H is for Heuristic

Byron stepped back. "Drop it." he said. "I didn't want you when I thought you were real, what makes you think I want you now?"

Melanie came to a stop, as if she was pondering hard upon the question. She kept looking at him while the electronic brain in her chest worked through the data necessary to formulate a response. She switched modes.

"Well," she said as she glanced down and closed her chest panel, "If you don't want to be called handsome, I'll just call you Byron."

"I should have figured you were a robot. You never had an original thought of your own."

Melanie wasn't bothered by the remark. "That's why you're here Byron." she said.

He looked back over to Natasha. She was standing at attention, completely naked and completely motionless. Her unbroken gaze went nowhere.

He looked once more to the table that held his beloved, or what he thought he had fallen in love with. It hurt him to know that she wasn't real. To him, it felt like Heather had died. The person his heart longed for just didn't really exist.

He looked back to Melanie. "What do you want me to do?"

"I'll show you. Follow me." she said with a friendly smile. She turned around and walked toward the sliding door. At that moment, the local ultra-robotic blonde-haired maid entered the room, bringing with her all those purely mechanical sights, sounds and smells.

Byron was a little creeped out by the stiffly moving imitation woman. The vision of such a clearly artificial female form dressed in such a sexy see-through outfit just didn't sit right with him. He stared at the shiny-skinned and graceless automaton as she pumped her robotic limbs in her machine-like strut around the room. His nostrils caught the sharp smell of plastic as the sounds of her servos and hydraulics mixed discordantly with the computerised tones and beeps that streamed loudly and constantly from her speaker and her insides.

Now even more unsettled, he quickly turned his sight back to Melanie and followed her out of the cold lab and up the stairs. As he tried to get the image of the robotic French maid out of his head, he couldn't help but think that Melanie was not much different.

The skinny lady led him through the huge kitchen to the main living room. Byron had passed this room before on his way to the lab as he followed Natasha.

Now, as he and Melanie got into the large, nicely decorated room, he noticed three computers set up close to each other in a large corner desk unit.

Melanie walked toward the machines.

"This is where you will work." she said, smiling at him and gesturing to the desk with her hands.

"Doing what?"

"We have some software we need you to work on."

"I'm no expert." he protested. "I doubt I can help you much."

"We think you can Byron. You are a creative genius." she said as she started to boot up all three computers. "I have been watching you since our classes with Ralph Sweet began."

"Like I said before, I should have guessed you were a robot."

She paused and looked back at him. "I am a very realistic simulation. It would have been almost impossible for you to know that I'm not a human being."

Melanie showed no kind of emotion in her face that Byron could recognise. He watched her as she went back to what she was doing.

"This is 'Project H'." she said as a complicated interface appeared on the screen. "It was developed to provide automation for heuristic processes."

"Heuristics? You mean like common sense?"

"Exactly." she said as she pulled out the rolling leather chair for him.

He gave her a grudging look and took the offered seat. All he saw in front of him were graphical links to different subroutines of some master program. Upon the monitor to his right soon appeared lines and lines of code. The screen on his left was just blank for now.

She continued. "'Project H' was designed to run on desktop computers to provide better automation for business processes. The features of the program go far beyond that however. As a whole, the program can be configured to provide a basis for true artificial intelligence."

Byron was still too tense and shocked by what he was going through to make any sense out of what he saw on the screen. Even Melanie's explanation just went in one ear and out the other.

He rolled the chair away from the desk a bit and looked up at the blonde fembot. "You sound a lot smarter than you ever did before Melanie. Is that some new programming or were you just acting stupid before?"

His intent was to offend, but Melanie's circuitry and software didn't allow for that kind of thing. "I have been reprogrammed to function for this mission." came her matter-of-fact answer.

Byron stood up. "I can't do this." he declared.

"Yes you can, Byron." she said cheerfully, as if encouragement was all he needed .

"No I can't." he said in a loud plain voice. "I'm human. You fucking... things just can't expect to kidnap me and expect me to go to work on whatever it is you want me to do. You just can't."

Melanie's eyes stayed aimed at the human while she computed the words he had spoken and the way in which he had delivered them. She had no response for him before he spoke again.

"Let me go." he pleaded. "Please, you have to let me go."

Those words were easier for her programming to deal with. "We can not let you leave Byron. You must complete 'Project H'."

Byron looked at her and took a deep breath. "I can't argue with androids, can I?"

"You may argue with us Byron." she said.

He saw that she didn't get his point. He just shook his head and sat back down. Fortunately for him, the fembot realised he was distressed. She kept her plastic mouth shut for a while as he gained his composure again.

After almost a whole minute of silence, while a storm of stress raged inside his head, he looked up at the artificial woman and said "I can't do any work right now."

"Why not? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"No. Look, I just can't concentrate on anything right now except being a captive, a prisoner. That's not pleasant. Do you understand?"

Melanie was silent for a few seconds. "I am not programmed to understand."

Byron shook his head again. "Do you... people intend to feed me? Have you thought about that?"

"All of your biological needs will be taken care of. You will be properly maintained."

Byron thought of all of the "biological needs" that the machines had surely missed. It just made him more mad. He looked up at Melanie and said "I can't work with you."

"Why not? My artificial intelligence is the best available to Fembot Command."

"I don't like you. That's why. I've never liked you Melanie. I like you less now that I know you're a robot. I will not work with you."

Melanie just stood there, calculating and computing to no avail.

"Why can't you get Heather up here? At least I like to look at her." he said.

Melanie ran the suggestion through her processors. "I am not programmed to make that decision."

"Who is? That naked girl, Natasha?"

Melanie looked at him with those vacant eyes and said "The Master Computing Device determines all of the programming for all of the Fembot Command units."

"Well, can you do anything at all about it? I won't work with you. I want to work with Heather."

Byron folded his arms after his statement, to give it an air of finality. Whether or not the stubbornly programmed humanoid machine in front of him got the message, he could only guess.

She blinked once then said "I will relay your request to Natasha. Please wait."

The Melanie robot walked out of the living room and down to the scanner as Byron waited and tried to calm his frazzled nerves.

Chapter 19 - Adjustments

The lab in the basement had surely been soundproofed, Byron thought. As he sat and leaned back in the comfortable leather chair, he could only hear the hum of the three computers and the soft rumble of the house's furnace. So much the better for him. He had seen enough electronic circuitry for one day.

A long, lonely time passed after Melanie had gone back down to that basement lab. Byron found himself weeping at the hopelessness of his situation. And he hadn't even begun to cry at his broken heart yet.

There he sat, in someone - or something - else's house, with no escape and no hope of it. Outside, the sun was setting over only snow covered trees. He guessed the fembots were keeping him far away from other humans, and he was right. Heather had driven him quite far into the secluded wooded mountains, to a private cabin that served as this particular Fembot Command base.

Byron's wrinkled sleeves rubbed harshly on the swollen area under his eyes as his tears came down. The salty drops obscured the light that came into his tired eyes, and made things look worse than they were. Even so, he dared not think how things could possibly degrade any further.

Back in town, repeated calls by Agnes to the local hospitals had started suspicion that would soon turn into a full blown search operation. The morbid thought of his admittedly few friends panicking and searching the woods for his body made him collapse on the desk in a heart-wrenching sob.

He had several minutes alone to cry, and it did him a little bit of good. Not much, but after he had done it, at least the urge was more or less out of the way. With his eyes red and raw, he took some deep breaths and waited for someone, one of the robots, to emerge from the basement.

He waited for a long time.

When she had reentered the lab, Melanie had dutifully relayed Byron's words to Natasha, who then sent them as a digitised signal to the Master Computing Device. All the parameters of the situation had to be assessed before it decided whether or not to accede to the human's request.

He remained unaware of the specifics involved in that process, but up to a point he had a general idea of what was going on down there. But he still didn't know which electronic woman, or women would next walk up the stairs.

In the meantime, he had regained some of his calmness. He felt cold and hungry now more than anything. The presence of those base feelings in his mind gave his emotions a much needed chance to settle down. He watched the sky outside gradually darken while he waited for something to happen.

At last, one of the androids came up the stairs. Byron held his breath in anticipation, and sighed in relief as he recognised Heather walking toward him.

She walked calmly and stiffly up to where he sat. Her facemask had no display of emotion configured upon it.

"Hello, Byron." she said in a voice that was just as lifeless.

Byron stood up. "Heather..." he said as he put his arms around her. She didn't respond in any noticeable way to his touch. He pulled back and looked into her once vibrant eyes. He gently found and held her stiff mechanical hands.

"They reprogrammed you, didn't they?" he asked.

"Yes." was all she said. Her soft silicone lips showed neither a smile nor a frown.

Byron took a very deep breath and let it out again. "So, you're the one who's going to answer all my questions now?"

"Yes." she said again.

He looked for a long time into her eyes. "Heather, do you remember the times we shared together?"

"Yes. Memory files stored on my hard drives indicate the state of my previous mission. All of my interactions with you have been indexed."

Byron winced at the technical sound of her speech. "All the time we spent together, does any of that mean anything to you?"

Heather stood unmoving, then said "Your present query is too general. Please increase specificity."

Byron had to look away for a moment. "Never mind." he said.

Heather stayed still, looking at him and recording audio and video as well as data from the thousands of sensors in her artificial skin.

Byron looked back to her. "It probably doesn't mean anything now, but I fell in love with you Heather."

She just stared ahead, almost right through him. "That does not compute. Love is undefined."

He changed the subject. "I'm hungry, Heather." he said. "I'm tired too."

"Processing." she said. "I will show you where food is stored. Please follow me."

Heather turned and led Byron to the kitchen. He watched her womanly body as she walked. Everything about her now looked overtly artificial. Byron wasn't sure yet if it was better for him to have her this way or the way she was before.

She stopped in front of the large stainless steel double freezer. She opened one of the doors to display the contents to the human.

"These are frozen meals for you. You may use them when you think it is necessary."

Byron nodded as he looked at all the sameness inside. This side of the freezer was stacked full of only a few different varieties of the same brand. He couldn't stand the thought of actually eating one of those frozen entrees, but for now his hunger overruled his taste.

He grabbed a package off the top shelf and read the box. Heather stood by like a sentinel, holding the door open as the cold poured into the room. When Byron wandered off in the direction of the microwave, the robot closed the door and followed.

She said "To use the microwave..."

"I know how to use a microwave." he tersely interrupted. He managed to unwrap the frozen box and crumple the plastic up with his hand while he looked into her vacant eyes.

"I'm sorry." he said.

She didn't respond. He continued to prepare the meal for cooking while she watched in efficient silence. He started the big microwave and leaned up against the counter.

"No food for you anymore, eh?" he asked.

"I do not require food to function." she stated.

Byron felt like he was in a bad dream that wouldn't end. He looked at her pretty face, only a plastic cover to mask the electronics that kept him under constant surveillance. He still wanted the woman he thought she was before.

For a whole six minutes he just stared at that motionless silicone construction. The hum of the microwave oven and the intermittent popping of the preservative-laden food provided some of the only sound the whole time. When the oven's beeping indicated the end of the cycle, he said out loud the words that had bounced back and forth in his mind, amplifying themselves as they went. "I can't believe it."

He didn't touch the microwave. He just stood there, looking at Heather.

"That does not compute." she said after a pause.

He just shook his head and went to find a fork. She turned her head as he went through the drawers, following his motion with her cameras. When he had all he needed, he got the food out of the oven and put it down on the table.

"Can you get me a glass of water?" he said to the fembot, making sure his words could easily be understood by a machine.

"Yes." she said. She immediately reached in to a cupboard and pulled out a glass. She filled it up with cold water and brought it over to him at the table.

He mixed his steaming container of food for a while as she stood like a statue next to him. "You might as well sit down, Heather." he said.

The android calculated the meaning of his statement and pulled a chair out from under the table. She stiffly sat down with perfectly straight posture and watched him as he ate.

Neither of them spoke as he swallowed the meal. It tasted better than he had expected, but still nothing like what he could make for himself. The size of the portion also left him wanting, but it was enough for now.

After he had gotten the last bites down and drank the rest of the clean tasting water, he leaned back and looked at the pretty female android.

"So, you don't know what love is?" he asked.

"Love is undefined."

"I suppose you want help with that too?"

"Your task is to complete 'Project H'."

Byron folded his arms. "Tomorrow. I'll start that tomorrow."

Heather didn't respond.

"Heather, do you have any kind of... emotions, or... simulated emotions at all?" he asked.

"No."

"You used to though, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Why did they take them out of your programming?"

"Unknown."

Byron rubbed his eyes and stood up. "I need a shower and a change of clothes." he said.

"Processing." Heather said. She made some computations and stood up too. "I will show you where the bathroom is. Please follow me."

Chapter 20 - Fixes

If things were off to a rough start for Byron, they were coming apart at the seams for the Main Computer at Robot Control Station 17. Problem piled upon problem while the exceedingly complex machine rebuilt itself from scratch. With no one to guide it, the system was reassembled in a haphazard and almost random way. Files were read and copied where they didn't belong, and much important data was either corrupted or accidentally erased in the process.

The female humanoid robots down in the basement weren't doing a whole lot better. Heather's synthetic roommate Karen, already low on power at the time of the crash, was now completely drained of electricity and standing with locked motors and joints just a few feet in front of her empty recharge booth. Even the still open recharge port on her backside was devoid of the usual indicator lights. The friendly and helpful looking cashier's smile she usually wore had vanished hours ago upon her entry into the house, and she now looked as emotionless as the rest of the fembots down there.

Across the room stood five of the androids on loan from Robot Lab 40. These plastic and metal ladies had not moved at all since taking their place in that line-up. They were set to low power consumption, but were quickly running out of juice just the same.

The sixth robot from Laurie's lab was still lying face-up on an examination table. Her unbelievably sexy curves were on full display, as was the inside of her chest through the open panel.

By circumstance, Anya now had the most electrical power remaining of all the fembots still in the basement. Her exposed LEDs still flashed as bright as ever while the occasional beep and tone came from inside her sexy body. The blinking lights that shone out of her chest were bright enough to reflect off her smooth and perfectly shaped plastic breasts. Her curvaceous and soft mechanical thighs were spread apart just enough to expose her beautifully constructed electronic vagina to the room. No one could see or appreciate it though.

As for Denise, that sandy blonde unit with the cute pixie cut was lying on her back next to one of the many consoles. Her facemask was off too, and her chest and stomach panels were open. Many specialised tools lay beside the opened android, awaiting the technician's touch to be used on the woman's internal circuitry. Because the crash had occurred during a diagnostic scan, connecting cables were still plugged into her open chest.

Her lifeless glass camera eyes stared up at the ceiling and recorded the unchanging view in front of her as her power levels drained and drained to almost nothing. She waited in vain for commands to be relayed from Maria's speaker to her electronic ears.

The beautiful half-oriental robot technician was in the worst shape of all the humanoid units. At the time of the crash and for the whole time since, she had been receiving incomplete and nonsensical commands from the Main Computer. Being just a machine with no will or judgement coded into her software, she had no choice but to obey.

The faulty supercomputer had sent her back and forth, this way and that, over and over until she ended up walking right into one of the tall data storage machines along the wall. She kept on walking when she hit it, even though that action sent her physically crashing backward to the floor.

Her facemask had come off during the collision, and bounced once on the ground beside her as she continued to make useless walking motions while in a horizontal position. The battery packs inside her thighs were sapped of energy with every repeating and pointless flex of her artificial limbs as she scuffed up her plastic skin on the hard concrete floor.