Flash Fiction Friday: Construct

“What can I do to help you today, Master?” asked the construct.

“Fascinating!” exclaimed Magister Minium.  ”It seems so eager to please.  It’s diction is also quite remarkable; it sounds so real.  It would certainly fool anyone who didn’t know otherwise.  So what can it do?”

Magister Loy whirred proudly. “It can perform a number of household tasks– sweeping the floor, preparing meals, answering the door and such.  It isn’t terribly effective when it comes to complex calculations, but watch this.”  He rolled over to a hall music speaker and switched it on.  The construct began moving its arms and legs in time with the tune, some popular synth polka by the Robettes.

Minium laughed and clapped his forward manipulators together.

Loy switched off the music and the construct stood still.  ”You can see how well they would sell to families.”

“And they’re fairly simple to produce?”

“Indeed.  It’s mostly carbon, with a relatively simple system of internal homeostasis.  We begin by producing single metabolic units with unique combinations of protein.  Enough iterations in solution, and… voila.”

“Amazing!  And maintenance?”

“It processes oxygen from the atmosphere, and needs refueling with organic material twice daily.  That’s it!”

Minim buzzed appreciatively.

“They do have a short lifespan, however.  After 80years or so, they’ll need replacing.”

“A wonderful job, Loy.  But… what about the moral implications?  Aren’t they, in a sense, slaves?  Should we worry they’ll learn to communicate, and somehow plot against us like in an old Quantum Monster Novel?”

Loy laughed.  ”The chances of organic material becoming self-aware are astronomically small.  They can’t think or feel; we have to program them using molecular chemistry, and the data they process consists of tiny electrical charges in a rudimentary nervous system.

“Trust me, Minim.  Metallic life will always be superior to the organic.”