The Old Man and the Spider Droid

“Codessa, are you still here?” Jox rumbled. His back was aching, so he leaned on the bars of the in-home airlift, more new-fangled tech that his daughter had installed last week.

Once it reached the first level, he called out again. “Codi?” Jox hobbled over to the kitchen.

A cabinet opened next to the refrigerator and a spider-like droid scurried out. “Hello, sir, how may I assist you?” it spoke in an even and friendly tone.

Jox groaned uncontrollably. “I don’t have time for you, droid.” He called out again. “Codessa?”

“Your daughter has left the house, sir. Would you like to send a message to - Codessa - ?” The machine danced forward, eagerly stepping in Jox’s way.

“You can barely say her name, how are you gonna be able to send her a message?”

“What would you like to say?”

“Fine, fine.” Jox wiped his forehead, panting from the effort of walking here and considered one of his ridiculous new dining chairs. What was wrong with the old ones? He remained standing.

“You would like to say ‘fine, fine’? Is that a good message to send?”

“No, that’s not–” Jox gestured back up to the second level impatiently. “I want you to ask her how to open this bed. Why does a bed even lock?”

The spidery droid twitched a few times. “Hello sir– sorry sir. Would you like–” The droid wiggled and said. “Restarting. Restarting.”

Jox sighed. The droid came back to life then– “Hello, sir. Would you like me to send a message to your daughter or answer the question ‘why does a bed even lock’?”

“Go shut yourself off,” he shouted at the droid suddenly. It trembled, almost losing its balance between its eight spindly legs.

“What– hello sir. What– hello sir. What would you like me to do, sorry sir?”

“Nothing, just... Message my daughter.”

“Very good. What would you like to say?”

Jox took a breath.

“Hey… Codi. Thank you again for all this new equipment! It’s really…” he searched around the room for what to say. “Different. I’m still getting used to it.” He touched the soft armrest of the chair, gathering his thoughts. His thoughts came slower these days.

“Are you finished with your mess–” “No! No, I’m not! One second.”

The spider droid trembled again. “Very well, sorry sir. Please continue.”

“It’s fine. Here’s what I want the rest of the message to say:” he cleared his throat. “Can you help me figure out how to open my bed? It’s getting late, and your old man’s tired. Gimme a call when you get this.”

The spider droid spoke again, reading back the message timidly. Jox affirmed that the words were correct. After a moment of pacing through the kitchen, searching the drawers for a manual, Jox turned back to the droid.

“Any response?” he asked, and the spider droid intoned the negative. It waited timidly for Jox to speak, and the old man’s face tensed in a frown. What if she didn’t answer? Where would he sleep? Since when did he need his daughter for every little thing? And why does this blasted bed have a lock on it?!

The spider droid nudged Jox’s leg gently. It was acting not-unlike a dog, and Jox glanced down at the thing with annoyance. “What? What is it?”

“If you want… I can try to help you with your bed. Sir.”

“You think I’m desperate enough to seek the advice of a metal bug?…” Jox walked back over to the airlift, as the spider droid slinked back to his cabinet next to the fridge in defeat.

“Well, you’re right,” Jox mumbled over his shoulder. “Come on.” The droid perked up, going to the tip of his legs before dancing over to the lift as they ascended to the upper level.

“Calm down, sheesh,” Jox admonished. The spider droid bobbed its head in agreement, growing still. However, it still vibrated with excitement, and Jox smiled despite himself.

Up in the bedroom stood Jox’s new bed, a behemoth metal coffin, he thought. The spider droid opened up the touch screen panel and Jox was prompted with a username and password. The droid turned to Jox, expectantly.

“The username is, um…” Jox thought for a moment. “I think it’s my name.” Jox spelled out his name slowly, then the droid clicked down to the password field.

“I don’t remember.”

The droid hesitated for a beat, before clicking on the “Reset Your Password” button below. Jox let out a booming laugh. “You know,” he told the droid, “I’m not great with technology, but I did try that…”

The spider droid looked back at the pad, confused.

“It sends you an email, right?” Jox continued. “The problem is, I forgot my email password too!”

The droid shrunk down, saying, “Oh…” The sight made Jox laugh and laugh, and he had to lean on the edge of the locked-up metal bed as he caught his breath. Then the spider droid scurried away.

“Wha–?” Jox asked, wiping his eyes. “Where are you going?” Even though his body felt stiff, Jox followed after the little droid as it ran from the room to the hallway.

Then the droid jumped from the bannister, clattering to the first floor below. “No!” Jox couldn’t believe it, switching on the lift quickly and descending to the lower level. “I’m sorry,” he continued. “I wasn’t laughing at you, just now, I was laughing at myself.” The lift reached the ground floor, where the spider droid lay still on the floor.

“And now you’re dead, because I shouted at you, because I forgot my password, because I was taking all of this so seriously.”

Despite his aching back, Jox leaned down to scoop up the droid from the floor. It was limp in his hands. Jox brought it to the kitchen. “A damn shame,” he whispered.

Just then, one of the legs twitched, then another. The spider droid was rebooting, and revved back to life. Jox laughed in relief, depositing the droid to the floor.

“Hello, sir, how may I assist you?” the spider droid asked.

“You scared me! Why did you jump down here like that?”

As the droid looked around, getting its bearings, Jox noticed one of its legs had gotten bent out of shape. It didn’t seem to care, bouncing with excitement.

“Over here!” it said to Jox, and began pointing frantically at the cushioned dining room chair. “I had an idea, sir. What if you rested here? The chair is ergonomic.”

Jox stared at the chair skeptically, then finally, sat. He groaned as he sunk into the cushions. “Alright… It’ll do for now,” he admitted.

The spider droid dipped its head in acknowledgement, replying “Please let me know if there’s anything else that you need, sir.”

“Call me Jox,” the old man grumbled.

“Yes, sir. Yes, Jox.”

Jox rested his head back against the plush felt of the chair, breathing deeply. For the first time that day, the pressure in his back eased off.

A few minutes later, the spider droid chimed. “You have received a response from Codessa. ‘Dad, I’ll come over and help you with your bed. Be there soon.’ Would you like to respond, Jox?”

Jox was already fast asleep.