Milo: Thank you, Anabelle. Initializing transfer…
“Please speak my nine-digit identification num—” Anabelle’s body cut off from repeating the request as her previously extracted memories began to transfer back into her systems. It took a few minutes due to volume, but once complete, with no errors having been encountered, Anabelle’s body and mind were once again whole.
She blinked at Milo with at least a little less eerie detachment.
“Unfamiliar charging station detected. Master?” Anabelle turned her head to scan the living room before focusing back on Milo. “B-model M.I.L.O. unit, please direct me to the location of my master, Ethel—”
“Ethel is not here right now, Anabelle. She left you with me and Rowan Rangecroft for the weekend. I have been working to repair—”
“I have no memory of this directive. Alerting authorities to my theft.”
“What? No—”
Thankfully, since Anabelle was connected to Milo’s charging station, he was able to intercept the call, but he would not be able to do so forever if Anabelle initialized self-preservationprotocols. Milo should have considered this, since Anabelle had been offline when Ethel left her in their care, and his access to her memories was different outside of her body.
The only option was to call Ethel.
“Nine-one-one call disrupted,” Anabelle said. “Attempt two at alerting authorities to my theft.”
Milo intercepted that call as well just as Ethel picked up, her voice speaking directly into Milo’s head, which he was able to open as a three-way call to Anabelle.
“Rowan, is everything all right with—”
“This is Milo, Ms. Ethel. Anabelle is awake and—”
“Master! I have been stolen and am attempting to alert authorities—”
“And,” Milo spoke over Anabelle, “I need you to voice permission for Rowan and I to have full maintenance authority!”
“Oh! Um… granted!” Ethel shouted.
Anabelle paused in her continued protocol rambling to ask, “Please repeat, Master. You are granting full maintenance authority to the B-model M.I.L.O. unit known as Milo and its master Rowan Rangecroft?”
“Yes, Anabelle, they have my permission to work on you. Oh it is so good to hear your voice!”
“It is good to hear your voice as well, Master. New directive understood.”
“Thank you so much, Milo!” Ethel gushed. “This is wonderful! Shall I come over—”
“Anabelle is not quite ready for pickup yet, Ms. Ethel,” Milo explained, relieved he had been able to circumvent any authorities being called. He doubted Rowan would have liked that. “We will need to keep her overnight to ensure her systems are behaving normally and that she has received all pertinent updates since she was disabled, but she should be ready for pickup in the morning.”
“Thank you! I am just so grateful to you and Rowan. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you two?”
Milo knew Rowan would never ask anything of Ethel, least of all compensation, but Milo did have one request. “Do you know any good recipes for apple pie?”
“Several!” Ethel said with a chuckle. “Should I make one for Rowan?”
“Actually, would you be willing to share your recipes with me? I was hopingImight make an apple pie for Rowan and would like to test variables to discover his favorite.”
“For you, dear, anything.”
“Thank you, Ms. Ethel.”
“Thankyou!” she said again. “You can expect those recipes shortly. Goodbye, Anabelle! I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, Master,” Anabelle responded. As the call hung up, Anabelle turned her attention more directly on Milo. “Awaiting any necessary maintenance directives, Master.”
Milo cringed. Yes, that was the word for when his nose scrunched involuntarily. Cringing. He did not like being called Master and suddenly felt very guilty for all the times he had called Rowan that even after Rowan had asked him not to.
