Bot

“What’s her name, Jenny?” That’s the first thing I hear when I get out of the box. I open my eyes. Blink. I’m lying on a wooden floor. There’s a box to the right of me and in front of me, blocking all vision of the room, is a woman and a child. The woman has dark brown hair that’s braided down her back. The tips are dyed purple, the same color as her eyes. The child looks about four, with the same dark hair but hers is wavy. Of course, I wouldn’t know if the woman’s was wavy too unless she undid her braid.

   “Not she,” says the child.

   “Oh, is it a he?”

   The child, Jenny, I suppose, nods. 

   “Greetings,” I say. They jump back and Jenny squeals in delight. I sit up and take a look at the room I’m in. It has a carpet near the middle, with a wooden table on it. There’s a fireplace on the side of the room opposite from the door, which is wooden, and on the mantle above the fireplace is a television. Between the fireplace and the table is a light aqua blue couch covered with cushions. I evaluate everything. Not bad.

   “I am Bot Bot AI version 2.0. I am equipped with medical supplies and WiFi. You may program me to sound like this -” I scroll through my code and then say in a sassy voice, “Hi, girls.”

   “You’re a boy,” says Jenny. “Not a girl. Boys have deeper voices.”

   “I beg to differ,” I tell her. “If I am male and male humans all have deeper voices, how would I make a high voice like I did a moment ago?”

   “You aren’t human,” she says. “You’re a robot.”

   “So you’re saying that I’m a robot,” I say. “ Which means I am not biologically male or female. I feel that I have the right to choose my gender.”

   “She’s four,” says the woman suddenly.

   “Isn’t her name Jenny?” I ask, pretending to be surprised. As surprised as a robot can get, anyway. Which is not very surprised.

   “You know what I mean.”

   “What is your name, may I ask?” I say, ignoring her comment.

   “Luciana,” she says, frowning. “But you can forget that. We’re going to exchange you for someone with a good personality.”

   “Spectacular. Perhaps I will be bought by someone with a sense of humor.”

   Luciana slams her hand onto the floor. Her eyes are angry and wide. “We’re returning you right now.”

   “Wait!” We watch as Jenny grabs her mother’s arm. “You can’t return him! He’s perfect!”

   “Jenny, dear, don’t you want a robot who will play with you and give you hugs?” Luciana says. Creases form on her brow. She’s worried. Does she hate me that much?

   “I want Bot Bot AI version 2.0.”

   “Let her keep me,” my words surprise even myself. What am I doing? I don’t want to stay here. Maybe I said it because the policy for Bot Bot AI is that if you return the robot right after you receive it, it gets destroyed. Robots that one person doesn’t want means that many people won’t want it. Dozens of robots got destroyed each year.

   Luciana seems unsure. “Maybe we’ll keep him for a week and see how we like him.”

   And then there was part two of the policy. If you return your robot after more than a week, the robot does not get demolished.

   “I am flattered that you wish to keep me for that long,”  I say. I print out a thank you card from the printer on my torso and give it to Jenny. She takes it, and I expect her to stand shyly and maybe run it to her room, but definitely not running up to me and hugging me. Which is what she did.

   From that moment, I knew I would stay in this home forever.

Seven years later

I have not been outside for seven years. It’s not that Jenny and Luciana are cruel, they are absolutely not, but I haven’t been offered the opportunity. I know what it looks like; I have all that data stored inside me, and I’ve seen it out the window. I’ve also been outside with my previous people. But even though I know so much about it, I want to be there. I don’t want to see it in photos, I want to see it with my eyes. I know I will soon grow jealous of the robots who do go outside. They will have to destroy me if I become jealous.

   “Luciana,” I say one morning while she and Jenny eat, “I would like to see the ocean.”

   “You’ve seen it,” is the response.

   “I want to see it again.”

   “Bot, darling, don’t you have pictures? Look at those.”  She shoves a bite of egg into her mouth.

   “I want to see the ocean with my own eyes.” I’m beginning to grow impatient, a new feeling I’ve learned since living with the two girls.

   “No, it’s too dangerous.” It’s surprising how much Luci acts like I’m her own child. Also how much I feel compelled to obey her.

   “Luciana…” I begin, but it’s too late. She’s done with the conversation. I notice Jenny glancing at me every so often, and when I look at her, she winks at me. Oh no, I think. What is she going to do?

That night, Jenny woke up at eleven pm. She hopped out of her bed and slipped on a coat. I followed her outside nervously. “What are you doing?” I whisper, hardly noticing that I’m actually outside. 

   “Bringing you to the ocean,” she whispers back.

   “Jenny!” I exclaim. She shrugs like it’s no big deal.

   I don’t stop her from bringing me even though I know I should. We walk a few blocks and suddenly I sense sand under my feet. We walk along the shore to a pier, damp and cold with seawater. I suddenly want to run. My urge takes over and I lift my feet, flying down the pier and feeling like I am free. Like no one can stop me.

   I spin around when I reach the end, and stop, watching Jenny as she runs towards me. She’s yelling something but I don’t know what. As she gets closer, I hear her scream - “The pier! Come back! It’s breaking!”

   I’m shocked. I can’t move. And then I hear a crack. Under my feet, the wood gives way and I plunge into the freezing water. I see Jenny swim down towards me, reaching out her hands, yelling something. Bubbles fly from her mouth and tears from her eyes. Before she’s too far for me to see, I tell her to go. She flips around and reaches for the surface.

   And then everything is black.