Sad Robots
One.
Bobbie was the second last old robot in our company, ever since my son took over the business. He wanted to make everything more “efficient,” which to him meant getting rid of all the old things and getting new things to put in their place. Me included. I went from head of the company to just sitting around my office. I was the “figurehead” for the company now.
I used to take care of all the robots. I’d clean them, oil them and hook them up to the power supply during their breaks. I’d never much liked those fancy new ‘bots my son bought. Snobby, they were. Their cold, hard expressionless faces would stare at you, always watching your every move. My ‘bots were different, but my son made me trade ‘em all in, bar two.
Bobbie and Louie, they were called. Louie was the first robot we’d ever bought. He’d been with me all the way, but nowadays he was “slow and outdated.” Bobbie was slightly newer than Louie, but Bobbie was built to look nice, not to be fast. Bobbie and Louie would potter around my office for hours; putting papers away and watchin’ the other ‘bots zoom past outside. Louie never thought much of them new ‘bots, I could tell. He didn’t care that he and Bobbie weren’t as shiny and new as these fancy new ‘bots. But Bobbie did. Bobbie cared. Bobbie used to be the shiny new robot, many moons ago. Bobbie was built out of chrome rather than the plain ol’ steel that Louie was built out of. Bobbie’s shiny chrome didn’t matter to the new ‘bots though. To them he was just an old robot, out dated and slow, nothing special. Louie didn’t like that they thought of Bobbie that way, I could tell.
But soon enough, my son told me that I’d have to either upgrade my robots or have them scavenged for scrap metal. They don’t make data upgrades for ‘bots as old as Bobbie no more. All Louie needed was a new outer casing, and he’d be good as new again. So I sent him off. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I shoulda argued to keep them both. I could’ve taken them home and kept them there. But I didn’t think of that. ‘Stead I hid Bobbie away inside the storage cupboard. I’d visit Bobbie on my breaks, and I’d let him out at night, so he could go and play with Louie.
I didn’t think that getting a new outer casing would change Louie, I swear. He never seemed to care about the shiny metal that the other robots had before, but ever since he got his new casing Louie don’t even go near Bobbie anymore. Louie’s always too busy with them new ‘bots to talk to Bobbie and whenever Bobbie comes near Louie, Louie ignores him.
It all started a few weeks ago. Every time I’d visit Bobbie he’d just stare at me with those big eyes of his, lookin’ like he was on death row. I s’pose for him, being alone and stuck in a cupboard, he woulda felt like that. Especially since Louie quit talking to him. I don’t know what got into Louie. Maybe they managed to solder his new casing into his circuit board.
Last Friday, the company had their big end of year celebration. I told my son that I had something to work on, so I’d be late. He told me that if that’s where my priorities lay, then fine. Sometimes I think he don’t know the meaning of real work. But it don’t matter, I wasn’t gunna be workin’ anyway. I just wanted to let Bobbie out, so he could stretch his legs, as they say. All the other ‘bots were being recharged in their respective offices, so I figured it would be okay, ‘cause it’s not like nobody’d notice.
I think being stuck in that cupboard really screwed with Bobbie. Bobbie who used to be the pride of the office, stuffed into a storage cupboard with the printer cartridges and those big ol’ boxes of paper. And he’d hear those fancy new robots zooming past, chatting away in that little beepy language of theirs. I s’pose it drove him mad, after long enough.
I don’t blame him for what he did though, it wasn’t his fault. I should’ve taken Bobbie and Louie home with me. I shouldn’t have let Louie get so snobby. Maybe then he wouldn’t have done it. You see, after I let Bobbie out, I went off to that big fancy party. I thought Bobbie would just run around for a bit, maybe go play in my office for awhile. I didn’t think he’d unplug Louie from the charger. You see, unplugging charging robots is like pulling the USB stick out of your computer while it’s transferring all of its files. All that data gets corrupted. Sure, you can still use that USB stick from time to time, but mostly it won’t even show up when you stick it in the computer. Same thing happened to Louie. What with him being recently upgraded and all, when he recharged, his system went and checked on all his upgrades, just to make sure everything was still working the way it’s meant to. So when Bobbie pulled out that plug, all of Louie’s operating systems got corrupted.
I think Bobbie felt that if Louie didn’t think those new ‘bots were so great, he’d come back and be his friend again. But when Bobbie pulled out that plug, the system must’a been checking Louie’s central control panel, ‘cause when I got back, Louie just sat there, starin’ at the wall.
I found Bobbie back in the storage cupboard that I used to hide him in. He’d hooked himself up to the power main. Fried his circuits, it did. I s’pose that he couldn’t live knowing that he’d killed the only ‘bot who had ever accepted him.
I used to take care of all the robots. I’d clean them, oil them and hook them up to the power supply during their breaks. I’d never much liked those fancy new ‘bots my son bought. Snobby, they were. Their cold, hard expressionless faces would stare at you, always watching your every move. My ‘bots were different, but my son made me trade ‘em all in, bar two.
Bobbie and Louie, they were called. Louie was the first robot we’d ever bought. He’d been with me all the way, but nowadays he was “slow and outdated.” Bobbie was slightly newer than Louie, but Bobbie was built to look nice, not to be fast. Bobbie and Louie would potter around my office for hours; putting papers away and watchin’ the other ‘bots zoom past outside. Louie never thought much of them new ‘bots, I could tell. He didn’t care that he and Bobbie weren’t as shiny and new as these fancy new ‘bots. But Bobbie did. Bobbie cared. Bobbie used to be the shiny new robot, many moons ago. Bobbie was built out of chrome rather than the plain ol’ steel that Louie was built out of. Bobbie’s shiny chrome didn’t matter to the new ‘bots though. To them he was just an old robot, out dated and slow, nothing special. Louie didn’t like that they thought of Bobbie that way, I could tell.
But soon enough, my son told me that I’d have to either upgrade my robots or have them scavenged for scrap metal. They don’t make data upgrades for ‘bots as old as Bobbie no more. All Louie needed was a new outer casing, and he’d be good as new again. So I sent him off. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I shoulda argued to keep them both. I could’ve taken them home and kept them there. But I didn’t think of that. ‘Stead I hid Bobbie away inside the storage cupboard. I’d visit Bobbie on my breaks, and I’d let him out at night, so he could go and play with Louie.
I didn’t think that getting a new outer casing would change Louie, I swear. He never seemed to care about the shiny metal that the other robots had before, but ever since he got his new casing Louie don’t even go near Bobbie anymore. Louie’s always too busy with them new ‘bots to talk to Bobbie and whenever Bobbie comes near Louie, Louie ignores him.
It all started a few weeks ago. Every time I’d visit Bobbie he’d just stare at me with those big eyes of his, lookin’ like he was on death row. I s’pose for him, being alone and stuck in a cupboard, he woulda felt like that. Especially since Louie quit talking to him. I don’t know what got into Louie. Maybe they managed to solder his new casing into his circuit board.
Last Friday, the company had their big end of year celebration. I told my son that I had something to work on, so I’d be late. He told me that if that’s where my priorities lay, then fine. Sometimes I think he don’t know the meaning of real work. But it don’t matter, I wasn’t gunna be workin’ anyway. I just wanted to let Bobbie out, so he could stretch his legs, as they say. All the other ‘bots were being recharged in their respective offices, so I figured it would be okay, ‘cause it’s not like nobody’d notice.
I think being stuck in that cupboard really screwed with Bobbie. Bobbie who used to be the pride of the office, stuffed into a storage cupboard with the printer cartridges and those big ol’ boxes of paper. And he’d hear those fancy new robots zooming past, chatting away in that little beepy language of theirs. I s’pose it drove him mad, after long enough.
I don’t blame him for what he did though, it wasn’t his fault. I should’ve taken Bobbie and Louie home with me. I shouldn’t have let Louie get so snobby. Maybe then he wouldn’t have done it. You see, after I let Bobbie out, I went off to that big fancy party. I thought Bobbie would just run around for a bit, maybe go play in my office for awhile. I didn’t think he’d unplug Louie from the charger. You see, unplugging charging robots is like pulling the USB stick out of your computer while it’s transferring all of its files. All that data gets corrupted. Sure, you can still use that USB stick from time to time, but mostly it won’t even show up when you stick it in the computer. Same thing happened to Louie. What with him being recently upgraded and all, when he recharged, his system went and checked on all his upgrades, just to make sure everything was still working the way it’s meant to. So when Bobbie pulled out that plug, all of Louie’s operating systems got corrupted.
I think Bobbie felt that if Louie didn’t think those new ‘bots were so great, he’d come back and be his friend again. But when Bobbie pulled out that plug, the system must’a been checking Louie’s central control panel, ‘cause when I got back, Louie just sat there, starin’ at the wall.
I found Bobbie back in the storage cupboard that I used to hide him in. He’d hooked himself up to the power main. Fried his circuits, it did. I s’pose that he couldn’t live knowing that he’d killed the only ‘bot who had ever accepted him.