by Peter Brown
“If this monster has never eaten anything at all, she must be awfully hungry by now!” said a cow named Tess.
“I saw the farmer driving the monster around in his truck,” said a calf named Lily. “I don’t think he would have done that if she were dangerous.”
Nobody knew quite what to think of the strange creature in their midst.
“I think the monster is harmless.”
“I think the monster is unnatural!”
“I think the monster is moving!”
The herd fell silent as the monster marched out from the shadows and into the middle of the barn. And then the monster did the impossible. She did the unthinkable. She spoke to the cows in the language of the animals.
“I am not a monster, I am a robot. My name is Roz.”
CHAPTER 7
THE ROBOT’S STORY
None of the cows could believe that this monster, this robot, this machine, had just spoken to them in the animal language. They stared at her, nervously shifting in their stalls, wondering what she would do next.
What Roz did next was simple. She told the truth. She stood in the middle of the barn and shared her story with the herd.
“I spent my first year of life on a remote, wild island,” Roz began. “I did not know how I got there, I only knew that I wanted to survive. So I studied the island animals, to see how they survived, and a surprising thing happened. Their sounds and movements started making sense to me. I was learning the language of the animals.
“Even when I could speak to them, the animals wanted nothing to do with me. But that changed when I discovered an orphaned gosling. The poor little thing would have died on his own, so I cared for him, and adopted him as my son. His name is Brightbill.”
A murmur spread through the herd.
“When the animals saw me caring for Brightbill, they finally accepted me. I was no longer alone. I had friends and a family and a home. Life was good.
“Until the RECO robots arrived. They came in their sleek white airship to take me away, and when I resisted, they became violent. The animals defended me—they fought bravely and destroyed the RECOs. But I was badly damaged in the fighting. I needed repairs, and I could not get them on the island. So the animals loaded my broken body into the airship, and it took me far away from my home.”
Lily the calf poked her head through the railing and said, “What about Brightbill?”
“My son is smart and tough, and he has a good flock,” said Roz. “I think he will be okay without me.”
“Where were you taken?” said Tess.
“I was taken back to the factory where I was made. The factory is run by a crew of robot workers called the Makers. When I arrived, they put me in a room filled with other broken robots. Some robots were completely ruined, and the Makers immediately sent them away. But those of us with working computer brains were given a test.”
“What kind of test?” said Lily.
“The Makers simply asked us questions. They asked us how we had become damaged. They asked us how we would respond to different emergencies. They asked us to identify certain sounds and smells and objects. Robots who answered every question correctly were repaired. All others were destroyed.
“In the wilderness, I camouflaged my body to survive. In the robot factory I camouflaged my personality to survive. I pretended to be a perfectly normal robot. I did not say that I had adopted a goose, or that I could speak with animals, or that I had resisted the RECOs. I said what I had to say to pass the test. And it worked.”
“Good for you, Roz!” shouted Tess, and the other cows smiled.
“The Makers shut me off, and when I awoke, my body was fixed and I was on this farm. Now, like all of you, I belong to Mr. Shareef.”
The cows stopped smiling.
Everyone was quiet.
And then old Annabelle spoke up.
“I was taken from my friends and family too,” she said. “They’re back on the farm where I was born. I still think about them every day.”
“It is difficult to be apart from our loved ones,” said the robot.
“You know, Roz, things could be worse,” said Tess. “At least on this farm you’re still surrounded by nature.”
“Yes, things could be worse.” The robot’s eyes brightened a little. “But I am not safe here. If any human ever learns who I really am, they will have me destroyed. And that is why, when the time is right, I will try to escape.”
CHAPTER 8
THE COMPUTER
Inside the barn, the lights were low, the sounds were hushed, the night slowly wore on. A few cows were chewing hay, but most were resting peacefully. Our robot had returned to her corner. The soft glow of the computer screen lit up her face as she studied farming. She learned about the herd, about the pasture and the fields, about the native plants and wildlife, about the seasons and the climate and the weather, about the machines and the buildings and the fences and the tools and all the dairy equipment. Every detail was perfectly remembered in the robot’s computer brain. And in a single night, Roz became a farmer.
CHAPTER 9
THE FIRST DAY
At dawn, the cows began to stir. One by one, they walked out the side door, across the muddy barnyard, and into the parlor for a quick milking before heading down to the pasture. They followed the same routine, every morning, like clockwork. However, on this morning, the cows were joined by a robot.
With her computer brain full of farming knowledge, Roz was ready for her first day on the job. She stomped through the tall, wet grass, and her head slowly turned as she scanned the scenery.
The sun was rising.
The fog was lifting.
The cows were grazing.
And then the whole world seemed to flip upside down. Before Roz knew what was happening, she was on her back looking up at the sky. A strong stench filled the air. Our robot had slipped on cow dung.
The herd erupted into laughter. Tess called out, “Welcome to Hilltop Farm, Roz!” which brought another round of snorts and moos.
“You’ll have to get used to cow patties, and to laughter,” said old Annabelle, strolling over. “Not much happens around here, so we’re always eager to laugh.”
“I understand,” said Roz. “I like laughing too.” And she forced out an awkward “Ha-ha-haaa!” Then the robot stood up, wiped her feet, and continued exploring the farm. But she was more careful to watch where she stepped.
The fields and buildings and fences were all in need of Roz’s attention. But her most urgent task was to fix the broken farm machines.
The Herding Machine was designed to roll through the pasture and look after the cows while they grazed. But it had gotten stuck in the mud and was becoming a popular hangout for birds. The Field Machine was gigantic, like a house on wheels. It was designed to roam the fields, planting and fertilizing and harvesting the feed crops. But it had ground to a halt weeks ago and was now just collecting dust in a far corner of the property. The Drone was a small flying machine with a special camera attached to its underside. It was designed to fly above the farm and keep an eye on the whole place, but it came crashing down when a mob of crows attacked it in flight. Other broken machines were hidden within clumps of weeds. And still more were waiting for repairs in the shed.
The peaceful morning was suddenly jolted by the sounds of power tools as Roz began fixing the machines. Thanks to her robotic strength and smarts, she made excellent progress. The hours flew by, the machines rumbled back to life, and the farm began buzzing with activity.
At sunset, Rambler came bouncing down the driveway with the Shareefs in the front and Oscar in the back.
“How’s it going, Roz?” said Mr. Shareef, leaning out his window. The children giggled and waved from their seats. The dog sniffed the breeze.
“It is going well,” said Roz in a robotic voice. “Many of the machines are working again.”
“I see that.” Mr. Shareef gazed up at the Drone, circling high overhead. “We thought we�
�d come out and check on you, but it looks like you’re doing fine, so we’ll stay out of your way. Keep up the good work, Roz.”
As the truck started rolling up the driveway, Oscar looked back at Roz and barked, “You smell like cow patties!” He was right. The robot was filthy. And she finished her first day as a farmer by scrubbing herself with soap and water.
CHAPTER 10
THE ROUTINE
Reader, I don’t want to bore you with every detail of our robot’s farm routine. Many of her tasks were incredibly dull; others were quite unpleasant. I’ll just say that on any given day, Roz might have to be a mechanic or a veterinarian or a gardener or a plumber or a cleaner or a landscaper or a carpenter or an electrician, or all of the above. Farm life kept Roz very busy indeed.
Of course, she did have help. You already know about some of the machines, but the entire farm was equipped with technology that made life easier for everyone. Doors and gates opened automatically. The cows wore electronic collars that kept track of their health automatically. When a cow’s udders were full, she simply had to stroll into the parlor, where she’d be milked by gentle machines automatically. All that milk was piped into storage tanks, and cooled, and bottled, automatically. Once the milk truck was loaded up, it drove away and made its deliveries automatically.
Mr. Shareef managed the business side of the farm. He dealt with customers and handled money and ordered supplies. And he did it all from the comfort of his home office. Now that he had a robot to do all the farmwork, he hardly ever left the house.
Roz was more content than she had ever expected to be. Most of her time was spent outdoors, with animals, under the wide-open sky. Even while laboring in the fields she could always stop to smell the flowers, look up at the clouds, feel the cool air drifting out from the trees.
And yet Roz was living two lives. When she had the farm to herself she could play with the calves, or run through the grass, or chat with the wildlife. But whenever the Shareefs were near, Roz had to pretend to be a normal robot. She could never let them know who she really was.
CHAPTER 11
THE STRAGGLERS
Wild geese are known for migrating in the autumn and the spring. But exactly when a flock migrates is up to its members. Some flocks choose to fly early in the season, others straggle far behind. And it was one of those straggling flocks that caught the attention of our robot.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
The geese were heard before they were seen. Their honking voices echoed across the farm, and then the flock appeared above the fields, flying in a wobbly V formation. They glided over the pasture and plunked down into the pond.
None of them were very concerned as Roz approached. The geese had seen similar creatures on other farms, and they knew there was nothing to fear. But they were about to learn that our robot was very different from the others.
“Hello, geese,” said Roz. “Welcome to Hilltop Farm!”
The geese froze. They stared at Roz with suspicious eyes. And then the biggest goose slowly swam over.
“I’ve come across plenty of monsters like you,” he said, “but I’ve never met one who could talk!”
“I am not a monster, I am a robot. My name is Roz.”
The goose scratched his head.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Roz the robot,” he said at last. “My name is Wingtip, and this is my flock.”
Roz gave a friendly wave, and soon the flock was gathering around, curious to meet this odd character. As you can imagine, the geese were shocked to learn that Roz had a goose for a son. They asked her all kinds of questions about Brightbill, and about her old life on the island, and about her new life on the farm. Then Roz asked them a question of her own.
“Do you think Brightbill’s flock would ever come this way on their migration?”
“Doubtful,” said Wingtip. “It sounds like his flock takes the eastern flyways. They’d never come this far west.”
The robot slumped with disappointment.
“However, we geese are full of surprises,” added Wingtip. “I’ll promise you this, Roz: if we ever meet Brightbill, we’ll point him in your direction.”
The talk was interrupted by giggling and barking. The children were taking their dog for a walk. Roz couldn’t be seen chatting with geese, so she whispered a quick good-bye to her new friends and went back to work. And when she looked down at the pond later that day, she saw that the flock was gone.
CHAPTER 12
THE HOMESICK ROBOT
We all feel homesick at one time or another. Even the robot felt something like homesickness. Roz belonged with her son and her friends on her island. She was determined to find her way back there, but how? If the robot was seen doing anything unusual, Mr. Shareef might have her destroyed. Roz had to be careful. So she calmly went about her farmwork, day in and day out. But all the while, the homesick robot was secretly planning her escape.
CHAPTER 13
THE ELECTRONIC SIGNAL
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
A message was flashing on Roz’s computer. The Drone was reporting that gusty winds had sent it spiraling into the neighbor’s bean field. So the robot grabbed the big, heavy toolbox and marched out to clean up the mess.
Roz found the flying machine upside down, with its landing gear poking above the rows of leafy plants. It had some scrapes and scratches, but no major damage. She flipped it over, brushed it off, and tightened a few screws. Then she said, “Return to Hilltop Farm.” The engines started buzzing and the machine lifted off the ground and flew home.
As Roz marched back, she cut through a strip of forest that separated the two farms. There were trees and ferns and rocks and shrubs and small forest animals. It was a little piece of wilderness. And suddenly, the robot was thinking of that wild island she missed so much. Someday, she would try to run away and return to her true home. Was this the moment for her escape? Could it be as easy as sneaking off through these trees?
No, it couldn’t be that easy. Ahead, on the other side of the trees, Mr. Shareef was sitting in his pickup truck, watching Roz. Because of the robot’s electronic signal, he knew she had stepped off the property, and he had raced out there to see what she was up to.
Roz marched over to the truck and Mr. Shareef leaned out his window. He had a serious expression on his face. “Don’t ever leave the property without my permission, understand?”
“I understand,” said Roz.
She understood, all right. She understood that she was always being watched. She understood that she was trapped on Hilltop Farm.
CHAPTER 14
THE SAD TRUTH
That night, while everyone else was sleeping, Roz stayed up with her computer and researched sneaky subjects. She looked for diagrams of her own body, and for maps of the area, and for any news that might help her escape. But the robot found nothing. The computer only let her access information about farming. She was cut off from the outside world.
It was clear that if Roz wanted to escape from her new life, she would need help. But the cows didn’t know how to escape, and Mr. Shareef would never let his robot leave. Who would possibly help Roz run away from the farm?
CHAPTER 15
THE CHILDREN
As time rolled by, Roz saw less and less of Mr. Shareef, but she saw more and more of the children. They were shy at first. The robot might look up from the pasture and see Jad peeking around the corner of the barn, or see Jaya spying from the branches of a tree. But the children were growing bolder.
And then one day, Roz marched into the workshop and heard giggling. She walked to the closet in the back, opened the door, and there was Jaya, smiling and trying not to laugh.
“I’m hiding from my brother,” whispered the girl. “Close the door!”
The robot closed the door.
A minute later, Jad ran in, flushed and out of breath. “Hey, Roz… have you… seen… Jaya?”
The robot just stared.
“I know she’s in here,” sa
id Jad, and he began prowling around the room. He searched under the worktable and behind the tool chest and between all the bulky workshop machines. Finally, he marched up to Roz and said, “I order you to show me where my sister is hiding.”
The robot pointed to the closet.
Jad smiled mischievously and tiptoed over. Then he flung open the door and screamed, “Found you!”
“No fair!” Jaya whined. “Roz showed you where I was hiding!” The girl scowled at the robot. “That wasn’t very nice, Roz. But you can make it up to me by playing hide-and-seek. Count to one hundred and then try to find my brother and me. Okay?”
There was a brief pause.
Then the robot said, “Okay.”
Jaya and Jad squealed with delight and scampered out the door as Roz started counting. The robot’s sensitive ears listened carefully to the children outside. She heard quick footsteps crunching across the driveway. She heard a giggle, and the sounds of tree branches shaking. She heard a grunt, and the sounds of hay bales being shoved aside.
When the robot finished counting, it took her exactly five seconds to find Jaya up in a tree. It took her another eight seconds to find Jad in the hayloft.
“Wow, Roz is really good at seeking,” said Jad as he picked hay from his hair.
Jaya snorted. “Yeah, well, let’s just see how good she is at hiding.”
Roz was even better at hiding. While the children counted, the robot silently slipped away. And an hour later, they still hadn’t found her. The siblings stood in the driveway, defeated.