Servo 13:2
Servo 13:2
I must admit, I don’t handle disappointment very well. That night, I sat in bed, the memory core resting in my lap, and my father’s voice emanating from my tablet. How could I make this work? Otto was searching for the part, and it would be at least a week before I saw him again. He’d called to tell me that he found a cable in which I could connect the core to my tablet; that made me feel somewhat better. At least I’d be able to upload my father’s logs to the core and begin some basic programming. That did not solve the problem of getting the rest of the bot to function. I still needed the precious junction interface to make the whole thing work. A light tapping on my door brought me from my thoughts. “Yes?” I said, pausing the recording.“It’s me,” Rory said.“Yeah, come in.”He opened the door and wandered in. Something about the expression on his face had me curious. “What’s up?”“I was just thinking.”“About what?”“Dad.”I motioned for him to join me on the bed. “What about Dad?”He climbed up and rested his back against the headboard. “I miss him.”“I know you do, so do I.”“Wish we could bring him back.”“Me too.” I stopped the recording and moved my tablet to the nightstand. “What would you think if the bot was Dad?”Rory gave me a funny look. “Huh?”“I’m trying to figure out a way to input all of Dad’s log entries into the bot.”“How would that make the bot Dad?”“It would sound like him.”“So?”“And if I could find the right software, I might be able to make the recordings into a virtual memory bank.”“No way! Loads of people have tried and never been able to make it work…I’d just be happy to hear his voice again from something other than a tablet.”“I think I can do it.”“Really? How?”“I’d have to build an accessory memory core.”“Does the dumb thing have enough room in its head for that?”“No.”“So where are you going to put it?”I pointed to my heart. “Here.”Rory was silent for a few moments, probably mulling over everything I’d said. “And you think it’ll work?”“Maybe. What can it hurt?”“Mmm, got a point there.” He fiddled with his fingers. “It would sure be nice to have Dad around again.”“Yeah, it would. Even if it had to be kept a secret.”“And we could only visit him in the barn.”I picked up my tablet and opened a program. Over the last three months I’d carefully drawn schematics of my intended project. “See?”“Okay, but how are you going to make it work? You don’t know anything about artificial intelligence and virtual memory programming.”“Grandpa might.”“Pppffftttt!” Rory waved his hand to dismiss me. “He’s so old he can’t know anything about that.”“Maybe…Just maybe.”“You’d do better to listen to Otto.”“I can do this. I know I can.”“No one has been able to create a stable AI platform—not even the best bot scientists.”“Then this will be my contribution to science.”Rory hopped off the bed. “You’re crazy…I’m going to bed.”“Good-night,” I replied, ignoring him in favor of studying the drawings. He left, closing the door rather loudly. “So, Daddy, you’re going to help me figure this out, right?” I closed my eyes for a moment and envisioned my father sitting at his desk. Although my father was a generous, quiet man, he had an air of nobility about him. Just one look and you knew he was something more than a common man. He was highly intelligent and used those smarts to create some of the finest service bots in the world. Now I needed to figure out a way to harness his intelligence to help me bring him back to life. And could he tell me who killed him? Yes, I still had my doubts about his untimelydeath. If there was a murderer out there, I was going to find him. Something was fishy at Servidyne; too many of their premier bot scientists had shown up dead. Did Grandpa come here to escape the same fate? I was confident I’d never get the answer I wanted out of him, so I’d have to accept his leaving the Inner States because he was ashamed of the war he created. All my life I’d wanted to work for Servidyne; now I wasn’t so sure.More knocking sounded on my door. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly time for bed. Who was it now? “Yes?” I called, figuring it would be Grandma or Grandpa. Imagine my shock when Suz walked in.“Jonah?” she said softly.“Yeah?”“Can I talk to you?”“Sure.” I put my tablet on the nightstand and gave her full attention. “What’s up?”“You know I hate it here, right?”“Duh!” She scowled at me.“All right, I’m sorry. I know you’re unhappy here,” I said, trying to be heartfelt and apologetic.“Going back to the Inner States might be the only thing that will make me happy.”“Might?”“Well…” She pulled a chair up near the bed and sat. “Maybe there is one thing about this place I like.”“The food?”“Umm, well, that’s kind of nice, but—”It was then I noticed the same barely softened expression that her face held when Otto was over. Was she trying to get me to introduce them on a social level? “What, Suz?” The softness faded into the same hard-nosed glare I was so accustomed to seeing. “Nothing!” She got up, and headed to the door.“Otto?” I said in a cool tone.She stopped, her back still to me. “Suz, do you like Otto?”“Maybe.”“Look, I don’t have a problem with that. Really, I don’t. If your interest in him will make you happy—”She regarded me over her shoulder. “It might.”“What do you want me to do?”“Can you find out what he thinks of me?”At that moment I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wanted Suz to be happy, but I also didn’t want to jeopardize my relationship with Otto. This was a situation that needed to have everyone happy. “Umm, I’ll see what I can do.”“Thanks.”“But can you be patient with me? This requires a delicate touch.”“Yes.” She said nothing more and left the room. How was I going to pull this off?
I must admit, I don’t handle disappointment very well. That night, I sat in bed, the memory core resting in my lap, and my father’s voice emanating from my tablet. How could I make this work? Otto was searching for the part, and it would be at least a week before I saw him again. He’d called to tell me that he found a cable in which I could connect the core to my tablet; that made me feel somewhat better. At least I’d be able to upload my father’s logs to the core and begin some basic programming. That did not solve the problem of getting the rest of the bot to function. I still needed the precious junction interface to make the whole thing work. A light tapping on my door brought me from my thoughts. “Yes?” I said, pausing the recording.“It’s me,” Rory said.“Yeah, come in.”He opened the door and wandered in. Something about the expression on his face had me curious. “What’s up?”“I was just thinking.”“About what?”“Dad.”I motioned for him to join me on the bed. “What about Dad?”He climbed up and rested his back against the headboard. “I miss him.”“I know you do, so do I.”“Wish we could bring him back.”“Me too.” I stopped the recording and moved my tablet to the nightstand. “What would you think if the bot was Dad?”Rory gave me a funny look. “Huh?”“I’m trying to figure out a way to input all of Dad’s log entries into the bot.”“How would that make the bot Dad?”“It would sound like him.”“So?”“And if I could find the right software, I might be able to make the recordings into a virtual memory bank.”“No way! Loads of people have tried and never been able to make it work…I’d just be happy to hear his voice again from something other than a tablet.”“I think I can do it.”“Really? How?”“I’d have to build an accessory memory core.”“Does the dumb thing have enough room in its head for that?”“No.”“So where are you going to put it?”I pointed to my heart. “Here.”Rory was silent for a few moments, probably mulling over everything I’d said. “And you think it’ll work?”“Maybe. What can it hurt?”“Mmm, got a point there.” He fiddled with his fingers. “It would sure be nice to have Dad around again.”“Yeah, it would. Even if it had to be kept a secret.”“And we could only visit him in the barn.”I picked up my tablet and opened a program. Over the last three months I’d carefully drawn schematics of my intended project. “See?”“Okay, but how are you going to make it work? You don’t know anything about artificial intelligence and virtual memory programming.”“Grandpa might.”“Pppffftttt!” Rory waved his hand to dismiss me. “He’s so old he can’t know anything about that.”“Maybe…Just maybe.”“You’d do better to listen to Otto.”“I can do this. I know I can.”“No one has been able to create a stable AI platform—not even the best bot scientists.”“Then this will be my contribution to science.”Rory hopped off the bed. “You’re crazy…I’m going to bed.”“Good-night,” I replied, ignoring him in favor of studying the drawings. He left, closing the door rather loudly. “So, Daddy, you’re going to help me figure this out, right?” I closed my eyes for a moment and envisioned my father sitting at his desk. Although my father was a generous, quiet man, he had an air of nobility about him. Just one look and you knew he was something more than a common man. He was highly intelligent and used those smarts to create some of the finest service bots in the world. Now I needed to figure out a way to harness his intelligence to help me bring him back to life. And could he tell me who killed him? Yes, I still had my doubts about his untimelydeath. If there was a murderer out there, I was going to find him. Something was fishy at Servidyne; too many of their premier bot scientists had shown up dead. Did Grandpa come here to escape the same fate? I was confident I’d never get the answer I wanted out of him, so I’d have to accept his leaving the Inner States because he was ashamed of the war he created. All my life I’d wanted to work for Servidyne; now I wasn’t so sure.More knocking sounded on my door. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly time for bed. Who was it now? “Yes?” I called, figuring it would be Grandma or Grandpa. Imagine my shock when Suz walked in.“Jonah?” she said softly.“Yeah?”“Can I talk to you?”“Sure.” I put my tablet on the nightstand and gave her full attention. “What’s up?”“You know I hate it here, right?”“Duh!” She scowled at me.“All right, I’m sorry. I know you’re unhappy here,” I said, trying to be heartfelt and apologetic.“Going back to the Inner States might be the only thing that will make me happy.”“Might?”“Well…” She pulled a chair up near the bed and sat. “Maybe there is one thing about this place I like.”“The food?”“Umm, well, that’s kind of nice, but—”It was then I noticed the same barely softened expression that her face held when Otto was over. Was she trying to get me to introduce them on a social level? “What, Suz?” The softness faded into the same hard-nosed glare I was so accustomed to seeing. “Nothing!” She got up, and headed to the door.“Otto?” I said in a cool tone.She stopped, her back still to me. “Suz, do you like Otto?”“Maybe.”“Look, I don’t have a problem with that. Really, I don’t. If your interest in him will make you happy—”She regarded me over her shoulder. “It might.”“What do you want me to do?”“Can you find out what he thinks of me?”At that moment I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wanted Suz to be happy, but I also didn’t want to jeopardize my relationship with Otto. This was a situation that needed to have everyone happy. “Umm, I’ll see what I can do.”“Thanks.”“But can you be patient with me? This requires a delicate touch.”“Yes.” She said nothing more and left the room. How was I going to pull this off?
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