Coded ambition

Fragment 2: Trigger, Part 2

Beatrice often visited the Arsted household on Friday afternoons. She was well aware of the fact that her sister, Natalie, was doing worse psychologically speaking. What she also was very aware of was the fact that Dean did not provide as well as for Natalie and her nephew since L-35 became a part of the household. She was of the opinion that Dean had become lazy since that happened. Most of all, she really detested the robot from the first day she had met him though she could not really tell exactly why.

As a woman who really wanted children but was waiting in order to allow her husband the career he desired to include him more in the upbringing of the child, she somehow envied Natalie. Her sister had an incredibly smart son who also was very sensitive and soft-hearted. It was a mother's dream to pamper such a child and he was still in the perfect age to spend a lot of time with his parents. If they were emotionally and physically available of course.

To minimize the time Mark spent with L-35, she tried to visit frequently and especially on Friday afternoons. Dean was usually not at home so she could speak freely with Nat and play extensively with Mark. Not that it had been any different on other days in the past few years. Her sister's husband had become a toxic workaholic who could see nothing but his job. Beatrice pitied her sister for it. Nat had married a totally different man than she shared her bed with now. It was not before the birth of Mark that Natalie had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In one way, it was great that the disorder had not been overlooked as Natalie had been taken care of by capable psychologists. On the other hand, it was depressing for her sister to find out that the birth of a child could entail such a disease. Despite it being life-defining for Nat, it was very rare. Beatrice tried to avoid fearing the same outcome for herself for the future.

Most of all, she was convinced that Mark had nothing to do with it in particular. Even though he had been born in a wealthy household that had access to nature and general resources to cater to all the needs of the child, he was not so lucky regarding the personality of his parents. In particular, he was a very unlucky child to call a robot his only friend apart from his aunt and parents.

Beatrice sighed as she was standing in front of the door of Nat's home. She thought about all those things again. Her thoughts were always the same when she visited her sister so Beatrice knew that she was truthfully bothered to the bone by the circumstances. But she could not talk about it too much about Natalie. She did not want to trouble her more than her own husband already did.

When the door's camera recognized Beatrice's facial features and retina, the short sound notification with bells played to inform either Natalie or L-35 that a regular guest had arrived.

Of course, Beatrice thought dissatisfied when the robot opened the door for her, it had to be this android.

"Good afternoon, Beatrice", L-35 greeted her friendly, in a courteous voice. "The colors of your dress are very vivid and emphasize your pretty eye color", he complimented her right afterwards.

Beatrice was a tall, slender woman with a great sense of fashion. With her tall figure, brown curly hair that barely reached her shoulders, and green almond-shaped eyes, she looked like she could be a model. Even when it was cold, she loved to wear colorful dresses, like this stylish and bright green wool dress that L-35 had complimented her on.

She was Natalie's sister and was handled as a subject very difficult to satisfy or befriend in his advanced internal models and profiles. The protocols suggested to provide compliments tailored to less approachable females so he followed up on this advice. The additional polite smile on his face should lessen Beatrice's tension when she saw him, but she was one of the few women that could withstand his visual charming features easily.