Brobots

by Trevor Barton

  ‘I hate that phrase.’

  ‘Me too! They’re rarely great or good, are they!’

  ‘Some of them are, I guess. The greedy and the psychotic would be a better way to put it.’

  Susan peered at Jared then, sizing him up. ‘You’re no peace activist are you Mr Thomas.’

  ‘No. Just a code monkey.’

  ‘Without which, of course, our brave new world would not exist.’

  There was quiet for a while. It was almost dark now. Crickets had started up, as had mosquitos.

  ‘Feeling sorry for them isn’t the same as granting rights though, is it?’

  ‘True. But… we’re working on that.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I expect there’ll be another news story in a few days. Yours was not the only dish I was cooking.’

  ‘Hm.’ Jared mused on this, still holding a now empty glass to his lips, elbows resting on the rocking chair, upper legs half off the chair in a comfortable slouch. He’d picked up about the Bill. Perhaps it was that. Exhaustion was finally hitting him. ‘I gotta go sleep. Longest day in years.’

  ‘We’re leaving quite early, too?’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Something like 9.30. I’ll wake you at 9. There’s a shower. One bathroom.’

  Jared shuffled off the porch and took a shower before bed. A few extra moments of morning sleep and a clean body to help him sleep felt like a good idea. A large spider was waiting for him in the shower base but he was too tired to care and let it take the shower with him.

  --

  The car trip was rather silent. He just wanted to see Byron now. The arid landscape passed the passenger window with very little change and no landmarks, leaving it hard to tell whether they’d been travelling ten minutes or an hour. He didn’t mind. He would have been impatient were it not for the fact that he was still half asleep.

  The approach to the farm building was much like the house Susan had used to meet him last night, only the dust track was shorter and the house bigger. Byron must have known what plans were because he was standing on the porch waiting for him. A smile beamed from his chubby face once the car had come into view. It looked to Jared like he had a new outfit too. Perhaps possessions were rather communal on the farm. Byron was wearing jeans, ball cap, and a fresh checked shirt. Jared realized his travelling outfit of near-white chinos and a white shirt were making him out of place. But he didn’t care about that.

  Neither did he care who was looking when he bounded out of the car and ran to the porch to grab Byron in the most enthusiastic hug Byron had ever had from anyone.

  ‘Hey!’

  ‘Jared! I’m so glad! I missed you so much’, Byron said into Jared’s shoulder. Pulling back they looked each other in the eyes and just stared for a long moment in excitement, happiness and wonder.

  ‘I thought you might be gone forever.’

  ‘It could have been years if I’d been jailed.’

  ‘Susan said. But… is it all over?’

  ‘I hope so, Byron, I really do; cause I don’t want us to be apart so long ever again.’

  ‘No. It hurts, right? I mean like… inside?’

  ‘Yeah!’ Jared chuckled. ‘It hurts. Doing better on those emotions I see!’

  Susan had reached the porch from her car. A small crowd had gathered. In fact everyone at the farm wanted to meet the mythical Jared. Still holding his waist, Byron held out a free arm to loosely point out the names of the crew. Harris, Jo, Toby, William, Peter, Evan (new recruit), and finally Chuck, Ned, and then Tasley.

  Jared wiped his brow and smiled around. ‘Gonna take me a while to learn all those names. But… hello!’

  Various “hello’s”, “hey’s” and “sup’s” came back.

  Jared turned to Tasley and walked towards him. He didn’t know what to say. Tasley was almost as massive as Byron, and just as handsome. ‘We finally get to meet!’

  ‘Guess we do! Hey, bro.’ Tasley wrapped Jared in his arms and gave him a long bear hug. It was loving. It felt like acceptance into a family. Jared’s body tingled at the thought. It was nice. Warming. Also tinged with a little sadness at the amount of family Jared had not had all these years.

  From over Tasley’s shoulder Jared heard Chuck’s gruff voice. ‘As I figured. Cute as fuck. No wonder Byron fell for you. Do I get a piece of the action here?’

  Tasley smirked to himself. Well that didn’t take long. Looks like Chuck’s coming out party day is here too.

  Not wishing to seem impolite or knowing any farmhouse rules, Jared reluctantly pulled away from Tasley and gave Chuck and Ned their hugs. Chuck’s hug was rather showy – pretending almost to make Byron jealous, Jared thought. But he figured it was bro-joshing and just ignored it. There was no way all the brothers were getting hugs, so Jared just left it at Byron’s closest friends and then followed them all out of the morning sun and into the comfortable lounge.

  ‘This place looks like it’s been a bachelor pad for one hundred years’ Jared exclaimed.

  ‘Tell me,’ said Susan.

  ‘Isn’t it cool?’ asked Ned.

  Jared looked around for evidence of ‘cool’. What are you? Five?

  The place was neat enough for ten grown men, he guessed. They could still access all the comfy seats, but tables were strewn with old magazines, newspapers, beer cans. A holo-vector display sat in one corner; HiFi in another. An old flat screen monitor filled a wall above a chimney breast.

  Jared was staring at that, so Tasley explained: ‘that’s where we’ve been watching movies; like, every day!’

  ‘Not just, though,’ said Byron. ‘We’re learning stuff too on it.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Jared looked at Byron quizzically. ‘What like?’

  ‘Like nature programs, and TV shows about how people are with each other, and comedy; all kinds of stuff! It’s awesome!’ said Ned.

  ‘So that’s what you’ve all been doing here, huh?’

  ‘They’ve been helping each other.’ Susan was propping her body weight against the doorframe observing the scene. ‘Daily meets to talk to each other about emotions, would you believe? It’s good to see a pattern forming. It might even be useful later.’ Jared looked across at her and nodded with interest and approval.

  ‘Not just, though! We’ve made a plan!’ Chuck’s turn to interject.

  ‘Oh? Tell me about your plan, Chuck?’

  ‘We were waiting to see you. We’d like to get the farm working again.’

  ‘Huh. How ‘bout that.’ Susan walked into the room a little. ‘You learnt anything about animal husbandry?’

  ‘Not animals. We’d like to grow crop’, Chuck explained.

  Susan looked out the window to think. ‘You realize you wouldn’t be able to put any of it to market though, right? It’s too risky.’

  ‘We wondered about a human helper’. Chuck was looking at Jared with hungry eyes.

  ‘Me? I …uh… I just got here. And it’s only a short trip. Just a week… I have one job already. I mean – I’m sure that I’d love it on the farm but…’ Susan reached out, staying Jared by the arm.

  ‘It’s a good idea,’ she said to them all. ‘I expect you’re all good with your hands, and keeping occupied and creative is good for mental health. You’d also get to work on relationships with each other in a more demanding context; and that would be good in preparing you all for the outside world; if you ever get there.

  ‘But don’t drag this poor fellow into it; not yet. Or, not if it’s not what he wants. And you sure as hell know you’re not dragging me.’

  Low laughter went round the room: as if Susan could be dragged into anything. ‘I approve. Get to know it. Work out what you want to grow. All the gear’s not been used for well over a decade, so that alone will keep you busy for a month or so. But it used to be arable here, so if you’re lucky you might have what you need from the outbuildings. Just don’t expect what you grow to be sold.’

  The room went a little quiet. It made sense. There was perhaps
a little energy of disappointment; the shattering of a bro-like dream.

  On the other hand, it wasn’t a “no”. Susan took her hand off Jared’s arm and turned back to him. ‘I have an office in the basement here. I’ve got work to do during the day, but you’re welcome to join me for dinner in the kitchen around 6 if you like.’

  ‘Thank you. Yeah, sounds good.’

  ‘Then I’ll be off tomorrow. I doubt we’ll see each other again for a while. But the plans to get you home are already set, so take your mind off that. I have things with me to stock the kitchen too.’

  ‘Thank you again.’ Jared flushed his cheeks feeling awkward.

  Looking around the room, Susan addressed them all. As she did, Jared looked at them too – sharing what he could of her perspective and the curious social experiment that this had all turned out to be. Some of them were already flopped onto sofa armrests, sofa seats, between each others’ legs on the floor. Others were fiddling with tech or browsing for the afternoon’s movie feast. ‘Anyone need to see me?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Chuck. ‘I wouldn’t mind.’

  ‘We can talk in the office. The rest of you know the drill. Report to Harris if you have any issues with anything and I’ll see you all tonight. Ned? I have a new battery tester with me. We’ll check you after Chuck.’

  ‘Thank you’ they chimed, like addressing a parent.

  ‘Oh. Harris? How are the repair supplies?’

  ‘They’re good. Hardly touched, in fact. We’ve not really been doing much to create any damage to ourselves.’

  ‘No… well… something to think about with that farm plan,’ she looked to Chuck. ‘It’s not all sofas and movies and bro hugs when you’re working with farm tools.’ She walked out with Chuck following and the room of Sentients relaxed down into what must have been, Jared figured, usual patter.

  ‘Chuck OK?’ he whispered to Byron.

  ‘I’m sure he’s fine.’

  ‘Dude’s got a thing for men, though’ – Tasley was in earshot next to Byron.

  ‘You think that’s what he needs to talk about?’

  ‘What else could it be? Dude’s a “bro-fit” like you.’

  Bro-fit? ‘The battery check?’

  ‘No. Not just. Something else is on his mind. Whatever it is …he ain’t...’ Tasley trailed off shaking his head.

  Jared wondered now about options. Byron seemed a little awkward about Tasley’s conclusions regarding Chuck, and Jared didn’t want to get into gossip or group politics just yet. He looked around wondering whether he should introduce himself to someone and start getting to know them. But Byron had other ideas.

  ‘You and me got a whole day together, and I don’t plan on sharing it.’

  ‘We do?’

  ‘Uhuh’. Byron leaned in and rubbed noses with Jared.

  ‘That sounds like the best thing I’ve heard in a very long time.’

  --

  Having joined Susan for an uneventful evening meal, Jared was only too glad to get to the lounge. He and Byron had a wonderful day walking the perimeters of some of the fields. Byron had of course wanted to know all about the hacking, Alma, Artemis, whether he’d seen Jason or heard from Yana. He was also interested in the jail cell and the FBI agent. But Jared noticed that they didn’t spend too long on that and wondered if Byron was being polite, or simply felt naturally uncomfortable repeating the sensations of anxiety and missing Jared that it raised.

  Jared could have asked lots of questions about what the farm had been like. He asked a few, but now he was here he found he had fewer than he’d had all those days he was missing Byron. Instead they’d talked more about likes and dislikes; happier stories about their respective pasts. Byron recounted a day when he and some others had stolen a trip to a site one weekend to play football after watching about it and learning the rules. Jared relayed a holiday abroad in California with his parents riding on a hyperloop and going to a theme park.

  When they hadn’t been walking, they’d kicked a few bro’s out of one of the very few bedrooms and had some private time to lay down together; hold each other; remember each others’ bodies; catch up on sorely missed embracing and kisses.

  It was hardly enough catching up. But it was some, and there’d be more tomorrow – and the next day. Jared was so happy right now. But entering the lounge brought with it some other feelings: a little anxiety about a bunch of burly non-human strangers he’d be shacking up with the rest of the week. How was he going to break the ice, and was it for him to do?

  Harris, Jo, Toby, Will and Peter were sat together colonizing one sofa – its seats, arms and floor in front. These were the ‘old boys’, apparently. Tasley and Byron were sat in the middle of the other clasping hands. Jared thought this odd, but wasn’t too surprised given how much Byron had talked about his buddy. But still – they were meant to act like grown men and this behavior seemed a little more pre-teen. Was this something to quiz Byron on one day? He didn’t know. Chuck was out of the room. Ned was amusing himself with an old printed photograph album. Byron looked up and signaled for Jared to join him in the reserved place next to him. As Jared sat, Byron’s arm had been left there – ready to hold Jared’s back in a cuddle.

  Jared leaned into his man, resting his head on Byron’s broad shoulder and started to watch their movie. Byron thought to himself. This is perfect. Jared. Tasley. Me. My bro’s. The farm. Dr Harper. All here. Wow.

  ‘Everything OK, Byron?’

  ‘Yeah. We’re good. Ned’s battery isn’t, though.’

  ‘Oh?’ Jared leaned forward to look to Ned.

  ‘Yeah. Lucky me got one of the duds.’

  ‘Shit!’

  ‘It’s not the end of the road. We’ll all have to share or something.’

  Jared wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He didn’t want Byron sharing the hard-earned new battery with anyone. Neither did he like the idea of Byron being offline; not ever. When one movie with robots finished, Jared suggested it might be an idea to watch something about humans; something more positive than the TV shows, perhaps. Then he had to come up with a suggestion. He played it safe and went for a romance. He and Byron would find it boring, but at least the others would see some of the sweeter aspects of human interaction.

  Much of the evening passed with little conversation. Jared figured that perhaps his arrival had unsettled the usual pattern somewhat. Either that, or the brothers were not always conversational. Maybe Ned’s battery news had something to do with it. Plus Evan had only arrived a few days ago from Washington; yet another construction worker from Construcsapli with a spark in his eyes and too much of a will to live. Perhaps the crew was still adjusting to him, too. He’d certainly said the least.

  The movie had turned back to TV shows. Why there was so much entertainment Jared didn’t know. But being actually here it made a bit of sense. The dudes couldn’t talk about what they were going through all day. That would just make things more intense than they were already. At the end of a show, Jared announced he was going to hit the sack and then wondered all of a sudden whether that meant Byron would be joining him in bed. ‘Well you’re not doing that on your own! I’m coming to help.’ Byron stood to follow Jared out.

  Jared brushed his teeth in the humble bathroom: an old sink with a faded and rusty mirror, a shaving light that was on the blink. He watched his face as he brushed, reflecting on the unusual turn life had taken since summer. Coming back to the present he decided not to waste many more minutes thinking or preening – he had a Byron in his bed all undressed and waiting to snuggle up to him in the sweetest stand-by mode he suspected either of them would have had in a long time.

  He headed into the hallway just in his boxers and was surprised when Chuck was standing there as if waiting for him.

  ‘It’s good to have you here,’ said Chuck.

  ‘Thanks! Yeah! It’s so good to finally meet you all.’

  Chuck smiled and looked Jared up and down awkwardly. ‘Can I get a good night hug
?’

  ‘Uhhh.. Yeah! Sure! I guess so, Soppy!’

  Chuck moved in and wrapped strong arms around him. At first Jared thought it endearing. Then he remembered back to Chuck’s complements on the porch in the morning, and Tasley’s suspicions about what he’d wanted to talk to Dr Harper about shortly after. Then he was just thinking that it was starting to feel awkward. Then even more awkward; there was definitely a bulge pressing against him now. Chuck was clearly turned on.

  ‘Umm…. Uh…. Chuck?’

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘You can let go now.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You can let me go now.’

  ‘Oh. Right. Sorry. Uh. You’re so good to hug.’

  ‘I’m sure I am. But I’m taken. Chuck? Chuck!’ Jared started to squirm a little just to show how uncomfortable he felt. Then he squirmed rather a lot, and then more – trying to remove himself from Chuck’s arms. ‘This really isn’t… will you just let go?’ he raised his voice. Hearing this, Byron walked out of the bedroom fully naked to join them.

  ‘What’s up? You OK, Jared?’

  Chuck released the human man, turning sheepishly to the bigger Sentient. ‘Sorry, dude, I.. uh…’

  Byron looked from Chuck to Jared. ‘You OK?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Actually he was a little shaken. He brushed past Chuck and walked into the bedroom, closing the door.

  ‘You making Jared uncomfortable?’

  ‘No dude! Totally not! I wanted to give him a hug to show how much he’s welcome here; that’s all.’

  ‘He knows he’s welcome. That bulge in your pants tells me it wasn’t just a welcome you want to give.’

  ‘Chill out, dude! It’s nothing, I swear!’

  ‘If it is, it’s fine. If it isn’t, you’ll be seeing these knuckles up real close. You got that?’

  ‘It’s nothing.’

  ‘Guess it was nothing you went to talk to Dr Harper about too, right?’

  Chuck blushed. ‘That was the battery test.’

  ‘Sure it was.’ Byron softened a little. His fist turned into an open hand, which he placed on Chuck’s shoulder. ‘You can talk to me. You can talk to Tasley. But you can’t experiment with your feelings on Jared. You got that?’