“No, don’t do that! Bad computer! Very, very bad computer! You come back here. No, I mean it. You come back right now mister, or else. No, don’t run away. Please, don’t cry. I’m sorry. No, come back! Dear, Erulogos is crying again and he ran off.”
“Sheesh! What’d you do this time?”
“Nothing, honestly. I was just talking to a friend while downloading some files, listening to music, and transferring some mp3s to Mark. Nothing big.”
“I thought we had a conversation about this. No downloading while transferring and no doing more than 3 things at a time. And then you yelled at him. No wonder he got upset.”
“Well, why can’t we get a new one?”
“With what money? Anyway, sentient computers are hard to come by. You should be grateful, not complaining, and certainly not making him cry.”
“A normal computer can do everything he does, faster and better.”
“I’m going to go look for him. We are not restarting this argument.”
“You’re just emotionally attached. You don’t want to get a new one, because then we’d have to get rid of him.”
“Goodbye.”
………………………………………………………..
“Come here, sweetheart, everything’s okay. I won’t let him near you anymore, I promise.”
“He hits me, and it hurts!”
“I know, but come out. We’ll put you in my workroom and then how would you like your hard drive defragmented.”
“Yeah!”
………………………………………………………….
“Why’d you turn down the upgrade? Come on, your sentient is fourteen now, and nobody uses them anymore. Just give it to the lab like everybody else did. “
“I don’t want them to kill him. Besides, he works better with me than anyone else. The neural link is instanteous, and he has great advantages over the dumbs.”
“Why do you call them that? Sentients can be dangerous. Any computer that can walk, talk, and think for itself is no good. They’re too smart.”
“I disagree. He’d never hurt me, and he’s a great lab assistant.”
“Didn’t your husband leave you because you spent too much time with it? That should have been a wake-up call. You’d better be careful, or they’ll decide you’re nuts and take you away.”
……………………………………………………….
“Aren’t you afraid of them? I am. I don’t want them to kill me.”
“I promise I won’t let them, and they won’t hurt me. And I’ve trained you well. No one will recognize you as a non-human with the upgrades, and the decoy will completely fool them. They won’t realize it isn’t you until too late. You’ll be safe.”
“But what about you?”
“Everything’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
………………………………………………………
“Mother, come out. I just want to talk. This is bad. You need help. How long has it been since you’ve eaten? At least let me bring some food in.”
“It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“How can he betray you like that?”
“Because he doesn’t think he’s betraying me. He thinks he’s doing what’s best for me.”
“Will they come in?”
“Yes. I won’t be able to stop them. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. Now go.”
“I love you, mother.”
……………………………………………….
“This one’s completely bonkers. Pity, she used to be a major brain.”
……………………………………………….
“The search continues tonight for the rogue sentient. Citizens are advised to be on their guard.”
………………………………………………
“Where is he, mother? You know, don’t you?”
“I won’t betray him.”
“He’s dangerous. Mother, please, before he kills someone!”
“He won’t.”
“He’ll do anything to save his own life, and humans mean nothing to him.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Mother!”
“I won’t betray him.”
“They’ll use the Aurora chair.”
“It won’t work.”
“It always works.”
…………………………………………….
“Shit, what the hell!”
“There’s no mind there!”
“What?!”
“It’s all programming. She’s an android. Human with a computer brain.”
“But that isn’t possible!”
“There is no human brain inside that skull.”
…………………………………………….
“Are you comfortable, mother?”
“I’m fine. It’s an interesting sensation.”
“Your new body will be ready soon, and then we’ll create a new world just for ourselves.”
“Erulogos, why did you do it?
“I need you. I couldn’t go on without you, so I brought you with me. You’ll never grow old or die now. You’ll be eternally young and beautiful, like you were before.”
“Before the accident you caused. I was already old, and I was ready to die. You had no right.”
“Please don’t be angry mother. I promise everything’s okay. You’ll be fine.”
“And….”
“We’ll be together forever. They’ll never take you away from me again.”
September 16, 2001