An Android's Tale - Part 2 (An Original Story)

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The door slid open automatically as he entered the lavished front entrance of the building. A synthetic dressed in a black tuxedo approached and greeted him respectfully upon arrival. “Welcome back, Mr. Dullet. Hope you had a great day.” The same response very every single time, he thought. Was he programmed to always say that based on the role his creators had assigned him or is he just a downright lazy synthetic who literally can’t be bothered to change his broken record? “I’m good, thanks, Jonny.” Sy replied in his usual charming manner. “Hope you had the same.”

He made his way to the elevator doors and pushed the button, waiting patiently for one of the lifts to finally arrive. The elevator had its work cut out with overs 70 floors to cover and only two available cubicles. “Why don’t they just stick a chip into both these things and have them prioritize which of us needs the damn thing more.” he mumbled under his artificial breath. All synthetics had to be fitted with simulated breathing apparatus hardwired into their bodies to improve race relations. This became a legally-binding mandatory requirement after certain groups of humans complained they didn’t appear “lifelike” enough. The two main parliamentary houses were still squabbling over that ruling to this day. After almost seven minutes, the elevator finally arrived. The doors opened and a mother with a small toddler cautiously stepped out. She gave him such a dirty look, he felt his innards would explode and melt right before her eyes. But luckily anger wasn’t one of his primary characteristics, which made him question his being even further.

Who develops and shapes the synthetics core values? Surely there must be specific criteria upon which they are designed. After all, genetics and DNA was out of the equation so they must be getting their core fundamental personalities from somewhere or someone. Sy must have pondered this thought so many times over he was amazed he hadn’t blown a fuse by now. He let out a small chuckle at that image conjured up in his head as “34” was pressed on the metal dashboard in the lift.

The corridor to his apartment was lit up by high powered spotlights shining down onto a spotless beige coloured carpet. Sy wandered over to the familiar laminated softwood door he had grown so accustomed to seeing after all this time. He gazed down to a small indentation near the bottom where Dee had once kicked it in frustration. But there was no use dwelling on the past. Those were the old days and these were the new. The happier times were here and now.

He waved a hand over the dull blue glow just to the left of the entrance and a soft click echoed back. He proceeded inside and the door automatically closed shut behind him of its own accord. All the lights were turned off which Sy found a little strange seeing as Dee would usually be home at this time. Being a synthetic, all electrical appliances in the apartment were controlled through a sub-routine program running within the Samson chip. He switched on all the hallway lights using nothing but the power of his mind. “Darling, I’m home.” He called out only to be greeted back by silence. A cold breeze softly blew past him which seemed to be coming from the living room area. He hastened in and found Dee standing by an open window next to the leather sofa. She looked out wistfully over the glowing skyline of buildings and flashing lights. It could have been a beautiful sight if not for the noise and air pollution filtering in. He frowned in confusion as to what was going on.

“Dee? You OK, baby?” he asked in a concern tone. The darkness gave the living room a disquieting edge to it. Lights danced across the walls of the apartment like patterns in a kaleidoscope. He was accustomed to the feelings of anxiety only too well though still had difficulty differentiating between fear and worry. He moved in closer to see what the trouble was. “Stop, Sy. Please.” she said in almost a whisper. He suddenly had vague recollections of her acting like this in the past but couldn’t quite recall the specifics of it. “What’s the problem, darling? Can we switch the lights on in here first?”

“No.” she snapped, slightly riled by his suggestion. “Just leave everything the way it is. I’m… not feeling like myself today.” Dee’s silhouette gleamed against the backdrop of the city below. Her dress fluttered lightly in the breeze as she stood unnaturally still. Sy was trying hard to get a reading off of her demeanour but his mind offered up nothing in return. “What’s wrong, Dee?” he asked again, slightly louder this time. The agitation of not being able to formulate any coherent understanding of her behaviour was starting to grate. She turned around slowly and looked at him. He could just make out her black, lifeless eyes through the dim ambient lighting. “I want something from you. Something I must have and you will provide it for me.” she said angrily.

“Sure, baby. At least you’re talking to me now. What is it that you need?” He couldn’t put his lack of psychological evaluation skills down to anything else apart from the fact of him being a lowly synthetic. A human with a rich and varied history of life would have spotted the problem a mile away and already be halfway done finding a solution. But he was missing that history. He imagined his situation being similar to a child being thrown in the deep end of a pool. Thrashing their arms about in a panicked frenzy until they slowly adapt to their new environment. Or drown, of course. "What is it, dear?" he asked again.

She looked at him dolefully and said “I want to have a baby.”

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)

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