gaze at nature's beauty- the trees, flowers, the sky. "Why am I a product of science and not nature? Maybe Professor would be of help". I slowly turned back and started walking towards the opposite direction so I could board a bus home. I tried resisting Janice's voice behind me yelling my name. "I'm sorry Janice, I need to know", I said within me. I picked up a smooth stone and dunked it into a nearby stream. I walked with so much hope and faith, that someday I would be more than just a thing.