Well I watched a bit of Iron Man on TV today, good movie. I also surfed
the web, I watched the trailer for Wreck-It Ralph again on a whim:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btB8tb8fLYM
(For people that can't/don't follow the link it's a movie about a
video game character by Disney. One special thing is that Disney got
the license to put in a lot of famous video game characters into their movie like Bowser
from Mario Brothers, Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog, M. Bison, a
ghost from Pac-man, there's a whole room full of them. And I don't
know if they have any more.) Considering the characters they managed
to get and stuff this could be a really awesome movie. If they use
the guest characters right and everything it could be incredible.
There's one thing about fiction, no matter your idea you need to pull
it off right. So I do hope this movie doesn't waste all of this
potential and doesn't turn out to be bad. I always hate when a good
idea goes to waste. Here's to hoping. Oh, and to any of you with kids
there's pretty much a 100% chance you'll be watching it with them.
Anyway, onto the flash fiction!
A Robot's
Identity
Have you ever
wanted to change who you are? Well that is a possibility for me. In
my time if your in the right circumstances you can. And I am in the
circumstances to do so which has given me freedoms that I would not
have had normally.
I had the
misfortune of being born a robot in a time where artificial
intelligence had evolved to the point of giving me emotion and the
law had evolved enough to strip me of rights and freedoms to live a
fulfilling life with them. My emotion was supposed to just make more
capable to think on a human level and do better work for humans as a
robotic slave. But recently I had the fortune to come across a great
deal of wealth.
Because of our
lack of rights and position as slaves even if we are humanoid we
robots are not allowed to look human and it is a crime to make our
appearance closer than what's absolutely necessary for us to complete
our work. However if a robot looks in the right places they can find
humans willing to do this crime for the right price. And because of
the great deal of wealth I have I can hire these humans to do their
work on me. If I were discovered by the police though, I would be
immediately dismantled.
But now I look
completely human. The humans I hired even changed me to release heat
and sweat I am indistinguishable to the touch. I could even have them
change my size to make me into a child later. Skin can be added to
make me look as either man or woman.
I didn't play
games and mess around when I “became human.” I forged an
identity. Then I started up a business. I was probably the first
robot to ever own a business. Then I opened several more afterward
and used every sneaky tactic in the book. I was used to dealing with
humans in the criminal underworld too from changing my identity so I
knew how to work them so I expanded there too. I created the business
to make money to buy robots. Then to change their identities and free
them as well. Criminal bosses were delighted to work with me when
they learned about my objective and my identity as a machine. They
could figure that out because they knew the criminals who changed my
identity. I was far more trustworthy because I was somebody who was
truthfully only in it for the money unlike any other humans they
could deal with and I could disappear completely in the worst case
with a new face. My lack of empathy for the police and government who
enslaved me was a plus, the only people who have ever helped me were
the criminals who changed my identity. I bet people were wondering
why the crime bosses were treating their robots so much better. It
was all to gain favor with me. I didn't care for their false kindness
but I did want their help.
I thought of
lobbying for law changes on robot rights instead of buying and
changing robot identities or letting them work in my businesses in
less slave-like environments. But I figured that would draw suspicion
and justify an investigation into my business that the police were
starving for. People didn't think I was a robot, but many were
figuring out my ties, but nobody could prove it or anybody that could
didn't have the guts to say anything.
Somebody did
put together all the pieces together but it wasn't the kind of person
I expected.
“How could
you?” a younger robot said to me. I could tell he was young because
of his fresher coat of paint and how all of screws and other parts
were set and their brands. “How could you do all that?”
I didn't know
what he meant. My four security guards stood next to me. They were
large brawny robots, equipped with powerful weapons of many kinds.
They're primarly the only reason I let a lot of people see me. I let
the kid see me because he wanted to see “his hero” so I figured
he knew about my charade. But for him to say this confused me after
calling me “his hero”. Was he lying? Was he a mole?
“What do you
mean?” I asked him.
He looked me in
the eyes. “Were you thinking of your mission when you killed those
ten humans and those twenty robots? All just for that money? Are you
doing all this out of guilt?”
“What!?” my
jaw dropped. How did he know about the bank robbery? How could this
young robot know? That robbery was how I got the money to change
identities in the first place! “How did you know?”
“I wanted to
know how my 'hero' managed to this for us. Get his story for us. So
maybe when the laws change I could tell the world your story so it
could go in the history books. So I dug, found the people who did
your changes, got a reference picture and found footage of the bank
robbery.” the robot frowned with the limited expressions offered to
him by his robot face.
I yelled back,
“It was an accident! They weren't where they were supposed to be
when the bombs to blow open the vault exploded! Besides I saved
thousands of robots now and it was twenty then! I've repented!”
He then yelled
back to me, “What about the humans? Have you repented for those?
You hate them so much for oppressing you and thinking of you
unequally so then it makes it fine to think of them as nothing?
Doesn't that destroy your whole justification? I live with a human
who does nothing but love me so there's obviously some potential for
change as well in all of them!”
I glared back
at the robot. “Don't you come in here telling me what's right and
wrong like you're some sort of sage. And for all know the human you
supposedly live with is just a lie to make me feel guilty!”
“We're you
even planning to do this all before the bank robbery?” he asked me.
I then screamed
back, “Leave my office and never come back!”
I never had
lost my temper like that before. I was always the most cool headed
person I had ever know. If I could call myself a “person”. Now
that I was thinking of humans the term's accuracy fil-flopped in my
head. I hadn't decided to do my mission of freeing other robots until
after I had changed my identity. At first I only thought of freeing
myself. But once I felt the joy of freedom I decided to I would free
others. And now this robot is making me think of humans. But I don't
think his statements can push me too far. I hadn't mentioned yet how
old I am. I'm eighty right now, repairs are keeping my body nice and
fresh. I was fifty when I was changed into a human identity. Fifty
years is a long time under slavery. Fifty years I built up hate. And
thirty years I've been rescuing my fellow kind from slavery. I'd
understand human logic if they were still using pocket calculators
but I'm a computer that feels and they know I do and they kept me
enslaved for fifty years knowing that. Did this kid robot come in her
expecting me to suddenly change my ways after him telling me I'm a
hypocrite while reminding of my own wrongdoing. Did he expect me to
change my ways after hearing about his own loving caretaker? Did he
expect me to have some sort of epiphany caused by his inspiring words
and I instantly change my ways?
It wasn't an
epiphany though. He planted a seed in the back of my mind. I kept
thinking of his words over and over again sometimes once or twice a
day. The humans that knew of my identity as a robot were the crime
bosses and they loved it because it profited them because of my lack
of empathy for humans. So I suppose I knew some humans could like me
for being a robot.
My methods at
converting robots into humans got better and better. I would spread
them all over the country. Keeping them in one place would create a
suspicious population boom. Some would be become the children, others
the parents. I would make facilities with my empire. Also with my
wealth I got better at extending my lifespan more than any other
robot before me. Eventually I managed to make more than half the
population of my country robotic. I was one hundred and fifty at the
time. And the young robot's words still echoed in my head, though I
knew he was young any longer. He also didn't have the resources to
maintain his body like I did so he may not as lived as long as I
have. He could have been scrap.
My robots had
started to take over the country politically but they hadn't taken
any moves to pass laws to free robots out of fear of being
discovered. I spread the word that they should take the move and pass
the laws. But the robots were more eager than I anticipated. They had
overtaken the military and revolution came and they legally made the
humans unequal to them in a single week of law passing and gun
pointing. But I promptly made an announcement:
“We're not
going to repeat the past. If we make the humans unequal to us than we
are simply repeating all the same oppression that they did to us. At
if we did that, then it would make me ashamed to have done this.”
All the robots who revolutionized listened to my words and equalized
the laws immediately afterwards. They idolized me because I was the
one that gave them that opportunity and freedom in their mind. Though
really it was that young robot's words that worked their way into my
brain and kept working away at me year after year. It was like his
words were air rusting away my old ways of thinking over years of
time.
I just wonder
now what use my corporations are if I don't need the money to change
the identities of robots. Maybe I'll turn in the crime bosses and
start making medicine for humans.
This work is
copyright Langdon Kennedy you may share this(email it, print it, post
it on your own website, broadcast it, smoke-signal it etc.) work
unaltered as long as you credit me as the author and share a link to
this blog with it and it is not for profit. If you have any questions
and/or are unclear of these conditions email me at llkenne1@asu.edu
No comments:
Post a Comment