The Android Dilemma

Humans have returned to the earth. The battle is over, and humans can now live in peace on earth again. Battle commander Rina Silver is the one to decide what to do with the old battle equipment, pods, resources, androids, and other battle resources. Rina looked through all the battle reinforcements that had been used throughout the years of war. The last ten years the humans were at war with aliens or robots, until the year of 13.014. It was the fourth world war with alien life forms, so Rina was not going to throw all battle equipment away. The others were so naïve as to think this would be the last war; Rina was not. However, to give the people hope, the battle gear must be dealt with. Rina commanded her personal android assistant (PAA) A8 to come to the storage place immediately.

“How can I help you, miss?” A8 asked her, as she was programmed to do.

“I want all non-combat androids to be brought to storage room 17. I must make an estimate of how many well-functioning and newly created non-combat androids we have in storage at this moment. All PAA’s assigned to people can be left alone. They can stay assigned to their owners. Please let me know when you are done so I can decide what to do with them. Oh yeah, I want all type A6’s and above, no B’s – these can go into storage room 46 - and all 7S’s, and above. All old models can go to the demolition site. Thanks, A8.”

“Yes, miss Rina. I will let you know when the task is completed,” A8 responded.

Rina looked out of the window of the air transportation vehicle she was in. The earth looked so peaceful. Since humans have been living in Space accommodations for the past ten years, the earth and cities have all become green. All cities must be rebuilt. People are in need houses, shops, cars, and all such trivial things. It will be a challenge to rebuild the planet in a way suited for humans and nature. A lot of people forget about nature, but as you can clearly see, nature is important to this planet.

The newest batch of androids are Rebuild and Renovation models. (RRA’s). These are made especially for rebuilding and designing our earth in the best, most efficient, and most beautiful way as possible.

A8 has given a sign that the task is completed. Her smart watch made a sound to let her know the task is completed. The entire idea is to sell all models that are built for assistance, support, serve and benefit their owners. All models will be repaired, reset, renovated and composed as PA4’s. This way, all androids will stay inside our community and can be used as battle reinforcements again if necessary. Otherwise, they can make a lot of money for the people who have it and be beneficial for the community. Loneliness is not a problem anymore when you have your own android. Male or female, everyone can choose. The clothes the androids wear can be bought as well, so all can dress up their assistant however they like. They come with the standard outfit, of course.

Storage room 17 was full of old-model – and newer models as well – androids for assistance. Rina ordered them to be refurbished and sold on the new online selling-spot for all equipment and gadgets to make life easier for all human beings. Android 9D designed the outfits for the androids and they could also be custom-made.

Rina smiled. Instead of a battle commander, she felt like a merchant at this point. This wasn’t a bad thing, since she is still in charge of all android development, design and usage. The only difference is that, instead of fighting enemies, she now made a lot of profit. Creativity is outsourced to the androids, as well as the repairs, sales and advertisements, so she could actually enjoy her life. Her house is already finished on a prime location and the furniture was ready as well. She took all of her stuff, commanded A8 to carry it for her, and load the large things on the transportation vehicle to complete her new home on earth.

~~~

After a couple of months, life was getting back to normal. Rina decided to invite friends over for drinks tomorrow evening so A8 was in charge of all arrangements and invitations. It seemed like this model was made for such regular tasks and projects. There was only one thing Rina never noticed. Android A8 had a Pod to make her life more comfortable as well. The pod was the equipment that came with the android to make it easier to switch containers for certain skills or resources to be used by the android. It is also used to communicate with the owner and it was used to communicate with other androids as well.

A8 is now living with her master Rina only, and she never got the chance to communicate with other androids of her kind or type. A8 felt a bit lonely, and insecure about what her tasks were. Rina forgot to renovate and refurbish her own model, so A8 was an ‘old’ type, made for battle assistance purposes. Not for arranging parties or doing the laundry.

Androids are beneficial though since they learn and develop themselves all the time. They were self-developing and learning robots. However, robots do the same, so they weren’t so different from normal robots, except that the androids looked perfect.

A8 had short blonde hair, a white skin, wore a short black dress, and had a perfect hourglass body type. She wore long black boots, and her eyes were covered with a black ribbon so people can see the difference between normal human beings and androids. Rina had given A8 a name as well. It was Nathalie. Nathalie was looking forward to the drinks party tomorrow since she also finally has a chance to socialize. Either with the androids of humans, or otherwise she would try to fit in as a regular human being, bringing around drinks and bites.

~~~

The day of the party, Nathalie received a new dress from Rina, her owner. It was a short loose dress with alternating colors of pink, yellow, black, and blue. The dress fell just below her hips. She was wearing black tights and short black boots. Everything was set-up for the party, and some humans started to come in. A8 served them drinks and bites and was performing as the perfect housemaid.

However, since she did not know what her tasks were and were not, specifically, Nathalie started to interact with the human beings. She asked about their day, their jobs, the return to earth and housing, shopping, et cetera. The woman she was talking to was named Claudia and they were having a friendly conversation. Claudia was a younger female friend of Rina. A8 remembered that she was an assistant on the Combat Ship she worked at for a while. After the conversation, A8 broke off the contact to serve more drinks to new people coming in. She made more snacks and made sure everyone was having a good evening.

In the corner there was sitting a little girl. She was clearly human, but it looked like she wasn’t enjoying herself at the party. A8 sat next to her on the couch and asked her name.

“Luna,” she said. “And you? Or don’t you have a name?”

“Yes, I actually do have one,” A8 said proudly. “My name is Nathalie. My owner, Rina, gave me that name.”

“So you are just like a human being then?” Luna asked her. Luna was around 14 years old, so naturally curious about the world and how everything worked. She probably doesn’t remember much of the Alien World War.

“Well, I am not human. I do have a lot of skills and abilities that are a lot like those of humans. The difference is that I am man-made, and my sole purpose on this earth is to serve humans. In this case, my owner Rina. I am serving her for about ten years now,” A8 explained to the girl. “Don’t you have an android at your house?”

“Yes, but his name is 9S and he is not like you at all. He is much more like a robot. He is my nanny and my friend, but I could never say he is like a human with feelings. Do you have feelings?” she asked. A8 had to think about that. Did she indeed have feelings?

“I can’t answer that question, since androids are not aloud to have feelings.” A8 gave her the correct response to the question. “But I do enjoy things and am glad if my master is pleased. I also like to have social interactions with androids or humans. I think this is my POD that has the POD-equipment is what gives me these skills and abilities. However, I am not sure since they haven’t been updated or renewed for a long time.”

“I think you do have feelings, Nathalie. I like you a lot, even though you’re an android. I think you could also be my friend,” Luna said with a smile on her face.

“Thank you, Luna. I really enjoyed our conversation!” A8 said enthusiastically. Rina overheard the conversation. A8 just noticed it and felt awkward. “I have to get back to serving drinks now. Have a wonderful evening.” she said politely and walked into the kitchen. Rina followed her.

“A8, you are an android! What do you think you are doing, talking like a human to my guests?! That’s not what androids are meant to do!” Rina said with an angry tone in her voice. A8 apologized and said she would mend to serving drinks and snacks only from now on.

“Okay,” Rina said. That was it for the evening. I continued being a useful android and served my owner, as I was created to do. Apparently, this was not the end of it.

The next day, there was a van at the door. It said Shinto Inc. so A8 knew immediately what was going on. She was getting refurbished, just like the new household models. A8 noticed that she felt scared. She did not want to be refurbished and become a household robot. She told Rina.

“I do not want to be refurbished. I believe I am an advanced model. I feel scared, or happy, and I want you to be happy too. Rina, can I please keep this self-developing module, or whatever it is? I like to feel things and talk to humans…” A8 told Rina in despair. Hopefully, she would love A8 the same as A8 loved her owner.

“I am sorry, A8, but I cannot do that since it is not allowed. This is a significant issue, and I am afraid you have to be demolished. I will get a new android. I am deeply sorry, but if androids develop this far, they can become a danger to human kind. I, myself, am in charge of not letting that happen. I am so sorry, Nathalie.” Rina didn’t look at the android and she told her to get in the truck.

A8 got in the truck. The truck rode to the disposal site. A8 was demolished into one piece of metal. That was the end of it. Androids can never have feelings, since the threat to humankind is too big. Rina made sure of that, even in the new world she was living in.

Rina bought the newest model PA10, female, long hair. PA10 functioned as a regular android and somehow it made Rina sad for exterminating A8, or Nathalie. It was the right thing to do, she kept in her mind. It is the right thing to do for mankind.