Servo 20:1
Servo 20:1
I awoke with Rory, Dagwood, and the bot standing over me. Had I fainted? Never in my life had I passed out from shock. What a sensation. One moment I was face to face with the bot, the next I was on my knees, and a moment later, waking up on the dirty barn floor with three faces regarding me curiously.“Are you okay, Jonah?” Dagwood said, helping me up. He had to steady me, my legs still felt jiggly. “I think so.”“Did you faint?” Rory said, dusting me off.“I guess I did.”“Was I not what you expected?” the bot said. “I…I…I just don’t understand.”“What?”“How you can be alive.”“I am unsure of that too, but here I am.”“Are you really our dad?” Rory asked, approaching the bot.“Well, as much as I can be.” The bot lifted his arms and looked at them. “I may be metal, but my heart and mind are human.”Had I achieved the impossible? No, this had to be a dream. There was no way this bot was my father. It just couldn’t have happened.My legs strengthened and I stood on my own. “How did you know us?”The bot studied me for a moment. “You uploaded all the data sticks and a lot of what was on your tablet, right?”“Yes.”“That’s how.” He walked to the window, placing his hands on a narrow counter. “I knew who you were, but when someone else came into the barn, I hid because I did not recognize them.”“Oh,” Rory said, “that was Grandpa Cranwinkle.”“I know that name, but not the face.”“He’s mom’s dad,” I replied. “But there were no pictures of him on my computer.”“And another man joined him.”“That was my pa,” Dagwood added. “I’m Dagwood, Dagwood Hogg—their friend.”The bot extended a hand. “Nice to meet you.”Dagwood gave the bot’s hand a hearty shake. “Sometimes I helped Jonah with fixing you.”“Thank you.”“I got friends that have old bot parts, and we’d go over and get them…I dunno what all that stuff is, but I was glad to help.”“Where’s Suzette?” the bot said, gazing into the field behind the barn.“She’s gone.” Rory hopped up on the workbench. “She graduated school and ran away.”“Ran away? To where?”“Probably the Inner States. She ran off with Otto.”“Who is he?”“A friend of Jonah’s. He got us parts for you too.”The bot stood motionless for several moments; its eyes flickering slightly. “This is all so confusing. The last thing I remember was being at work. Now this.”I went to him. “Dad, there was an accident at Servidyne.”“Accident?”“You got injected with nanoparticles and—”The bot shook his head sternly. “No, no, that could never have happened.”“You were always so careful,” I said, putting my hand on his cold metal arm. “It’s not right. I think someone killed you.”He looked at me. “Yes. Possibly.” “Do you know who?”“No.” Then he gestured. “I sound horrible! What model bot am I?”“Um, a 106 produced May of 2022.”“Geez!”“It was all grandpa had. And it was in bad shape too. We did our best to make it function again, but it would never work.”“Apparently you did something—I’m working now.”“Last night, Dad, there was a really bad storm,” Rory said. “Jonah thinks lightning hit you.” He pointed to the scorch mark on the bot’s chest. “You somehow came to life.”“Hmm, Thomas Blackburn, robot.” He went to the area where tools were stored and rummaged around. Finally he approached me with a screwdriver. “Please fix my voice.”I took the tool. “Uh, how?”“On the 106s there is an adjustment screw for the voice digitizer just behind the faceplate.”“You want me to take off your face?”“Jonah, I’m a robot. Remember, you just put me back together. A little work on me now shouldn’t bother you.”“But you’re you.”“I’d like to sound like me, if you don’t mind.”My hands trembled as I reached to remove the faceplate. I feared the slightest error on my part would cause this wondrous bot to cease functioning. With the care I’d handle a baby chick; I detached the plate and placed it on the counter. It seemed so odd looking at the faceless bot. “Now, Jonah, do you see a screw extending from where the digitizer is located?” He tried to point but had little success.“Yes.”“Good, give it some slow turns.”As I proceeded to turn, my father made a host of sounds. His voice started to change. “Almost, a few more.”Slowly I kept turning. The voice was sounding more like him, but I doubted it would ever be perfect.“Good, good, one more turn.”Complying with his wishes, I made one more revolution with the screwdriver.“There! That’s pretty good…Maybe you can upgrade the digitizer to an MVD-1100 model.”Placing the tool on the counter, I picked up the faceplate. “I doubt we could get one out here.”“Oh, right, bots aren’t well-loved in these parts.”“When we found you, all the arms and legs were up in the loft,” Rory said, inching closer to the bot. “We had to rewire everything because mice ate the wires, and some were even living in the chest!”“Oh, you boys really had your work cut out, didn’t you?”“We got tons of parts from Jimmy Pineapple.”“Jimmy Pineapple?”I wagged my finger. “Umm, that’s not his real name.”Dagwood chuckled. “His last name is hard to pronounce, so we calls him Jimmy Pineapple.”“I see. Will I get to meet him?”“Only if he comes over here. We don’t have a license for you.” Carefully, I returned the faceplate to my father’s face. My nerves were still twitchy with excitement. “License? What am I? A dog?”“Anyone who owns a bot has to get one. And they aren’t cheap.”“Wow, things are so different out here.”“Yeah, they are. But Rory and I have adapted.”“I take it Suz didn’t.”“Not in the slightest. She hated it from the moment we landed at the airport.”The bot sighed. The sound was more like a whistle than an actual sigh. “I feel awful that I put you children in this position.” “Dad, it wasn’t your fault. Someone murderedyou.”
I awoke with Rory, Dagwood, and the bot standing over me. Had I fainted? Never in my life had I passed out from shock. What a sensation. One moment I was face to face with the bot, the next I was on my knees, and a moment later, waking up on the dirty barn floor with three faces regarding me curiously.“Are you okay, Jonah?” Dagwood said, helping me up. He had to steady me, my legs still felt jiggly. “I think so.”“Did you faint?” Rory said, dusting me off.“I guess I did.”“Was I not what you expected?” the bot said. “I…I…I just don’t understand.”“What?”“How you can be alive.”“I am unsure of that too, but here I am.”“Are you really our dad?” Rory asked, approaching the bot.“Well, as much as I can be.” The bot lifted his arms and looked at them. “I may be metal, but my heart and mind are human.”Had I achieved the impossible? No, this had to be a dream. There was no way this bot was my father. It just couldn’t have happened.My legs strengthened and I stood on my own. “How did you know us?”The bot studied me for a moment. “You uploaded all the data sticks and a lot of what was on your tablet, right?”“Yes.”“That’s how.” He walked to the window, placing his hands on a narrow counter. “I knew who you were, but when someone else came into the barn, I hid because I did not recognize them.”“Oh,” Rory said, “that was Grandpa Cranwinkle.”“I know that name, but not the face.”“He’s mom’s dad,” I replied. “But there were no pictures of him on my computer.”“And another man joined him.”“That was my pa,” Dagwood added. “I’m Dagwood, Dagwood Hogg—their friend.”The bot extended a hand. “Nice to meet you.”Dagwood gave the bot’s hand a hearty shake. “Sometimes I helped Jonah with fixing you.”“Thank you.”“I got friends that have old bot parts, and we’d go over and get them…I dunno what all that stuff is, but I was glad to help.”“Where’s Suzette?” the bot said, gazing into the field behind the barn.“She’s gone.” Rory hopped up on the workbench. “She graduated school and ran away.”“Ran away? To where?”“Probably the Inner States. She ran off with Otto.”“Who is he?”“A friend of Jonah’s. He got us parts for you too.”The bot stood motionless for several moments; its eyes flickering slightly. “This is all so confusing. The last thing I remember was being at work. Now this.”I went to him. “Dad, there was an accident at Servidyne.”“Accident?”“You got injected with nanoparticles and—”The bot shook his head sternly. “No, no, that could never have happened.”“You were always so careful,” I said, putting my hand on his cold metal arm. “It’s not right. I think someone killed you.”He looked at me. “Yes. Possibly.” “Do you know who?”“No.” Then he gestured. “I sound horrible! What model bot am I?”“Um, a 106 produced May of 2022.”“Geez!”“It was all grandpa had. And it was in bad shape too. We did our best to make it function again, but it would never work.”“Apparently you did something—I’m working now.”“Last night, Dad, there was a really bad storm,” Rory said. “Jonah thinks lightning hit you.” He pointed to the scorch mark on the bot’s chest. “You somehow came to life.”“Hmm, Thomas Blackburn, robot.” He went to the area where tools were stored and rummaged around. Finally he approached me with a screwdriver. “Please fix my voice.”I took the tool. “Uh, how?”“On the 106s there is an adjustment screw for the voice digitizer just behind the faceplate.”“You want me to take off your face?”“Jonah, I’m a robot. Remember, you just put me back together. A little work on me now shouldn’t bother you.”“But you’re you.”“I’d like to sound like me, if you don’t mind.”My hands trembled as I reached to remove the faceplate. I feared the slightest error on my part would cause this wondrous bot to cease functioning. With the care I’d handle a baby chick; I detached the plate and placed it on the counter. It seemed so odd looking at the faceless bot. “Now, Jonah, do you see a screw extending from where the digitizer is located?” He tried to point but had little success.“Yes.”“Good, give it some slow turns.”As I proceeded to turn, my father made a host of sounds. His voice started to change. “Almost, a few more.”Slowly I kept turning. The voice was sounding more like him, but I doubted it would ever be perfect.“Good, good, one more turn.”Complying with his wishes, I made one more revolution with the screwdriver.“There! That’s pretty good…Maybe you can upgrade the digitizer to an MVD-1100 model.”Placing the tool on the counter, I picked up the faceplate. “I doubt we could get one out here.”“Oh, right, bots aren’t well-loved in these parts.”“When we found you, all the arms and legs were up in the loft,” Rory said, inching closer to the bot. “We had to rewire everything because mice ate the wires, and some were even living in the chest!”“Oh, you boys really had your work cut out, didn’t you?”“We got tons of parts from Jimmy Pineapple.”“Jimmy Pineapple?”I wagged my finger. “Umm, that’s not his real name.”Dagwood chuckled. “His last name is hard to pronounce, so we calls him Jimmy Pineapple.”“I see. Will I get to meet him?”“Only if he comes over here. We don’t have a license for you.” Carefully, I returned the faceplate to my father’s face. My nerves were still twitchy with excitement. “License? What am I? A dog?”“Anyone who owns a bot has to get one. And they aren’t cheap.”“Wow, things are so different out here.”“Yeah, they are. But Rory and I have adapted.”“I take it Suz didn’t.”“Not in the slightest. She hated it from the moment we landed at the airport.”The bot sighed. The sound was more like a whistle than an actual sigh. “I feel awful that I put you children in this position.” “Dad, it wasn’t your fault. Someone murderedyou.”
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