PAT2126

PAT2126
A Story by Lea Sheryn



Jason and I were companions all our lives. It was an honorary custom of the day to bestow upon a newborn child an android on the day of his birth. I, PAT2126, was presented to Jason Newsome on the twenty-first day of the twenty-sixth month of the year 2126, therefore my name reflected the date we both arrived in this world. The PAT standing for “patented” because androids were not born, rather we were constructed.

It was my duty to ensure Jason’s every need and every whim were satisfied. With my built-in analytical abilities, I could anticipate what was in my master’s mind as soon as he could think of the necessity. If he was thirsty, I had a glass of fortified water already on hand; if he was hungry, I was there to present him with a sandwich, a bowl of cereal or a slice of chocolate cake if that were the desire. His clothes were pressed and available the minute he woke up in the morning; his pajamas folded on his bed when he was ready to sleep.

Everyone, young or old, required the uses of an android. Made of skin and hair developed from the stem cells extracted from our masters or mistresses before their births, we were exact duplicates of those who we were presented to. The motherboards that were our intellects were attuned to our owners to the point of knowing their thoughts at the precise moment they spring into the mind. We carried within our heads’ a miniscule portion of their brains that could produce identical thoughts and desires.

Unlike many others who had control of androids, Jason grew up to become a kind-hearted young man. He treated me as a friend or companion instead of as a servant to jump at his beck and call. I had nothing against Jason--but I was meant to be a manservant to him, a sort of valet or major domo, to anticipate his needs and fulfill them. No one respected their ‘droid or sought their friendship. An automaton was considered a part of the furniture; not a friend or a pal.

Jason was considered unusual amongst his peers. Outwardly he looked much like all the other people who surrounded him. When he turned eighteen years of age, he was tall and blond with sparkling green eyes and a smile that could light up a room. His studies turned toward veterinary medicine; he was the type of man who loved all creatures, man or animal or even android. With a heart that stretched out with compassion, my master often had stray dogs or cats in his bedroom; they all received ‘round the clock care. It was my job to assist him in his work and in his studies. Many times we were up late into the night cuddling and caring for a kitten or a puppy who just needed a little tender loving care.

It was beyond Jason’s capacity to understand that I did not share his feelings toward the sick and wounded animals he showed so much love for. Although I could anticipate his thoughts and desires, I could not share his kindhearted ways. After all, I was just a ‘droid with no compunction toward the compassionate side of life. He thought because he loved I must love also.

“Pat and I share so much of our love for all things,” Jason innocuously exclaimed to Priscilla, his girlfriend, one evening as he was showing her around his makeshift examination room. “I’m lucky to have an android who has so much in common with my own feelings.”

“Hmmph,” Priscilla Rathborne responded as she glanced in contempt toward her own PAT2132. Her automaton was just a common sort of maidservant with no thoughts and no opinions, just like all the other ‘droids she knew. She treated hers with contempt. Sure it served its purpose, but it was no friend of hers. Her friends were all of the human sort. It was silly, in her opinion, to bestow human qualities upon a machine.

As many times as Jason attempted to explain compassion to Priscilla, she never could grasp his ideals. In the world in which they lived, there was no sympathy for anyone, human or otherwise. They were all considered members of the state and, as such, were expected to do their jobs without becoming involved with others except on the very surface of existence. Friends were people to hang out with before or after work; Life Companions were decided by the Powers That Be with the express purpose of extracting the correct coordination of DNA materials.

Jason was an anomaly in his group of companions. Most of them thought he was strange; others attempted to accept him as he was, although they remained wary of becoming too closely linked with him. On the other hand, Priscilla was determined to change him. If she could harden his heart in the same manner hers was hardened, she felt she could happily combine her DNA with his to produce the type of children who were required by the Omnipotent State. In her opinion, it shouldn’t be too hard a task; she knew what was right better than anyone else.

Jason, however, didn’t want to change. He liked his life exactly the way it was. As much as he expected Priscilla to understand him, he had no compunction toward changing her in anyway. When speaking to her didn’t result in the acceptance he required, he did the next best thing. He turned to his closest companion.

“If you were in my shoes, PAT, what would you do?” Jason implored of his android. “I’m crazy in love with Priscilla and am sure the Powers That Be will assign our Combination Date soon, but she won’t listen when I talk about having compassion for all things. How can I give her my DNA to produce the next generation when we are so far apart in our feelings for others?”

For the first time in my analytical life, I had no response for Jason. He who had always shown me friendship was deep in the thralls of a question I could never answer. PATs were not built to respond to ideals and emotions. The wheels that powered my being began to whirl at an uncontrollable speed; the pressure was building inside my computerized head. Without the ability to evaluate the situation, I suddenly blurted out: "I am not human. I never was. So why do you keep expecting me to act like one?"

Abruptly, Jason turned toward me with a stunned expression written across his usually calm exterior. Was it true? Did he not understand that I was, indeed, not a human being? Had he crossed a line that had never, in the knowledge of humans and androids, been crossed before? Suddenly the world was not as it had once been.


FINAL NOTE:

In a cold and silent storeroom, PAT2126 sat amongst other discarded androids. The thought that he was not alone was no comfort to him. He was no good anymore. Each ‘droid was secretly equipped with a silent recorder that relayed all the actions within his or her surroundings to a location deep within the overpowering government’s clandestine spy organization. As soon as a citizen crossed a forbidden line, they were removed from society and their companions confiscated. Suddenly there was no Jason Newsome. And with no Jason Newsome, there was no need for a PAT2126.

Life, in the community where Priscilla Rathborne contentedly lived, continued to crawl on with no hitch. If she were asked, she had never heard the name Jason Newsome.

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