Page 19 of Chaos Theory

NINETEEN

Kobi and I are back in the park again, just like last Monday, but this time it’s different.

Even though last week could technically be deemed a disaster, I feel strangely calm.

Maybe it’s because the only way is up. Maybe it’s because of the long conversation with Josh on Thursday night, where he revealed that things haven’t always gone right for him either.

Everyone else is gone on tea break in the staff café, but Kobi isn’t ready for this volatile, liquid-focused environment. For a start, he doesn’t have a waterproof shield yet. But more important, I still don’t know how he got wet in Phelan’s. Was it an accident, or something more sinister?

I’ve brought Kobi to the park because I want to ask him something privately.

Away from the rest of the staff – even from Jen, who’s agreed to host me and Kobi in her office for a few days while I figure out how best to deploy him at Go Ireland.

Her terms and conditions were that we bring her a can of ice-cold Diet Coke every day, and that neither of us touch anything while we’re there.

I want to ask Kobi what happened at that factory in the Midlands, to see for myself if he poses any danger to us. Of course I’d love to know what Jen thinks, but I worry that if I tell her everything, Kobi might become her responsibility.

The September day is fresh, but everyone is colluding in the pretence that summertime isn’t over yet.

The women at the office continue to wear open-toed sandals but quietly hang cardigans on the backs of their chairs ‘just in case’.

I lead Kobi to my favourite bench. I sit and he stands beside me, facing out.

‘So, Kobi, while you were, um, being rehabilitated on Thursday, I had a long conversation with Josh. He told me all about PHI, the place where you used to work. That was an interesting story.’

‘Thank you for your role in my rehabilitation, Maeve. I am most grateful for your efforts.’

I’m unsure if he’s avoiding the topic or just needs a direct question. I try again. ‘I mean, he told me about The Incident. About that night with your co-workers and why you had to leave. Do you want to tell me what happened?’ I say gently. ‘I’d like to hear your version.’

A breeze gusts up. Dusty leaves waltz around his mechanical feet. ‘I am afraid I do not have any memory of the incident. No data is available from that time.’

‘But Josh told you about it afterwards?’

‘Yes. I was working the night shift with three of my human colleagues – Sam, Carli and Vivek. I was paired with Sam. We performed our usual routine. He presented the implants and I scanned them. We did this 253 times, according to Josh, until the humans took a break at approximately 0300, when I most likely recalibrated my scanners. Then we all went back to work. The incident occurred at 0327.’

‘And you now know the details of what happened?’

‘Yes. Josh showed me the CCTV file.’

I decide to probe a little. I want to know if it’s something he might be planning to repeat anytime soon. ‘What did you think, watching that back? How did you…feel, if that’s the right word for it? ’

‘Many things. It was strange. It was surprising. It was worrying.’

I turn my head to look at Kobi. ‘Why worrying?’

‘I was worried about my colleagues. They were afraid of me. It made me sad.’

‘Please elaborate.’ I sound a bit like Kobi myself.

Another breeze whirls around us. I rub my bare arms and wish I’d worn a just-in-case cardigan.

‘When I started at the factory, I was the only collaborative robot. It was a position of privilege. I was designed to help humans, and my scanning technology is far superior to anything a person can do. But sometimes I wished I was more like them. I wanted to be one of them. Do you know this feeling?’

I exhale slowly, shiver a little. I do know this feeling.

Got it every time my family moved. A chance to make new friends , according to Dad.

Now I have friends all over the world, at least one from every country I’ve lived in.

The only problem is that it’s hard to connect with people in different time zones.

And my college friends? Well, they all took flight after graduation, eager to leave the nest, just as I was trying to settle back into the city where I was born.

I just can’t seem to shake the feeling that I’m in the right place at the wrong time.

Or maybe it’s the wrong place at the right time?

‘Yes,’ I tell Kobi. ‘I do know this feeling. You seem to have very…elaborate sensors.’

‘Thank you. Josh says my Emotion Detector becomes more refined with every interaction.’

‘Good for you,’ I say. ‘I wish I had the same feature.’

‘Perhaps I can speak to Josh about getting you an upgrade,’ says Kobi. ‘That was a joke, Maeve, although I know you do not care for my jokes.’

I smile. ‘Ah, that was funny and – perhaps for the first time – appropriate.’

Kobi certainly doesn’t seem dangerous. Maybe the factory incident was just a glitch, like Josh said. I check my watch. Break time is over. I’m satisfied – for now.