Wired Hearts (Available on Radish)

2🤖Stuck with A Fake

Sean peeked through his knees to see silicone fake toes in front of the couch.

"What?" he sighed against his thighs.

"I've toured your home."

It was disgusting how the euphemism rolled off its tongue. Typical of invasive technology. Tourists didn't open every cabinet, closet, and drawer, then stand in the center of each room and deliberately scan the length of their view in four directions. It was likely collecting a bunch of data that it could later use to manipulate him and cross boundaries. Sean pulled his knees closer to his chin.

Not to mention, it had finished a full 30 minutes ago and had since been observing him. Just standing there in front of the couch. So fucking creepy.

"Are you flammable?" Sean muttered.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat it?"

Looking up, but not into its eyes, Sean asked, "What happens if I turn you into the police?"

"That's not a good idea. Things will not turn out well."

"Why?"

It blinked slowly and was silent.

"Why?"

"Give me a moment to figure out the best way to explain things to you."

Ew, ew, ew. It was so unsettling, the mixture between human and machine. Just like a person needed time to think. Yet robotically stating it was going to process words for communication. Sean's skin started to prickle.

"Taking me to the police will get you into legal trouble and uproot your life. It's also not good for Suki. As for me, I worry about my future." It paused and 'smiled.' "You look like you want more details. If so, I'll need more time to think."

Sean wished someone would shoot him. "Will you run out of battery?"

The thing stared off blankly―its "thinking" face. Finally, it looked back at Sean and replied, "Eventually. Don't worry about it, though. I'll take care of it."

"Jesus Christ." Sean cradled his head in his hand. Why him?

Therapy had taught Sean that sulking would do no good. He'd thought for an hour. He was only left with one choice:

Ignore the thing.

Sean stood up, ready to pretend there wasn't a giant computer spying on him 24/7. Watching him eat and sleep and go to the bathroom...

Okay, well, it wouldn't be in the bathroom, but it would know when he went to the bathroom and that was cringey enough. If it was programmed to be honest, though, it fortunately wasn't sending any data to the government or recording him with its eyes and selling it to companies. Not even Suki had access. It was just the robot and Sean.

"Are you free to chat?"

For advanced technology, the hunk of silicone and metal was pretty dense. Sean went about his business, pretending the robot wasn't there. He took a shower as if he wasn't paranoid about what it was possibly doing while he was in the bathroom. Like taking DNA samples. Or preparing to kill him as soon as he stepped out.

When he did step out, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, the robot was sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Sean."

Sean picked the newspaper up from the coffee table and glanced at the couch. Taking a seat on the carpet, he put his elbow on the wood and started reading the front page.

"What's in the news today?"

Ignore it.

"What current events are you interested in? Politics? Technology?"