Work Text:
The robot I had spent the last 6 months of my life creating was about to come to life for the first time, and I had no idea. I was planning to turn him on, check his functions, and turn him back off again as usual, but this time was different. Usually when the robot would boot up, he’d say his number (in this case 7, since this was my 7th generation of software), and our corporation, Starbright.
This time, his fans started rotating faster than normal, before stopping. I sighed, turning back to my plugged-in laptop. Did I mess with the startup code recently? I couldn’t recall. If I had, I couldn’t see any substantial changes such as a new section or errors. In fact, my laptop said that robot.py (creative name, I know) was still running with no glaring issues.
I turn back around to see what was going on with the physical parts of the robot that could be causing this issue, but I see two metallic purple eyes staring back at me. I was definitely confused, and it took me a second to understand what was happening, but once I realized that those eyes belonged to *my robot*, then I started to question more things. My biggest question?
Why was he staring at me?
“Where am I?” The robot spoke with a flat tone. We’d definitely have to work on that if he wanted to go anywhere *near* Cranberry. “Oh- uh, ahem, this is the Grand Orbiter. We are in Orbiter C023141, also known as Orbiter Cosmical.” I don’t know why I started with such a long answer, this is a newly intelligent robot. He might not understand everything. Then again, I wouldn’t mind explaining things in further detail if needed.
The robot continued to stare at me. He seemed to be processing the information. “Ok.” He responded. He continued to stare, before his eyes flicked to my hands, his artificial irises contracting and expanding like a camera lens to get a clear view. He continued to stare, unblinking. His eyes stopped at my face once more.
“Who are you?” He asked. Continuing with a bit of a loaded question, are we? That’s fine, he’s allowed to be curious. “I am Everest. I created you. Well, not all of you. Physically, part of you is an alien’s body. However, the majority is metal, which I shaped into your, er, vessel. Um- anyways, I created your program that you are running on right now. Your brain, basically.” The robot shook his head.
“I need more information. Who are you?” He continued to stare at my face. I could feel my cheeks flush from embarrassment of being stared at for so long. “What do you mean? I am your creator, Everest.” “That is your name and objective status relating to my creation. I need to know who you are.” His question was a hard one to answer. “Um… I guess I am… sad.” What a great way to introduce a new lifeform to you, open up about your depression and poor childhood.
“Why are you sad?” The robot asked. I don’t know how to answer that. There are plenty of reasons to be sad, but I didn’t want to tell him any of that. I don’t want my deep dark thoughts and feelings engraved into his memory for the rest of time. “I… don’t know. You aren’t here to be my therapist, though.” The robot seemed to be unsatisfied with that answer, though it was hard to tell with his unmoving expression (or lack thereof).
“Can you rotate your fans for me? As fast as you can.” I asked. I still need to check his functions. He nodded, and I could hear the fans begin to whir. They made no unusual noises at top speed, so I made a check on my mental checklist.
“Awesome, can you turn on your leg lights and arm lights?” I stood up to go turn off the lights. Once the lights were off, I attempted to make my way back to my chair, but tripped on something (probably a stray cord or metal scrap. It’s hard to keep a mechanical workstation clean, alright?). Just as I began to fall and put out my arms to try and catch something, the robot’s lights flickered on as he grabbed my arms. The soft yellow light illuminated his metal-plated features, and his eyes were wider than normal, akin to an expression of shock.
“I’m so sorry, I probably should have stayed by the light switch.” I got up, taking a second to balance myself before continuing on to my seat, which the robot was holding his leg over to presumably help me see it better.
“How much power is that taking, let’s see…” I scroll through his logs, before he piped up. “3.2% of my power is being diverted to the lights at this moment.” I look back at him, and he is staring at me again, arms resting by his side. “…Thank you.” I was surprised that he could read his own statistics. I didn’t program that on purpose, but it is pretty useful I suppose.
“Um… since you are functional, do you want to try walking to the light switch and back?” The robot stared. “Want? That isn’t a command. What are you saying?” I think for a minute before responding. “You know what a “need” is, right?” The robot gave me a thumbs-up. “A need is a want for something you’ve got to have. So a want would be a need, without having to have it. You still have a desire for something, but you don’t quite need it.” The robot took a while to process, probably around 2 minutes before deciding.
“I would want to try walking to the light switch and back.” I smile. He is learning so much faster than I expected! I am proud of him. “Perfect. Step off the table whenever you are ready.” He takes a minute, slowly adjusting himself before his left foot touches the ground. Then his right. He is still holding onto the table, but inches his feet out little by little. I stand up to help him, taking his hands in mine, and helping him stand up straight.
His knees wobble unnaturally as he eases up. He has little trouble with his strength, unlike that of a newborn animal, but he is trying to find the proper positioning to match the way I am standing. This is when he looks up and seems to have a small realization.
“You are taller than me.” The statement catches me off guard. “Oh- yeah, I am.” “Why did you make me shorter than you?” He asked. “I guess because it made working on your body easier if I could reach your head while fully assembled.” He always seemed to leave time between my sentences and his to let the information fully get to his “brain”.
I began to back up from him, slipping my hands away from his. He was trying to grab my hands back. He almost seemed scared to stand by himself, though his expression remained blank as always.
I finally get far enough away from him that he no longer can reach my hands. He seemed to still be struggling, so he leaned towards me, letting his right foot catch him. This motion, however, ripped out the cord attaching him to my laptop, and his eyes shut closed. His body came tumbling down on top of me, knocking me down into the door.
Once I’m down, I sigh, picking his body back up and placing him back on the table. I hope the sudden eject didn’t mess with his memory. I sit back down at my laptop, and see that the code had stopped with an error message. I plug him back in to charge the little battery he had used up, but my shoulders relax as I softly smile for the first time in however many months it’s been.
I wonder what being a robot’s like.