[Text Transcript Between Cal and Ram via FoxChat - November Log]

C: Dinner is ready.

R: Okay, coming down.

---

C: Dinner is ready.

R: Okay, coming down.

---

C: Dinner is ready.

…

R: I’m sorry, I didn’t see this until later.

C: It’s okay. I put it in the fridge for you - it’s some spicy tofu with rice. Should be good if you just put it into the microwave.

R: Thank you. I will.

…

C: Were you out being a hero again?

R: Um… yeah, a little. A little, kind old woman got her cat stuck in a tree, and I had to get it out.

R: Also, there was an attempted robbery in one of the corner-stores, so I stopped it.

C: You say that, but how exactly did you do that?

R: Oh, well, it’s a little bit technical. First, I kinda jumped down from the rooftop, which isn’t a problem for me because my father made me from really strong stuff. Then I pointed at the robbers and told them: “Stop! Being a criminal is against the law!”

C: ...Wow.

R: Yeah.

C: That’s pretty dramatic and confrontational for you.

C: Did you get it out without stammering?

R: I stammered a little, but… I think I sounded authoritative. You know, heroic. I’ve been practicing in the bathroom mirror.

C: Oh, that’s you I’m always hearing.

R: Oh no… please forget about that. It’s embarrassing.

C: Did it work?

R: What?

C: Your speech. Did the robbers give up?

R: Oh. No. They actually shot me with their guns.

C: Oh. …I take it you’re unharmed?

R: Yeah. Bullets just kind of bounce off me, to be honest. They took off when they saw their weapons were ineffective.

C: All in a day’s work.

R: That made me smile a little. Yeah, all in a day’s work.

…

C: I think this is the most we’ve talked over text.

R: I like texting.

C: Really?

R: Yeah, it’s better than speaking. It’s more honest.

R: That’s my opinion, at least.

C: Interesting.

R: Plus, you can type in these fun faces :)

C: Emoticons?

R: :D

C: Why not just use emojis? Your phone probably will fill them in automatically for you.

R: Images defeat the point of texting.

C: :o

R: Haha, I’m serious. There is nothing interpretive about characters: the letters you type. That’s all there is. That’s comforting to me. It calms me down to communicate like this.

C: I see.

R: Kinda wish the whole world could be like that.

C: Like what?

R: Letters on a screen.

…

C: Huh.

R: Yeah.

R: Good night.

C: Good night. Try not to tire yourself out being a superhero, or whatever.

R: Thanks. Good luck tomorrow, too. I’ll be down for breakfast.

C: Thanks.

R: Good night.

C: Haha, good night, Ram.

R: :)

C: :)

---

C: Dinner’s ready.

R: Okay, coming down.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

…

R: Dinner was really good today, btw.

C: Oh? It was just some grilled cheese and tomato soup. It wasn’t anything special.

R: No, it was really good.

R: It’s always good, but it was really good today.

…

R: Where did you learn how to cook? I’ve always wondered.

C: My sister taught me. She’s actually a chef.

R: Oh.

…

R: I didn’t know you had a sister.

C: That’s okay. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it to you.

R: Does anybody else know?

C: I told Ellie and Mel. It just came up in conversation.

C: I don’t think the princess or Bridget knows.

…

R: Maybe you should bring it up with Bridget. Just in casual conversation.

C: ?

R: I’m only suggesting it. It might save you some trouble later.

C: If you say so…

---

Cal: Dinner is ready.

Ram: Alright.

…

R: I’ve always wanted siblings.

C: Really? Maybe Aina can give you some of hers. From how she talks, it feels like she has about thirty.

R: lol

R: But about the siblings… yeah, I think it would have made me feel a lot less alone when I was…

R: Well, when I first woke up, I guess.

C: I think I know what you mean.

…

C: She’s not my real sister.

C: I mean, she is, but not really.

R: ?

C: I mean, she was the sole child in the family that adopted me.

R: Oh. I didn’t know that, either.

C: You can’t know what I don’t tell you about.

…

R: Do you get along? You and your sister?

C: We actually do. She’s my hero.

R: Woah.

C: What?

R: I just didn’t expect you to use that sort of language. You’re usually pretty measured when you talk. You must really think the world of her.

C: Yeah, I do.

R: That’s cool.

C: Yeah.

---

C: Dinner is ready.

R: Okay, coming down.

…

C: Can I ask a question?

R: Of course, that’s fine.

C: You’re very different over text than in person. Why is that?

C: You said before you liked it, but it’s also your personality that’s a bit different.

R: Oh.

R: Just less nervous, I guess. It’s easier to express my thoughts when I can take my time to compose them in writing.

R: You seem a little different, too. Talking in person, it would be hard to believe you’re the type of person who uses emoticons while texting.

C: To be fair, that was mostly your influence. I don’t really text anybody that much.

C: I’m sure if Mel had a phone, she would be using emoticons non-stop and I would get sick of them pretty quickly.

C: But let’s go back to what we were talking about. Is that all that’s different?

…

R: …Eyes make me nervous.

C: Eyes?

R: Yes. You can imagine anything and any emotion existing in them. Any judgment. It’s just easier when I don’t have to see.

C: Do you think anyone around the dinner table would judge you like that? Bridget, Aina, Ellie?

R: I don’t know.

C: They’re nice people. They wouldn’t do that.

R: Maybe.

C: They like you. They would be delighted if you talked with them more.

R: Maybe.

C: Aina is clearly very fond of you. She has said as much to me.

R: Maybe.

…

C: Do you think I’m lying to make you feel better? Do you think I would do that?

R: No. But maybe you overlook some things. I think you’re too pragmatic. You think everything should proceed in a way that makes sense.

C: I guess you’re right about that. But I don’t think what I said was wrong.

R: You overestimate things. I don’t think the other girls at Otter Manor dislike me. I just don’t think they think of me.

…

C: I think that’s a harsh characterization.

…

R: Have you heard of comic books?

C: …I think I’ve heard the term once or twice.

R: I really like them.

C: I remember you reading some that day we met at the library.

C: Where are you going with this?

R: Well, those comics are usually about some fantastical world. All the characters are superheroes, or spies on the run, or something silly but endearing like that.

C: You phrase that like you’re not an actual superhero in real life.

R: In those comics, there are a lot of robot characters, or super advanced AI.

C: Okay.

R: I think the writers who write these comic books all take the same inspiration. Because the robot character, the hyper-intelligent AI, or whatever, they always share the same sort of characteristics. They are practical, cold logicians. They are asexual. They usually have some fun acronym name, like W.I.R.E or J.O.H.N. And if they are the focus of the story, they always follow the same sort of arc in the story. It’s always, always the same things. Over time — these robots in these stories — they begin to understand human emotions. They learn about abstraction, and friendship, and love. They learn about the ways their human compatriots and friends think about and understand the world. And they slowly open up. Always, learning more and more things. They begin to laugh. Joke around. Get a love interest, maybe. When they are not evil, the role of the robot in stories is to become more human.

…

C: Go on.

R: I think I messed it up.

C: What do you mean by that?

R: I never went through any of that. When I woke up — when my father woke me up — I never thought of myself in that way. I never understood the world simply through binary terms. It has always been overwhelming and complex to me. If my father hadn’t told me I was a robot, and if my body wasn’t the way it is, I would have never figured it out, I think. I would have gone through my entire life thinking I was human. A machine ought to figure out its relationship to the world. But I didn’t. So now I’m like this.

C: You think you can’t change.

R: Yeah.

C: And because of that, you’ll always be what you are.

R: Yeah.

…

C: I think that’s a lie you’ve told yourself.

R: I think it’s the truth. I’ll always be out-of-thought to them. I’ll always be small. I’ll never make a sound.

C: Humans can change. So a robot that thinks of itself as a human certainly can change, too. I think that’s the truth.

R: Do you really believe that?

C: I’ll be clear and say something without pretext, exaggeration, or cynicism.

C: It’s one of the few things about this world that I believe in.

C: Ram, you can change or you can stay the same. Nobody will force you either way, or judge you for it. It’s up to you to decide whether you’re content with how your life currently is, about the way that you currently are. You should ask yourself that. Because how you are now is what your future will look like, too.

…

R: Have you ever changed?

C: Yes.

R: How did you change?

C: I walked through a door, when all I had done until that moment was stay still.

R: ?

R: A door? Is that a metaphor?

C: No. There was actually a door.

R: Oh.

R: What was on the other side of the door?

C: Everything.

R: Did you get what you wanted?

C: No, not really. But it didn’t matter.

…

R: Good night, Cal.

C: Good night, Ram.

…

R: Thanks for talking with me.

C: No problem.

R: :)

C: :)

---