We forget.
As humans, or something like it, anyway.
A memory. Data stored in our organic hard drive.
Bits. Bytes. Typed characters.
You can forget them.
But when the memory is ignited each typed character, each one and zero,
restores itself.
Something you had done. Something you wanted to do but never did.
Or. Something you used to do.
One day you decided to change and just shut that part out.
But then it comes back.
The next time you're alone and its dead and frozen outside,
It'll come back.
Our story takes us to the quarters of a robot.
He's lived happily in servitude his entire life.
The humans say "fetch my coat."
He'll fetch their coat. And feel no resentment.
No "please and thank you" is necessary. He's a robot.
One day, he overhears a conversation among three or so of the humans, debating what they will do after retirement.
So he asks. "When is retirement?"
"never. you're a robot. you don't retire. you will continue about your daily life after we're long gone, or until you malfunction irreparably."
So.
He puts on his best, cheerful, robot smile.
Then he retreats to the next room and malfunctions irreparably.
Some beings were made to exist.
Some just weren't.
The robot wasn't. |
Loading...