Page 51 of Chaos Theory

FORTY-EIGHT

But I’ve yet to see Ron. He left instructions with his PA, a creature so polished and polite that part of me wondered if she might in fact be a bot.

I was to sign a nondisclosure agreement – standard practice for all new staff – and then go directly to the robot bay, where an assignment was waiting for me.

HR would contact me later to fast-track me through the employee induction process, apparently.

So I’m making my way to the robot bay. I have many questions but no one to ask them of.

I guess all will be revealed in time. I’m excited to see Kobi again and to find out what we’ll be working on together.

And I’m looking forward to getting a proper look around the robot bay. As long as I don’t have to see?—

‘Josh!’

The sliding doors open to reveal him standing there, like a contestant in a cheesy dating game show. Here’s what you’ve won . But I don’t want the prize any more.

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you,’ I blurt.

I falter on the threshold. The doors begin to close but then swish open again when they detect a confounding object – me.

Josh holds his hands up as if to say ‘don’t shoot’.

‘Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing me for long. I’m just here to brief you on your assignment. Then I’ll be on my way. I need to book a flight.’

‘Oh?’

‘Apparently I’m urgently needed in the California office.’

‘Oh.’ Good. He won’t be here. I guess he’s lucky he hasn’t been fired.

He turns away. ‘I suppose I could use some sunshine.’

‘How long will you be…?’

‘Yet to be determined. I just do whatever Ron tells me.’

‘Mostly.’

‘Good point.’ He sighs, smiles a little.

I look around. ‘Where’s Kobi?’

‘In his pod. He needs a full recharge. The robot equivalent of sleeping in.’ He looks down at his hands.

‘Also, not sure how eager he is to interact with me right now. He’ll be happy to see you though.

’ His tone brightens. ‘He’d love to introduce you to some of his fellow robots.

He’s due to wake up in about fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Ron wanted me to brief you.’

He gestures at a shiny black machine standing silent in the corner. ‘Would you like a coffee?’

‘I don’t suppose there’s any herbal tea?’

But I don’t really care what I drink. On my agenda this morning is: reunite with Kobi, meet other robots, never see Josh again .

‘Well, let’s find out.’

He leads me over to the machine. ‘Good morning, CoffeeTron!’

The machine seems to be composed of various solid black modules connected together.

A gleaming black rectangular box at the top begins to rise upwards, red LED lights flickering on and arranging themselves into a rudimentary face – two eyes and a smile, of sorts.

Two black oblongs at either side of the machine semi-detach themselves and begin extending out, reaching towards us.

I instinctively take a step back. CoffeeTron is tall and getting taller as its ‘head’ continues to elevate, before stopping with a clunk and angling downward ten degrees or so.

‘Good morning. May I offer you coffee?’ A hollow electronic monotone.

The reign of CoffeeTron will be long and terrible , I think to myself. ‘Yikes,’ I say.

‘I do not understand. May I offer you coffee?’ it repeats.

I look down to check for functioning legs, am relieved at their absence. I look at Josh. ‘I don’t want coffee,’ I whisper. ‘But I’m scared to say no.’

Josh laughs a little. He jabs at flat hidden buttons on the front of the console. ‘Early prototype. Very early. You know, this machine has never quite worked.’

‘Perhaps that’s for the best.’

Two drinks are dispensed amid much hissing and rattling. Josh brings them over to a self-contained blue-and-white booth against the wall. It looks like the dining area on a spaceship, with room for no more than four astronauts who have not yet tired of one another’s company.

‘So,’ I start. ‘Ron wanted you to brief me?’

It’s still hard to look him in the eye, but I suppose I can relax a bit now, knowing that he’s leaving soon.

‘Yes. We had a conversation early this morning.’ He grimaces – it’s unclear whether on account of the coffee or the memory of the conversation. ‘To be honest, he didn’t go into too much detail.’

I cautiously sip at my beverage but fail to identify it. ‘What did he say?’

‘He just said you were to, quote, “keep doing what you’re doing”, and to spend as much time as possible with Kobi.

“Make sure you two are really connected,” is what he said.

He seems to have some longer-term project in mind, but he won’t share the details with me.

’ He shrugs, sighs. ‘I suppose I should get used to that.’

‘Why, did he ever share a lot of detailed plans with you?’

‘No. So I should continue to remain used to that.’ He meets my eyes properly for the first time. ‘You are smart. I knew that much from the start.’

But I don’t want to go there. There’s nothing he can say that I want to hear. I’m still angry at him, but also at myself. I just want to get past this and move on. Time to shut down the conversation. ‘Okay then. Is it time to wake Kobi up yet?’

I extricate myself from the dining pod, leaving the vile liquid abandoned on the table.