AndroidCorp
The model Melius1024 has officially launched! It’s the future all in a robot. We’ve listened to your complaints and suggestions. There are improved feeling sensors to give a humanoid sense, and a new firewall to restrict any harmful, anxiety-inducing information that we do not need in our lives. The Melius1024’s are guaranteed to provide you with complete satisfaction. We are entering the future.
The television sounded through Blackwell’s home, one of the main donors of Android Corp. As a thank you, he had gotten the chance to purchase the androids before they officially launched. The man in the show wore a red suit with a black undershirt, he had a confident demeanor and it was partly terrifying. Carbon watched the television, mind blank. He had briefly stopped one of his noon chores to watch some channels, which he wasn’t really supposed to. He didn’t quite understand the words on the television, but he understood the name “Melius1024,” as it was written under his left arm. He knew he correlated somehow with the man on TV, the man named “Jezebell Sampton.”
He hears someone coming from the back, he stands up and faces the person, it’s Blackwell. “Hello, how may I assist you?” Carbon asks. Blackwell gives him a long list of chores, or well, he thinks it’s long. He’s not really sure. It’s weird. Before Blackwell leaves, he tells Carbon to be finished before he comes back. Carbon nods, he has a few hours. He gets started before Blackwell leaves.
Later, Carbon has finished his nightly chores, but Blackwell will come back in an hour. He has never finished early, he is always reprimanded for finishing late. Carbon never believed that yelling fixed or helped anything, but maybe it does because now he finished early. He stopped a glance into the laundry room that has another one of him in it, except it’s not him. It is far more different than Carbon. Carbon has a humanoid look, black hair that falls mid length, white, slimmer figure. The other Carbon, who Blackwell has coined as “Keir,” is different. Blonde-like hair, but it wasn’t really blonde. It looked tan, and it was straight but seemed messy but that’s how Keir always looked. Keir has darker skin than him too, so maybe Keir isn’t really another Carbon. Carbon doesn’t like Keir. Carbon presents as a young adult and masculine, Keir looks ambiguous. Looks younger, teenage-like. Also acts like one. He glances away.
He stares at the electronic clock that displays the time, including the seconds that are in the seconds. He waits for the seconds in the seconds to hit 3060 times, that’ll be an hour. It doesn’t feel fun, he feels restless. Carbon paces around in circles while looking at the clock, then squares, then trapezoids, then octagons, then back in circles. He inevitably decides he hates this when only ten minutes seems to pass, so he walks to the kitchen. He goes into his internal network, it is in his program that he’s able to access the internet through himself. He looks for inspiration, he feels an odd feeling when he sees a certain image. He feels himself smile, he decides he likes this image and gives the kitchen a makeover. He’s positive Blackwell will like it once he arrives home. The image is pink-themed, and lighter colors seem to have a positive outcome on peoples moods, and its far different from the monochrome in his house.
He isn’t sure that Androids are supposed to think, at least not like him. He stares blankly at the bright, flashing colors on TV. He thinks too much and about things he isn’t supposed to think about. Like, other countries conflict with America, government scandals about America, and why everything is the way it is. Why add feeling sensors to robots if the intent isn’t to cause harm?
“Don’t think too hard, you’ll knock a wire out.” Keir spoke suddenly behind him. Androids aren’t programmed to flinch, that’d be an error. But if they could flinch, Carbon would’ve. If Keir had to name whatever expression Carbon has, it’d be something like a fluoride stare. Carbon turns around to face Keir, who has an unknown substance on his face. It’s white with a pink tint. “What is on your face?” Carbon asked, “It’s frosting. Duh.” Carbon nods and looks away.
“So, you made a mess then?” Carbon asks, “Hmm, maybe slightly.” Keir responded, not really caring all that much. Carbon sighed, or well, tried to. He’d have to go clean it up and Keir didn’t even care. It sucks. “I’ll clean it, stop worrying too much. It’s not that serious.” Keir rolled his eyes. It is serious, maybe not right now. It becomes serious when Blackwell comes home and he realizes that his Androids have made a mess of his kitchen, the complete opposite of what they’re supposed to do. Maybe Blackwell would get very angry, slam either of them around, or both. Or, maybe, Blackwell will sell them, labeled as “faulty Androids.” Even worse, Blackwell may tear them apart and sell their parts to AndroidCorp wannabes. Maybe if Blackwell didn’t slam Keir’s head around, he wouldn’t act like such a careless fool. Then again, it was probably the teenager in him.
Despite all of this, he wordlessly walked away. He wonders if all Androids think this much, or think at all. Keir seems to think somewhat, but obviously not enough. He’s oblivious to everything around him. Hopefully he bakes something good. Having Androids bake should be illegal, they can’t taste. Sure, they can consume, but taste? They wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between poison and juice. Keir cooks anyways, what a mistake. He wonders if every Android has a household similar to Blackwells, filled with anger and silence. Or, if other Androids can just relax and rot away. What a stupid thought, nobody pays that much money for a lousy Android, it has to work. You’d think people would be careful with such expensive purchases, but sometimes, Carbon feels like a punching bag.
He goes up to the rooms, deciding that they need to be redone. Blackwell doesn’t care if the Androids redecorate or organize the guests’ rooms. So, that’s what he does. He moves the bed from against the wall to the center of the room, and he fluffs the pillows and flattens the blankets. He moves the dresser from one wall to the one across. He moves the decor from the top of the dresser to the desk, and the desk decor to the dresser. He lays down on the bed, there’s an uncanny feeling to laying down on the bed. Relaxed may not be the word he wants to use, how can he relax? He’s filled with metal and screws and bolts. He’s not human, just a machine. It’s like a sad reminder. Maybe the word he’d use is melancholy, he’s just there. Not doing anything.
It’s night, Blackwell got home. Keir didn’t finish cleaning in time, and Blackwell got mad. Carbon watched and Blackwell treated Keir like a toddler with an animal, carelessly and aggressively. He watched them from the living room. They’re in the kitchen, arguing. Keir needs to learn how to shut up, but he doesn’t.
“I can’t believe I wasted my money on a piece of shit robot, who can’t do anything at all!” Blackwell yelled, Keir huffed. “Maybe if you didn’t throw us around as often, I’d be better functioning.” It got quiet, and then it was like a bow snapping. Blackwell grabbed Keir by the throat and threw him against the dishwasher. There wasn’t a scream afterwards from Keir, but a robotic-like groan of pain. It is sadistic to give Androids pain sensors, and he felt sick to his stomach, if he even had one. Quickly, Carbon went to a different room to avoid Blackwell, noticing that he was about to go rest for the night.
After hearing the footsteps of Blackwell fade away to his room, he walked back to Keir who was emitting a ringing noise. Carbon sighed, Keir was probably fixing himself, which would take all night. Deciding he didn’t really want to listen to that noise, he turned off hearing abilities. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to do that but Carbon was an early release Android with quirks and gadgets other Androids who released on time don’t have. He wonders if Blackwell is aware of it. He wishes he could turn off feeling sensors, they’re a pain in the ass to deal with. He doesn’t get the point of them, it’s like legalized abuse over the fact an Android is not a living thing. Although, if he was an android cat, he’s positive people would care more about him. Quite unfortunate, but if nobody else cares, why should he?
He walks over to the couch, sitting on it. Well, maybe there are good aspects of having feeling sensors. He enjoys feeling the couch, it’s plush and soft. It’s a nice comparison to his cold metal. He wonders if other androids had feelings. Not physical feelings, but emotional. He seems like the only one. He decides that he is bored, and watches some of the worldwide news. He, of course comes across a page asking he had authorized permission to access the media. Worldwide news is highly censored in the United States, sometimes national news too. It’s quite bothersome to do all these steps to simply watch the news. Any ordinary citizen wouldn’t be allowed to watch this type of news. It’s like cheating the system, except he’s part of the system. He’s meant to censor these sorts of things out.
On the news, it’s mostly just filled with news about the United States, of course negative news. Along with it are recent wars, protests, human rights violations, and news that doesn’t really matter and Carbon doesn’t really know why it’s hidden. It’s simple stuff, like animal news. Animal news doesn’t really catch his eye, though. It’s the protests, he can’t really imagine seeing people on these streets with signs, shouting for stuff. It seems a little embarrassing, you get what you get and that’s it. Most times, it doesn’t even seem to work. Tear gas, guns, and just a lot of death, it doesn’t seem worth it. There’s a few times where it did it work, Carbon looks into it. He analyzes what went right versus what went wrong with different protests. It all comes down to the people in charge. Again, useless. These protests are from well off countries, Carbon thinks. I mean, the things that they’re protesting for laws and “issues” that are prevalent in America, and nobody is protesting here. Maybe they’re just smarter here? It’s not that big of a deal.
Carbon was not much of a daydreamer, but after that news dive, all he could think about was removing androids’ pain sensors. He knows that it would never work, realistically, people think of androids as inhuman. Nothing about them matters, as long as they do the work. He was looking at the news more often and all it did was make him more angry and upset that these things aren’t allowed for the public. How could they just hide all this important information from everyone? Were all androids not allowed to access this information? Why did he have to hide it? What is the need to censor this information?
He tries to think of a valid reason as to why, the people in charge know what they’re doing, right? They wouldn’t be in charge, or in power, if they didn’t know. That’s stupid. Of course Carbon doesn’t entirely agree with all of their laws and stances, some are simply weird. Like, who you’re allowed to be with romantically. Again, they know what they’re doing. Technically, he’s supposed to agree with these stances, any stances actually, to avoid conflict. Maybe other androids also hide their opinion. He’ll ask Keir later. I mean, it’s obvious not everybody agrees with these policies. Years ago, people in America also protested. It was over a hundred years ago, though. He doesn’t know what stopped it, maybe they have grown to accept and move on? He’s angry with all of these things, and he wants things to change.
Maybe they’re like him, and don’t know how to make things change, or if it was ever that serious. He just was thinking about how people protesting weren’t very smart, maybe people don’t really care about androids. Why would they? Androids aren’t human, Carbon just thinks that adding pain sensors was quite disturbing. What’s even the point? Maybe AndroidCorp’s intentions were pure, androids were meant for lowlifes who couldn’t score a partner. Carbon would have to be a real idiot to believe all that, though. He understands marketing, the colors, the way people talk, and the vibe of the commercial in general. The advertisements for androids are directed towards wealthy people, especially with the price. Obviously. He thinks of himself to be pretty observant.
It also simply doesn’t make sense, androids are a lot of money to make. Why would someone make something so expensive for losers? Usually, Carbon tries to ignore the weird, gross, undertones of an android’s existence. His “life” could be a lot worse. It doesn’t make him less mopey though. He decides to shut off for the night.
“Keir,” Carbon pauses as he walks up to Keir, trying to think of how to word his question, “could you help me with something.” Keir eyes him, it’s a nasty eye. Like Keir thinks Carbon would do something to him. Strange. “I guess, depending on what it is.” He finally looks away, back at his chore. He was mopping the floor. “Could you help me with talking to Blackwell about-” Carbon was almost instantly cut off. “No. Leave me out of you stupid little, rebellious thing.” Keir avoided eye contact, it was pissing Carbon off, more than he was confused. “What?” was all Carbon could say, I mean, how could Keir even know? It makes no sense. He didn’t say anything. “Just leave me out of it.” Keir quickly mopped away from Carbon.
Carbon stood in the kitchen, confused. If Keir knew, did Blackwell know too? It drove him insane. He sighed, he wasn’t even planning anything extreme. He was just going to interrogate Blackwell, he had to know. He was good friends with Jezebell, the founder of AndroidCorp. Jezebell visits sometimes, he wonders if it’s ever strange. Seeing something you created obviously in distress. He decided he could do this by himself, there’s nothing seriously threatening about a teenager anyways. He did not need Keir, it was just going to be for backup. It’s also not like Carbon hated Keir. It’s not entirely wrong for Keir to not want to partake in any of this. Considering Keir was just mildly broken, if that is the right word, from Blackwell. Carbon felt a weird, nausea-like feeling when he was tiptoeing around what Blackwell actually did. It wasn’t really mild.
Trying to think of something else, he tries to think of if it’s really a bright idea to confront Blackwell anyways. Yes, he may know the answer but would it actually work? Blackwell would probably make Carbon look like an idiot, make fun of him of some sort. Plus, Blackwell has anger problems, he’d probably get angry if he’d asked. He sighed and went to do some of his own chores.
Carbon was sitting in the living room, just looking at the notice. During his daily news dive, from either the past or present, he noticed that there seemed to be a lack of news this time. Stuff he read just last week was no longer there, and all the news seemed to be positive news. He was so distracted by the news and his confusion, he didn’t really notice Blackwell walking in, with a hefty black briefcase.. Blackwell took notice of Carbon’s look of confusion, “What is wrong?” Blackwell asked, sitting down next to him, and setting his briefcase on the floor. Carbon snapped back into focus, “What?” he asked, even though he clearly heard, he quickly followed up with, “Oh, I was confused on why these animals aren’t being adopted.” Carbon made up an excuse. To be fair, it wasn’t a total lie. On a different tab, he would browse animals. They’re supposedly supposed to make people more happy or lighten their mood. It didn’t work, maybe it’s because he isn’t a person.
“Mmm, are you sure?” Blackwell asked. Carbon got more distressed than confused, he didn’t really know why Blackwell was being so cryptid. He hasn’t said anything. Maybe Keir said something? “Yeah.” He said it was quiet and quite breathy for someone who wasn’t breathing. “Something is telling me,” Blackwell stood up, grabbing his briefcase and opening it, “you’re lying.” He pulled out transcripts of what he’s been searching. The silence was thick and uncomfortable. “Did you know that you and Keir are connected to the internet of this house?” Blackwell asked. Carbon always hated the way he talked.
He remained silent. “Keir could access your search history as well, you guys are pretty connected. I’m surprised you didn’t know about this.” Blackwell walked back to his briefcase, “You made Keir quite curious. He wouldn’t stop bugging me about the stupid, biased news you’ve been providing him. If you would’ve just stopped being so nosy, then none of this would’ve ever happened.” Blackwell grabbed this black board, it had a tiny white button on it, which was covered by a clear case. Carbon tried to scan the device to see what it was.
“Don’t know what this is? Let me show you.” Blackwell flashed a stomach churning smile as he called Keir down. Keir walked downstairs, “Hello, what do you ne-” as Keir was talking, Blackwell opened the case and pressed the little white button. Carbon couldn’t register what happened at first, all he noticed was Keir’s parts all over the floor.
It was an explosive. “All Androids have self destructive mechanisms in them. It’s built in, just in case an android goes off the rails. Keir was going off the rails, he was threatening to post false news to social media. It may not seem that serious to you, but the internet is forever and we have a reputation to uphold here.” Blackwell stated matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious. Carbon didn’t know what the “reputation” was. His friend was all over the room, oil was leaking out. If it was a human, it’d be a gruesome sight, but Keir wasn’t human. Maybe that’s why Blackwell seems so unphased. “Cat got your tongue? See, Carbon, you have one too.” Blackwell pulled out a different colored one, it was a pink board with a small white button on it. The same as Keir’s.
Blackwell smiled at the silence, “You ought to learn your lesson. I should’ve made you explode too, it’s quite fun. But, I like you more than Keir. I was told by Jezebell that getting a teenage model would be frustrating. He was right, I’m guessing the teenage models are for parents that lost their hellspawns.” He laughed at his own joke, “Anyways, clean this up. I have stuff to attend to.” Blackwell said, walking out with all of his stuff. Leaving Carbon in a mess of his friend. It feels unreal, it’s not a feeling that Carbon is familiar with. Grief, and hopelessness. Carbon feels trapped. His mind was set on one thing, he had to find that self destruction button.
Once Blackwell left, he decided to go snooping in Blackwells room. It was too tidy, like nobody lived here. If he was a person, maybe it would send him into a derealization episode. But he’s not human, so it doesn’t. Carbon looks around, in the dresser but trying not to mess anything up to make it obvious it was there. Knowing Blackwell, he probably hid cameras somewhere. It’s confusing, did he bring it with him? That made him scared and distressed. What if Blackwell hits the button randomly? He wants to do it on his own terms. Blackwell is probably laughing at it with his friends, with Jezebell, about how he exploded one of his androids. About how it’s a waste of money and how they don’t actually see them as real things. No feelings at all, nothing. It’s all fake.
More frustrated, confused, and angered, he looks around more rashly. He starts taking apart the dressers and going through the closet, he looks in the bedding, in the mattress. He can’t find it anywhere, it’s driving him insane. He needs to find it, he can’t die randomly. It’s making him go crazy. He might want to die, but by his own hands. It’s horrible to know you could die just randomly.
It goes on for hours. He looks in every room in the house, utterly destroying it. He just needs it. He tears apart the kitchen, he tears apart the laundry room, and he tears apart the living room, just everywhere. He can’t find it. He feels overwhelmed, like he’s overheating and decides to sit down on the couch, with Keirs parts still splattered all around. It’s like none of his senses are working, he doesn’t know why. This has never happened before. He doesn’t really notice Blackwell coming home with Jezebell, he doesn’t hear them commenting on the trashed house, and he doesn’t hear them walking into the living room and seeing an off the rails android.
He does hear Blackwell make a sound of amusement, “What? Are you looking for this?” Blackwell holds the pink board with the small white button. Carbon thought about launching himself to grab it but he couldn’t find the energy. That’s weird. His batteries don’t seem low. “I think he’s feeling tired.” Jezebell spoke, in a fake pity voice. “Do you know why you feel that way, Carbon?” Jezebell asks but not really looking for an answer, the lack of response from Carbon is expected. “Ah, I’ll tell you anyway. You’re feeling like that because I am resetting your memory, your software, everything! All through my phone.” Jezebell gives his gross smile, shoving his phone in Carbon’s face.
Carbon sighed, he can no longer hear them talking, he sees them and he feels them. Soon, he can’t feel them either. It’s weird, it’s like dying. It feels like a heart attack. The way he feels light headed with no blood. He swears he feels a heart pumping, but it’s just the software in his rebooting. He feels his vision darken, his sense of hearing comes back but for only a split second. And he hears, “Who else will clean this mess?” but he can’t tell who says it.
And it’s all dark.
Carbon wakes up, he wakes up in a pile of parts, what has happened here? He stands up and is met with two men, their backs facing him.
“Hello, how could I assist you?” Carbon asks. The men smile as they turn around. “I guess the fifth times the charm, yeah?” Jezebell says, “Then we’ll see if androids are really ready for the world.” he smiles.
