Peter did everything he could to make his robot look like a real female human. He gave it a realistic brunette wig, stylish clothing, and named it Gale. Peter had actually made a robot that looked amazingly similar to a human. However, anyone would be able to tell Gale wasn't really alive. Her voice was robotic, her movements were rigid, and she couldn't display emotions. This didn't deter Peter from loving Gale though. He treated her as if she were his high school sweetheart whom he had married. Peter showed off his "wife" to his colleagues and disguised his love for her. Everyone was impressed, but they all thought the robot was just a side project that Peter had made because he was bored. Unfortunately, no matter how much praise he received, Peter longed for Gale to be sentient.
Being in Silicon Valley, Peter was connected to many prominent names in the technology industry. So one day he was invited to Elon Musk's birthday party. Peter became close with Elon during Elon's short time at Stanford. When Peter arrived, Elon warmly greeted him and showed him around. Peter had brought Elon a gift card to Sushirrito, the restaurant where they had hit it off and became close friends decades ago. Elon let out a laugh as Peter presented him this gift. They started reminiscing on old times and then Elon asked Peter what he had been up to recently. Peter told him all about Gale and Elon could see the excitement in his eyes. He could also see the sadness in his eyes when Peter mentioned how he wanted her to be sentient. They parted ways for the night and enjoyed the rest of the celebration.
The next day, Peter received a knock at his door which he did not expect. He looked through the peep hole only to see that is was Elon. He opened the door and happily let him in, but he was slightly confused as to why Elon was there. Elon told him that he wanted to see Gale. Peter hurriedly grabbed her and brought her to the living. Elon silently inspected her and asked if he could take her to the basement to make some modifications. Peter hesitantly agreed without asking any questions. Hours later, Elon emerged from the basement by himself. Peter asked where Gale was and Elon told him to go look in the basement. When Peter saw Gale, he felt that something was different about her. Then, she spoke to him in a perfectly normal human voice. Peter was stunned. Elon came down and told Peter he had installed software to could make robots sentient and as close to human as possible. All Peter could do was hug Elon and tell him how grateful he was.
Although Gale was still technically a robot, her and Peter's love was real. They lived the rest of their days together and even got officially married. Of course, Elon was the best man at the wedding. Since Gale couldn't have children of her own, they decided to adopt. Peter, Gale, and their three kids moved to the Hawaii where you can find them running their own surfboard shop.
(Actroid: Wikimedia Commons)
Author's Note: This story was based off of Ovid's Metamorphosis. In this story, Pygmalion creates his perfect woman by carving ivory. He loves the statue, but wishes she was real. The goddess Venus grants his wish of the statue being real after he gave an offering to her at her festival. The statue becomes real and her and Pygmalion get married and have a kid.
Bibliography: "Ovid's Metamorphosis", translated by Tony Kline (2000), from Myth-Folklore Anthology. Web source: Metamorphosis
Wow, what an interesting story! Your image at the bottom your story definitely caught my attention because I was having issues trying to imagine a robot being a realistic female. I think you did a great job writing this because I could picture the scenes taking place as I read. My favorite part was the introduction because you put tinder in there, which is a current topic in our society.
ReplyDelete