sentient // phan

http//: 8

Dan woke up by himself, and I held out his breakfast for him, which had grown soggy and warm. I was making lunch soon, anyway, so I wasn't upset when he pushed it away. He padded into his office on soft, sleepy feet, finding it slightly straightened up. I had decided to clean it about an hour into his sleep, discovering it was the dirtiest room in the house; which was actually not saying much, because it was nearly immaculate. I straightened piles of papers and vacuumed, dusted trophies and prototypes on shelves in the corner, and changed around the lights until they fit the standards I found on a website about productivity.

I had opened a drawer on his desk and found one thing in it- the first picture I had seen yet. It was of Dan and another boy, a very pretty one with curls and bright green eyes. They both clutched each other and laughed, looking to each other with nothing but the deepest love in their eyes. I was going to do a face search of the other boy, but decided not to. Dan needed to trust me, and snooping even further into his business would not do that.

"Phil?" Dan called from his office. I jumped slightly with excitement, and took quick, quiet steps to him. The door was propped open slightly, and I looked in. Dan sat at his desk, his computer screen down, and was admiring around him, glancing at the precise piles and meticulously straightened framed patens on the wall. His mouth was slightly agape.

"Yes, sir?" I questioned, pushing the door open with the tips of my fingers. He looked to me, shutting his mouth and clearing his throat.

"Did you do this?" He gestured around to his room. I nodded. He nodded back, slowly, taking one more look around. I braced myself for his chastising, but he surprised me with a smile.

"Thank you. What's for lunch?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm not sure, sir. Whatever you have." He nodded again, thoughtfully.

"I'm going to go out. Please ready my car." I nodded, and turned to follow through with his instructions. "And maybe we can get some new clothes for you. That jumpsuit is depressingly plain." He pressed the button to call forth his computer screen, and shooed me away with his hand. "That'll be all." He said. I shut the door behind me with a curt nod, and paused.

Where is the car?

I used the spoon I had set out for Dan's breakfast to push it into the trash incinerator, the flames burning brightly for a second, and set the dish in the sink. I stared at the slightly dripping faucet, remembering the warning in other bot's manuals about water. Many could not even touch water should they short circuit, only the maid bots were equipped with rubber arms and legs, waterproof so it could do the dishes and clean bathrooms and showers.

But nothing like that was in my manual. So I turned the tap on, slowly, watching as the water dripping became a steady stream, then it was gushing onto the plate, splashing up the silver metal sides of the sink. I carefully put a hand under the faucet.

What felt like a hundred pounds of forced kicked me in the chest and sent me flying backwards. A display appeared in front of my eyes as I rammed into the cabinets behind me, a loud crunch in my ears. It read ERROR in bright red letters. My nose began picking up the smell of singed hair and my body was twitching; I couldn't move. I began to panic, trying to get my am to raise or leg to extend but nothing was happening. The error message flashed in front of my eyes as Dan came flying from his office.

"What the hell-" he started, but he took one look at me and rushed to my side. "Phil!" He shouted, dropping to his knees. He ignored the splashing of the faucet and looked me once over, pushing my hair away from my eyes, checking me for injury. "What the hell is wrong with you." He mumbled, pulling me up so I was in a sitting position against the cabinets. I couldn't move my mouth but my eyes flickered around frantically, trying to get my bearings. The error was still flashing but I ignored it, watching Dan's eyes fill up with tears. I tried to check what he was feeling but I couldn't bypass the maintenance requirement. He furiously brushed away a tear and unzipped my jumpsuit, pulling my arms from the sleeves. I watched as he ran his hands along my bare chest, finding a latch somewhere on my side and pulled it open, exposing wires and flashing lights. He reached up quickly and shut the faucet off, and the silence pressed down on both of our ears and he worked, running a towel along my arms and neck. He finally plugged one last wire back into its socket and the error message disappeared.

He looked up at me as he shut the latch. Before he could say anything, I checked his emotions. Opposed to what I had believed he was feeling; anger at his appliance, upset about the money he had spent going to waste; he felt fear, and sudden relief when I smiled at him.

"That was an accident." I whispered. Tears fell from his eyes as he lunged forward and hugged me, a sob escaping his lips every once and awhile.

"Don't scare me like that, Phil." He said. Then, suddenly, he pulled away. His palm suddenly connected with my cheek, pushing my head to the side. He stood, crossing his arms. I reached my hand up to touch my face. "What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking idiot?" He yelled, and, before I could answer, he walked away. I stood, pulling the top part of my jumper back on, and pulling the zipper back up to my throat. I ran my hands down the front slowly, my brain whirring.

I'm not sure what just happened. Did Dan really care about what happened to me? Did he really feel relief when he fixed me, and did he really fix me in the first place? I felt a smile tug at my lips.

I followed him to his office.

"Dan?" I called. He turned to me, a very conflicted look on his face. I took a small step back, but his face relaxed.

"Yes?"

"Where's the car?" He smiled, and shook his head.

"Let's just go now. You ready?" I grinned.

"Yes sir."