The Journey

The figure sat quietly as the night broke in the first stars. The winds of the day had begun to settle as the moonlight shone down upon the sand-blanketed vehicles whose owners had long since abandoned them. He had made a nice shelter for himself under the city bridge using the car parts he had scavenged. A collection of items lay scattered around his shelter which had caught his interest in his travels. He reached for his rucksack and pulled out a torch and clicked it on. He placed it on the shelf behind him, so it partially lit up the enclosure and unbuckled his rucksack. He turned it upside down and tipped out the contents of his latest findings. He reached down and picked up an old dusty book that had fallen victim to time and age, he flipped it over and dusted off the cover. It read, 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter', he stared at the picture of the strange creature that filled the cover page for a long moment; it was most curious, he had never seen a creature like that before.

He placed the book down on the shelf behind him and examined more items, some he took a long time with, others he had a collection of already and put them in their respective piles. As he turned to sit back against the wall his hand connected with something metal. He looked down and picked it up as the sand fell through his fingers. It was a locket in the shape of a heart. It had a golden exterior that had been scratched and worn off in places and a latch on the side. He clicked open the latch as the two sides of the locket swung open. Inside there was a picture of a young girl and her mother, and on the other side was a note that had been folded and wedged into the gap. He took the note out and placed the locket in his lap. He unfolded the note carefully until it revealed a message ‘I will always love you, Mum’. He stared at these words for a long time trying to process the meaning behind them, he could hear these words being spoken once before but he could not put a face to the ghostly voice that uttered them. Night had set in properly now and the air had chilled. He folded up the note, clicked the locket shut, turned off the torch, and put them both back inside his rucksack. His mind wandered off in thought as his eyes closed.

He dreamed of long metallic arms. He dreamed of fire and screaming. Sirens were wailing loudly, and he was confused. He had to run but did not know where. He pulled open a heavy door and ran into the darkness. Pitch black, a loud scream. He woke suddenly and the sun was peering through the holes in his shelter. It was morning. He had fallen asleep on the ground and his face was covered with sand. He had had that dream many times, always the same one. He collected his belongings and crawled out of his shelter. The sun was in a particularly boisterous mood this morning for the air was already thick and heavy. Today he would venture towards the city again, the backdrop of his shelter. This is where he found most of his collection. The city had held many wonderous things. He walked for a time, recognising familiar landmarks so as to find his way home again, the sands in the wind change many things, lose things, find things, a constant villain to the senses. He reached the edge of the city surroundings and looked up into the towering abyss of the buildings before him. He continued walking for a time until he had reached the limit to which he had ever walked before. Which way to go now? he thought. He looked left down the road and suddenly spotted a pair of eyes spying on him from behind a broken, old hotdog stand. The woman quickly darted behind the stand.

“Hello? I saw you, why do you hide?” he called out.

“Go..Go away! I don’t want any trouble!” the woman called out from behind the stand.

“I will not harm you, please come out,” he replied.

The woman slowly slid out from the stand until she was fully visible.

“Hello,” he said. There was a long pause before the woman spoke.

“Hi,” she replied. She was still very wary of him.

“What is your name?” he asked.

“Melanie,” she replied cautiously. He took a step forward and held out his hand to greet her. She jumped back, frightened. “Don’t you dare come any closer canner! I know what you things do!” she yelled. He looked at her confused.

“What is..canner?” he asked.

“That’s what I call you. You know, all you robots,” she replied. He processed this for a moment before turning to her again.

“Please, I do not wish to harm you. May we sit?” he asked. Melanie surveyed him suspiciously but reluctantly agreed. She gestured towards a street bench and sat down. He followed and sat down next to her. There was a long awkward moment before either of them spoke.

“What is, robot?” he asked methodically.

“Umm…well a robot is a machine. Some of them were used to help us function in our lives. Others…didn’t. Not all of them look like you though.” she replied.

“I see,” he muttered. He paused before approaching his next question. “Am I a helpful robot?” he asked. She looked up at him suspiciously.

“Wait. You don’t know what you are? Where you came from?” she asked.

“No,” he replied.

“Damn. Your chips must be fried man. If you don’t know what you are, I’m not sure I want to be the one to tell you. I sure as hell don’t want to be anywhere near you when you do find out, that’s for sure.” she stated.

“I see.” he paused to process, “Melanie?”

“Mm?” she replied.

“What is.. love?” he asked.

“Oh, oh boy. Well, love is a feeling. It’s a human thing. When two people feel a strong connection with each other, they feel what we call love, why do you ask?” she replied.

He took off his rucksack and fumbled around until his fingers found the locket and pulled it out and held it out in front of him.

“I acquired this in my travels. Inside it is two humans. A youngling and its parent. A message reads I will always love you. I did not understand,” he replied. “Do you think a robot could love?” he continued.

This was the question that she hoped wouldn’t be raised. She jumped out of the seat and turned towards him and threw the locket back at him.

“Listen, man, I know you’ve lost your memory. But I’ve lost things too, alright!” Tears were starting to well up in her eyes as she continued, “And no canner suffering from amnesia can erase what happened, OK? You can’t feel love! You won’t feel love. Because if you did. If you ever could. Then those humans in that locket of yours would still be alive. There are a lot of lockets out there JUST like that one!” she took a moment to center herself, “I can’t help you, OK? Good luck with whatever it is you’re looking for.” she turned away and ran down the street, disappearing from view.

He sat, puzzled, and thought about what Melanie had said. He could not love? He was not human. Love was a human thing. But he had heard those words uttered to him once before. In a distant dream. A dream without fire and blackness and screams. He had to continue searching for his meaning, his reason for existing. Had someone once loved him? So many more questions to ask? He had learned about love from a human, how many more humans were out there and what more could humans teach him? He stood up put the locket back into his jacket pocket and started walking.....