"Well, I really only need it for chores, to be honest..."
"Say no more, my good sir! What you're looking for should be right over there!"
A robot.
After months and months of constantly explaining that he was never going to buy one, Allelujah was buying a robot.
It wasn't that he didn't like them, or that he opposed the idea of them like all of those protestors - it was just that it seemed odd to buy something to work for him that seemed so close to human. Especially with the new reaction programs, and the randomised or customisable personalities; they acted more like people than ever.
He didn't need one, either. Sure, his job took up a lot of time and energy, and it was getting to the point lately that he didn't have time to cook, or clean, or shop, but he was doing just fine. In fact, he was only buying one because his parents had sent him a small fortune with the demand that he buy one for himself; he couldn't really send it back, and if he didn't spend it on what they'd given it to him for, it was kind of like stealing...
So he gave up, and decided to buy one.
He wasn't really sure how to pick one, though. All he needed it for was basic chores, and there were a lot of programming or physical alterations, but--
... But he'd never seen one with wings before.
A female model, blonde and slim and dancer-like, with a small pair of white, feathery wings extending from her shoulder blades. Allelujah paused in his browsing, reached out and touched its fingertips lightly.
Its eyes fluttered open, systems booted by the contact, and the robot's first reaction was not to smile sweetly, or ask what he wished of it, like he was sure any other robot in the line would do; instead, it recoiled shyly, eyes flitting about nervously. Its wings fluttered behind it, he noticed.
"It's alright," he assured it - her. He couldn't think of her as anything less than any living creature. She was... "You're perfect," he said, awed, and she shook her head, smiled sadly and tapped her throat with a finger.
Allelujah blinked. "No vocal machinery?"
The salesman, obviously having eavesdropped, laughed nervously as he approached. "That's a defect model, we only keep that one for show. Look, if you want one without a voice, it's no trouble for us to just deactivate the vocal capabilities - in fact, lots of people get us to do it! So, why don't you--"
"I'll take her."
The man's voice died in his throat. "... What?"
"I'll take her," he repeated, and held his hand out for the robot to take, smiling. She hesitated for a beat, but then placed her hand in his and carefully stepped down from her display stand, the lights under the material of her skin lighting up to synthesise a blush, and a tiny smile on her lips.
He never paid for her to have repairs, because he liked her just the way she was.
TWO. [cyberpunk]
"Say no more, my good sir! What you're looking for should be right over there!"
A robot.
After months and months of constantly explaining that he was never going to buy one, Allelujah was buying a robot.
It wasn't that he didn't like them, or that he opposed the idea of them like all of those protestors - it was just that it seemed odd to buy something to work for him that seemed so close to human. Especially with the new reaction programs, and the randomised or customisable personalities; they acted more like people than ever.
He didn't need one, either. Sure, his job took up a lot of time and energy, and it was getting to the point lately that he didn't have time to cook, or clean, or shop, but he was doing just fine. In fact, he was only buying one because his parents had sent him a small fortune with the demand that he buy one for himself; he couldn't really send it back, and if he didn't spend it on what they'd given it to him for, it was kind of like stealing...
So he gave up, and decided to buy one.
He wasn't really sure how to pick one, though. All he needed it for was basic chores, and there were a lot of programming or physical alterations, but--
... But he'd never seen one with wings before.
A female model, blonde and slim and dancer-like, with a small pair of white, feathery wings extending from her shoulder blades. Allelujah paused in his browsing, reached out and touched its fingertips lightly.
Its eyes fluttered open, systems booted by the contact, and the robot's first reaction was not to smile sweetly, or ask what he wished of it, like he was sure any other robot in the line would do; instead, it recoiled shyly, eyes flitting about nervously. Its wings fluttered behind it, he noticed.
"It's alright," he assured it - her. He couldn't think of her as anything less than any living creature. She was... "You're perfect," he said, awed, and she shook her head, smiled sadly and tapped her throat with a finger.
Allelujah blinked. "No vocal machinery?"
The salesman, obviously having eavesdropped, laughed nervously as he approached. "That's a defect model, we only keep that one for show. Look, if you want one without a voice, it's no trouble for us to just deactivate the vocal capabilities - in fact, lots of people get us to do it! So, why don't you--"
"I'll take her."
The man's voice died in his throat. "... What?"
"I'll take her," he repeated, and held his hand out for the robot to take, smiling. She hesitated for a beat, but then placed her hand in his and carefully stepped down from her display stand, the lights under the material of her skin lighting up to synthesise a blush, and a tiny smile on her lips.
He never paid for her to have repairs, because he liked her just the way she was.