Page 5

Chapter five

Simon

S imon did not sit still while charging.

The water he drank immediately began to flush to his joints, coagulating with the long-dried oil remnants left in his casing. It was enough that he was able to actually begin to move, his limbs slowly becoming unglued.

Instead of sitting still, he kneeled on limbs that wobbled. He held on to the metal table as his balance systems recalibrated, taking into account his worn parts and lack of fluid in all his joints.

He was determined, however, to see outside, so he balanced himself on the various bits of furniture along the way to the window. After stumbling and falling while trying to get up, he even crawled on his knees for a bit in an undignified manner. Then he pulled himself up, reaching for the window.

Simon gasped once he finally made it to the glass, his still functioning right eye scanning the horizon. Is this even Earth ? He knew he served before in a desert area, but that was still full of lush lawns and trees that were fed through irrigated piping and drip systems. Arizona. A desert, but not really one with the systems man had put into place.

His eyes widened in shock. This is . . . horrible. None of that orderly convenience and beauty existed now. Outside it was a wasteland. There were homes that appeared halfway decimated, the foundations barely standing. It reminded him of the ancient ruins from his information logs, with a haze that hung heavy over everything and dust in the air.

That woman, Nora, had mentioned the war had escalated after he shut himself down. Did the war destroy all of Earth? Nothing else could make sense based on the total destruction he saw before him. There was nothing, nothing, that looked like what he remembered. His entire world from before was truly gone.

Simon’s processors kicked in then, flooding his system with sadness. Not for the humans, but for all the life he remembered once being here. His hand touched the aged glass. All the beauty. All the androids like himself also must have truly been destroyed as well, just like it was feared when he powered himself down in that closet.

The overriding of their programming to give the androids free will must have come too late. A huff left his lips. Once the androids began to refuse to fight in their wars, the humans must have turned hostile.

Nora’s earlier words hit him hard then. You’re the first android I’ve ever seen.

The sight before him was enough to overwhelm his sensors. He stumbled back from the window. I need to sit down. Fumbling around, he pulled a chair next to the window over to him and sat, staring outside in shock. Maybe it’s just this area?

A soft meow made him look down, jerkily, his neck as stiff as the rest of him. The cat came up to him then and wound around his legs, purring, breaking his concentration. He reached towards the cat but the movement was too much and he slid, ungracefully, from the chair back to the floor.

“Little kitty,” he said softly, as the cat came to wind around him. Simon stretched out hesitantly, his fingers slow to respond, to touch the soft fur. His sensors took in the sensation almost perfectly now that the recalibrations were mostly complete. Not all animals are gone, at least. His voice now sounded normal again, the distortion accounted for and filtered out automatically after the addition of the water. That the woman, Nora, had given to him like one would to a child. “What has happened here?”

The cat did not answer him, but purred like a normal cat should. It was the first thing here that seemed normal, actually. He always liked animals like this. They never seemed to see a difference between him and the humans. He scratched behind the cat’s ears, and it brought a stiff smile to his lips to see the cat lean into his touch.

Simon sensed movement and saw the little girl, Tilly, staring at him.

She crept closer, now changed into a faded nightgown with flowers on it, her bare feet hesitant on the floor. Her big blue eyes looked up at him innocently. “Mama said to stay away from you until she got back but . . . you’re a good robot, right? You’re not mean? Tatertot seems to like you.”

A good robot? Simon didn’t know how to answer that, staring at her, other than to say, “I’ve never harmed a human and I’m not planning to.”

That seemed to work. The little girl’s face lit up. She sat on the chair he abandoned at the window, and scooted close. “Oh that’s good. Can I tell you what’s happening on my radio program?”

He was programmed to listen to humans, but he found he was able to not obey if he wanted to. It was odd to see that rule in his processor overwritten, to have free will even in being able to decide when to listen. But he found himself tilting his head toward the little girl anyways. “Sure.”