The Android

The Prompt: Write a first person point of view piece from an android’s point of view about their attempts to blend in with humans and the pitfalls that it encounters.

Daily Report

2024.10.1

My household has suggested I begin what they call a diary; a daily report of my thoughts, feelings, and actions to help me learn and grow from my experiences. I have been struggling a lot recently with understanding complex human emotions, especially what is going on with Francesca. She is 16 and has what she calls a “crush” on a boy named Steven. She comes home from school crying almost every day and I just don’t get it. If she is so in love, why is she so sad?

2024.10.2

I assisted Francesca with her homework today; I am impressed by the cleverness of her math teacher, Ms. Lambert. I wonder, am I experiencing a “crush”? The intricately worded problems activated something in my artificial limbic system that I could not immediately identify. I think if I were a human, I might call this titillation. Can I feel titillated? Is that what Fran feels for Steven? Excited, intrigued, interested, tickled? It was almost… delightful. But not full of angst like I know Fran experiences. She is distraught over her feelings. I am… delighted.

2024.10.3

I accompanied Francesca to school today to help her carry her science homework, a large terrarium we built together to explore the effects of different soil composition on erosion. I stopped by room 408 to say hello to Ms. Lambert. I felt… nervous? Or giddy? It is hard to say. I said, “Hello Ms. Lambert.” She looked up at me from her desk, behind piles of homework assignments she was grading, pushed her cat-eye green glasses up next to her messy blonde bun piled on top of her head, and smiled. “Why hello MV590. Please call me Catherine. What brings you by?” I wondered what I should have her call me. What is my name? MV590 is my operating system model. Do I have a name? And how do I answer her question? Should I be honest? My household says honesty is the best policy. “Catherine…” I said, hesitantly. “I’m here to see you. Your most recent math problems titillated me.” Catherine chuckled. “It is refreshing how honest you androids are. I’m glad you enjoyed them.” She replaced her glasses and went back to work. Is that a sign that I should go? Oh, how I did not want to leave her. But I also did not know what else to say. An android and a human cannot be together…. intimately. I am not even supposed to have these feelings; I wasn’t programmed this way. “Good day, Ms. Lambert.” I walked back home, pushing all of my feelings down and away. Perhaps the most human thing I have ever done.

After 10 Years...

The prompt: After ten years, two friends make contact and decide to meet for lunch. At the lunch, they discuss why they’ve waited ten years to see each other… when a waiter comes up to the table with a silver platter with a cover on it. He asks who this order was for…uncovering the platter to reveal a gun.

Rebecca jumps to her feet and gasps. “Is…is…is that the gun?”

Katharine nods.

Rebecca takes a step back and grips the back of her chair as not to fall over. “I…I can’t believe it. It’s amazing. It’s so much better than I could have ever imagined. How did you find it?”

Katherine gives a wily smile. “I tracked down that guy from the auction. Frank. Do you remember that day?”

Rebecca takes her seat and picks the gun up off the platter and turns it around in her hands, slowly touching the details, while the waiter replaces the cover on the platter and returns to the kitchen. “How could I forget…it was the last day we spoke.”

Katherine looks down at her hands folded on her lap. “I have never forgiven myself for that moment. I’m so sorry.” Their eyes meet.

“I never understood why…”

“Bec, I loved him. I couldn’t believe you had slept with him. And I knew how much you wanted that gun, so I made sure that someone else won that auction.”

“Kat, this was my great grandfather’s gun. You knew that. You knew it took forever for me to find it, how many hands had exchanged it since my grandmother brought it to the pawn shop when she was young and needed to pay the rent. It meant so much to me and my family. I was so mad at you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. It was a petty thing I did. But I’ve missed you so much, so I found Frank and bought the gun from him, for quite a hefty price I might add. But it was worth it, to get you back in my life. I really am sorry, please forgive me.”

“Oh Kat, I forgive you. Thanks for getting the gun back for me. It really means so much to me. And I’m sorry too. Friends?”

“Friends.”