Eunice
Image by Comfreak from Pixabay“I don’t understand, Jonathan”
Eunice said, the constant whir and tick of her gears a sign that her agitated computations were rerunning again.
“Stop. It’s not an error in your calculations. There are
just some parts that can’t be replaced.”
“But there are other similar models with working parts, why
can’t they just be exchanged?” Her gears were running noticeably slower by now,
and one toggle was stuttering. Realization dawned in her eyes as she reached
behind her back.
“Where is my key, Jonathan? Please, wind me.”
Jonathan swallowed hard. His glasses fogged, obscuring his
vision. “No, Eunice, I’m not going to do that.”
“But why? I don’t understand.” Confusion and concern rolled
across her face like competing waves in the ocean, but no emotion.
How could he explain to her something that wasn’t based on
facts and measurements? For all the feeling she inspired in him, she was a
glorified calculator. She couldn’t be blamed for failures to understand something
outside her programming.
Perhaps he could try an analogy. “Do you remember years ago
when we lit fireworks; how much you appreciated the visual stimulus?”
“Oh, yes. Do you have more?”
“No, but that’s not the point. When we were done, you wanted
me to light them again, but I explained to you that the fuel was spent?”
Eunice’s gears and toggles clicked and whirred, slower still than before. “You are saying that your fuel is spent.”
Jonathan smiled, taking several deep breaths from his oxygen
mask before continuing. “Like those fireworks, I’ve burned brightly for a short
time, and now I’m dying.”
Eunice blinked slowly. Her artificial eyelashes came away wet. It was perfectly normal condensation from her emptying compressor, but it broke his heart as drops fell down her cheek.
“My key, Jonathan… Please… wind…”
~~~~~~~~~~
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