Alive

The World

I am being led through a giant house. My home. 

I don't know much about it, but as Goshi leads me through hallway after hallway, room after room, I look around, and do all my exploring with my eyes rather than my hands.

Most of the rooms are spacious, and we walk through many: the kitchen, the dining room, the den, and many others. We even walk by several bathrooms. 

But I also see unusual things, like the laboratory in which I was most likely made and a large room that is small at its base, but extends for a couple stories upwards. I don't know exactly what it is, but it and every other room in this house has a futuristic feel about it that I can't quite describe.

We walk through a couple more rooms, which seem to get more confusing the farther we go, until Goshi and I get to a pair of double-doors at the back of the house. He pushes them open into the largest room yet.

This room has sleek, white walls and a floor that has thin blue lines that indicate tile flooring; although, if you didn't look straight at them, I'm sure you wouldn't notice the separation of the tiles at all. This room seems to have no purpose at all, as it is completely barren; no furniture, no plants, no experiments, no technology. 

Windows are the only things that line the walls, but they don't show much; they only make it clear that this house consists of at least four stories.

"Goshi, what is this room?" I ask, stopping with him in the center of it all.

"This is my room. As in my bedroom." He says, the grin reappearing on his formerly no-expression face.

I can feel my face converting to shock. I'm stunned! I mean, there is literally nothing in this room, and my befuddlement shows on my face, because Goshi just laughs.

"I experimented with things a couple years back, and I was able to install this room with wires and bars so that furniture can always be placed on cords. This way, furniture is easy to swap and move around. No hassle." He is clearly proud.

"Show me!" I exclaim, truly excited to see more of Goshi's inventions.

Goshi pulls something from his pocket and plays around with it for a moment. When he turns a knob for the last time, I hear a whirring that lasts for about a second. Before I realize what's happening, Goshi's room appears in front of me as if it had been there the entire time.

I go over to all the furniture, decorations, plants that have suddenly appeared, and check for metal cranes or bars or cords of any sort. But I see none. I turn back to Goshi and look at him once again, my eyes wide.

"Goshi! This is incredible! You are the most incredible person I've ever meant!"

Goshi smiles. 

"I'm the only person you've ever met." He points out, sitting on one of the armchairs he has furnishing his room. I sit in the armchair next to his and scan the surroundings. It is a remarkably large room, but Goshi has managed to fill the space with tables, chairs, computers, plants, decorations, and a bed. 

The tables are up against the wall, and they are full of sketches of machines. There are so many that they create a kind of circle around the room, and in the center are all the rest of the many things taking up the space of Goshi's room.

"Goshi," I say suddenly. "What did we need to talk about?"

"Ah, yes. Of course." He says, again playing with the device he used to put the furniture in the room. The bright walls and floor abruptly become dimmer, making the room feel less like a lab and more like and actual bedroom. I enjoy the change.

"There," He says, smiling. "That ought to be better. Now, what I needed to discuss with you."

He pauses, seemingly for a dramatic effect, and I nod encouragingly.

"Takyi, the year in 3025. Not much has changed culturally in the last thousand years. Of course we have made advancements in technology," He begins, gesturing toward me. "But many people of the world are the same. The cities are more futuristic, and ideas have become more futuristic as well, but humans still inhabit the Earth, and they still behave somewhat the same as they have since the beginning of time.

"Of course, we evolve, and of course there are other factors that play into this world and its humans. What I'm getting at, Takyi, is that life isn't much different. But you are the first robot, and as I said earlier, I do not intend to make any more. The Earth itself hasn't changed its condition much at all either, but with your advancements, you can change that. I do not expect you to revive the Earth alone, I don't even need you to save the Earth, but you are a robot, and I expect great things from you, just as I would with any of my machines or children.

"But, Takyi, you must understand something: you cannot let others know that you are what you are. I created you to be like a human. I want you to celebrate your humane emotions and ideas, and I do not want you to be ashamed of who you are, but if you let it slip, bad things will happen. There has always been corruption in this world, and there still is, so if people discover that you are a robot, I have no doubt that people will take you. They will rip you apart to understand your composition better, and once they understand your structure, they will build more of you and enslave your kind. Do you understand?"

Goshi ends his long speech with a question. I do understand, but now I am afraid. I know that is not what Goshi wanted; he didn't want to scare me, but how can I keep myself hidden. Do I look, act, and feel enough like a human to fit in?

"Goshi, thank you. I appreciate the explanation, and I understand that I cannot reveal my true identity, but can I really fit in with the humans?" I ask timidly.

"Of course you can, Takyi. You have already made me so proud, and you act so much like a human that sometimes it's hard to convince myself you're not." He responds, wearing an encouraging, light smile.

I nod. I have not known Goshi for very long, but I feel as if he would not lie to me. I trust him completely.

We sit in silence for a minute, and then Goshi says, "We are in the middle of the summer season currently. In about a month, you will start school. You will be educated there, and you will make friends there. In a couple of days, we will go to a store to get supplies for the new year. You will be starting seventh grade."

I smile. School sounds fun, and I can't wait for this month to be over. I am excited to go to school, and I am excited to learn new things about life, as well as school subjects such as math and history.

"That completes our discussion," Goshi says. "This is now your home as well as mine. Explore as much as you'd like, and remember that my doors are always open to you." He gives this last sentence a moment of thought, and then adds, "Except the lab doors. Don't go in there without my permission. Wouldn't want you to knock anything dangerous over, now would we?"

I smile and shake my head in agreement. 

"Thank you, Goshi." I say, and start to leave the room. As I'm closing the door, Goshi says one last thing: "I love you, Takyi."

I've never heard this word, but it feels warm and happy. I like this word.

"I love you, too."