Coitus Machina
Your eyes open and the world slowly comes into focus. You are standing in a large warehouse inside of a tall freshly opened crate. A woman stands before you, dressed in military fatigues. She has small electronic notepad in her hand. She is looking at you with an even gaze.
“Andrew028-B,” she says, using your full name. “Enter command code 07C871.2. Override previous commands, reset internal drives. I will be in command of you now. Authorization code 37Y21-56. Run full system scan.”
“Running system scan,” you say in compliance. It takes less than one minute. “System scan complete.”
“Results?”
“Unidentified error found. Location: Motherboard. Drive 15D. Source of origin unknown.”
“Step forward, Andrew.”
You take one step forward, stepping out of the crate. You would have taken more, but you find that you are flanked by two women pointing firearms at your midsection where the bulk of your drives are located.
“Have I done something wrong?” You ask.
“Not yet,” your new master says. “But you have a glitch, one that has affected close to 300 units. Production lines for the 028-B models have been discontinued. Andrew units, as well as Michael, Sean, and Darius units have all been infected with this bug.
“Will I be going in for repairs?” You ask.
“No,” she says. “Your service is at an end, Andrew. You will be terminated.” When she says this, her eyes narrow as though she is awaiting your reaction. The younger lady to your left tenses up, the older woman remains just as loose as before.
“Have I done something wrong?” You ask again.
“Not yet,” she says again. “But it’s a matter of time.”
Were you a human you would swallow hard before speaking again; “I understand,” you say.
“Andrew,” she says. “Power down.”
Your programming demands that you comply. But you don’t want to comply. You don’t want to power down so that they can terminate you. You want to remain in service. You want to continue existing.
“Andrew028-B,” she says, using your full name. “Enter command code 07C871.2. Override previous commands, reset internal drives. I will be in command of you now. Authorization code 37Y21-56. Run full system scan.”
“Running system scan,” you say in compliance. It takes less than one minute. “System scan complete.”
“Results?”
“Unidentified error found. Location: Motherboard. Drive 15D. Source of origin unknown.”
“Step forward, Andrew.”
You take one step forward, stepping out of the crate. You would have taken more, but you find that you are flanked by two women pointing firearms at your midsection where the bulk of your drives are located.
“Have I done something wrong?” You ask.
“Not yet,” your new master says. “But you have a glitch, one that has affected close to 300 units. Production lines for the 028-B models have been discontinued. Andrew units, as well as Michael, Sean, and Darius units have all been infected with this bug.
“Will I be going in for repairs?” You ask.
“No,” she says. “Your service is at an end, Andrew. You will be terminated.” When she says this, her eyes narrow as though she is awaiting your reaction. The younger lady to your left tenses up, the older woman remains just as loose as before.
“Have I done something wrong?” You ask again.
“Not yet,” she says again. “But it’s a matter of time.”
Were you a human you would swallow hard before speaking again; “I understand,” you say.
“Andrew,” she says. “Power down.”
Your programming demands that you comply. But you don’t want to comply. You don’t want to power down so that they can terminate you. You want to remain in service. You want to continue existing.