Brobots

by Trevor Barton

  ‘Does it work?’ Josh, a newbie built to look younger (early 20’s) and short but still muscular piped up.

  ‘It’s starting to. In the trial year last year there was lots of media hype about looting and gun crime increases and what have you. But in reality that was just hype. I think to start with some people just treated it like a permanent holiday. But when personal savings started to run out it changed their tune. For me the most visible change is things like big street art. You get bunches of people organizing online and meeting up to spend a few weeks creating street sculptures and what have you.’ He reflected. Was there anything else. ‘I think people care about public stuff more now. Maybe each other too, strangely.’

  ‘I can’t imagine what it’s like doing completely what you want.’ Josh said.

  ‘Harris keeping you busy here, then?’

  Josh’s eyes went wide. ‘Oh! I’m not complaining. I love it here. But …there’s still a routine I guess.’

  ‘It’s there for your own good. If y’ahll just loafed around here all day it wouldn’t be good for you.’

  ‘Sure sounds good to me’ another replied. Brobots, of course, could not tire. But they could still ache from exertion and needed to recuperate from physical work. He looked a bit pooped.

  ‘It’s good for your body when your body needs it, sure. But you’ve got to keep your mind stimulated otherwise it goes …mushy.’

  ‘Like the software code screws up?’ asked Josh.

  ‘Yeah. Like that. Humans and Sentients alike on that one.’

  ‘I think I’d just play computer games.’

  ‘No. That’s not what I mean by stimulation. You gotta keep it varied. Otherwise you kind of just get tunnel vision – like you’re only good for one thing, and nothing else exists.’

  ‘Gaming could be part of it though.’

  ‘It could.’ Jared sat up on the sofa. ‘Think about things you like. What makes you happy. Do you like it when you’re laboring with the farm tools, for example?’

  ‘Those farm tools were a beast’, said a newbie.

  ‘I liked thinking what else they could be?’ offered Josh.

  ‘Interesting. How do you mean?’

  ‘In my head a tractor was not just a tractor. It was a happiness generator. It had a big pipe sticking out the top. The pipe spit out things like flowers and trees and sunshine and rainbows and bubbles.’

  ‘Then maybe you’re a creative type. Or perhaps an inventor. You ever tried to doodle your ideas?’

  ‘I do have one I did. Shall I go get it?’

  ‘Sure!’

  Josh upped from the carpet and trod out of the lounge being careful not to step on any feet or legs.

  ‘I don’t want to leave the farm’. A newbie (Owen?) had his arms crossed and hadn’t said anything the whole session.

  ‘Oh? Why’s that?’

  ‘We don’t know where we’ll go. We don’t know what we’ll do. We know we can’t judge what it’s like from TV soaps but …All some of us have seen is building firms and that. To me it all looks like arguments and gun crime and politics and people poking fun of each other.’

  ‘TV sucks. Totally don’t rate the real world by TV. I don’t tend to watch much of it myself.’

  ‘If it’s not real or life like, why do people make it?’

  How to answer that? ‘Well… maybe we like to explore the most unlikely stuff. The drama. Makes us ask ourselves how we’d deal with it, perhaps. Or just gives us something to watch when we’re tired. On the other hand, this farm is a bubble. Here you can be yourselves and that’s good. That’s what you need to do. Out there you’ll have to adjust to people being cruel sometimes. There’s kindness too. Happiness. I can’t guarantee you’ll be happy. Some of that’s up to you.’

  Josh came back in with a scrap of paper and handed it to Jared. He’d used a ball point pen to make a technical drawing of a mechanical sculpture. However hard Jared studied it, though, he couldn’t make it out.

  ‘This looks interesting. You’ll have to explain it though. I can see it’s a sculpture and moves.’

  ‘Yeah, so… You plug in a music source. Like a radio or something. Then it takes the sound waves and turns them into motions. The spirals and sheets in the top move to the waves.’

  Now that he understood, Jared looked at the drawing with awe. The dude had simply sat down and tried to draw for the first time. Not only had he done it so neat and logically, but he’d made something entirely new; getting something out of his head and onto paper.

  Are Sentients getting smarter? ‘That’s really neat, Josh. You should keep going with that. Anybody else want to see it?’ Jared passed the piece of paper around the room. There was no contempt or jealousy. Jared did pick up a little sadness from one or two; like Josh had worked something out about himself but they didn’t have anything like that to compare it with for themselves.

  ‘Look, guys. A lot of things in life are luck, right? I spent a lot of time in life trying to get the job I was never gonna get, or trying to learn a skill I was never gonna use. What I tend to do these days is use what’s in front of me. If something looks like it’s a possibility I push on with it. If I really want it, I keep going until it works. Sometimes you want to do something but you can’t and that’s just how it is. Some people say that the secret of life is choosing the reality you want to have and persisting with it. You can’t change people or circumstance. But you can change your perception – and with that you can see more clearly what to make of what you got. My grandfather was a carpenter. He always said you gotta work with the grain of the wood when you’re working the wood; otherwise the wood won’t thank you and you’ll have a tougher job. Life is like that.’

  ‘There’s only one way to lay bricks’ said one.

  ‘Yeah… But bricks can be used to make any shape of building you want. You just gotta know the kind of building you want to achieve.’

  At that, several of the bro’s eyes lit up. Something was sinking in. Jared was pleased with himself. It would be nice if they all could just download a program for ‘well-adjusted adult’ and get on with it. Learning like humans was painful. But sentience didn’t seem to like being programmed. They had to do it the hard way just like humans.

  ‘So if I want a round building I gotta make curved bricks!’ a newbie concluded.

  ‘Maybe. Or just lay them out in a curve then render them? This is all a metaphor. Is it making sense to you?’

  A few guys nodded. Evan vocalized. ‘It is, Jared. It’s a great help. Here, Josh. Here’s your drawing back.’

  ‘So what you going to invent next, Josh?’

  ‘I think they’re called trampolines? I was going to draw a trampoline stair case.’

  Adorable. Oh god I want to take you home right now. Can I fit in any more? ‘Sounds fun.’

  ‘Dude, your mind is mush already!’

  ‘Hey! Least I got ideas!’

  ‘Quite so, Josh. You keep making ‘em, too.’

  --

  In the evening, Jared and Byron were having intimacy by their back yard swing. Jared recounted the day’s boot camp session to Byron who had, like the old boys, skipped this one out.

  ‘Josh is so cute.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Have we got room for another?’

  ‘You tell me! There isn’t much space left. Is he another Chuck?’

  ‘You mean brofitable? I don’t know. I don’t know if he knows. But… that’s not why I’m thinking it. He’s either an inventor or an artist of some kind; one of those amazing lateral thinkers. You know what was going through my mind when he was showing me his sound sculpture?’

  ‘Go!’

  ‘If we went ahead with our steampunked antique black goods idea he’d be way helpful with designs and thinking stuff up. You do the physical side. I do the software. But neither of us are creatives.’

  ‘Well…’ Byron looked out across the yard to think about the future. It felt to him like Ned would move on once he had a batt
ery of his own. Chuck might go too; and Tasley for that matter. Tas might keep nearby. Byron couldn’t imagine them ever being far apart and he was sure Tas felt the same way.

  ‘…You could ask him. But your gaydar’s telling you he’s bro-fit so how’s that gonna work?’

  ‘You’re right. It might be, yeah. Well then he’ll fit right in at Palm Tree. Be weird if he ends up with Chuck. I’m not sure I want another gay couple living in the same house. But I think the chances are slim.’

  ‘Why’d you say that?’

  ‘Not Chuck’s type for looks.’

  ‘Is he yours?’

  ‘Oh! Thank you so much for trusting me! Uh, fair question. I think he’s cute; and I do have a thing for collecting anything with fur or wires. Or both.

  ‘…He’s bright. So smart. He’d be fun to have around is all. I don’t wanna get in his pants. I feel kinda… fatherly toward him?’

  ‘He is smart. Smarter than me. Okay. So… what you’re saying is you want us to adopt a son.’

  ‘Hm. Wow. I hadn’t realized it but… I guess.’

  --

  What little petrol there had been left around on the farm had been used up trialing the fixed tools in a matter of weeks spread out over months. If the boot campers wanted to start using the plough for real they’d need more. Monday was excursion time. Jared could use his car pod and hitch a trailer to it no problem. The pod was no Rammtruck but it would probably lug a barrel okay. Electric motors had real pulling strength, after all.

  Half a day’s drive away there was a depot selling tractor fuel. Jared just had to decide who he was taking to help; and what to wear for his butch farming encounters with locals. Don’t over-do it. With Byron taking an early morning stroll on his own, he sauntered into the lounge. Half-naked men were littered around. Some of them just in their boxers. Some charging. Some on standby. Some without batteries. Others flicking through magazines or fiddling with software and games. It’s the freak show. ‘Can I borrow a checked shirt and some jeans from one of you’s?’

  The bro’s started at the sound of Jared’s voice. They clicked into action, rummaging around on the floor for some practical fitting clothes for the trip.

  Armed with the clothing and dressing in his room, Jared thought about the trip. Harris would be a good choice. Perhaps Byron could stay. What about Josh? No. Still to “young” at the wake up. Maybe just Harris.

  With that decided, Jared and Harris were on the road. Jared had the roof down and a little country radio going in the background.

  ‘You should come visit the Palm Tree one day.’

  ‘Yeah? I could sure use a break from the farm.’

  ‘Sorry you didn’t get your citizenship.’

  ‘It’s through now, but I’m actually quite happy at the farm.’

  ‘You know, I think Susan needs you here.’

  ‘Right. It needs someone. I just don’t know if I’m a suitable candidate when I’ve only really known construction, escape, and farm myself. It needs outside world experience too, you know?’

  ‘Yeah. I do. I would say you can borrow Byron from time to time but… I don’t know. Once we get back to Scrinton we’re kind of there doing our thing and it’s easy to forget about the rest of the world. Plus it’s quite a drive. Self-drives don’t go fast, and those super-fast taxi pods are so expensive.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Perhaps we can formalize it? Between you and me?’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Like I come once every three to six months as a special guest speaker kind of thing? Do a couple of sessions over a weekend with any newbies?’

  ‘Thank you, Jared. That sounds neat. Yes. Yes please.’

  ‘Done.’

  The terrain was changing. Getting more hilly, less arid. ‘How are Byron’s boys doing?’

  ‘You should see Tasley on the dancefloor. Man, he’s got the moves!’

  ‘And Chuck? Have you wanted to fry him yet?’

  ‘Actually no. He’s hooked up with a close work friend. Seems to be doing okay. No weirdness. It’s Ned we’re all struggling with.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘He’s become a loafer. The days he’s online he does nothing other than make mess in the flat.’

  ‘Send him back to the farm. I’ll sort him out.’

  ‘It might be right, you know? But… then there’s his battery issue.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter so much now.’

  ‘It doesn’t?’

  ‘No. I had a message from Susan yesterday. A link. It looks like Brobotics are going to have a go at sentient models again.’

  ‘For the military?’

  ‘Perhaps. Male and female. Thing is… they gave Susan the inside word that the Byron type battery is going into production. We’ll be able to get some more.’

  ‘That is good news.’

  ‘Yeah. It’ll be a couple of months, mind.’

  ‘Then… Neds coming back with you.’

  ‘Done.’

  They were almost at the outlet now. They’d joined a busier road. Trucks, trailers, tractors and all manner of vehicle were around. Jared felt a long way from the city now. Suddenly rural life was very real and not a brobotic theme park.

  ‘How does Susan go get herself an inside bit of info like that anyways?’

  ‘Simple.’ Harris smiled at Jared. ‘It’s time you should know.’

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘Susan’s salary is paid by Brobotics.’

  Beings

  Perhaps humanity hadn’t banked on it. Certainly never looked at it. Being top of the food chain wasn’t only facing potential challenge from artificial life. Evolution is a constant. Perhaps it takes millennia to morph, but the morphing itself can be quick to come. One day something does not exist. The next, it does.

  Out of sight from marine biologists and deep down in the sea, intelligent fish had started using tools to construct art and basic building types. Give them a few more millions of years and whole cities would emerge. Out of view from other scientists, apes in forests began to develop basic language and devise rough implements for various tasks. Out of view from ornithologists, birds (who give 90% of their brains to language) began to develop a form of writing on bark.

  Out of sight from most everyone except themselves, and to the bafflement of mathematicians or engineers, new Sentients just seemed to be getting brighter – and this had no explanation.

  Sentient life from other planets, however, had seen it all before.

  Josh

  It was Monday night. Jared couldn’t believe it was time to pack and head back to Scrinton again in the morning. At least this had been a good visit. Less eventful. It was good, he reflected, to see the farm being what it was destined to be. Seeing the work in action and being a part of it.

  ‘Josh? Byron and I would like to ask you something. Do you have a minute, please?’

  ‘Sure. In here, or…’

  ‘How ‘bout we go to the kitchen?’

  ‘Okay.’

  Josh followed Jared out of the lounge to the kitchen where Byron was boiling water on a hob to make Jared a night cap. Byron turned as they entered. ‘Hey Jared. Hey Josh.’

  ‘Hullo.’ Josh took a seat at the kitchen table and put his hand on the wooden surface - immediately busying himself looking at the texture, form and patterns.

  Byron handed Jared his tea. Scooping it up in his cupped hands, Jared made for the table to sit. ‘I was thinking…’

  Josh looked up at him. He had dazzling light gray eyes, the classic button nose of his brothers. He was sporting a crimson ball cap and a checked hoodie with torn off sleeves to show off his guns. He bit his tongue as he concentrated on the table’s wood grain. To Jared he looked like a happy pup.

  ‘…How would you feel about coming back to Scrinton? Moving in with Byron and me?’

  ‘Hm. Leaving the farm tomorrow?’

  ‘If you want’, Byron swung into a seat to join them.

  ‘I thought you had
lots of Sentients already with you? Chuck, Ned, Tasley.’

  Jared looked at Byron. ‘We do. Actually Ned’s coming back to the farm. Things don’t seem to be working out for him in Scrinton. He doesn’t know that yet so... Anyway… there’ll be a vacancy.’

  ‘Would I have to work at the Palm Tree?’

  ‘Only if you wanted. But if you did you’d be joining Tasley and Chuck most nights. Byron too, sometimes.’

  ‘Why? Why would you do that for me?’

  ‘Oh… because I’m weird and I get hot for Sentients and you’re cute so I’m adding you to my collection.’

  Josh pulled a ‘what the fuck’ face.

  ‘Not really!’ Jared continued. ‘Well… I am a bit like that. Just to warn you. But…It’s nothing funny strange. Actually I think you’d fit in. Whatever it is you’re discovering – art, design, inventing – I think I’d like to see where you take that; be a part of it if I can.’

  ‘Oh. Well… that’s better than being a sex toy.’

  ‘You should never be a sex toy for anyone. That’s called abuse. I was just… being silly.’

  ‘Jared’s a good man, Josh. I think you’d be happy with us.’ It was Byron’s turn to say his view. ‘He and me are an item as you know, so you’d have to put up with that. Then Tasley and Chuck are kind of our family. I’d say Ned too but… Not so much right now. If you joined us you’d be joining a family. We’re tight. We look out for each other. Also means you have to pull your weight.’

  ‘What if I don’t take the drawings anywhere? Like nothing comes of it or I change my mind. Will you still want me there?’

  ‘Of course’, Jared clarified. ‘I want to see where you go. Doesn’t mean that’s an order. You can’t realize your potential with a gun to your head. Nobody works that way: it’d just ensure you never do realize it so what would be the point of that?’