Chapter Text
“Okay, it’s been two whole minutes, and nobody has exploded. Can we get on with this?”
Jewels was inpatient. It took days to figure out a time and place for them to meet again. Sue her.
Turns out, Kori was a little protective of Lydia.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want my bot to crash out again,” Kori whined as she gave a sympathetic look to Lydia.
Jewels shrugged, “My laptop does that all the time, and it's still fine.”
“A laptop from your college years is different than a companion,” Kori rebutted.
“Could we get back on topic?” Suzie interrupted. “I want to hear what Lydia has to say.”
Strangers who sat nearby in the coffee shop looked in their direction. The other companions did not speak out of turn, let alone express their opinions.
“Control your bot,” an older woman told her on her way out.
Jewels rolled her eyes, hearing unsolicited advice from strangers. She’ll let Suzie speak how she pleases.
“Okay, tell them what you remember,” Kori asked Lydia, redirecting the conversation.
Lydia nodded, “After I rebooted last week, I had a memory,” she began. “It was with me and Suzie, and I remember her screaming for help,”
Jewels blinked as everyone else looked at Suzie. Her companion’s face was unreadable, like she was unsure what emotion to show.
“What else do you remember?” Jewels asked her.
“I tried to help her, and she kept screaming my name,” Lydia explained. “Someone grabbed me, and that’s it.”
Kori turned to Suzie, “Do you have any memories like that?” she asked.
Suzie shook her head, “No, not at all,”
All four of them looked at each other, knowing this was at a standstill. None of them knew what any of this could mean.
“Where did you get Lydia?” Jewels suddenly asked Kori.
Kori glanced at Lydia, then at Jewels, “I couldn’t afford a bot at one of the nice stores, and I found a guy on Craigslist selling bots for cheap,” she explained.
Jewels narrowed her eyes, “Was it a guy in a warehouse off Campbell?”
“How did you know?” Kori looked taken aback, setting her iced coffee on the small table.
“It’s exactly where I got Suzie,” she shared. “We have to figure this out,”
Figuring whatever this was turned out to be a lot harder than expected.
Unfortunately for Jewels, having a bot with unlimited internet access did not yield any results.
“According to Google Maps' latest update, the warehouse on South Campbell Street has been converted into lofts and storage units,” Suzie informed her.
“Damnit,” Jewels muttered to herself, “Thanks for looking for me,”
Suzie smiled at her, “Of course, that’s what I was made for.”
After that, Jewels noticed that Suzie’s smile faltered as the bot stared out the nearby window. It was the closest human reaction she had seen on her companion.
“Are you okay?” Jewels asked, alerting Suzie’s attention.
Suzie looked at her, tilting her head slightly, “I’m sorry, I have been thinking a lot more than what I’m programmed to,” she shared.
“About what?” Jewels asked her, curious.
Suzie sat next to her on the bed, “It started with what Lydia told us. How did she get a memory of us, and I didn’t?”
“I wish I knew,” Jewels told her in comfort. She wished that there were an easier way to console a robot. “What do you think it could mean?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but it makes me curious about where I came from,” Suzie explained. Jewels turned to her, encouraging her companion to continue. “I’m just wondering what I was made for, is all,”
“Besides being a companion?” Jewels asked her.
Suzie nodded, “I think so, but I’m not sure,” she stood up from the bed. “Could you turn me off early tonight?”
Jewels nodded and gave her a sympathetic smile, “Of course I can.”
Jewels struggled to sleep at all that night, mostly writhing in her bed with tossing and turning.
She glanced at Suzie in the charging corner of her bedroom and felt a wave of guilt wash over her. Jewels should be the one to protect her companion from the outside world, not let her live in fear of it.
She sighed as she decided to give up on sleeping for the night. Might as well give up now, since it was so close to morning already.
Jewels sat at her small pink desk, opening the lid of her laptop. Not that she even knew where to start in searching for answers.
She scrolled through her email contacts, hoping to stumble upon the maintenance contact for her bot. That email was eventually found, but when Jewels tried to send a message, it bounced back instantly.
This address is not currently valid, her screen informed her.
Damn, worth a shot.
Maybe Google would pull something up.
Jewels searched, looking for any and every result. What was she even doing? She barely understood what the problem was!
Eventually, she settled for a local small business that repaired companion bots. They seemed to be reputable and had decent enough reviews for her to trust them with Suzie.
She was thankful to make an appointment online for the next morning. Maybe she could get some sleep by then.
“Everything on your bot looks good so far, Miss Sparkles.”
Jewels nodded at the woman examining Suzie on the metal table. Suzie was placed in sleep mode for the examination.
The woman was kind and thorough with her work. The website listed her as Dr. Cox, but she insisted that Jewels call her Jackie. Even the woman at the front desk (who was Jackie’s wife) giggled when Jewels asked for Dr. Cox.
“Then why did she overheat the other day?” Jewels asked. She dared not tell about Lydia getting a memory or Suzie overthinking too much for a bot.
“That could be an issue with the manufacturer,” Jackie told her. “Have you tried contacting them?”
Jewels nodded, “I have, and the email got kicked back.”
Jackie pursed her lips, “Odd,” she muttered to herself. She pushed the back of Suzie’s hair away from her neck, “There is no CIN on her, either.”
“What’s that?” Jewels asked, sitting up in her chair.
“Companion Identification Number, every bot manufacturer is required to put one on each bot they produce,” Jackie told her. “Yours does not have one.”
Jewels narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What does that mean?”
Jackie sat in her short rolling chair, making herself eye level with her client.
“What that means exactly, is that Suzie is a fraudulent bot.”