| X-14 and the Search for Special |
[Sep. 9th, 2009|07:16 pm] |
The Robots sat down for dinner.
The Mom E Bot put the plate of widgets and bolts in front of A-44. Mom E put a plate of widgets and bolts in front of X-14. A-44 ate all his widgets and bolts.
X-14 ate all his widgets…but not his bolts.
X-14 hated bolts. He hated them with his whole emotion chip.
“That doesn’t add up,” said Mom E. “You and A-44 are both the same kind of robot. You should like the same things.”
X-14 wondered if that was true. He ate his bolts, because robots do what they’re told, but he didn’t like it.
Even if he and A-44 were made of all the same parts, couldn’t there be things that made him special? Was X-14 just like everyone else? Really?
At bedtime, he said to A-44, “I don’t think that just because we’re the same kind of robot we should like the same things.”
A-44 said, “There are lots of things you like that I don’t like. You think that puzzles are fun, but I would rather make things out of wire.”
"That's true!" said X-14. "And I like telling riddles, but you'd rather write stories!"
A-44 said, "Remember when we went to the museum? You thought the Circuitry Gallery was the best part, but I liked the Hall of Robots Past."
They stayed up for hours and almost drained their batteries thinking of everything that made them special. They had a long, long list.
"This still doesn't prove anything," said A-44 in a tired voice. "The Mom E Bot didn't say you like what I like, she said you should like what I like."
X-14 felt out of order. A-44 was right.
"If I wanted to find out what robots are supposed to do, where would I look?" X-14 asked. A-44 and X-14 thought of the answer at exactly the same time.
"THE MANUAL!" they shouted. Every machine has a manual. A manual is a book that shows how a machine works.
"If we look in our manual we'll see for sure!" said X-14.
"But we can't now, it's too late. We better wait until morning," said A-44.
In the morning, the two little robots went to school. X-14 was feeling very brave. He went right up to the Teach R Robot and said, "Please Teach R, I need to go to the library. I need to look at my manual."
"This morning we've got a very exciting bunch of puzzles to solve, I know you would hate to miss that, X-14," said the Teach R Robot.
"I have a question that just can't wait," said X-14. The Teach R Robot knew X-14 was serious. X-14 would never skip puzzle time if it wasn't for something important.
"Well all right," said the Teach R.
The robot library is a large room filled with sockets for robots to plug into. There are screens in front of each socket, where robots look at the books. X-14 found an empty socket and plugged himself in.
He found his manual, called “Small Companion Robot Version 34.3 Manual” and pulled it up on the screen. It was so many pages! He started to read and it made his head swim. He was so tired from staying up so late that it was hard to think. He read the same sentence three times in a row.
"Oh no," he thought. I'll never find my answer," and he started to cry.
"What's the matter, little robot?" said a soft voice.
It was a Library N Robot, right behind X-14.
"I'm reading my manual, but there are so many pages!" cried X-14.
"Little robot," said the Library N. "Do you know what a Table of Contents is?"
"The table of what?" said X-14.
"The Table of Contents is a list at the front of a book that tells you what's in the book, and what page it's on. Here let me show you," said the Library N. The Table of Contents said helpful things like "Cleaning and Repair, Page 423" and "Emotion Chip Replacement, Page 223" and "Overheating, Page 952." It didn't say anywhere "What Robots Should Like."
"Do you see what you're looking for?" said the Library N.
"I don't," said X-14. "I'm trying to prove that A-44 and I can like different things even though we're the same kind of robot. I thought maybe the manual would say what we're supposed to like."
"How do you mean?" asked the Library N.
“What we like to eat, what we like to do, where we like to go. A-44 likes some things I don’t like, and I like some things he doesn’t like. Is that okay?”
“Well,” said the Library N Robot, “There is a page called, ‘Robot Preferences,’ let’s take a look.”
The Robot Preferences page had only one sentence on it. It said, “Robot preferences randomized.”
"What does randomized mean?" asked X-14.
"The Library N said, "It means the people who built you didn't decide what you should like or not like. They left it up to chance."
"Chance? Like when you flip a cog and you don't know which way it's going to land?" asked X-14.
"Yes, exactly, little robot, said the Library N. "There's a chance you'll like flowers and there's a chance you'll hate them. Anything is possible, that’s what randomized means."
X-14 was so happy. He took a copy of the Robot Preferences page, and went back to class. He couldn't wait to show A-44.
The class was right in the middle of watching a movie. He couldn't talk to A-44 until lunchtime! He almost burst!
As soon as the bell rang, he told A-44 everything. "Wow," said A-44. "We are different, and it's not a mistake!"
"We have to tell our Mom E," said X-14.
Both robots looked a little scared. They didn't know what Mom E would think.
The afternoon seemed to take a long time, but then school was over and the robots hurried home.
"Well, X-14 and A-44, how was your day?" said the Mom E Bot.
"Mom E," said X-14. "Do you remember yesterday when you said I should like bolts because A-44 likes bolts?"
"Of course," said Mom E.
X-14 didn't know what to say next. He just gave Mom E the Robot Preferences page. She read it.
"See? We're randomized! That means we're special!" said X-14.
"Oh my, how interesting!" said Mom E. "Sit down, robots." She looked at both of them. She didn't look mad. She didn't look sad. She looked proud.
“When I said that yesterday, I didn’t mean that you weren’t each special,” Mom E said. “You’re both very special. There’s a reason we have two of you.”
“X-14, I love how you love solving mysteries. A-44, I love how you love making things. I love everything that makes the two of you, well, you. There is only one X-14 and only one A-44 no matter how many other robots there are in the whole world. I love you both for who you are.”
“You said we should be the same, though, Mom E,” said X-14.
“Oh, sweetheart,” said Mom E. “I just wanted you to eat your bolts.”
From then on, X-14 ate his bolts. He never liked them, and he knew that was just fine. |
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