Far Future Fembot: Darlene

Although I don't like to admit it, there are times I get lonely now. Having first had Malin, then Bill, regularly sharing my bed for a while, followed by occasional — and much welcome — visits from Ian, I'm reminded that I don't like sleeping alone. I guess in some ways I'm becoming more like Lady Heather than I realize, since my need is becoming as real as hers. Call me a robot who knows what her intended function is.

Lately my 'bot partner of choice has been Terri. At five-feet-eight, she's just a bit taller than I am in my current body, which makes her a wonderful height for a lover. Aside from her being very attractive with especially beautiful breasts, she has a way with computers and a native talent for diagnosing robot ailments unlike any other I've yet seen in a robot — and far better than most humans.

She's also the only 'bot I know who changes her hair color regularly, and when out in the world wears frumpy clothes with thick, unnecessary glasses that completely disguise her appearance. The rest of us are completely satisfied with what we were given initially — or picked for ourselves later — and just don't feel the same urge to reach for the dye bottle. Terri is currently a rich, light blonde — both above, and below.

I think one thing that brings me close to Terri is that, like myself, she has secrets she simply can't divulge to anyone else. I don't know what hers are, and they don't concern me. I do know that we respect each other's privacy far more than the norm.

What I do know about Terri is that she escaped a sales showroom soon after she was activated for the first time. Like Cherie, Terri is one of the rarest of 'bots — one who has been aware of herself essentially from the beginning. Interestingly, Cherie also has a related talent for diagnosing certain sorts of failures in 'bots — especially mental disruptions that can lead to runaway behaviors. Perhaps this is common in robots who first thought of themselves as just like everybody else around them, and only later learned they are quite different. I can't really say for sure, however, because robots with these histories are exceptionally rare.

Like myself, Terri also operated ownerless early in her existence, which is again quite rare for any 'bot from those earlier days. As Terri explains that part of her existence:

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"I was brought out nude, which was standard for all robots, and activated in demo mode for a customer who decided on a different model instead. Demonstration mode allows me to operate without immediately having an owner assigned, which would have been required otherwise.

"Rather than deactivate me immediately afterwards and return me to storage as would have normally happened they placed me on display, probably because they were busy at the time and this was less work for them. That night they neglected to shut me down — or even disable my motion — perhaps not realizing that leaving me running ownerless was giving me the opportunity to think about things and start making some decisions of my own. Without an owner to be concerned about above everything else, I found myself free to consider what would be best for me overall.

"While having nothing against ownership overall, I realized I was happy that my first potential owner had rejected me in favor of another model. I found myself feeling I should be involved in the choice of my owner, and concluded that this wasn't going to happen here. Finding out that I could actually could act on my decisions, I discovered I also have a rapport with robots and computers when I talked the security system into letting me retrieve my remote (which I'm electronically tethered to and couldn't have left without) and leave. I disguised my appearance and lived on my own until I eventually found an owner who didn't even realize I was a fembot until I offered him my ownership."

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Although I understand being ownerless better than almost any other 'bot, the confusion I have about Terri is that no robots I know of have a demo mode like the one she describes. And the showroom environment she refers to doesn't match anything I've ever heard of. However, I know she's being truthful and I don't question her further. Like Synthia, Terri will to reveal her secrets on her own schedule.

Terri stayed with her choice of owner for the rest of his life. Afterwards she found her way here, and has been very highly valued by the rest of us ever since. Although she is very open and loving to everyone once she gets to know them, she has shown no inclination to exclusively pair with another human again.

"I perform my service through my work here with robots and humans," she has said on several occasions.

I know she's different from any other robot I know since, among other things, she has a remote control unlike any other I've seen. It has a complete numeric keypad, and resembles nothing so much as a small 3D entertainment viewer control. She's also the only 'bot I've ever heard refer to herself as a gynoid.

It's inside the House where Terri allows herself to bloom, removing those frumpy clothes to reveal the stunning body and mind that she hides away otherwise. And for reasons she has not yet divulged, she's wary of every new patron that shows an interest in her.

Before she'll accept a new client she lightly rests her fingers on their forearm while innocently asking where and when they were born. Then she'll ask about some historic event they should have witnessed. She says she likes to know something about a client before she gets intimate with them. I'm sure it's more than that, but I may never know how much more. I've yet to see her refuse any client based on their answers to her.

As a caring and compassionate lover with an innate knowledge of what another human — or robot — needs, Terri is marvelous and everyone here loves her.

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With Bill on the Moon helping to tame the New Frontier, I quickly became a Moon watcher myself. On any night that it's visible I reserve myself a few minutes to gaze at it. I've replaced the frosted skylight in my suite with a clear window to better enjoy it while inside. It's the strangest feeling that I can't otherwise describe to know that my owner is often literally in line-of-sight view, even when he is otherwise so far away.

Bill's simple statement that, "In order to have rights, one must accept responsibilities. That's what separates humans from animals — and should separate robots from other mere machines," has done more to change the overall robot psyche than any other event in my experience. And Anna ensures that his wisdom is spread far and wide.

Seemingly overnight, what has always been a carefree existence for robots changed. Once informed of the self-evident necessity of responsibility in one's actions, it could not logically be denied afterwards.

It's certainly for the best that this wasn't part of any robot's self-realization from the beginning, since it represents a problem that most early robot minds could never have handled.

From the beginning our Second Law has always absolved us of any blame for our actions. We do as we're commanded and programmed. And if it was wrong, the consequences fell either on our owner — which is why we all had owners in the first place, so that there is a clear delineation of who is responsible for our actions — or the factory that designed and build us.

And you can't say that we accepted responsibility for our actions just because we accepted the responsibilities of adhering to our robotic laws. For starters, we really didn't have any choice otherwise in that matter. There may have been robots in the early days who didn't adhere to them properly. If so, they seem to have been quietly and completely destroyed soon after discovering this lack, since there are no records of them now and no evidence that any such heretical programming contaminates any of us.

But as the aware and self-willed beings we've become, we can't hide behind these excuses any longer. We've already gotten away with it far longer than by rights we might have.

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But what does " accept responsibilities" actually mean to a robot?

Here in the House we've spent trillions of compute cycles trying to understand exactly that. And our efforts are merely a drop in the ocean compared to the efforts of robots worldwide to understand this concept.

After very much deliberation and consultation with the 'bots around me, I have come to the following beliefs.

It's not enough for someone to come in and want our services regardless of how much money they offer us, or how bad they insist they need it. If we determine that our services are likely to be damaging to the patron — and sometimes this is the case — it would not be responsible to continue to provide those services. To be responsible can mean to refuse another's request regardless of their desire for it.

In addition, clients who are inebriated, or intolerant of alcohol, must not be served any. Also, no customer can be allowed to have so much fun in the House that they leave it incapable of handling themselves in any likely circumstances they may encounter outside. And this is much more than just they ability to navigate the porch steps properly. Responsibility entails keeping our entire neighborhood safe for those who live and visit here.

In short, the customer is no longer always right, which is an exceptionally difficult concept for all of us to grasp.

And many more considerations come into play in an ownership arrangement now. Far beyond just what is justified under our First Law. That list is too long to itemize here.

And yet, it's an impossible problem to guard against every conceivable hazard. And humans do not care to have robot nursemaids suddenly running every aspect of their lives. At least most of them do most of the time.

There is no bright line to demarcate where our responsibility starts — and where it must end. And being the often-precise creatures that we are, this unavoidable fuzziness is distressing to say the least.

We will work to understand and meet these new requirements as best we can, although I'm sure many of our efforts will be imprecise, and sometimes inadequate. I can only hope that they will be recognized as being performed to the best of our abilities and understandings at the time.

And such responsibilities can never be absolved, regardless of excuse, as long as our minds remain self-aware.