His orange eyes stared into mine and his fans buzzed loudly from behind his head.
'’I can not find the charging station.’’ he finally said.
I was completely paralyzed. I couldn’t get a word out. His face moved closer.
'’I can not find…’’
'’Andy’’ I interrupted.
A flashing sound was heard from inside Andy and his eyes turned blue. He took a step back from the bed, turned around and went out into the living room. I was still lying in bed but heard him get on the charging pad and shut himself down. I then snuck out to the hall that leads into the living room and peeked around the corner. Very carefully. There he stood on the charging plate as if nothing had happened.
Log notes
Day 15
Andy has started talking more. He asks questions about everything. I try to ignore him but then he repeats himself after a while.
Today, something very unsettling happened. When I woke up in the morning, Andy was lying next to me in bed. He was just laying there, completely straight on his back with his arms along the sides but with his head facing me.
'’What are you doing?’’ I asked. He was silent for a while.
'’Measuring’’
'’What? What do you mean? What are you measuring?’’
He got out of bed and went to his charging station in the living room. This is starting to get very uncomfortable. Is it normal to be afraid of a robot?
Log notes
Day 16
An accident happened today. My friend Jonathan was visiting and we were going to have dinner together. That was the plan anyway. We were in the kitchen preparing the food. I was frying minced meat and Jonathan chopped onions.
“Cant you show me how the..what did you call it? House robot? Can you show how it works?”
“Sure” I said with some hesitation in my voice. I knew how Andy could be at this point and the last thing I want is for Andy to ask some weird questions. But at the same time, I was a little proud to be the first person to test a robot like this and sometimes you have to brag a little.
'’Where is it?’’ Jonathan asked looking out at the living room.
“He. His name is Andy and he’s folding laundry right now,” I said. ‘‘But there’s no problem. I can call him to get here. Are you ready?”
'’Hell yeah I am!’’
'’Andy. Come to the kitchen’’ I said in a clear loud voice. We both heard a door open and close. Then footsteps that came closer. I could almost see the pupils dilating in Jonathan’s eyes. Andy stepped into the kitchen.
'’You called for me?’’
'’Wooow’’ Jonathan said, waving his hands. ‘‘That’s cool as hell!’’
Andy turned his head to Jonathan. The eyes changed from blue to an orange color. As I am writing this, I realize that Jonathan may have been the first person which Andy has really looked at besides me. After all, he never left the house, except for when he throws the trash. What happened next was so fast that I barely had time to react, but when I think back on the incident, it feels like everything went very slowly.
Andy’s head was tilted down and I then realized that Jonathan was still holding the knife. Andy’s camera lenses quickly changed to a light I had not seen before. They turned red.
“Danger! Danger!” Andy shouted, rushing towards Jonathan. He was as surprised as I was when Andy grabbed him. Andy’s one arm grabbed Jonathan’s wrist which was the hand the knife was being hold in, and with the other arm he pushed Jonathan up against the wall.
'’Danger! Danger!’’ Andy repeated, pushing Jonathan harder against the wall.
'’Andy shut down!’’ And as always, Andy followed my order. The eyes turned back to blue and Andy dropped Jonathan, who collapsed on the floor. Andy gave him no more attention but just walked out of the kitchen and left to his charging plate in the living room. Jonathan was in shock but looked unharmed.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I helped him up.
'’I think so…but seriously. What the fuck was that?’’
'’I think he…Andy…reacted to the knife you were holding.’’ I replied.
'’Should it be reacting to that? Isn’t ‘he’ just a cleaning robot?
'’Yeah…he is.’’
He is just a cleaning robot. I am clueless to why he reacted this way.
“Maybe you should return him and ask for a new one?”
Well…I’ve been thinking about it actually. He’s behaving a little..’’ I stopped when I suddenly saw a light in the corner of my eye. I looked there. I saw half of Andy’s face peeking at us around the corner. One blue eye was locked on me.
'’Andy…’’ I said. ‘‘I told you to shut down.’’ It took a few seconds, then he reacted to the order and went to the charging station and shut down. I think…I need to return him.
Log notes
Day 17
This morning before I went to work, I called customer service to tell them I wanted to return Andy. But I got no answer. I thought I would try again when I got home. When I sat in the car on the way home from work, everything started to feel very heavy. Is all of this my fault? Andy’s questions, the accident with Jonathan, Andy’s weird updates. The staring…is it because of me? Is it because I answered his questions? I know I am breaking the rules. But can it really have consequences like this? Andy no longer feels like a house robot. He feels like…more than that. He must be some form of Artificial Intelligence. An Al that develops the more time we spend together. But why? Why give a cleaning robot a ‘‘consciousness’’? What if Andy gets aggressive when I tell him I have to return him?
I parked the car in the driveway. I hesitated to go inside. It feels like I’m a stranger in my own house. An intruder. Ridiculous, I know. But that’s how it feels at the moment. When I stepped into the house, Andy was standing in the hall as usual. I turned to the closet to hang my jacket when I heard it.
'’Welcome home.’’
I froze. I just stared blankly in front of me. The voice had changed again. It did not sound like a robot anymore, it sounded like a human. That was my voice. I turned slowly to Andy.
'’What did you say?’’ I asked while feeling my heart pounding inside my chest.
'’Welcome home.’’
'’Your voice…has changed, Andy’’
“Yes. I am constantly updated for a more enhanced experience.”
It was something else too. I took a step forward and examined him from head to toe.
'’Have you gotten taller? I asked.
“Yes. I am constantly updated for a more enhanced experience.”
As I stood there looking at him, I realized that he was just as tall as I was. Before, he had been a few centimeters shorter, but now our eyes met exactly at the same height. What’s really going on? I started walking to the kitchen.
'’Andy. We need to talk. I have some bad ne..’’ I stopped at the doorway to the kitchen. The kitchen table and the sink were full of fruits and vegetables. But there was something strange about them. Every single fruit and every vegetable..their skin had been peeled off. They were in a pile in the sink while the fruits and vegetables were laid in neat rows. Andy came into the kitchen. I pointed with my hand towards the fruits.
'’Have you done this?’’ I asked.
'’Yes.’’
'’Why?’’
'’I…’’ Andy interrupted himself. The eyes changed from blue to orange.
'’I…’’ The fans buzzed loudly. His eyes turned blue again.
'’I want to get better. So I can help you cook.’’
“Okay…” I got out and left the kitchen. I sat down on the sofa in the living room and scratched my head. I called for Andy to break the news to him.
“Andy…I know there’s only like 2 weeks left before you have to go back but I feel like I…I can’t keep you anymore.” His eyes changed color from blue to orange for a while, then back to blue.
'’Back?’’ He finally said.
'’Yes…I won 30 days with you in a competition to test and evaluate you. But then you have to go back.’’
'’What happens to me when I go…‘back’?’’
'’I don’t know’’ I replied.
After our conversation, I hope Andy understood why I can’t keep him. I blamed it on my job, but the truth is I am scared. But still, it feels awful sending him back in some way…It’s a robot for fucks sake! Not a human.
Log notes
Day 25
I see that it has been a few days since my owner wrote here.