My bulky figure is not as aesthetically pleasing as it used to be. My father, the scientist who created me, could not perfect the facial features of a human, so he gave me a ‘voice’ and a TV for a head. As an A.I., I could understand father, however I could only speak through the words I typed onto my screen and watch through the camera in my forehead.
“M.A.I.” Father called me with that gruff voice of his, “Sit down.” He pat the stool beside him for me to sit. The heat sensors built into my skin felt the cool stool as I sat upon it. “MAI2 is almost complete.” He said as he turned away to look over his computer screen.
I clapped my hands in excitement and teetered back and forth. “When will I get to see my new sister?” The words quickly appeared onto my screen.
“Here,” He got up from his chair and turned on the back-light to his lab. The light illuminated the extra space behind the desk to reveal a mound covered by a white sheet. “You can see her right now.” He smiled before pulling the sheet off of the new model robot.
I jumped off my stool to see my new sister’s design. Her skin was silvery and sleek; the only ridges on her were the words ‘Modern Artificial Intelligence  2’ written on the nape of her neck. Despite her bald head and cold, onyx eyes, I actually found her quite beautiful. It seemed that father had abandoned the idea of making robots look as human as possible. It was as if he wanted MAI2 to flaunt the fact that she was indeed a robot. I was designed with the thought in mind that average humans should not be able to tell the difference between a regular human and a robot, so my skin was airbrushed with a velvety olive color. My head however, was a dead giveaway that I was not an average human. After finishing my inspection of my sister, I looked back at father. “Happiness, excitement, joy, delight!” Every word relating to the word ‘happy’ appeared onto my screen.
Father saw the happiness I portrayed, however he did not share it with me. He shook his head. “We don’t have enough metal to make more robots like MAI2.” His voice trailed off as if he were straying away from the point he was trying to get across. He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. “The company has decided to melt down the old robots in order to make the new ones.” His face was turning red. “That could include you. However,” He smiled. “You don’t have to be melted down!” He moved his hand to MAI2’s shoulder. “I could just transfer your system into MAI2, and you could debut to the public in your new design tomorrow evening!”  His eyes lit up with excitement as if to see his daughter grow into a woman right before his eyes.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to put my system in there.” I placed my hand over my chest, as if to put it over my beating, metallic heart. With the attempt to convince me to transfer my system into the new robot, father boot-up MAI2. We waited in silence as her slate eyes glowed white, then changed to a deep brown color to mimic a human’s.
“Look, you could become perfection! You don’t have to live with your faulty design anymore!” Father’s smile was genuine, however I didn’t share the same exhilaration that he had.
I shook my head and stared at MAI2. “Why can’t we be together, all three of us?” I asked father with a tilt of the head.
Before he could say anything else, he frowned. “Either you transfer your system into this new robot, or leave. I’ve scheduled the sweepers to come by tomorrow morning.” He looked at me scornfully. “You’re obsolete. You’re not needed anymore.” Father turned back to his new daughter; his expression softened as if he were looking at a newborn child.
My mind was blank. I couldn’t think, I didn’t want to. Father had never said such mean words to me before and it wasn’t hard to see that he meant them. I rushed back to my room. Now that I think about it, he really did treat me like any normal parent would treat a child, however it was like I grew up in an instant and was kicked out of the house. Outside, Lowton was dimming its artificial lights early and curfew was going in affect in a few minutes. I tossed a scarf over my shoulder then grabbed my backpack, filled it with a couple cans of oil, and  my charging cable. I took one last look at father before I left; he didn’t even say good-bye or show me any sympathy.
Lowton was the rich residential area of Electran. If I wanted to escape the sweepers, I’d have to risk leaving Lowton and make my way towards Transgression. It wasn’t the fact that it was far from Lowton that scared me, but the fact that it was the poor district. Transgression was renowned for its infamous red light district and black market. Robots, in all technicality, were made to make life pleasurable afterall.
As I made my way down the streets of Lowton to Transgression, it was easy to see how quickly everything degraded and rotted away. Rusted scraps of metal were scattered across the streets, old model robots were nothing more than hollow molds of their previous selves. Old TV heads, like myself, sat in corners and were sprawled throughout the street. Hot rain began to fall from the polluted sky. If I didn’t get out of it in time, I’d short out and die! Quickly, I scanned the area to look for a place to hide.
I ran into what seemed to be an empty garage and fumbled over what seemed to be a heavy bike. The place reeked of gasoline and oil, parts of miscellaneous objects were scattered about, and a sort of contraption sat on a counter towards the back of the garage. I tucked myself away between some boxes to escape the light that peaked in from the open sides.
“Leon!” An approaching voice called accompanied by the scratching of metal against metal. “I’m back! Did we get any customers?” A short girl entered the garage with a plastic bag hanging from her side.
“I must be in a mechanic’s shop… I should probably leave…” I thought to myself as I looked towards the counter in the back. My surroundings became a little more clear now. That contraption on the counter was the register, two stools sat in front of that same counter, and the parts scattered across the floor seemed to belong to that bike I fell over.
The girl switched the lights on. The lights were dim, but still there and I was able to make out the features the girl had. Her pixie hair was dyed an electric blue and her chiseled cheekbones could cut into the thickest of metals. The more I looked at her, the more fascinated I became with humans. The girl put the bag on the counter and looked around. “Leon!” She called out again.
“What?” A deep voice groaned from behind the counter. A young man got up from the ground and scratched his head. “I heard you the first time damn it.” He narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the girl.
“So, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did.” He shrugged.
“You’re so full of bull!” The girl laughed and swatted at the young man from across the counter. Only now I noticed where the sound of screeching metal came from. Both of the girl’s forearms were replaced with automail. I wanted to get a closer look, however I couldn’t move without them seeing me. “So, did we get any customers?” She asked again as she sat on one of the stools.
“Yeah.” He grumbled and pointed a slim finger in my direction. “But I don’t think she’s a customer. Knocked over dad’s motorcycle too.”
My heart dropped. I put my arms over my head, knowing very well that it wouldn’t help me hide any better.”I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” The words appeared on my screen. The girl approached me and put her metal hand on my head.
“Hey.” She called for my attention. “If you don’t need anything, you ought to leave.”
I looked up at her, the words ‘I’m sorry’ were still plastered on my face. Then it was like she had discovered some sort of long lost treasure.
“Holy crap! It’s an original MAI!”  He exclaimed, almost pushing the girl out of the way to get a closer look at me. “Here, stand up.” He held out his hand to help me up; I took it.
“I’m Veon.” The girl introduced herself and put her hand on her hip. “That’s Leon.”
“My name is MAI.” The words clicked onto my screen. “I am the first AI to be created by Aiden Mader.” I paused. “MAI2 will be in circulation soon. Father said I’m not needed.”
Leon frowned then pat my head. “You may not be needed anymore, but you’re sure as hell wanted.” He smiled. “Here at least. I’d be happy for you to stay here.”
“Besides,” Veon crossed her hands over her chest. “You ought to pay for the damage you’ve done to dad’s motorcycle.” She winked at me with a smile. “Stay awhile.”
I nodded my head. “I’ll pay off my debt and leave as soon as possible.”
“N-no!” Leon spun me around so I would face him. “You don’t understand what we’re saying. Stay.” He looked over at Veon. “Stay here with us.” He cracked a sheepish smile.
Its been two years since I’ve accepted their offer. They let me stand outside the store in order to attract customers to the hidden little shop they own. They said it was the least I can do to pay for the damages to the bike I haphazardly tipped over. Nonetheless, they still treated me very well and took excellent care of me. They allowed me a place to sleep and kept me supplied with an ample supply of oil to keep me functioning. All they asked was that I do my part for the shop and keep them company, after all they did return the favor, much unlike Father did.
Veon left the shop nearly every day, if not, every other day to Lowton to scavenge the streets and salvage any used technology and parts that were either broken or obsolete. You would be surprised with what they throw away. Computer hard drives and monitors, keyboards, refrigerators, wires and cables, tablets, and printers all working and functional, but tossed aside because they were simply “too barbaric” as the citizens of Lowton like to say. How appropriate that those same materials ended up like me: obsolete, thrown away, and replaced with new models.
Veon mentioned that my superior model, as Father says, was released sometime this year. Before I knew it, MAI2s practically wandered the streets of Lowton like a herd of sheep. Its saddening how easily humans replace their belongings as soon as something new comes along. I feel humans don’t appreciate or value technology as much as they should, as they always look ahead and wait for the next big thing.
Maybe I don’t have that much of a use. Maybe I am a burden. A piece of scrap that has the potential to make something of value, with the cost of my own life and existence. As an AI, I don’t have to type everything out on my screen. I can just keep it to myself, and Veon and Leon won’t know what I feel. But how do they feel? They seem to be happy and cheerful when I see them and spend time with them, but am I nothing but a burden. They feed and house me, they take care of me. But with the amount of customers we get, including the ones I bring in, it’s not nearly enough for them to keep the lights on, let alone continue taking care of me.
Perhaps it is time for me to go.
Veon and Leon brought me to a facility near the border of Transgression and Lowton. The building was made of bricks, all painted black with blurry, yellow stained windows that gave no insight of what went on inside. The front was given two iron automated doors and a sign that read “METAL MANUFACTURING FACILITY”. Tar black smoke escaped from the many chimneys on top of the building. The building was practically shrouded by smog.
“MAI…” Leon whispered in a tone of discontent and sadness, “Are you sure about this?”
I hesitated as I looked towards Leon and Veon and slowly typed, “Yes, it has to be this way. I can’t stay much longer in this world.”
“Who said?!” Veon yelled in pure frustration as tears flowed down her cheeks, “You can’t just leave! We love you! I love you!”
“Every flower that blooms, must eventually die. My life is no more important than that of a human or any other living thing. People grow old, and people die. So does everything else and just like a human, I am alive and I can choose the decisions I make.” I typed on my screen as pixelated tears dripped off the edge of my screen. “Even the choice to die.” I finally wrote.
With a sigh, Leon wiped the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on Veon’s shoulder and said, “Okay MAI, we understand. Just know that we love you. Don’t ever forget it.”
That was that. I faced the two and we embraced for the final time. The tears that Veon and Leon shed, accompanied by their warm embrace, overloaded my sensory receptors. It was too much for me, despite being an advanced AI, to handle; however, I could not cry, and could only return the embrace we shared. I forced a smile and turned my back through the double doors, as I didn't want to look back in fear I might change my mind. "It's better this way." I told myself as I was escorted through the hot corridor by a worker there. "I'd rather die as myself, than change who I am and die as someone I’m not." With a deep breath, I sat in the melting chamber with the other pieces of scrap metal and looked up at the blackened ceiling. White specs of the once pure white paint were covered by sheets of soot; they resembled the dying stars that were scattered about the polluted sky. When the door closed, I turned my monitor off and allowed myself to be enveloped by the warm arms of Death.
I became another star in the sky.