A Lonely Robot

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone." The television softly speaks to me. It's beginning with the opening to yet another episode of The Twilight Zone. The Twilight Zone is a bit like the dimension that I'm living in. Of course, I'm not in an alternate dimension; I'm in the normal one, the same one that you are in. There is something a bit different about me though. I might as well start off and tell you it all anyway. "You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into the wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!" Yes Rod Serling, so close; next stop, your new found knowledge!

I'll start off telling you the basics about myself. My name, well I don't actually have an official one. I call myself Michael. My creators, well they call me 0.36. My dear friends, after you read this next line, there's no going back; everything you'll know you will have to keep a secret, unless you want to be disposed of. I am a robot.

I know what's crossing your mind. "A robot, how can that be?", "That's impossible, robots aren't like you", "You're pulling my leg", or something along that sort of thinking. My dear friends, I assure you, I am a robot. My creators, I don't dare call them parents, they wanted a new kind of robot, a kid exactly like the human race. They wanted a robot that can think and has emotions, but does not feel physical things. They wanted a new human race, one that is more superior then before. I am the thirty-sixth trial, hence why I am 0.36, number thirty-six and the only one who has survived.

You wouldn't believe that I was a robot if you saw me. I look like any other human teenage boy. I was built to look like a skinny over-achiever. They gave me dark, stringy, straight hair; the kind humans are wearing these days. My body doesn't have skin, like a humans, but the metal has been changed to an olive color, much like an Italian's skin. They built me tall; so that they could fit all the pieces they needed inside me, yet still keep my skinny.

Even though I look like a human, it doesn't mean I act like one all the time. I try my best to fit in, but it doesn't always work. I have more knowledge than a normal human being in their late thirties. Being about to know more than the normal human also makes me able to read people's emotions and thoughts through "body language", the way you move and such. It often makes the humans think I'm reading their minds; which makes them stray away from me. I also have some abilities that humans, and even other robots don't. I can listen to the thoughts of any machine. You say machines aren't supposed to have thoughts, but you don't know what you're talking about. They have special thoughts telling them how to do their job. I'll give you an example, if you turn a television on by a remote, the remote calls out to the television making the television answer back with a flickering light that eventually turns into the station you want. All machines work that way, it's just the way they were built.

It's often lonely though, because I don't have any other robots around me, siblings you might say. I have no friends, because humans don't exactly connect with robots like me, even if they think I'm a human. It's much harder to connect with someone who has a much higher emotional and mental ability than yourself. I haven't contacted any other robots out there like me either.

I really don't do much. My creators send me to a "normal" school. They want me to have human contact; I really think they're trying to see how I react with humans, so far I'm probably failing them. I have a bedroom in a house, I have a bed, a television, a desk, everything. The house is normal, in a normal suburb where all the houses look alike. The only difference is in my house the basement is a laboratory, not a game room, family room, or even storage room. We have a kitchen and bathrooms; I'm the only one in my "family" who doesn't use them though. There's no use for them for me.

My creators are trying to make more like me. So far the rest of their creations have been failures. I think they're working on 0.52 currently. I hope she survives. 0.52 is being formed as a six year old girl. I'd love to have a sister. I'm sure if she survives she'll be persuasive and will make many friends. From what I can tell now, with my abilities and all, she'll have the power of mind control. If she survives she will be called Marie. Yes, I know that already, I have named her, now I'll get too attached. She seems to be going along quite well though.

Well, I am coming to an end at what I can tell you. I hope you have learned something, and understood most of what I've been telling you. There are others out there like me; they're living among you right now. Learn from what I've told you, and accept those of us robots into your society. All we need is love, friendship, and someone who understands us.

"A sickness known as hate. Not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ. Highly contagious, deadly in its affects. Don't look for it in the Twilight Zone. Look for it in the mirror. Look for it before the lights go out altogether." I leave you with that my dear friend. Forget your hate for things you don't know, and remember me. Remember the things I go through because your kind won't accept an outsider, someone amongst your race. You've conquered racism, and slavery; you've stopped many wars started by hate for one another. Think about it, and stop the hate you feel for us, because we are so much alike, though we're not the same as you. Forget me, and forget the future of your race. Good-bye my friend.