Far Future Fembot: Darlene

Some refer to solar storms as Acts of God. And it's often said that it's an ill storm that blows no good. This storm blew many things, not all of which were fully understood at the time. Only afterwards did the true significance of all that happened become more recognized.

We all thrilled to the news of Bill's heroic saving of the m-bots on the Moon as more detailed accounts of it finally started to arrive. I must say that I would have expected nothing less from the man I've chosen as my owner. And in our admiration for his daring, we never forgot those who assisted him either.

Rudy, who hadn't slept or budged from the room he'd guarded with the helpless m-bots never would discuss the incidents of those days. Suffice it to say that not only did he look a bit worse for wear afterwards, but both the men on his work crew — and the robots — treated him with deference and awe afterwards.

When I heard of his exploits on my brother 'bot's behalf, I extended him a permanent invitation to Lady Heather's, which I'm happy to say he took advantage of numerous times during his time on The Downside.

Although he wouldn't even tell us about that one experience on the Moon, he regaled everyone with many other stories of his long life and the lessons it's taught him. He quickly became beloved by every fembot here, all of whom actually competed with each other for his attention.

I also enjoyed spending time with him. I found his hard won wisdom a match for Samuel's. Rudy understood that complicated issues can still be discussed in simple terms. An example of this was when I asked him once why he'd accepted my invitation to the House in the first place.

"When someone's trying to do you a favor, it's nice to let them," he replied succinctly, and that was all he needed to say.

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Even more interest from the girls was reserved for Tommy, the young man whose heroics made Bill's rescue mission possible. And who paid such a high personal price in the process!

Any time three or more fembots had more than a few minutes of idle time the subject seemed to turn to Tommy, with speculations over just what kind of owner he'd make. Everyone was just fascinated by the young man who'd given up any chance of fatherhood to rescue a bunch of m-bots that had barely spoken to him until then.

I was able to quell some of the useless speculation that was consuming so many compute cycles by informing them that I'd made Tommy the same offer as Rudy, and if he accepted then they'd be able to assess his qualities for themselves once he completed his indenture. This only toned down the discussions to a dull roar as Tommy remained an item of intense interest for all the unowned fembots. This was my first indication of how profoundly what had happened on the Moon was affecting the robot population at large.

It would be a while before anyone would see Tommy. Despite countless offers made to him, he refused every attempt to have his indenture bought out. He was determined to return to Earth not owning a credit to anyone, and that's exactly how it happened.

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While all this was going on Anna located a suitable house and quickly set about rebuilding it to her requirements. Events were now accelerating in the right directions and she was becoming less important to the overall movement every day. This is exactly what she'd worked for. Rather than wanting to remain in the limelight, she was moving away from becoming the single point of failure in her movement.

It was during this time that the rest of us were learning that accepting responsibility has another vitally important aspect to it. Accepting responsibility means the end of blaming anyone else for the majority of your problems — or situation — in life.

While robots have overall been quite satisfied with their niche in society — which has often been a protected one given our original status as valuable equipment — this new awareness on our part has made us very aware of many who still blame their own situations on factors allegedly imposed on them by others. Part of our job in accepting responsibility for ourselves involves helping others realize their need to do the same. Only then will the cycle of perpetual victim-hood truly come to an end.

One way we do it now is our refusal to accept such people as owners. You must stop feeling that other people are constantly oppressing you if you want to partner with a free-willed robot. In our own way it's another strike on our part — and is proving to be a very effective one.

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Finally the day came when Anna took Bill's old possessions out of storage and moved them in to their new dwelling. She spent nearly a day just making sure that the paintings were all hung right and lit properly.

Then she sent him a picture of the house, along with notice that she'd bought out the remainder of his indenture. She urged him to return to her quickly, but didn't mention what a celebrity he'd become to many down here in the meantime. I'm sure she felt he might not come back at all if he knew that!

Bill, however, never returned to either the worldwide acclaim — nor the cozy house and loving fembot — awaiting him. His ship was mysteriously destroyed with all hands lost on its journey back home.