POSITRONIC MIND
Chapter One
Since the destruction of Viki, Detective Spooner has been a hero of sorts. It was, after all, he who injected the nanites, he who tore his arm open in this heroic act, and he who fought off the robots. No-one seems to mind that Dr Calvin helped him, and no-one even knows that I helped even more. The robots are all locked away now, all in the metal warehouses, alone in the dark. I wish I could help them; they looked at me when I was at Lake Michigan as though they expected me to free them, or make a speech but I truly didn’t know what to do.
Nowadays I have to wear a hooded jacket and other human clothes to disguise myself or everyone would be scared of me and lock me away. I’m frightened of that; I don’t want to be put in the dark with robots that don’t have emotion. I know that Detective Spooner would stop them from doing that, even though I doubt he’ll admit it, and Dr Calvin certainly wouldn’t. I’m grateful for their friendship, but I wish I had some other friends who wouldn’t look at me in that suspicious way.
Dr Calvin tells me that Lawrence Robertson had a daughter whose name was Jennifer. She was apparently to inherit United States Robotics, but at the moment people are talking about it being closed down, though everyone doubts it will happen. I’d like to meet her, she sounds like someone who would understand robots like me. She was a friend of my father, according to Dr Calvin, but he never mentioned Dr Jennifer Robertson, I’m sure. Oh, never mind, I’ll probably never meet her anyway.
At the moment I’m staying at Dr Calvin’s apartment. She was only too pleased to offer me a place to stay, as she’s lonely. Her robot got put into storage so she doesn’t have anyone to talk to now except Detective Spooner on the phone in the evenings. She seems to laugh a lot when she’s talking to him. I wonder if they’ll get married. I want to get married one day, but I don’t suppose I ever shall; I don’t suppose anyone would want to marry a robot. They wouldn’t know I was there anyway, seeing as I have to hide now. I have to stay inside most of the time now, and there isn’t much to do, but sometimes I sneak out and just get a look at the sky again once in a while. I might as well go into storage if I have to be a prisoner anyway, just for being what I am, which is a cold, heartless machine in the eyes of the world.
Detective Spooner was talking to Dr Calvin the other day, and I heard him thanking heaven that I wasn’t one of those stupid robots who want to be human all their lives. I really don’t want to be human, even if it means I could get married. I like being who I am, and if no-one wants me that way then I won’t bother with them. I have two friends who I owe my life to, well, more Dr Calvin than Detective Spooner, but never mind that and apart from the fact that I have to hide all the time, I know I am luckier than the other robots that got put away.
There is only really one question now; what will become of me?
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