[Original Novel] Little Robot, Part 61

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Part 60}

I really hate doing this. I vaguely remember having do it when I buried my dog. I knew then that I never wanted to be put in a position where I’d have to summon just a few sentences to capture what somebody meant to me, whether flesh or machinery.

That’s not something you can swear off or opt out of. Death finds you. If it doesn’t take you, then it takes someone you love. Over and over, until you’re either dead or alone. It’s hard to say which is worse.

“She was a machine and I never pretended otherwise, but that’s why I loved her. She was everything that we’re not. Helper never betrayed anybody. She never humiliated or hurt anybody.

She never lied, never wished suffering on anyone even if they wronged her. She had all of our best qualities and none of our worst, never harboring any selfish desire in her heart. She just wanted to help.

You were a good robot Helper. You did a good job. I’ll always love you, until the stars burn out.”

With that, I curled up on top of the grave and wouldn’t budge no matter how Lars or Madeline pestered me that I’d catch cold. Eventually Lars brought me the blanket from the back seat, charitably neglecting to mention that I lied about it earlier.

I wrapped myself up in it, and when I looked up briefly I noticed that Eric and Ellie had come to see what the commotion was about. Eric asked if I was sad, probably picking up on my expression and sniffing.

I tucked the two squat little machines into the blanket with me, waste heat from their batteries building up inside the blanket until I felt warm enough to sleep. How I wished I could just dream forever. I welcomed sleep after the day’s events, but dreaded waking up in a world without Helper.

When I awoke it was still dark, and I discovered at some point Lars and Madeline had put me in the back seat of the car against my wishes. I rubbed the crust out of my eyes, quietly cursing those two and making sure they also remembered to stash Eric and Ellie in here with me.

Lightning struck in the distance. I caught the flash out of the corner of my eye, the accompanying thunder rolling in a moment later. But it wasn’t the flash of light, nor the sound which captivated me. In that split second of illumination, I thought I saw something.

I’m tired, I told myself. Maybe still dreaming. But when lightning struck again, there it was. The impossible. I shook Lars until he awoke, swearing at me for once again jolting him out of a nice dream. “What is it?” He grumbled. “Better be important.” Lars followed my gaze, then fell silent.

About a dozen yards away, a hand jutted up from Helper’s grave, fingers grasping at the air in slow motion. The gravel then shifted and bulged as she clawed her way out from beneath it. “Lars, don’t”. But of course he was beyond listening. “LARS!!”

Before I could grab hold of him again, he climbed out of the car and levelled the shotgun at Helper’s stumbling silhouette. Gel sacs glowing a dull red, one foot lazily placed in front of the other as she slowly advanced on us.

“DON’T SHOOT HER!” I cried. Lars waved me off. “That’s not Helper anymore, it has her now. You don’t have to watch, but don’t interfere.” I struggled to wrestle the gun from his hands, tearfully begging him to spare this one.

“GET OFF!” he shouted. “IT ONLY LOOKS LIKE HER!” He threw me to one side and I collapsed onto the gravel, watching with rapidly growing anguish as he took aim. “Helper!” I cried. “Say something! For god’s sake, if you’re in there, say something or he’ll shoot!!”

Helper stopped cold about ten feet from us. Lars kept the shotgun trained on her midsection. Madeline watched with bated breath from within the car. Helper reached up and rubbed her eyes. “I had a bad dream.”

Our jaws dropped in unison. Lars slowly lowered his shotgun. I burst out laughing with relief, hot tears still flowing down my face, then ran to her. She caught me in her arms, closing them around me slowly as if confused by my reaction. “Yanno” she sternly admonished, “just because I fall asleep doesn’t mean you can bury me. There were bugs in there! It’s gonna take forever to get all this gravel out of my joints.”

I was too overcome with relief to answer. I just held her tightly, laughed, cried and peppered her dirty face with kisses. Lars kept his distance and demanded to know why she was glowing red. “It’s dark out silly. Remember the hospital?”

He next asked why she didn’t wake up after the antiviral routine completed. She protested that she had no memory of what he described, but that she goes into a low power mode for a few hours every evening coinciding with our sleep cycle in order to conserve energy

“It’s not strictly necessary, but there’s nothing to do while you guys are unconscious! It sounds like it finished while I was in the middle of my dormant period. Geez, I’m sorry! You must’ve been worried.” I busted out laughing again. What a knack she has for understatement!

I continued fawning over her, stripping out of my shirt despite the cold in order to wipe her clean with it. She enjoyed the attention but, as she’d been effectively unconscious herself since sometime after we left the lodge, she couldn’t understand what to her seemed like a sudden and inexplicable outpouring of emotion.

“Open the door” Lars commanded. I told him to fuck off and wait until I filled her in on everything that’s happened. “NO!” he shouted. “No more waiting! I won’t risk it. It’d be just my luck if this is some sorta fluke and she conks out before she can open it for us. I am bone fucking tired from being on alert since morning. I want a shower. I want hot coffee and cigarettes. Open the god damned door, Helper.”

Helper looked stunned, but complied. Turning towards the entry to the mountain complex, her eyes cycled between several colors in rapid succession. Then with a long, low groan, the massive blast door began to swing open before us.

Not a moment too soon either, as the storm rolling in began to pelt us with big, thick raindrops just as Helper and Madeline headed inside. It took me a bit longer on account of all the vintage robots piled up outside the front door that needed to be lugged in. Lars hung back too, in order to clear away enough robotic wreckage from around his car that he could park it inside.

Even an hour later I couldn’t fully calm my heart. It sang, danced and folded over on itself every second Helper was within my sight. Such an abrupt reversal is almost more than the human constitution can handle. I kept pinching myself, but she didn’t vanish.

So I pinched Helper instead! She yelped and turned around, visibly confused. I tickled her next. “What’s gotten into you?” she demanded, grabbing my wrists. “I don’t know what to do with myself” I gushed. “I’m just...I’m overwhelmed! Did I mention we all thought you were dead?”

She affirmed it, but repeated that she was unconscious for that entire period. “From my perspective, I fell asleep in the car after we left the lodge, then suddenly woke up buried in gravel. Speaking of which I need to shower.”

Lars leapt to his feet and reminded Helper that he called dibs on the way in. She pouted and crossed her arms, then complained that I was being clingy as I threw my arms around her. “You’ll live” I chuckled. “And now, so will I.”

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^{Stay Tuned for Part 62!}