A Clockwork Heart, Chapter Five
Welcome to Chapter Five! Tessa finally meets another simbot, but it's not what she expected.
“Welcome home, Talson.” Tessa said, greeting him in the hall. “How was your day at the JVS?” Tessa made sure to abbreviate Jules Verne Society, as Talson always did.
“It was fine, Tessa, thank you. I think I’ve got things buttoned up there for awhile, so I’ll probably be working from home for a few days.”
“I’ve been studying your journals, and I believe I am fully prepared to assist you here in the lab, should you need me.” Tessa said a little more quickly than her usual, steady, calming syntax.
This caught Talson’s attention, as he’d never heard a difference in a simbot’s tone before. ‘Did I imagine that?’
“That’s very good news, Tessa.” He replied, studying her closely. “I’m looking forward to getting you some time on the bench, working with the tools, and seeing how you handle them. Maybe we can start tonight, after dinner.”
“Yes, Talson!” Tessa said, clasping her hands together under her chin with a small, metallic clank. “Oh, actually, we have a guest coming this evening; Sabine will be dropping by.” At this, Tessa slowly brought her hands down, and gazed at the floor.
‘She’s disappointed. How can that be?’ Talson was caught completely off guard. “Tessa, how do you feel right now?”
“Everything is in working order, Talson. All valves, gears, and circuits are operating at optimum levels. Thank you for asking.”
“That’s good to know, but that’s not what I meant. Are you sad that Sabine is coming tonight?”
“Sad, Talson? That’s not in my programming. It’s lovely to have guests, and Sabine is better than a guest; she’s family. She and Pascal stopped by earlier to update my recipe program, which reminds me…”
Talson was completely spellbound by the way his creation was acting, and seeing that she was clearly preparing to do or say something important, she had his full attention. “Yes, Tessa?”
“Knock knock.”
“Excuse me?”
“Knock knock. You’re supposed to say ‘Who’s there?’ when I say ‘knock knock.’ Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Juno.”
“Juno who?”
“Juno I’m out here, right?” Tessa finished the joke and smiled, waiting patiently for Talson’s laughter.
Talson was stunned and speechless, until understanding dawned on him. “Pascal.” He said, smiling and shaking his head.
A frown creased the thin, metal sheeting of Tessa’s forehead. “Did I do it incorrectly? You didn’t laugh.”
“I’m laughing on the inside, Tessa. You did fine. Tell me, how many of these jokes did Pascal program you with today?”
“Three Hundred and sixty-five, Talson. One for each day of a full year.”
Talson grinned tight-lipped and nodded at the information. “Of course he did.” He reached for his phone and dialed the Smith house.
“Hi, Sabine. I’m glad I caught you before you left. Would it be possible to bring Pascal with you this evening?”
“What has he done now?” Sabine voice was exasperated, and she added, “No, don’t tell me. Tessa is telling God-awful jokes, isn’t she?”
“She sure is; how did you know?”
“Because apparently, he was practicing the programming on one of my oxybots. Can I bring him over tonight as well so you can undo it? Before I snap and drive them both to the junk heap?”
“Of course.” Talson laughed. “Who else will be coming this evening?”
“I might as well bring the whole brood. Well, Lazlo’s got a date this evening, but everyone else will be excited to visit. We’ll be over right after dinner.”
Talson was relieved to hear that P.T. would be there as well. He wanted to discuss what he thought he heard in Tessa’s voice earlier. They said their goodbyes, as Tessa finished getting dinner on the table.
As he ate, Tessa sat down, too, and conversed with Talson. “What is it that you do at the JVS?” Tessa inquired.
“Many things,” Talson replied. He spoke with Tessa, describing his work in between bites of food, and Tessa gave rapt attention to every detail.
Tessa nodded, encouraging him to describe all his projects down to the tiniest cog. She asked many technical questions, and Talson was pleased to see she had been studying his journals, as he’d asked her to. ‘I can’t be imagining this; I’d say she’s actually excited.’
Talson was lost in the elation of being able to discuss these things with someone who not only appreciated the technical side of what he did, but seemed as thrilled by the concepts as he himself was. He continued on, until he’d described everything Tessa had asked about.
There was a brief pause, while Tessa seemed to be thinking.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Tessa tilted her head and smiled, waiting for Talson to swallow the food that seemed to suddenly catch in his throat.
“You know that I’m not seeing -" he cut off the rest as saw what was going on. He put his fork down and looked at Tessa. He was so caught up in talking about inventing that he forgot it was only a simbot that he was discussing it with. “Rita will be very pleased to see you’ve followed her instructions.”
“Thank you, Talson. I’m happy to do anything to help you and bring you comfort. Rita says practicing conversation will bring you comfort in the future, at parties and other functions.”
Talson found himself feeling disappointed that Tessa wasn’t actually interested in his work, but only doing what Rita had asked. She seemed to hang on his every word, but he realized it was only her programming that made her seem like a polite listener.
He didn’t feel like finishing his dinner, and rose to leave the room when the doorbell rang.
Talson and Tessa looked at each other, both thinking it was too early to be the Smiths. Tessa answered the door, with Talson fast on her heels.
“Good evening. Welcome to the Curious home. How may I help you?” Tessa recited, opening the door only after checking that the oxymonitor was a safe and healthy green.
Ashley looked past Tessa, and seeing Talson, tried to push past and enter. Tessa, however, stood fast and was a solid, immovable object until Talson gave her the OK to let Ashley in. “Well done, Tessa. Thank you.” He added in front of Ashley to let her know that her rudeness was noticed and not appreciated.
“Is everything alright with Rita?” Talson suddenly asked Ashley, leading her only as far as the hall. ‘It must be Rita; why else would she be here, acting like this? What’s happened?’
“Rita? Marguerite? Yes, everything’s fine.” Ashley said, looking at him strangely until she realized why he thought she was there. “I’m not here about Rita,” she began. “I’m here about you and your future. Is there somewhere we can sit?”
“Miss White, there’s no reason for me to discuss such personal matters with someone I barely know.” Normally, Talson would’ve been so overwhelmed by the ambush, that they’d have already been in the parlor with drinks. Scaring him into thinking something happened to Rita made him angry, and he stood his ground. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be with Rita right now?”
“I have a late flight; I wanted to talk to you before I left.” Ashley heard the weakness in her own explanation, and quickly launched into her spiel.
“Look, Talson. Personal appearances alone should be netting you more money than you knew what to do with. Finding buyers for your more… unorthodox inventions;” She looked at Tessa before continuing. “this is something I can do for you! I can find a buyer for absolutely anything you create. There’s a ton of bored, rich people who would love nothing more than to have an original invention by Talson Curious to show off to their friends.”
With barely a pause, she plowed on. “I have a business plan I’ve drawn up this afternoon. It’s only a rough outline, but you can see what having professional representation can do for you, Talson. There are people who would be willing to simply have their names linked with yours as benefactors and investors!”
Before he could say anything, she anticipated what was coming and waved him off as she continued. “I know the JVS has plenty of those, but you have no idea of the untapped resources out there. You’re a gold mine, and you don’t even know it! Let me line up some potential investors for you, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I just need your name here, and -“
“The JVS gives me all the representation I need, and I have no intention of signing anything. You’re wasting my time here, Miss White, and I’m sure you need to be off to Europe to take care of the client you do have.” Talson took her arm and begun to walk Ashley back to the door.
Shaking it off, Ashley’s fury was evident. “You have no idea what you’re doing here! Stop mooning over your inventions and think it over; I’ll be back when you’ve had time to see reason. You just better hope it’s not too late and I haven’t taken another client while you figure it out!”
Ashley realized immediately that she’d lost control, and composed herself. She shoved her anger inside and met Talson’s glare with a smile. “I’m sorry for that. You’re such a good friend of Rita’s, and I wanted to take care of you as a favor to her. She’s a little upset with me about this tour, and I thought that if I could tell her we’d be working together when I see her later, it would help smooth things over. Please, forgive me.” She put her hand out to Talson to shake it, and when he did, she shoved her paper into his hand and was out the door, tossing back a “Call me!” before Tessa closed it behind her.
As she got into her steamcar, Ashley was seething. “Stupid, backwater idiot. You have no idea of how the world works, Talson Curious, but you will. I will get my hands on your money, because you’re my ticket out of Arlo Pierce’s life. This is not over.”
As soon as the shock wore off, Talson pulled his phone out and called Rita. As the phone continued to ring, he was almost going to hang up and try again later. Before he clicked off, he realized he’d probably forget later, and she really needed to hear about this. He stayed on the line to leave a message, and Rita picked up just before the call went to voice mail.
“Hello?” Rita panted into the phone, clearly out of breath.
“Rita?” Talson didn’t recognize the windy rasp, expecting the usually chipper and strong voice of Rita on the other end.
“Talson! Hi! Yes, it’s me.” Rita managed to sound a bit more like herself, but still winded.
“Are you OK?” Talson asked, concerned.
“I’m fine; I just got back to my room after this evening’s show. I left my phone in the room, and heard it ringing down the hall. I guess I should turn it down a bit!” Rita giggled, her voice coming back to her enough to support the lie. “What’s going on?”
Talson explained the bizarre visit from Ashley White, making sure to detail the way she became angry when he turned her down.
“Oh my God, Talson. I hope you know I had no idea she was planning on approaching you. I certainly don’t see where she’d have time to handle anyone else. The fact that she hinted that I wanted this for you really bothers me, on top of her behavior. I’m so sorry.”
“Rita, you don’t have to apologize; that’s not why I called. It just seemed very fishy to me, and I thought I better let you know what’s going on. She’s supposedly on her way to you now. I don’t know if she’d even tell you she was here, but I wanted to make sure you got the truth about what happened.”
“Well this seals it for me. I was worried about the way she was handling things, and now I’m sure that I need to make a change. I didn’t mention this before, but I see I probably should’ve. I’m having my financial records examined to see if she’s been cheating me. I don’t know if you’re actually looking for a manager, but steer clear of that one.”
When she had his assurances that he’d have nothing whatsoever to do with Ashley White, Rita asked to speak with Tessa.
“Tessa?” He asked.
“Girl stuff.” Rita replied.
Shaking his head, he passed the phone to Tessa. “She wants to talk to you.”
“Tessa, listen. I know Talson thinks he can take care of himself; all men do. Make sure to keep Ashley White away from him. She’s up to no good. Have you been working with Talson on his social skills?” She asked immediately, knowing Talson would hear Tessa’s answer and think that’s what they were discussing.
“Yes, Rita. We had a lovely conversation over dinner this evening. Talson’s working on some wonderful things at the JVS, and he told me all about them.”
Talson heard Tessa’s reply, and was reassured that his suspicions were correct; Rita wanted to check his progress. A small smile played across his lips, as he continued to listen to Tessa’s half of the conversation.
“There’s things he can’t discuss, of course, but he’s worked on the localized static tester this week. I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to show them to me. His work is making so many scientific discoveries possible. Scientists all over the world will be using his devices; they already are. Two of his newer items are helping Sabine Smith and others study the ozone layer from space.”
Rita listened, smiling as Tessa relayed all the info that Talson had given her during their dinner conversation. She checked her watch, but didn’t want to cut Tessa’s report short. She’d swear that the simbot sounded excited about the things she described. She was just about to interrupt, as she needed her voice to hold out for one more conversation that night, but Tessa reached the end of her story on her own.
As Rita gave her goodbyes, she made Tessa promise to let her know if Ashley tried to contact Talson again. She hung up, and made a new call to Jasper Classen.
“Hello, Mr.Classen. I know it’s dinner time there, and I’m so sorry to bother you, but it’s very important.” Rita coughed into a handkerchief, wincing a little.
“Rita, please, call me Jasper. I was actually just about to call you. I hope you’re sitting down; the news isn’t good.”
Rita listened as Jasper described her dire financial situation.
“Jasper, please have what’s left of my account frozen, and make sure that Ashley White has no access to anything with my name on it. Scan me anything that needs a signature at this number.” Rita recited the hotel’s internet connection for him. “And, in case I didn’t actually say it, you’re officially my new management. I realize I have to fulfill my current contract for performances that Ashley scheduled, but anything beyond today will be up to you. Thank you again for all your help.”
Rita hung up, and looked out the window at the stars in the Paris sky. For a person who had friends everywhere, she never felt more alone in her life. She sighed, and made a cup of tea before heading to bed.
****************************
While Tessa cleared away the dinner dishes, Talson sat down to wait for the Smiths. He’d already had more drama in one night than he’d had in the past year, and a visit from the Smiths was a circus all by itself. All thoughts of Rita left his head as he planned the things he wanted to talk to Pascal about.
‘That boy reminds me so much of myself at that age - well, what I would’ve been like if I’d had parents like his.’
Talson knew Pascal was in the wrong, but his heart still went out to the boy. He knew what it was like to have a head full of ideas and no outlet for them. That’s when he had a thought.
‘Yes, it’s perfect!’ Talson was excited about the plan, and didn’t have to contain it very long. The doorbell rang out the arrival of the Smiths.
As Tessa opened the door and greeted them, Sabine muttered an unintelligible response as she led Pascal in roughly by the collar. “Tell him!” she commanded, shoving Pascal at Talson.
“I’m sorry, Tal. I never should’ve put a program into Tessa that you didn’t approve. I just wanted to make you laugh…”
Sabine smacked the back of his head, ending the excuses.
“I was wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Pascal said, and left it at that.
Talson fought hard not to laugh or rub the back of his own head, being familiar with the wrong side of Sabine once or twice in his own teen years. He glued what he hoped was a stern look on his face, and took Pascal aside.
“Tessa is a prototype; you know that.” He began. “She has to be closely monitored for anything out of the ordinary and what you’ve done makes it hard to do that.” Talson’s tone let Pascal know that discussion was over, but there was another to come.
“Now, we have a bigger problem. You experimented on an oxybot. Pascal, you’re smarter than this. What if, up on the towers, instead of taking the readings, this ‘bot tells a joke? You know what happens if those readings aren’t accurate; the warning won’t be sounded. People could die, Pascal. Lots of people. Maybe your family.”
Everyone in the room knew how hard it was for Talson to say those words, Pascal included. He threw himself into Talson’s arms as tears of shame filled his eyes.
“I never thought of that - I’m so sorry, Talson!”
It hurt Talson to make Pascal feel this way, but it needed to be said. He hugged the boy back tightly. Before memories of the horrible things his father had said to him over the years overwhelmed him, Talson did what his father never could.
“Now you know better. Pas, you’ve helped program so many companionbots, you didn’t think of what might happen when you put that type of program into a working ‘bot. Let’s fix that.”
“Starting tomorrow, you are to report here every day after school and homework. You’re going to help me work on the new set of firebots that the city ordered, from the ground up. You’ll see why a handicapped person’s compainionbot needs to be different from something like an oxybot, sentrybot, or a firebot. Are we clear?”
“Crystal!” Pascal shouted, hugging Talson again. Talson hugged him back, tussling his hair before he let go.
“Now, let’s see how bad the oxybot is and figure out what we need to do to fix it.”
P.T. and Sabine looked at each other over the head of their youngest, who stood staring at Tessa, oblivious to what just happened. The Smiths directed their pride to Talson, who winked back at them both. With a hand on his shoulder, he guided Pascal back to the waiting crowd in the hall.
Talson looked up to find Tessa completely motionless, staring at the Smith’s oxybot. The oxybot calmly looked back at her, awaiting instructions. Tessa couldn’t take her eyes off of him; Talson could see the wheels turning in her head.
P.T. and Sabine stood off to the side, trying to keep their young son, Vidcund from stroking Tessa’s hair. ‘He could be setting her hair on fire, and I don’t think Tessa would notice. She’s just as mesmerized by Elliot as Viddy is by her.’
Talson saw P.T. closely watching Tessa’s reaction to the oxybot as well. He was glad someone else, especially P.T. had noticed.
His voice broke the silence of the group. “Tessa, this is L.E. lot 1, short for Lustration Evaluation, but Sabine just calls him Elliot. Elliot is an oxybot, and his only task is to provide accurate readings of the oxygen index several times a day. His readings are put into a report, along with those from the other ‘bots, and those are what our early warning systems are based on.”
Talson turned to Elliot and asked, “Can you give me today’s readings, Elliot?”
Elliot kept his barrel shaped body still, and pivoted his head completely around to face Talson. In a monotone voice that sounded like an echo in an oil drum, he answered, “Why can you not play cards in the rainforest? Because there are too many cheetahs.”
Tessa let her smooth, infectious laugh die when no one joined in. While she was programmed to laugh in response to a joke being told, she was also programmed to gage the reactions of those around her.
Talson repeated the command, “Elliot, today’s oxy-index readings, please.”
“The reading at 4 am Eastern Standard Time was:
Nitrogen-78%
Oxygen-21%
Argon-0.93422%
Co2- 0.03811%
Water vapor- 1%
Other- 0.002%
The reading at 10:15 am Eastern Standard Time was:” and Elliot droned on in his metallic monotone until he’d recited the readings for the entire day.
“This isn’t too bad.” Talson said to Sabine. “Have you checked these results against the other ‘bots?”
“Yes." replied Sabine, some of the tension leaving her. “They all matched.”
“Excellent. Why don’t you all have a seat in the parlor, while Young Dr. Frankenstein and I take Elliot upstairs for an adjustment?” Talson asked. He’d prepared for Vid’s arrival earlier, and produced a small mechanical dog.
They’d become quite popular, as most of the real pets had been lost. Animals that weren’t kept in their owner’s oxy-controlled Survival Rooms or sent to Survival Shelters or Survival Farms during the Dark Times Quarantine were lost.
“Viddy, there’s something I really need your help with. I have this invention, but I don’t know what it can do. Can you find out for me?”
Vid frowned at having to take his attention from Tessa’s long, blonde hair. “I’d rather play with this one.”
“That one’s mine, Viddy, but you can take this one home with you if you promise to help me out.” Talson tried to entice him by making the dog bark.
“You need to share, Tal. Not sharing isn’t nice!” Vid pouted, still reaching for Tessa while P.T. held him back.
Suddenly, P.T. started to chuckle, and soon the room was filled with the laughter of everyone but Vid, who was angry, and Tessa, who was so engrossed with Elliot, that she missed the entire exchange. P.T. guided a miserable Viddy into the parlor, taking the mechanical dog from Talson on the way. Sabine, shaking her head but grinning, followed.
That left Talson, Pascal, Tessa and Elliot in the hall, and Talson approached Tessa, intrigued.
“Tessa, you haven’t offered the Smith’s anything to drink.”
Not taking her eyes from Elliot, Tessa muttered absently, “Drinks. That would be lovely.”
“Tessa!” Talson shouted, breaking her out of her spell.
“Drinks…Drinks! Yes, of course, how thoughtless of me. I’ll see to it right away, Talson. My apologies.” Before she made it to the kitchen, she turned back and asked, “Talson? After I serve the guests, may I come up to the lab and observe?”
Talson was floored. This was her second seemingly completely independent request. ‘First hair, now this.’ His curiosity at a fever pitch, he couldn’t wait to learn the reason this was happening. And, he couldn’t wait to discuss it all with P.T. when he was finished with Elliot.
“Certainly, Tessa.” He replied, heading up to the lab.
Once in the lab, Tessa reached out to touch Elliot’s hard, metal exterior.
“What do you think of him, Tessa?” Talson asked her.
“His head, body, and limbs can rotate 360 degrees. His arms are different from mine; able to spin to any position, with superior gripping capability. My design is more humanoid; limited to a human range of motion. His outer casing is corroding; but I assume this is due to the toxins in the air that his work exposes him to.He has no conversational ability; he only responds to commands. He bears more resemblance to your posters of the blocky, cumbersome simbots of the past, than the poster your keep here.”
‘The poster most like me.’ She left unsaid.
A crinkle sound, like someone crushing tinfoil, came from Tessa as a frown creased her face. She continued her evaluation of Elliot.
“He has but a single purpose, where I’m programmed with many, and the ability to choose which is needed and when. He has no ability to conform to human speech patterns; he can’t speak with contractions or inflection. While his language is humanoid, his voice is not.”
The more she studied Elliot, the more she was puzzled.
“Why is this so?” Tessa finally asked.
“Well first, you’re right about his casing. Elliot is due for his routine maintenance at the JVS, where they’ll replace any worn parts, install new circuitry, update his programming, and sand him down to removed the corrosion. Then they’ll coat him with new sealant, which slows down the next round of exposure damage.
“As for his programming, he’s given only what he needs to perform his function.” Talson answered. “Sabine doesn’t want a housebot; she prefers to do things herself. She needs the oxybots to scale her towers at her home to get readings from levels that aren’t safe for humans. You have many different functions, and therefore many different programs.”
“Are simbots ever reassigned in their function - is a simbot meant for one task given more or less programming than they were originally given to change them?” Tessa seemed very troubled as she asked this.
‘Almost as if she was afraid to ask - or maybe to know the answer.’ Talson mused.
“Tessa, being a housebot, you’re expected to interact with humans on a completely different level. You’re capable of so much more than any housebot that currently exists. Remember, you’re a prototype; the first step to a new generation of Simbot. Comparing you to Elliot here is like comparing me to a caveman. No one would ever take a housebot and try to make them an oxybot, or vice versa, most especially you. Does that answer your question?”
Tessa visibly relaxed at this; her smile returning as she answered “Yes, Talson. I see.”
Talson was completely taken aback by this. ‘Was she worried? Fascinating, if possible…but, why? How?’ These were more things he would discuss with P.T. In the meantime, he turned his attention to restoring Elliot to pre-Pascal status.
As he worked, Talson made light conversation with Pascal, Tessa watching quietly over their shoulders.
“So, jokes. May I ask why?”
“The same reason I made Tessa smile. You see the difference between them; Tessa and Elliot. Tessa is…more. She’s closer to us than to him.” Pascal nodded towards Elliot. “People like her. I like her.”
“But that doesn’t explain the jokes.”
“It makes her even more like us. And…”Pascal hesitated.
“And?” Talson repeated.
“And… I thought she could make you smile more.” Pascal finished.
Talson was touched by this. He tried not to show it, as he composed himself, busying his hands in Elliot’s circuitry before he could respond.
“What makes me smile is seeing a brilliant scientist in the making. You have a good idea, Pascal. You just went about it in the wrong way. I think your program has real potential with the companionbots. I’ll tell you what. We’ll leave your joke program in Tessa, and we’ll keep an eye on it, along with everything else we’re already watching. When we know it’s working well enough, we’ll make it part of the basic companionbot programming. Of course, you’ll have to be paid if we use it. You’re alright with that, aren’t you?”
Pascal wanted to jump up and down screaming, but tried to act like the brilliant young scientist Talson had called him. “I think that would be fine, Tal.”
“Good. Now make yourself useful and give me a hand here. I’m going to read off the checklist, and you test the circuits as I call them off.” Talson backed away from Elliot, giving Pascal room to put his hands into the access panel.
Talson smiled behind Pascal’s back as he read off each test, and watched carefully as Pascal performed them on Elliot.
Tessa took her eyes off of Elliot for the first time all evening to watch the exchange between Talson and Pascal. She took in a visible change in Pascal Smith, and knew it was directly related to everything Talson had said and done. She smiled herself as she watched them work together. Even though her programming told her she should’ve been downstairs playing hostess to the Smiths, she felt what she’d just seen happen between Talson and Pascal was much more important.
She processed the data at hand, and concluded that she’d just learned more about Talson Curious than Sabine or anyone else could ever teach her.
That's it for this time. Chapter Six is coming soon. Thanks again for reading!
*Radiohead poster by Moryrie at GoS, Robot posters by the Verona Relapse.