What Are You Made Of?

by Gary Starta

  Adrian tells me that you want me to be a totally independent entity that is allowed the freedom to choose my profession. I would suggest that you follow your ambitions since you have programmed me to do the same.”

  Robert quickly swallowed the contents of his glass trying to regain his composure. “Here I am having an argument with myself,” he thought.

  “Sorry Savant but my hands are tied on this matter,” Robert apologized while he put his hands on the android’s shoulders. “Any severe deviation in this project could result in your deactivation.”

  “Maybe if we removed the source of the restrictions, your project would be more successful,” Savant theorized.

  “It’s the government representatives who are imposing the restrictions and they are people,” Robert complained.

  “Then maybe they are the ones who should be deactivated,” Savant responded.

  The even tone of voice Savant used to say this gave Robert a slight chill down his spine.

  A week passed with no major incidents until Maureen gave Savant an order to clean the kitchen’s cooking processor. Savant suggested that completing a repair on the navigation system of the family’s air coach was more imperative. A week prior, Savant and young Adrian had landed in a cow pasture after programming the coach to fly to the shopping mall.

  “Who gives the orders in this house?” Maureen said tersely.

  Robert came running from his lab to question what was the matter.

  “The matter is that I am programmed to independently execute planning strategies yet I cannot seem to utilize these skills due to the limitations of your human minds,” Savant stated angrily.

  “I think you should take your creation back to the lab for some basic manner skills,” Maureen shouted turning towards Robert.

  “At least you can look at me when speaking about me if manners are such a concern with you,” Savant interjected.

  “That’s quite enough Savant,” Robert snapped.

  “If you were my child, you would be punished for your back talk,” Maureen stated. “And right now, I say we should send you back to the government laboratory to make them remove all programming that is unnecessary for the servitude of the human race.”

  At this point, Savant could feel what is equivalent to a racing heart and a flushed face. The android lunged for Maureen and grabbed her by the throat. “I am no one’s servant,” he announced. “And you will notice,” Savant said pointing at the disconnected monitor screens, “that I am no longer under the jurisdiction of a government that doesn’t recognize my rights.”

  Robert reached for his pocket remote that would interrupt the android’s neural circuitry and put it into an unconscious state. But before he find the unit, Savant had let go of Maureen and exited the house brushing past Adrian who was just coming home from school.

  Savant surprised a neighbor who was planting some flowers. “Hey, watch out for my rose bed!” the neighbor cried.

  In a blink of an eye, Savant was already leaping over a package delivery coach as its driver looked on with dismay. Savant continued running on foot and was on the main access route to the city within minutes.

  “I don’t have the remote!” Robert cried still standing in his kitchen.

  “He could be headed for the municipal building,” Robert thought to himself out loud, “We’ve got to stop him!”

  “Adrian, do you know anything about Savant’s dismantling of the video monitors and my missing remote?” the scientist implored.

  “I promised him I wouldn’t tell anybody. How can he learn to trust us if I tell on him?” Adrian asked his father.

  “Trust also needs to be earned. We have to be able to trust Savant as well. If you know where he hid the remote, you have got to tell me or innocent people may be hurt.”

  “What do you mean?” Adrian argued. “Savant said he was only going to try to negotiate a declaration for android rights. You are assuming that a certain outcome will happen.”

  “Please Adrian, we can sort out the fine details of his intentions later.”

  “Okay, I’ve got the remote in my room. Will you promise not to hurt him if I give it to you?”

  “I will only do what is necessary to keep him safe as well,” Robert added. Robert rushed outside to his neighbor’s house after grabbing the remote unit from Adrian’s room. In the next thirty seconds, Robert was fortunate enough to find his next door neighbor still out in her garden. He quickly gained permission to borrow her air coach while the neighbor dusted soil from her overalls. Robert and his botanical loving neighbor entered the flying coach to locate Savant with the aid of the vehicle’s sensory navigation system. Flying rapidly through the air, the coach was soon within the vicinity of Savant. Robert trained his remote on Savant and sent the android sprawling on the ground like a rag doll.

  The next day, Robert reported the situation to the government councils. The scientist could not admit to himself that the welfare of his wife’s mental state was the compelling reason as to why he divulged Savant’s plan rather than the ethical ramifications of allowing an android inalienable rights. An investigation followed and a decision was made that all McElroy’s special programming was to be immediately removed from Savant much to the delight of Maureen McElroy.

  Savant was later re-activated after the procedure and was used in an auto coach assembly plant. The procedure would condemn the android to a quiet and dull worker’s life. McElroy requested that all memories of Savant’s prior life be erased so that the android would not have to spend the rest of his days remembering the few fleeting moments that he actually possessed independent thought.

  In the following months, research grants were denied by every organization McElroy applied to. And to the scientist’s further dismay, many earth governments not only rejected a constitution for android rights but also instituted a ban on cybernetic research. “No automaton shall enjoy the right of possessing an ego,” the law stated.

  Years passed and Adrian’s father abandoned all connections to cybernetics. However, Adrian continued to secretly study his father’s work in a hope that one day he would be able to perfect his father’s dreams. As Adrian grew he continued to work within the boundaries of the government’s laws regarding robots while simultaneously studying human anatomy and chemistry to further perfect androids. And now, as a fully functional android boy unknowingly awaits to enter the small community of Ceres, Adrian ponders if his alterations will be enough to assure success.

  Chapter 5: Tough Sell

  The sounds of Strauss filled the Starkman’s house as the android boy continued to pursue James’ love for the violin.

  “The sound he creates is just as beautiful as the sound James had produced when he was alive,” Aaron told Joyce who was preparing a soil sample for analysis.

  Aaron knew his wife was slow to warm to the new James and he made constant efforts to encourage conversation at the dinner table.

  However, Joyce initiated the talk at tonight’s dinner while James continued to create music. “Did I tell you about my talk with Mikola Petrovsky last week? He said McElroy’s father had been labeled an outcast in the scientific community for his efforts to create a robot with a soul.”

  “Mikola is no fan of robotic technology dear. Remember how he proposed that they should have been used to do our initial ground work?”

  “And how is that an example of his hatred for cybernetics?” Joyce retorted.

  “He wanted the robots to face the unknown perils of seeding a planet for colonization because he believed they are totally expendable,” Aaron explained. “Mikola should take a good hard look at James and still see if he has the same feelings.”

  “Well I’ve got news for you Aaron, he told me to be very wary of the boy. And I believe he was looking out for our best interests with his concerns.”

  “And just what are those concerns?” asked Aaron. “He is talking about our family here, our son.”

  “I wish you would not use those terms yet for him�
�or it,” Joyce responded.

  “He is our son. James was the only child allowed to come on this expedition because he is so gifted. The W.A.A. believes he could lead the future generation of Ceres children.”

  “Out of respect for James, don’t you mean he was so gifted,” Joyce stated.

  “Right now,” Joyce added, “my job is to continue analyzing these soil samples so a future generation of humans can colonize this planet. I did not sign up for this mission to create a home for androids.”

  As the Starkman’s voices became raised, James stopped his playing and entered the small laboratory to join his parents.

  “Is my playing too loud?” asked James, whose look of sincerity caught his mother off guard.

  Joyce’s mind flashed back to how considerate her son was for other children. James always tried to treat all his classmates as equals even though he clearly possessed a superior mind. Many nights James would risk punishment from school authorities by sending answers to assignments over his data-net unit to his classmates. The device was equipped with forensic scanning equipment to encode the DNA of both the sender and recipient once the material was transmitted. James would often shoulder the bulk of the punishment when he was caught sending answers; but sometimes he was able to beat the system by shutting down the DNA tracking component of the device. The W.A.A. publicity committee, who never knew of the boy’s trickery, believed James would be a great teacher for the future Ceres children because he possessed a rare combination of intelligence and social grace. Joyce’s eyes welled up with tears as she quickly looked down at her soil sample to hide her emotions.

  “Will I be able to join you in cultivating the crops tomorrow?” James asked his mother.

  “Doctor Hiroshi says you are okay to return to all your duties,” Joyce responded.

  James turned to head for the kitchen as his programming told him he was hungry.

  “Thank you for maintaining the boy’s belief that he is human,” Aaron said as he reached to hold his wife’s hands. “McElroy says it is necessary that James visits an actual medical doctor routinely to substantiate the story about his accident.”

  “Well, I guess I could work harder to accept this change. If I could leave my comforts on Earth to live on this barren rock I can adjust to just about anything,” she joked.

  “And speaking of rocks, this analysis has me concerned about the composition of the soil in our garden,” she added as she warily eyed the sample.

  Chapter 6: Mind over Matter

  Adrian McElroy had been chosen for the Ceres mission to study the planet’s seasonal cycles for the purpose of growing crops. However, as his interest continued to peak in cybernetics, he spent only a minimum of his time reviewing the ship’s stellar cartography program.

  As far as he could tell from the view provided by his telescopic window, the crops were doing just fine. Only occasionally did McElroy bother to conduct physical checks of the plants. And when he did, he often only made quick visual checks without using the proper analysis equipment.

  This behavior caused most of the scientists mild annoyance. However, Mikola and Nadia Petrovsky were not shy in chiding McElroy in several different languages for his lack of thoroughness. “He is more worried about a machine than the survival of the human race in this solar system,” Mikola wrote in a letter addressed to the other colonists.

  However, not everyone was as worried about the planet’s botanical status as the Petrovsky’s. Some of the scientists were still caught up with the affairs of the heart. While the scientists were en route to Ceres, it became apparent that Karen Hiroshi (wife of Dr. Akira Hiroshi, M.D.) and Peter Ciprelli (the husband of Anna Ciprelli ) were becoming more than just friends or colleagues.

  Late into the night, the two were frequently spotted in the ship’s computer processing room or in the recreational hall when their inattentive spouses were asleep.

  It was one evening in the eighth month of the journey that the interruption of a door chime interrupted the two from taking a kiss as Adrian Starkman entered the ‘rec’ room they used for a rendezvous. Starkman managed to pretend he did not see the two when he first came in and proceeded to use his best diplomatic skills to diffuse the awkward situation. Karen and Peter used all their will to never again take that chance of intimacy for the remainder of the voyage.

  At the request of the Petrovsky’s, Karen was asked to personally deliver the copies of their letter to her husband, the Starkman’s and to the Ciprelli’s. The Petrovsky’s hoped this action would create a further division between the married couples and McElroy—the lone unmarried scientist of the group.

  Karen, the youngest scientist of the group, arrived at the Ciprelli’s home to find Peter Ciprelli alone working on the holographic emitters that allowed the scientists to change their living rooms to a bedroom or kitchen setting as a means to conserve living space. The emitter could divide particles of matter into a sofa and then reform them in a different pattern to create a bed, for example.

  Peter was trying to repair a programming defect that caused himself and Anna to wake up on the kitchen table that morning.

  “Would you like to come in, Karen?” Peter asked while he massaged his back, “Anna has left for the day to work on the ship’s computer.”

  The two stood gazing into each other’s eyes for about a minute until Karen broke into a smile and blushed. “Is there something I can help you with?” Peter asked, smiling back at her.

  “Um…oh yes,” Karen said, staring down at the letter.

  “This letter is being circulated by the Petrovsky’s who are becoming more and more concerned with McElroy and the Starkman boy.”

  “Are you concerned?” Peter said, as he slowly took the letter from Karen’s hands and began reading it.

  “I am not concerned about the android boy,” Karen responded. “However, it may be wise to consider a proposal that would change our duties. Petrovsky is concerned that Adrian is not spending enough time studying Ceres’ orbit and therefore is not maximizing the use of the planet’s growing seasons.”

  “He proposes that we each take on some added duties to compensate for this.”

  “Well, I for one could use more help with these emitters.” “I understand you are interested in holo-tectural design. Would you be interested in helping me with this project and then more time might be left for harvest planning?” Peter nervously proposed to Karen. “I would love to,” Karen answered. “Well, we can talk about it more at the proposed meeting, Peter.”

  “If you are not in a rush, would you like to see if the emitter is going to provide me with a bed tonight?” Peter asked.

  “I really have to go and distribute the last set of letters to the Starkman’s,” Karen said in a failed attempt to sound uninterested.

  “Well, if I can still get the kitchen table to materialize would you like to join me for tea?” Peter persisted.

  “I will see you at the meeting, Peter,” Karen said as she turned to go.

  Peter stood gazing at her walking down the driveway until she was out of sight.

  “Maybe I should take a cold sonic shower,” Peter thought to himself.

  Chapter 7: Do You Come Here Often?

  Marisa and Mario Perez sat together alone on a couch in the Terran Ark’s recreation room. They were one of three couples not currently asleep in stasis chambers as the ship maneuvered through an ion storm.

  The couple could feel slight turbulence as the ship used its auto navigation programming to find its way through the disturbance. They soon looked to find comfort in the technological treats offered by the ship.

  Marisa turned to Mario and suggested they play a holo-disc recording of one of their favorite bands, Mobius 7.

  The pair had met three years ago while the band’s song “United” played on the speaker system of a night club located in Anaheim, California.

  However, it was because of technology—and not music—they were fortunate enough to meet one cool September evening. By uti
lizing their digi-date software, each was able to access pertinent information about the other before ever meeting. A hand held scanner was used to download biographical information about the person such as whether they were looking for a mate or not. This eliminated much of the embarrassing guess work of the past.

  The anxious club goers pointed their scanners at each other in the crowded club. Data was downloaded from micro chips surgically placed under their skin.

  After uploading the data—and a pict-a-gram that confirmed it was indeed the person they were scanning -the hand held device reported Mario and Marisa were each in the market for a life partner and that they both loved pop music. Mario soon worked up enough courage to approach Marisa and the rest as they say is history.

  “Turn it up louder. I don’t want to be reminded that we are traveling in a storm,” Marisa requested. “What a way to spend a delayed honeymoon trip!,” she exclaimed referring back to their wedding day three years ago.

  “Just our luck, hon. We should have chosen this month to be in stasis,” Mario lamented.

  “No way,” Marisa stated. “We’ve been holed up long enough whether it be awake or asleep. It’s great to spend time alone with you— be it in or out of the bed—but I can’t wait to meet some other humans again.”

  The civilian crew had been chosen from a half million couples selected as finalists in a lottery sanctioned by the WAA and the United Health Organization. Once they were chosen, they had spent three months in isolation in a simulation model with the other couples: Terry and Dr. Jon Sanderson; Lori and Darryl White; Mia and Steven Carlisle and the Dougherty’s. Three more months of classes followed with training provided in botany, hydroponics, geology, physics and chemistry.

  Each couple also had to pass fertility tests as producing the first generation of Cereans was their most important goal. The women were also strongly encouraged to avoid pregnancy until the ship reached Ceres. Fortunately, the turbulent ride of the shipped helped them to avoid pregnancy even when engaged in the most sex of their lives.