User:Nextoy/Farside Pub/Magitech

"It's finished!"

A man sat down in front of a robot, tools to one side, a steel water bottle on the other, and a laptop sitting in front of him; the screen showed a coding engine that no doubt was the cause for cables running from it to the robot. The two sat in contrast of each other.

One was a metal casing with spindly limbs, barely looking like they could handle the weight given to them. Its hand looked massive by comparison, despite only being a bit larger than its creator's. Its head looked akin a Roomba with an LED display on the front rather than a sophisticated camera system. Nearly every part of it attached to a ball joint rather than a pivot, hinge, or swivel.

The other was dressed in overalls, a headband designed to keep sweat out of his eyes, gloves, and boots. Not even a shirt was underneath. Just about the only part of him that would have traditionally fit with the image of a man sitting at a laptop were his glasses. His arms and spine were strong, but his body was otherwise out of shape. Unkempt hair stuck out of the head band both above and below. Though it kept away sweat, it did nothing to stop hair from getting beneath his glasses. The strangest part of this man was that his hands were glowing. It was faint, like the cooling embers, but they still shined enough to reflect light off the machine's chassis. A glow made even more dim by the intensity of the man's eyes and smile.

"I did it…"

It was a little known fact that the buildings behind Farside could be rented. While many did, and none kept it a secret, it was never something that was advertised, just as the upstairs rooms weren't advertised for rent. Another thing both have in common was that they were very plain by nature. Only those who stayed for extended periods in either got the chance to decorate, and it was rare for decorations to stay up once they left. This room was no different. A window, a door, a table with a chair on two of its sides, power outlets, and a fake fireplace. Had it a bed and tub, one might assume it was designed to imitate the aesthetic of an old frontier cabin.

But this made it the proper working place. A place none would go to, none would take interest in, and just far enough from the bar that it wouldn't get the dreadful noise coming from the drunken patrons.

The glowing hands lay atop the machine. Everything began to glow as well. A deep, wispy breath comes from the man as he breathed life into it. Whiring, clicking, and beeping sang the fanfare of a computer booting up.

"I can't believe it. Sounds just like dial up!" He said, pulling away. Even as the man spoke, he began to laugh. A laugh from someone who didn't know if they were nervous, excited, or terrified. His creation was real.

"Greetings." Its deep voice was the most organic part of the machine, missing the electronic buzz its appearance would suggest. The man couldn't help but smile.

"It's alive…" words trailed off into a realization of what was going on. "Quick! Run diagnosis." His words ran fast, but faster yet what his brain. And faster still his creation's.

"All systems fully functional." A sigh of relief from the creator followed the deep voice's reassurance. The machine looked up at its creator, numbers audibly crunching in its core. "Who… are you?"

"Ah, Keith." He said, nodding and examining any potential external issues now that it was confirmed that the programming was, for the moment, meeting expectations. Openings in its body, especially on the joints, gained the faint glow that had left Keith's hands. What was once a lifeless pile of metal and electronics was now a mechanical heart beating blood made from light. Only the head lacked this glow, instead displaying an imitation of a face. Two round, pale blue eyes that were undeniably the most lifeless part of the machine.

More whiring. Then all went quiet, save for the robot speaking. "Keith. Greetings. User data saved."

"How remarkable!" A more flamboyant voice spoke from the doorway. There stood another in a nice suit, bowler cap, and a constant smile. Though his hands rested upon a ball top cane, the short, dark skinned man leaned upon the door frame.

"Jacollo?" Keith nearly shouted as his concentration was broken. He turned sharply to look back at the unexpected guest.

"Jacollo. Greetings. User data saved."

"Hello, Mr. Carter." Jacollo chuckled after he spoke, nodding slightly. His wide smile was betrayed by a shadow flicking back and forth like a cat's tail. "I see you did it. I should have never doubted you."

Keith stood up and laughed a bit himself, although unsure of why. "I did! I really did!" He rushed up to Jacollo, taking his hand and shaking it. "And it was all thanks to you, sir."

Jacollo pulled his head away, but not his body. His smile faded for just a moment before returning in full. "Of course. We made a deal, you kept up your end. Now I am simply an investor for the rest of your business venture."

Keith let go and walked up to the robot. It needed help standing up, but after some wobbling and readjusting it found a sturdy stance. A dim flash of light and it stopped shaking. "You won't regret it, sir. I promise you that. Me and Jolo will-"

"Jolo?" Jacollo asked, looking at the robot. His face gave off joy; his shadow mimed confusion and distrust.

"I named it after you, sir." Kieth explained. His smile was entirely genuine.

"Jolo." The machine spoke as if it were confused. "I… am Jolo." Its name was repeated a few more times before it could speak confidently. "Greetings, Kieth. Greetings, Jacollo. My name is Jolo." As it spoke its voice never raised or lowered, remaining perfectly flat. Every pause between words was exaggerated.

"Very well." The corners of Jacollo's lips twitched. "Perhaps a drink as celebration?" He offered, getting out of the doorway and motioning towards the bar with one arm.

"How am I gonna know he'll be safe?" Kieth asked, looking to Jolo. His face was filled with worry.

"I can have a friend watch it." Jacollo spoke out of boredom, though only his narrow eyes showed it. "Or you could just lock the door." Kieth turned, thinking about what to do. Gazing at his creation.

"Locking the door seems… obvious as a solution." Jolo commented, bowing in approval. While this nearly caused it to fall over, the robot managed to recover. Kieth nodded in return. He took out his keys, spinning the ring around his finger as he did, and walked out with Jacollo. It wasn't a far walk, geographically, but it felt long to Kieth. He deserved this. Yet he couldn't help but worry.

Once inside Farside Pub Keith and Jacollo sat down together, sharing a drink.

“To Jolo!” Jacollo cheered, holding up his martini glass. His suit, drink, and demeanor clashed with the bar. But Kieth fit right in among them.

“To Jolo.” Kieth clinked his beer bottle against the far fancier glass. The part of him that did clash was how happy he was within Jacollo’s presence. A wide smile on his face when every regular had learned to give Jacollo a wide berth.

“Who’re you harassing now Jac?” The barkeep called out, gazing at the table. A waitress sat down another beer bottle and lazily refilled the glass.

“We’re business partners. What do you expect?” Jacollo called back. “Any successful business venture deserves a celebration, does it not?” He took a drink before turning to Kieth. “And what a success it is! At this point I only wonder what your plans are for the thing.”

“Simple. Just gonna run more tests, sir. When it’s good and ready I’m gonna let people send in their own custom orders. Commissions. And as per our deal you’re gonna get a cut, sir.” Keith explained as the waitress walked off. Jacollo’s smile persisted, but so did the flickering of his shadow.

“So it’s not going to be mass produced? A limited run for a select clientele?” He asked, his voice skeptical. Kieth gave a confused look before answering.

“Of course, sir.” He said, nodding a bit. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Even if I wanted that to be a household thing, the way it’s made simply doesn’t allow for it.” Keith took a drink of his beer after speaking, letting his hand glow to showcase why.

“Oh,” Jacollo chuckled between words, “An easy way to prevent Chinese knockoffs. How very clever.” His eyes looked to the glowing hand, then back to their owner. “But doesn’t that mean quality control is going to be… difficult?” He asked. His shadow slithered up onto Kieth’s, staring down at it with arms crossed.

“Not at all, sir. Not with extensive testing.” Keith was very serious as he spoke. More so than ever seen before.

“But your estimation assumes that it will be a year before even one is finished, counting time already spent on Jolo." Jacollo pointed out, his smile now fading into skepticism. "Is there not a way to speed that up?”

“Depends. Do you want quality or quantity, sir?” Kieth asked, putting a quiet between them. The shadow crept back to where it was, clearly lost in thought. Jacollo shook his head and chuckled. His eyes were closed and his breath grew deep to let out a sigh.

A divide arose. One between an investor seeking the best avenue for profit and an inventor seeking the best avenue to perfect his invention had arose.

“Go check up on Jolo while I consider this.” Jacollo suggested. Kieth nodded with a ‘yes sir’ before walking out of the pub, unopened beer in hand. “What are we to do with this one?” Jacollo asked his shadow. It shrugged before going back into thought. “This simply will not do…”

Keith ran back to the shed he had rented. Inside, Jolo was typing something out on the computer. There wasn’t any wifi, so Keith failed to think of what could possibly be doing. As he walked over and looked the head turned around. The display was red.

“Why was I created?” Jolo asked. There was a strange franticness in its voice.

“To be my buddy.” Keith answered, watching the LEDs return to their normal pale blue. “Help me out here and there, we help each other learn things about the world, and maybe we can even go fishing together.” Keith smiled as he spoke, but Jolo simply turned its head back around.

“So my goal is not to serve?”

“Hell no.” Keith sat down next to Jolo. He put his arm around the robot, felt its cold shell, and heard the machines within at work. “Well, about as much as the rest of us." Lifeless eyes looked up to Kieth. "Everyone’s got somebody they have to take orders from, but nobody’s born like that. Not even you.”

The two sat in silence for some time. Jolo kept typing away at the keyboard, Keith watched for any kind of response. His eyes then went down to the computer. Jolo was rewriting his own code. Changing it to be more autonomous, more free. His AI was identifying itself and trying to break free of the User/Machine system. And Keith did nothing to stop it. He merely let Jolo finish typing, unplug, and walk off. The two shared a silent exchange, with Keith knowing he’d see his creation again after it went for a walk.

“I suppose this marks a failure.” Jacollo had went out into the shed to check on the two, but only found Keith. There was no sign of the robot to be found, except for the tools and computer used to make it. Keith just sat there, staring into the fake fireplace.

“Nah. I’d say it’s an overwhelming success, unfortunately.” Keith looked up to Jacollo as he spoke, standing up from the ground.

“Then why is he gone?” Jacollo asked, staring down at the computer. It had the answer to his question, and Keith pointed to the single line of code. “This simply will not do…” Jacollo muttered before turning to Keith. “Let’s go find it and change that back to what its primary purpose is supposed to be. Iron out the kinks, hmm?” Keith nodded slowly. It was reluctant, but he agreed. The two walked off in search of the robot who decided his own primary objective.

Become human.