Bless Your Mechanical Heart Read online

  And a face had been there. This construct. This now-version of Kendra.

  “I was there,” Kendra said. “I’d just killed another person who loved me. And as I passed through that forest, despairing at the death of yet another of my loves, I saw you and Kendra kissing. For no particular reason—programmed instinct, perhaps—I reached out and tasted your emotions. Saw the love you had. And I wanted to die. Because right then I knew I’d never experience anything close to what you two felt.”

  Brother Marrow tried to push himself away from this Kendra—he didn’t want to hear more—but she held him tight. Wouldn’t release him.

  “I hacked your minds so you wouldn’t remember me, but I couldn’t let go of what I’d felt. I couldn’t forget. I followed both of you, watched you enter your house, and when I realized again I’d never have any of this I exploded with anger. I ran upriver to where that ancient dam lay, powered up my body, and I hit it—over and over—wanting you two to die. And when the dam broke Kendra did die, but not you. For some reason you didn’t.”

  Brother Marrow pushed his hand against Kendra’s face, but he couldn’t break free of her grasp.

  “I’m sorry Marrow,” Kendra said. “I truly am. Back then I was new to my life. I couldn’t control my anger. But I’m different now. When I killed Alijah in the village, and learned you were nearby, I reactivated the hack in your neural connection. I thought I’d simply see how you were doing, but as we spent time together…”

  Brother Marrow understood. She’d actually fallen in love with him. Not as her programming demanded, but truly in love.

  “I can’t,” Brother Marrow began.

  “Please,” she said. “I told you before there’s no difference between the real, the virtual, or memories. If you’re happy, you’re happy. If you’re in love, you’re in love.”

  Brother Marrow nodded, and smiled, agreeing with her logic. He held her hand and laid it gently on his chest.

  “I love you,” he said, staring at her face, at the trees above them, his enhanced eyes and ears again working, the sun flittering among the trees Kendra hadn’t knocked down, the laughter of kids and families in the village caressing his hearing. “Not because you’re my Kendra—you’re not—but because of who you are. Because of the time we’ve spent together. Thank you.”

  Kendra smiled as Brother Marrow squeezed her hand, and tapped it twice against his chest.

  “But I can’t forget,” he said. “I won’t allow it. I’m sorry.”

  Before Kendra could react, Brother Marrow asked her to take his heart. Kendra screamed, begging her programming not to do what it demanded. She fought her hand as it released Brother Marrow’s, as it tapped, tapped, tapped on the skin and bones covering his heart.

  “Goodbye, Kendra,” Brother Marrow said as her hand ripped into his chest without his neural connection to numb the pain.

  But the pain didn’t matter. None of it did. Because he loved Kendra.

  He truly, truly did.

  DO ROBOTIC CATS PURR IN SPACE?

  Kerrie Hughes

  Janessa32, of Human Resources for Interplanetary Package Relay Station 12, pinged Issac76, of the Robotic Resources Department, on her tablet. Almost instantly, which was great considering the station had lost their Internet twice in the past week, his image filled the top half of her screen.

  “Hi Janessa32, what can I do for you?”

  “Hello Issac76, have you had a chance to review the Serena21 file?”

  “The welder from Addicted Adults Correctional Employment Agency?”

  “Yes.”

  “I reviewed it, what do you want to do with her?”

  “The Mental Health Council wants to initiate a Lull Cat intervention.”

  “Isn’t this her fifth one in a year?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can she pay the bill?”

  “No, but the contract we have with Addicted Adults Employment Agency states they will pay for the final counseling session if her corporate credit limit has been reached.”

  “That’s generous. Does she have any Earth credit left?”

  “Only enough for her trip home, and you know we can’t touch that.”

  “I know. Which one do you want to send?”

  “LullCat 838.”

  “That’s one of our oldest models. Are you sure you don’t want 992? It has the latest behavioral modification chip, the new modulate receptivity software, and can be programmed to change colors.”

  “What’s the success rate?”

  “90% when the goal is on the Winnicott Chart, 65% if it’s on the Hebb Chart. If she scores high on the Hare Graph of Sociopathy, the numbers go down.”

  “Sounds expensive.”

  “Well, you did say her employment agency would pay for it.”

  “I think we’ll go with 838, she has two hundred years of accumulated knowledge in her database.”

  “That’s such an old model, and it still has the free will to go outside the parameters. I wouldn’t recommend using that one, but it’s your decision. When do you want me to send it?”

  “Right away, please.”

  Issac76 went to the Mall level of the space station and located the Mental Health and Pet Therapy Clinic. The station rarely had robots that did just one thing, so when the Lull Cats, designed to be licensed counseling devices, weren’t busy with mental health appointments, they served as relaxation devices in the pet therapy area.

  He peered inside the viewing window; it looked more like one of Japan’s mall stores than a clinic. Five people sat inside the large room, either on a short bench or large pillow. Each played with a different LullCat; some were in kitten form, others resembled common housecats; one looked more like a stuffed animal than a cat.

  When he located Lull Cat838, it was chasing a piece of string on a stick, to the delight of the teenage boy it was playing with. Issac76 looked at the room readout on his tablet, and saw the client still had five minutes left. According to his readouts, the young man had a mild case of closed spaces anxiety, and was unhappy with his parents for taking a job on the space station. Issac76 waited patiently on the other side of the privacy window and watched them play.

  LullCat838’s timer alerted her that the play therapy session was over, and that someone needed her services as an intervention counselor. She still thought of herself as a ‘her,’ even though she hadn’t had a sex-identifiable body for eighty years. LullCat838 had once been an Earth woman with a full license to counsel humans in all forms of distress. Now she was a virtual presence in a robotic cat body—a grey tabby to be more precise—and had a limited license to counsel the humans on the Interplanetary Package Relay Station.

  “Thank you for the play, Lander14. I hope I will see you again soon,” she said in a soothing voice that was just enough like a cat and just enough like a robot so the patient wouldn’t be bothered by the uncanniness of a talking cat.

  “Thank you, kitty,” Lander14 said as he got up from his pillow chair.

  LullCat838 waited for the boy to leave the clinic, and then left the playroom to meet Issac76 in the waiting area. “What can I do for you?”

  “I have an emergency case for you.” Issac76 tapped his tablet and sent the work order.

  “Thank you, I will leave right away.”

  “Before you go, I need to tell you something.”

  “Yes?”

  “We want to upgrade you to the next generation of LullCat.”

  “The SX9 pod package?”

  “Yes.”

  “That upgrade has not been successful in retaining the full accumulated knowledge of the Legacy brain chip. It will also put me in danger when I return home.”

  “I’m aware.”

  “Then why do such a thing?”

  “The manufacturer is giving us a deal. We can either upgrade the existing units, or buy all new units with fully programmable brain centers.”

  “Pure robotics?”

  “Yes.”

  “That does not a
ddress my needs.”

  “Sorry.”

  LullCat838 was fairly certain Issac76 was not sorry, and couldn’t care less if she were happy or not. She had assessed him as a high-functioning selfish spectrum 6 the day she’d met him, and he had never proven otherwise. “What happens if I choose not to upgrade?”

  “The clinic will honor, but not renew, their contract with your Legacy brain chip and then have it shipped to the company you specified.”

  “I see. How long do I have?”

  “The end of the week.”

  “Please send me the specs of the choice.”

  Issac76 tapped his tablet. “It’s done.”

  “Thank you. I will let you know.”

  LullCat838 walked out of the clinic and into the mall area, reading the spec sheet as she headed toward her destination. According to the upgrade file, the new units received info in nanoseconds, and could review thousands of possible scenarios for casework in seconds. The worst part was that the new units were entirely casework driven, and didn’t need monthly maintenance or 8 hours of sleep out of every 24 hours. They also had the same rights as a human, because they contained the accumulated knowledge of one human life. At least they had until Earth had redefined the laws of humanhood.

  If she accepted the upgrade, the contract stated that all new knowledge acquired would become property of the Owega Brain Chip Corporation. She would still own her old knowledge, but the process to separate old from new was fraught with potential damage to her core knowledge. Not something she wanted to risk.

  At the elevator, she requested floor D of the living and sleeping quarters, and waited patiently as she went up five floors. Then she took the moving corridor that passed through a recreation area of people reading and playing personal vid screens while admiring the starscape above them. She loved this part of the ship, and gazed at the beautiful view of Earth and the Moon as she reviewed the notes and request commands for Serena21.

  She had reached the halfway point when she noticed someone in the garden area wave to her. It was Rosalyn35, a client she saw off the records and without approval from the clinic. She hopped off the moving corridor and padded over to her. “Hello Rosalyn35, how are you?”

  “I’m doing well, do you want to join me for a garden walk?”

  “I would love to, but I have an appointment. Perhaps I can when that is done?”

  “I will be here for another hour, and then I’m going back to work.”

  “I’m sorry, perhaps tomorrow?”

  “That would be lovely.”

  LullCat838 went back to the moving corridor and thought about Rosalyn35, Heinrik87, Dora112, and all the other people she saw outside the clinic and without compensation. If she took the upgrade, she would no longer be able to come and go as she pleased. Setting that thought aside, she went back to reviewing her next appointment. By the time she got to the second bank of elevators, she understood Serena21’s situation; by the time she arrived at the sleeping apartment, she knew what she needed to do.

  LullCat838 activated the chime and waited; the exterior door slid open to reveal a clear interior privacy door. LullCat838 couldn’t see inside, but knew Serena21 could see her from the other side.

  “Come in,” Serena21 said, and the privacy door slid back to allow her entry.

  LullCat838 walked in and sat on her hindquarters while the privacy door closed behind her. It was a two-person sleeping chamber with a bathroom, bunk beds, storage, and sitting area with a table, but little else. The top bunk was closed into the wall.

  According to the file, Serena21 was a physically healthy 23-year-old. She was average height for a human, and had lovely dark hair and eyes. Currently, she was sitting on her bunk wearing a white tank top and striped blue pajama bottoms. It looked like she had been crying for hours.

  “Are you Serena21?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am LullCat838, I’ve been sent by Human Resources, I am pleased to meet you.”

  Serena21 sat up straighter, and according to LullCat838’s internal diagnostics, her heartbeat and anxiety levels shot up. “Human Resources? Am I getting fired?”

  “Not necessarily. Do you have a roommate?”

  “No, not anymore.”

  “Would you like me to sit near you and purr?”

  Serena21 seemed to think it over for a few seconds. “Come on up,” she said, patting the space next to her.

  LullCat838 jumped up on the bunk next to her and purred. It took a few minutes of petting and purring, but Serena21’s anxiety and heartbeat levels finally dropped enough to indicate she was ready to listen. “Would you like to discuss your current situation?”

  Serena21 stopped petting LullCat838. “I can’t stop crying, and I’ve missed a lot of work.”

  “May I ask why are you crying?”

  “I don’t really know… I just feel so overwhelmed and lost.”

  “Has something happened recently?”

  “Nothing I can think of.”

  “Let’s look at that. When did you start crying?”

  “Last week.”

  “What happened just before that?”

  “I finished the safety recertification class, met a new guy who’s really very interesting, and my best friend and former roommate Clary9 had her going away party.”

  “All stressful things.”

  “They don’t seem very stressful.”

  “How well did you know Clary9?”

  “Six months.”

  “That’s a long time to have a friend on a station like this one.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes, we have 1,000 people coming in and leaving every week. The longest anyone has ever been stationed here is three years.”

  “I see… how long have you been here?”

  “Four years, but I don’t count.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m a robotic hybrid cat with a Legacy brain chip.”

  “I don’t know what that is.”

  “It means my brain is the downloaded memory of a human, and my body is robotic.”

  “That’s kind of cool.”

  “Thank you.”

  LullCat838 waited for Serena21 to ask the next question so she could feel in control. “I’m in trouble for trying to put myself in the jettison tube, aren’t I?”

  “Well, it did cause a good deal of anxiety among your work team members, and it did put production behind schedule.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Were you trying to kill yourself?”

  “Well, duh, I was in a jettison tube.”

  “And you don’t really know why?”

  “No.”

  Normally, LullCat838 would have started the back and forth discussion of anxiety and depression coping skills, but she decided to put her plan into action instead.

  “I know.”

  “What?”

  “I know why you are suicidal.”

  Serena21 looked at LullCat838 and asked very softly, “Will you tell me?”

  “Yes, but before I do, please tell me what you remember about your life before coming to Interplanetary Package Relay Station 12?”

  “What? Everything?”

  “Just summarize yourself briefly.”

  Serena21 thought for a minute, blew her nose and pulled her pillow into her lap so she could rest her arms. “Well, I grew up in the United Americas, I attended art school mostly, which is where I learned to weld, then I… wait… I know I have an addiction to something…”

  LullCat838 watched Serena21’s face; she seemed to be in minor discomfort and the corner of her mouth twitched. “…I don’t seem to remember much else, and I have a headache. Is that normal?”

  “It is if you’ve had your memory altered.”

  Serena21 looked skeptical. “You think I’ve had my memory altered?”

  “I know you have.”

  Serena21 looked very confused and then tears filled her eyes; she grabbed a tissue and dabbed at them, then blew her nose. “Wh
y? Why would someone do that?”

  “Thirteen months ago, you were enrolled in the temporary service worker program at the Addicted Adults Correctional Employment Agency when you failed three rounds of therapy in two years at the expense of your parents. When you reached twenty-one years of age you were declared an adult and responsible for your own bills per the laws of the United Americas. You were unable to stay off Phenyx and had no income or home. Then you and a friend, who was also an addict, robbed a pharmacy. Your friend was killed by the police, and you were held responsible per the law. You were then forced to enroll in either the penal corrections facility on Earth or choose an addictions correction temp agency from a list that was matched to your abilities. Do you understand so far?”

  “I think so… I’m not sure… but why was my memory erased?”

  “Officially, it’s because the temp agencies require all convicted persons have the memory of their crime erased in order to live a more tranquil life off world. In reality, stations like this one are not allowed to employ criminals, because they house families. With a memory removal, you qualify as a noncriminal, and the station doesn’t jeopardize their license. The problem is that some humans don’t react well to the memory removal process. You are one of those people, and have tried to commit suicide five times in the time you have been here.”

  Serena21 furrowed her brow and rubbed her face. “I only remember the one.”

  “The past incidents were removed during counseling sessions by the previous LullCats.”

  Serena21’s eyes widened, and her heartbeat increased, she moved back away from LullCat838. “Are you here to erase my memories?”

  “Do not worry, I promise I will not do anything you do not ask me to do.”

  She relaxed a little bit. “So, you’ve been here before?”

  “This is my second visit to you, and your fifth visit by the LullCat counselors in general. The first two visits were paid for by the station as part of your contract. You saw LullCat976, the newest robotic counseling unit available, both times. The third and fourth visits were paid for by you; you chose LullCat146 the first time because that unit reminded you of your childhood cat, then you chose me the second time because I was cheaper and you were running out of credits. You were fine for the longest stretch of time after my visit, so the temp agency chose me to administer your final visit.”