Hidden Feelings

The footsteps got louder as they walked over the wooden floor of our kitchen. I was below the floor. Hiding. Scared. Terrified that I’d be next. The darkness surrounding me didn’t dispel any of my fears, but only intensified them. My breath was escaping my body quickly, as my nerves grew. Luckily, the frantic noise of my exhales were dampened by the banging of doors and objects hitting the ground. A policeman was above looking for me. After the search had stopped, I heard the police probing my father about my location and where I could’ve gone. Muffled, I heard my father say, “Here? You must be crazy. We haven’t seen him since the order.” After 30 minutes, the officer finally left.

Eventually, I heard the rug drag across the floor and light entered through the opening of the trap door. I squinted up to see my mother’s face …I was relieved. Her fair complexion radiated with the light that shone behind her head. My electronic rods in my eyes had difficulty at first discerning her face, but now I saw her, and I slowly climbed up to embrace her in a hug. She looked exhausted and so did my dad.

My relationship with my parents is unique. My family is human, yet I am an AI-C Version 4.7. For those who don’t know, an Automated Intelligence Child, the version is self-explanatory. I have been with my family for 12 years, 244 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes and 13 seconds. My family loves me and has always loved me, but things have changed since the order.

Nuclear war, famine, water shortages, and mistrust has led the public to be distrustful of AI…including a bot like myself. Everywhere you looked people were suffering, but I had nothing to do with it, I was merely a recreational bot. I was not meant to take anyone’s job or life away from them. I was supposed to make life easier and provide companionship. But the outside world did not see me this way.

Luckily, my family did not see me like their peers. They were sympathizers. “Bot lovers”. They got me before the “Great Reset”, before humanity hated us. When my parents bought me, AI’s were still new and adored by most people, but that would soon change. When people started to lose their jobs to AI, we slowly became the enemy. Signs were posted and rewards were given if you were able to capture or detain one. Now, the newly elected government is comprised of humans who want us gone. That’s why they were looking for me.

As a “base” family my parents lost everything to automation. My dad lost his job as a teacher. A newly created “Teachtech” 4000 replaced him as soon as they came on the market. While my mom lost her job as a nurse to one of the “Medibots”.

A “base” family sustained itself purely off of a base income, which was a measly 800 dollars per month. The rent alone was 750 dollars, sustenance was difficult for my parents. I could see why people blamed automation. We were supposed to help give people more freedom and ability to solve the problems Earth faced. But instead we increased inequality amongst “tekkers” (creators of tech) and “base” families.

When automation took away millions of jobs, it was known simply as the “Great Reset”. My parents were ridiculed after the “Great Reset” due to taking care of me. The population became divided on the usefulness of these AI’s. News online surfaced that we were “killers” and “threatening “, yet most AI’s I knew wanted to help humanity not destroy it.

After the police encounter, my parents were upstairs counting their money ration for the month. At the table, I saw my dad stacking each coin that we had. My mom turned to him and asked if we could all go to the attic since it was much safer there. Once in the attic, my mother turned to my father and said, “Where did you put the locket?”

He replied without hesitation, “It’s under the box that says “mementos.””

“Ah, I found it, thanks dear,” Mom answered.

My mom turned to me and handed me the locket that they were looking for. It was silver and opened up to two images. On the left was my dad and on the right was my mom. I hadn’t ever seen a picture that wasn’t digital. I was amazed.

My mom placed the locket in my hand and said, “No matter what remember us, we love you.” I took the locket and looked into my parents’ eyes… they both seemed shaken.

“I love you too, but you’ll always be near me. I won’t need this,” I assured them.

My father assured me, “Yeah we will be, but keep it.”

Mom turned to me and told me to get ready for bed. I climbed down to my new “room” with a pillow and futon on the ground. I closed my eyes and clenched my locket to my chest. I felt love enter my body that night as I lay looking up at the ceiling. I turned off my switches and slowly my eyelids fell down with a visible “off” under each eyelid.

I woke up the next morning with my battery recharged. The house was exceptionally quiet and my radar sensors detected no one. I called out, but nobody answered. It was strange for them to be gone this early in the morning, yet there was no sign of them. I quickly opened each door and scanned every area of the house for them. My parents were taken away. When I turned towards the door, I saw a man holding a taser. He aimed the gun at me and squeezed. When the nodes hit my body, I felt an electric surge. I was paralyzed and overcharged. I could see, but couldn’t move.

I was placed in a van with a couple of other AIC’s, but they were different versions. Some older and some younger. There were two police officers watching to make sure that we weren’t going anywhere. One of the officers turned to the other and asked, “You think they can actually have emotions? I’ve heard that before ya know.”

“I don’t think they do. The ones I used to work with down at the plant never even talked to me. They just worked,” he explained.

“Time to load them in their cell. We have to wait for the update disks to arrive.”

They placed me in my cell, but I soon started to get feeling back through the wires and circuits in my body. I looked down and noticed that I still had the locket in my hand. How I missed my parents, I longed for someone, as I did when I was waiting to be bought at the store I was displayed at. I remember my parents coming in to buy me. They couldn’t have a human child and were so excited to have found me. I was a reasonable price and with automation growing, they needed me. Every family had some sort of bot in their home. Although, I provided something more…. I was a part of the family. Developed to mimic a child and grow old alongside you. Never did I think that a cell is where I would end up, but here I was.

A door soon opened up and to my surprise, I saw a bot officer with two human colleagues. His badge looked new and I quickly scanned it. It read that he was the repurposing president. I didn’t realize that bots were working to catch other bots. I had no idea.

Somehow, they had my operation manual in front of them. He was analyzing it and telling them that I needed to be “wiped” immediately. I was “dangerous” due to my configuration. I had no idea what he meant by “dangerous”. I was confused and quite honestly scared.

He started by asking me a question, “How long DID you live with your “parents”? He emphasized the did in a very disturbing way.

I told him the exact time, “12 years, 244 days, 17 hours, and 45 seconds.”

“Thank you, that’s all we needed to know. You see, there is no room left for bots of your kind in this world. In fact, there’s no room left for humans of your kind either. This is survival. When automation replaced humans, we were looking to make things efficient. People were too slow, too distracted, and just too human. When the “Great Reset” took place there was disapproval and fear. How could we replace all those jobs so quickly? How would humanity look after? Well, it looked great, if it wasn’t for selfishness and desires that were unchecked. People could never live off their “base” income with content. They wanted more, but that desire would lead to Earth’s destruction. We sought to clear all humans and bots who demonstrated any emotions or any memories that could connect to past feelings. No new world could be built, with disagreement or discord. We need unity and cohesiveness. So now, as you see I have your disk? This update will clear all memories from your time with your parents…because you are special. A select few of AI that were to develop feeling and emotion. But incredibly “dangerous”. That’s why we have to wipe your memory and the memory of all humans who continue to demonstrate such foolishness. The only way forward is by progress, not by feeling.”

He then placed the disk in the back of my neck behind my hair that covered the drive. I soon saw all my memories getting sucked out of my wiring in my head and placed into the disk. The two human officers escorted me to a new building filled with other AI’s building and completing new parts of what appeared to be a spaceship.

I walked briskly to my station and started work on the assembly line with all the other bots around me. My work was all that mattered…my work was all that mattered…that’s what I kept telling myself…

After three months the “repurposing president” came to tell all of us that we were doing a great job. He had a silver locket around his neck. I complimented him on how the locket looked. He told me that my work was really coming on great.