Feelings Are Natural

Eric couldn’t recall when was the first time he saw her. The new studies were rigid, the internship was even more challenging. In his opinion, they really shouldn’t have called it an internship when it required him to work late daily, into the night for just room and board. Some time ago, when he was just a stage one scholar, he studied the history of slavery on Earth. In short, Eric was certain that this is exactly what slavery would have looked like if it existed today. And all the aptitude and personality tests he had to take! Like he was one of those lab species from the lower sector! True, his position and placement were way advanced for his scholarly level but it didn’t enthuse him. If he was honest, he had no idea why they picked him – his skills were not extraordinary. 

A few months passed before Eric realized that his life settled into some type of routine and no longer made him feel overloaded. The fog around him started to thin out, uncovering his surroundings layer by layer. At first, the lab and the multitude of underground levels became familiar so Eric stopped getting lost. Next, he started recognizing faces and voices around him. The project was significant. Eric only now started to understand the importance and the ginormous size of it all. And then he saw HER.

She seemed a bit older. Eric knew that she already completed her scholarly requirements and now worked on the project in a full readiness state. That meant she had privileges that he didn’t. It allowed her full access to the food court so she could choose what she had during meal times, unlike Eric. She seemed so … what’s the word? So classy, grand – royal! That’s it! She always walked with her back straight and her head held high. Her short wavy hair was cut in a modern, slightly disorganized manner that suited her. Eric especially liked it when she would get excited or frustrated to the point that she would blow her longer bang out of her eyes with a loud puff.

He started watching her closely, tracking and noticing her specific schedule and habits without even knowing that he was doing it. Eric didn't have any friends here yet – being the youngest in his lab had its perks but mostly, everyone called him “that kid” and didn’t take him seriously. He started dreaming about doing something noticeable. Something that would make her look at him like he was special. No ideas came to mind, so Eric continued to suffer in silence day after day while stealing glances at his object of affection.

“Hey, Kid!”

The loud voice brought Eric out of his cloud.

“Me?”

“Yes, you, come here, I said.”

The balding unpleasant man on the other side of the lab waved him over. Officially, Eric was reporting to his specialty professor but during the internship hours, this asshole was technically his boss. Eric was disgusted by him, not really knowing why, so he sighed and grudgingly walked towards him.

“How long before you complete Assignment X23?”

“I’m on my last page… sir,” Eric replied, reluctantly adding the respectful reference. “If all numbers match, I should be done within an hour.”

The boss made a “hmm” sound while he turned around grabbing something from the shelf next to his station.

“When you are done, I want you to report to Roberta,” he nodded towards HER station.

Eric instantly got a sensation like he was falling and standing at the same time. So, then her name was Roberta? Pretty!

“What would I be doing there?” he nodded towards HER again making his most displeased face trying to hide his excitement.

“That’s for you to find out. She needs help and you have time – go, help.”

Eric got back to his corner noticing that has had some trouble walking – his knees didn’t want to bend, What the hell? Should he tell Roberta that he will be done in an hour? Or ask her if she needed something urgently?

Eric wiped his forehead which was surprisingly cold and sticky. Is he really sweating? Great! The last time he produced sweat involuntarily was when he was in the gravitation-free room at the end of their complex. No, he wasn’t scared at all when his feet left the ground making him float half a foot up in the air. It was just hot in that room, tight and dark. Anyway, he should just finish his assignment before he talks to HER, meaning Roberta. It would show his level of maturity, he is being responsible by finishing his work instead of running to her the second he is called.

The numbers were jumping in front of his eyes. His fingers, which usually knew the keystrokes without Eric even telling them what to do, didn’t want to listen or bend. His secret desire to get done in half the time wasn’t panning out as he continued coming back from page to page correcting his formulas. Argh, so embarrassing! The only good thing was that Roberta wasn’t sitting next to him, witnessing this disaster!

“I think you might have missed a ‘9’ there,” a calm low voice behind his head made Eric jump. “I wanted to come introduce myself and see if you wanted to join me for lunch to discuss your assignment. I saw that you were reassigned about an hour ago.”

Roberta was standing next to him emitting a barely noticeable peach-like fragrance – his favorite smell! Eric dared to look up and for a while, all he could see were long legs in tight green leggings. His eyes traveled higher across her white loosely-buttoned shirt all the way to her face. To his surprise, Roberta’s eyes were equally green, almost matching her pants. For some reason, he always thought they were gray.

“Do you want to finish your work or can you take a break?”

Eric opened his mouth but nothing came out. He stood up desperately wanting to get on the same level with her. Turned out, he was slightly taller which somehow helped him calm down.

“I can take a break,” he squeezed out a smile. “I’m Eric.”

“I know. They told me,” Roberta nodded towards the boss. “Shall we?”

They left their analytical sector and proceeded to the bottom floor’s cafeteria. Eric was here only once before during his first day’s orientation – due to his lower status, he wasn’t allowed to eat here unless invited by a more senior member of the team. Roberta led him confidently through the rows of packed foods.

“Should we choose something?” Eric asked shyly.

“Nea, this is for those who want to take food to go. They have hot dishes here, it’s much better. You’ll see. This is your first time eating here, right?”

Eric nodded trying to keep up with her wide fast strides. He now smelled a pleasant aroma coming from the direction they were going which made his stomach gurgle with anticipation. Roberta glanced at him with a slight smile. Did she hear it? Eric blushed - how inappropriate!

“What do you like? They have different kinds of pasta over at that dispenser – just press the button of whichever one you want and with what sauce. Or they have an old-school salad bowl in the center with actual fresh vegetables. They don’t taste as sweet as the synthetic ones but I like them better. They seem crunchier, fresher, you know?”

Eric, who had fresh veggies only a few times in his life, nodded anxious to prove that they had at least something in common.

“The sandwiches here are not the best,” continued Roberta in the meantime scooping leaves in a smaller brownish bowl that dispensed from the counter when she approached it. “But if you want one, they are to the left. What else? Oh, soups. They have great soups. Sometimes, when no one is watching I even sneak out a small cup to take to my room.” She quietly giggled and Eric decided that this was the best sound in the world as he watched how her eyes squinted a bit with her smile. He smirked back.

“I like soups too, I think I will have one if you recommend it so highly.”

A few minutes later they were sitting next to each other at a small table with their trays. Eric gratefully took a long drink of water. His throat finally relaxed making him feel more at ease. Roberta kept asking him questions about his family and his work. Eric found himself talking more than usual. He never experienced this before and didn’t want to end their lunch. When they emptied their plates, Roberta looked at him seriously.

“Should we talk about your assignment?”

“Oh, yes, of course, I’m sorry! I probably took too much of your time. We can go back right away…” Eric stood up ready to run but Roberta gently held him by the wrist.

“We can discuss it here. It’s much airier. That stuffy place gives me a constant headache.” She made a funny grimace making Eric laugh again. He sat back down obediently, ready to listen.

“Should I record the details of my assignment?” He raised his arm pointing to a digital organizer on his wrist.

“Not necessary, it’s pretty simple.” Roberta closed her eyes for a moment collecting her thoughts. “We have a special project that started a few months ago. My colleagues in the A.I. sector are working on mimicking some of the human nerve cells to stimulate the creation of feelings in the latest models of the house units. See, our cleaners and cooks are a great help to the busy hum… people. But customers are complaining, especially those who live alone. They would like to have someone to talk to or share a joke with. Does that make any sense so far?”

Eric nodded enthusiastically. Of course, it did! How many times he himself longed for some human touch or wished he had someone waiting there in his small room.

“Roberta, that sounds like an incredibly important and necessary effort but I’m a data analyst. What value could I bring there?”

“See, silly, think about it,” she playfully smacked his hand. “We need to keep track of the consistency in the new models' responses. Because, if they are sweet and responsive less than 90% of the time, what good are they?”

“I guess,” Eric never thought about feelings from an analytical perspective.

“I also heard some really good things about you. You are a quick study and I was hoping you could help me develop a statistical model broad and independent enough to apply to various classes of AIs and a range of emotions. Interested?”

Eric felt his face burning again. Of course, he was but he really should get ahold of himself. Be a man, as his father told him.

“It would be a great learning and growth opportunity for you,” smiled Roberta, cocking her head to the side. Was she flirting with him?!

“Well, yeah, it sounds alright. And I kinda have some ideas about how we could approach this problem. We may need to create a few subclasses to accommodate a variable in the queries, and…”

“I think you are on the right track,” Roberta again lightly and encouragingly touched his hand. “We don’t have to solve all the problems now. The project is planned for the next two years so it would be a long-term commitment.”

“Who else would be on this project?”

“Just you and I from our sector. But overall, approximately one hundred fifty hum… people across the whole organization.”

“Do you prefer to call people humans?” Eric laughed out loud. “This is the second time you did it.”

“See, that attention to detail is one of your most valuable talents, in my opinion.”

Roberta stood up inviting him to follow her back upstairs. As soon as Eric got up, the top of the table opened up slightly tilting, dumping dirty plates and silverware into the recycle dish dispenser.

“Why don’t you sleep on it and let me know what you decide.”

“I agree! I want to be on your project!” Blurted out Eric before he could catch himself.

Roberta smiled as if she expected that kind of reaction.

“Are you sure you don’t want to consider it further? Because you would have to sign a minimum two-year contract.”

“I’m sure. I’m ready to sign right now!”

She laughed again.

“You are such a hum… man! Want to prove your worth, right?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s natural to have feelings. Well, then let’s do it, Partner?” she extended her hand towards him and Eric had no choice but to shake it.

When he finally fell into his bed that night, he couldn’t believe everything that happened. His life was shaping up to be pretty great after all! Eric fell asleep almost instantly dreaming about the next two years he was planning to spend with Roberta.

***

Eric looked at his organizer. Today was a big day – the first day of the final readiness trials. If everything goes well in the survey room today, they may be releasing the first group of EmoRobs before the end of this year. All thanks to the amazing statistical models he and Roberta developed. The classification for these models, EmoRobs, was also his idea. Emotional Robots. Even Asimov himself would have wanted to meet their creations. The units were sleek, friendly, and ready to break into wide smiles whenever someone greeted them. Eric noticed that, despite knowing that their emotions are initiated by the synthetic cells, he couldn’t help but smile back. All in all, it kept everyone’s mood positive and work enjoyable.

Eric also found his courage about six months into the project when he asked Roberta out. She barely glanced at him with a short “about time”. He stretched and smiled happily. Yep, life was great!

“Eric, the first response from hum… people in the survey room was positive. Would you run the numbers?”

“Sure, love. We are at 97%!”

“That can’t be right!”

He pushed the display towards her while they smiled at each other.

“We did it, babe, what do you say now?”

“I think you are an amazing human being!”

“I agree with you,” he pocked his chest out playfully watching her walk away with the printout of the result towards the boss’s section.

Suddenly, it occurred to Eric that Roberta always was the one to report up. Why was that? In the beginning, she was a lead, sure, but that changed a long time ago. Maybe he should go join her and let them all know that they are true partners – in work and life.

Eric was slightly surprised when he saw that the door to the boss’s section was shut tight. He couldn’t remember ever seeing it closed or the glass walls covered. He was about to knock when he heard a strange noise coming from the room. He leaned on the wall next to the door noticing that in one place the glass didn’t darken completely so Eric could still make out what was going on. There were a few people who were talking excitingly while Roberta stood still next to them with her hands dropped down her side. Suddenly, she lifted her head and said in a tone he never heard before but that made his hair stand up on his neck.

“The male Human is at the door.”

The door swung open before Eric had a chance to catch his breath. He saw a glimpse of Roberta as her hand strongly, demandingly pulled him inside.

“Eric!” The boss looked at him disapprovingly. “Why did you have to spoil it?”

“Spoil what?” he suddenly felt himself small and scared.

“Such a great experiment and you ruined the very ending.”

Eric glanced around noticing that the very owner of the company was there. That scared him even more than Roberta who suddenly looked like a huge plastic doll.

“You know why you were picked for this job, kid?”

Eric shook his head terrified to speak.

“Because you were the type our advanced model here,” he nodded towards Roberta, “was most attracted to. Who knows why and how she developed a preference but you were exactly her ‘type’. Didn’t you ever think about why she slipped so many times in her speech? And her name? Roberta? She is our first successful model. And now we have almost two years' worth of data on a human/robot relationship. It would have been an epic ending if you decided to mate with her for life because there is such a huge market out there for people who want a partner. Any partner and they are ready to pay good money for it.”

“But...” Eric’s throat went dry. “Why didn’t you just tell me?! You… you made me love her!”

“Because we needed clean data – can people develop true feelings for robots and visa-versa. Abso-fucking-lutely! Don’t sweat it, kid. For what it's worth, in her own way, she loves you too. She was the one who picked you after all. But enough of a good thing.” He got up and moved towards Eric smiling wide. “No worries, in a few minutes, you will forget this little incident and go back to your life as it was just an hour ago. After all, we wouldn’t want to upset our star here, she has built-in feelings too you know.”

***

Eric jumped out of his sleep in the chair. Roberta was sitting next to him with a concerned face.

“Did you have a bad dream, babe? You seemed to doze off.”

How did he get here? Eric looked around – they were in Roberta’s section. Something wasn't right but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Maybe she’s right, he had a bad dream. Lately, he felt excited but overwhelmed. After all, feelings are natural.