“Right. You could probably tell me more. Oh, I can’t wait to find out what you remember!” Nora’s tired eyes brightened. “How are you . . . feeling?”
Simon didn’t answer, distracted as he was. He echoed again. "The first?"
Nora pressed her lips together. "Yeah. This must be a huge shock. . .I think you're shocked? I'll be honest I didn't think you would talk to me, as a human would, like this."
Simon wasn’t as concerned about remembering as he was about trying to figure out the present.I need to look outside. I need to learn more.Simon frowned, then moved to stand. His joints creaked, and warning messages flooded his processors.
Nora pushed him back down, her thin frame easily overpowering him. He was weaker than he ever remembered being.I can’t even stand?
“Easy there. You just woke up. Let those batteries charge up a bit more. I’ll go get another solar cell and we’ll swap them out.” She left him to do that, her bare feet tapping across the cracked tile floor.
Simon took in his surroundings, his sensors sluggishly feeding him details.The only one left?He came back to the thought.No other androids?
He turned his head to the side. The partial view he had from the ground led to a different thought.Why does the sky outside appear so hazy?And this house was nothing like the well-kept manors he used to take care of. It seemed weather-beaten and despondent. Completely in disrepair. The only bright spot was the smattering of brightly colored hand-drawn pictures that decorated the walls. Simon looked closer, willing his eyesight to zoom in.Children’s artwork.
In the other room he heard noise. Only one of his audio linkups was working; the other was functional but the connection was loose, though it was enough that he could hear the cheery songs and commotion that sounded like they came from . . . radio waves? When was the last time those were used for entertainment since the advent of fiber optics and using light for data transfers?
“Here we go!” The woman, Nora, was back and sitting next to him again. There was a cheerful smile on her face.
His right eye focused on her, his left deemed inoperable, watching her actions.
Nora popped out the cord she had attached to the old batteries and replaced them with the fresh ones. Then she hefted the used batteries in her hands. “Gimme another second. I’ll go take these old ones out to try to catch a bit more charge. The sun is out right now, but it looks like it will rain soon. It’s surprising I can get a charge on anything right now with how hazy it is.”
Simon watched her leave again, a frown on his face.A human, serving me?For that was what Nora was doing. She was using her hands to help him, not the other way around.
“Thank you,” he said when she returned a second later.
She gave him a lopsided grin and sat down again next to him on the floor. A dimple flashed on her cheek when she smiled. “It’s no biggie. I’m just so happy it is all working. You were so heavy when I carried you out of that old mall you were stuffed in. I wonder what you were doing in that closet anyways, packaged up so neat like that with your manual on top. Do you remember?”
Simon did, but he didn’t want to tell her. His eyes darted away from her excited gaze. Humans, even ones that changed his battery packs and had colored pictures on their walls, were still not to be fully trusted. “I do not remember much from before waking up.”
The woman’s face fell. “Well, that is a shame. Hopefully it comes back fast. I can’t help with everything you missed out on from being asleep for the last hundred years or so, but I can tell you things are a bit different now if you do remember anything.” She went to the window. “Life is a lot different from what people said it was like back then.”
The radio show in the other room ended, a piano melody playing a goodbye song. A tiny child, also too thin, came hurtling in from the other room. Her blond hair curled around her face wildly. “Mama, you missed it! The princess got rescued but then got captured again by bandits . . .” The little girl’s eyes became round in her face, jaw slackening as she saw that Simon was awake.
He assessed her features carefully and determined her to be around seven or eight human years of age.
The girl went right up to his face, far too close, and grinned. “He’s working!”
“Give him some space, Tilly!” Nora chuckled. The girl danced back and twirled in the little kitchen before staring at him again with her hands waving. Nora stood and clasped her arms over Tilly’s chest, stopping her wild movements. Simon noted the clear affection between them.That was missing from my time as well.
“This is my daughter, Tilly.” Nora smiled. “Tilly, this here is Simon. His manual says he was made to help out. I hope that’s the case, because we could sure use some help around here.”
That much was evident, Simon realized as he looked around the weathered room, his stiff neck turning. And it was in line with his programming to serve humans. He said quietly back, “Yes. I am to serve in whatever ways are needed.”
Nora and Tilly glanced at each other and beamed before Tilly tore herself away and ran into the other room. A second later she came back carrying a white and orange cat. Unlike the two human females, the cat appeared only thin instead of too skinny. She put the cat on Simon’s lap, where it promptly sat and started to purr. He could feel its warmth through the silicone jumpsuit he still wore.
“That’s Tatertot,” Tilly said brightly. “Say hello!”
“Hello,” Simon said, his voice still tinny from the rust.
Chapter four
Nora
Nora beamed at the android sitting there, cat on his lap. Simon looked even more humanlike now that he was awake, except for where the silicone was torn away around his neck, showing his metal casing underneath it.
There were a few other parts like that on his body, but the silicone jumpsuit he wore seemed to have kept the main parts of his skin intact. On his arm and shoulder was another bad spot, but he could just wear a shirt for that.
