Jonas’ arms punched downward on either side of his body. Large, two-foot-long spikes, each at least an inch thick, shot down and pierced the recently tilled and plowed ground. His robot was in Symbiotic Mode, which creates a semi-armored exoskeleton surrounding his body.
I always thought it looked awesome until I realized that his robot was just a Labor Class and lacked much of the functionality of other robot classes. He walked forward a pace and repeated the process of shoving his arms down to extend the spikes, then moving forward down two of the rows. I walked dutifully behind, filling each hole with seed and then covering the hole to protect them.
Jonas, my father, was a large man in every sense of the word except plump. His gray speckled hair hung loosely over his eyes and blended into the thick beard on his face. Even though my job was easier, by the time I was done planting the seeds and covering the holes in the first row of the field, Jonas was already halfway done with the next row. His robot is what gave him the advantage of speed and endurance.
I, unfortunately, did not have the same advantages because I did not possess a robot of my own. I tried not to focus too much on not having a robot while I planted the seeds. While it made the time slip by a little faster, I resented the work so much more. I had been old enough to receive a robot for the past six months when I turned sixteen, yet I was still without one, to my continued dismay.
It was nearly noon; the sun was high overhead as I finished the last row of seeding. Sweat dripped from my brow, and my brown rough-woven shirt was drenched. Luckily, a cool breeze that gave me a slight reprieve from the heat flowed over our solitary patch of land. I looked around for Jonas to let him know I was finished, but he was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t notice where he went; too focused on completing my task.
“Jonas,” I yelled loudly.
He wouldn’t be too far. Most likely, he was on the other side of our tiny house, and I could walk over to check, but I felt it was better to just yell and find out.
Sure enough, Jonas came from around the backside of the house. He was no longer in Symbiotic Mode as he rounded the corner. He was wiping sweat from his brow with a brown folded rag that he kept with him. His robot, then in Companion Mode, came trailing after him a moment later.
If his robot could be compared to anything, it resembled a metallic wolf, only with no tail and a head like a sideways pyramid. Although, that thinking was left over from my childhood imaginings. Labor Class robot either took the shapes of either a tool for their specifically assigned Subclass upon their receiving day, or a beast of burden if they were assigned the General Subclass. Predatorial animals were reserved for the Martial Class of robots.
I didn’t know what type of beast it was supposed to resemble, but I also didn’t know them all. I did know that it was too big for a wolf and wolves could get large. Its triangle head was above Jonas’ waist, and its shoulders not too much lower. That meant its head was a little higher on me. I had grown a lot over the past year but had yet to catch up to him.
The height difference could be due to my age, but it was probably because I took too much after my mom’s side of the family. My dad used to say stuff like that all the time because of my sharper facial features and lighter hair, which is golden brown to his black. I also had my mother’s dark brown eyes, which are shaped more like almonds than his rounder blue ones. Since my mom passed, he hadn’t said anything like that for a long time.
“I left you a pile back there to chop, Matty,” Jonas rumbled, hooking his thumb in the direction he was walking from. “I’ll start to water the crops.” I didn’t bother to reply, and Jonas didn’t bother to say anything else; it wouldn’t matter, and I didn’t want to show my anger.
I wanted to stay there and watch him make the change between the companion and symbiotic configurations. Still, for some reason, Jonas would never let me watch. Sure, I had hidden and seen it once or twice from afar. I also distinctly remember seeing the change when I was younger. Yet, like so many other things, everything changed once my mom was gone. The change between modes was an incredible sight to behold.
Maybe I just didn’t get to see it enough for it to be commonplace. However, when switching configurations, I couldn’t get enough of how the robots change and form around a person.
Even though Jonas’ robot was a Labor Class and thus the weakest, it was still amazing to watch in action. Of course, I would never tell him that. I especially wanted to watch him water the crops because of how the robots created water. It’s as if they made it out of nothing. The robots use the magical energy in the air to develop whatever processes they need, from powering the robot daily to making water out of nothing. It’s all made possible by using the magical energy of the world called De.
I asked Jonas about it once, and he mentioned that once I get my own robot, I’ll be able to read about it, but he also told me anyway. De stands for Dark Energy - it's an invisible force that permeates everything and exists in the space between spaces. Proper utilization of the De allows it to transmute into matter and other miracles. Limited people could use De before the robots arrived, but the robots brought the power into the hands of everyone.
Thanks to robots, society progressed much further in the two hundred years since the arrival of the star ships. When the Ha’olean Empire arrived from the stars thirty years ago, many thought we would be embroiled in war, but they let our kingdom run as it once did. That we lived in the middle of nowhere, half a day’s travel from the nearest town and away from all the progress, always made me mad. Luckily, the spheres consistently moved to different places across the globe. They also reliably set down in those places. A robot sphere was currently in the nearest town, yet my father didn’t want to go.
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Those weren’t the only reasons I was angry, though. When Jonas and his robot were in Symbiotic mode, he could chop all the wood while barely breaking a sweat, yet he always left some for me to do. I didn’t mind doing work, but I also didn’t understand why he couldn’t finish one task by himself and always made me do a portion.
The ax was still embedded in the wood chopping base when I reached the woodpile. I moved directly to it to pry it out. Jonas stuck it so far that I had to go to the other side for leverage and wrench it with all my body weight. I loudly scoffed in annoyance once it was free, but I refrained from more displays. They’re especially useless without anyone around to see. I grabbed the first block of wood, set it atop the base, and then began chopping.
The chopping was hard work, and it took me almost an hour to finish with all the wood available. Luckily, chopping the wood wasn’t a daily task. By the time I was finished, my shoulders were sore from swinging, and my hands were raw, but there were no blisters since I was used to manual labor. Once I was done, I moved back to the front side of the house to our newly planted crops.
Jonas wasn’t watering the crops anymore. He was sitting on the porch, fiddling with the system screen on the side of his robot. He glanced at me real quick, then nodded to the field.
“I left the last row for you to water,” he said before returning to his robot.
I inwardly screamed. It would have been so easy for him to finish the last row. I had to walk to the well, fill up a bucket and take it back to the field to pour it out over a small area. I didn’t even know how often I would have to do it.
As it turned out, I had to do it more times than I’d like to admit. With many breaks between walking to the well and back, it was nearing dark when I was done. I made my way back inside the house. My arms were exhausted from pulling up and carrying the buckets of water, and my legs were sluggish from trudging through the plowed field with said water.
There was a warm glow coming from inside the house from the fire. Our house was a small one-room cabin. A worn but sturdy wooden table stood in the center of the place. On either side, resting against the opposite walls, were our beds. At the foot of my father’s bed was his robot in charging and processing mode. Usually, the house smelled of damp earth or dust, but a far more appetizing aroma wafted around the room.
Jonas was sitting on a small stool in front of the fireplace, simultaneously tending to the fire and brewing a vegetable stew in a large iron pot. I knew it could use some meat to make it more filling, but it smelled delicious. Jonas’ ability to cook and make the food taste good even though we had limited supplies is one of his best traits.
“Vegetable stew again?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“I’ll go hunting in a day or two if there’s time,” Jonas replied without looking at me.
“We would have time if I could get my own robot. Then we could go hunting together, too.” I mentioned hopefully. However, I would have rather gotten a robot with a decent class and then be taken out of there to train in the capital.
The kingdom made logs of all those who received a robot and logged the recipient’s class. It wasn’t just for tracking purposes, though. Optimal robot classes were met with training and benefits in the kingdom. Due to wars throughout the kingdom, the Medic Class received the most of those advantages. The only group that was left alone was the Labor Class.
I wanted to get a Technician Class and then specialize in an element. Technicians were sent all over to help with infrastructure and rarely saw front-line action. I didn’t want to fight in a war. Still, even a Soldier Class was preferable to staying there with Jonas, especially without a robot. If I was destined to stay here and farm for the rest of my life, I might as well have a robot to help.
Jonas grunted in non-comital. He continued to stir the stewpot for a minute. I thought about pressing my argument, which I had many and plenty of time to think of them, but I could tell he was forming what he wanted to say.
“We still have a lot of work to get done before we can make it through winter,” he finally said with a steady voice. “With our last crop going bad, we’re behind in our supplies, and even with you helping out, we might not be ready in time for winter.”
“Jonas,” I said earnestly, making sure to catch his eye, “that is even more reason why we should go. It’ll only take half a day for me to get a robot.” I laid a plan out on a timeline with chops of my hand. “We leave early, get me a robot, buy some supplies and then we will be back in time to do some extra work. Then, since I’ll have a robot, we’ll be able to get everything ready in time for winter.”
Jonas took achingly long in his answer. “What if you get a good class and they take you away?” He frowned, probably thinking about all the extra work he would have to do without me doing a portion of it.
“You’ll probably get the work done faster and better without me anyway,” I pled. I had thought of that angle before, so I knew what to say. “Besides, you won’t need as many supplies without me, so you’ll be better off.”
His frown deepened as I said those words, and I could tell I didn’t sway him.
“I don’t think we need to get you a robot just yet,” he said, shaking his head. “How about after we get all the planting done and supplies stored-”
“The Orb will be gone by then, and I will have to wait another year to get a robot!” I shouted.
I stopped listening to him at that point. I was tired of constantly living out in the middle of nowhere when everyone else had all the comforts of modern society. The least he could do was allow me to have a robot like him. I had been eligible for a robot for more than six months and missed it the last time the robot sphere was in town. We didn’t usually go into town more than once or twice a year, but we conveniently hadn’t been since my birthday. The robot sphere was generally in town for two weeks, twice a year, and there were only a few days left of it being there.
It was bad enough all the other times we went into town and interacted with the kids. Living on the fringe of society without power, running water or other town benefits like DVs, De Viewers caused everyone to ridicule me. It would be bad enough that I didn’t have a robot when we went back there. If I didn’t leave with one, it would be even worse.
I had thought about leaving my dad and this life even before turning sixteen, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. After turning sixteen, I hoped he would take me to get a robot. I considered going by myself when he didn't, but I needed someone to vouch for me. Now, I was done with that. I was fed up with how this life was. Even if he didn’t take me, I was leaving.
“Even if you don’t take me, I’m leaving tomorrow to get one, and you better hope that I come back,” I stated with finality. Jonas’ head slumped down, defeated.
“Alright,” he said. “We’ll leave in the morning.”