contAIned

Chapter Three

Lex's PoV

As Melody and India continued to talk, I shuffled away from the snack table and began to look over the many projections and tablets displaying information on these humanoids and their prices. When designed, it appeared that Bradley had given them a name instead of a brand, making them even more realistic.
Melody appeared to be a more expensive humanoid. She mimicked normal human interaction and conversation, holding her own opinion on things, she could also cook, clean and make differing drinks from various coffees to cocktails. She stood at a whopping price, one that according to this tablet would take us a good ten years to pay off. She seemed to be the third most advanced one they had after two called Zara and Aidan.
The first humanoid to have greeted us, Daniel, was a lot cheaper. When compared to Melody there was a huge difference, in that he was preprogrammed with sentences but not fully able to hold conversation and he was solely a cleaning robot.
The tablet I was on allowed me to select different models to compare them, so out of curiosity my fingers flew over the touch screen and compared Melody with Zara and Aidan.
As I'd always imagined, there was very little that was different in conversation and ability, however both the other two could also hold a calendar of your events and remind you face to face or by message and email that you had an event coming up. They could both pay for your bills and sort them out to make sure you never missed one again. They could offer an option to fill out a to-do list which they could allocate parts to themselves whilst others, ones they physically couldn't do, they'd remind you to do. It seemed crazy. It was like I was reading about the skills a human had day to day, yet this was all in a robot.

"Hello there, you look deep in thought. I'm Aidan." A smooth textured, skin-like ivory-coloured hand came into my peripheral vision and I jumped slightly as I turned, being greeted by a humanoid with thick dark locks and dark eyes. "Oh goodness, sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump." It seemed to freak me out more that he reacted to my reaction. Had he been a basic robot, maybe like Daniel, he would have waited for vocal communication or command, yet he noticed my jump.

"Oh that's okay." I thought it better to continue the conversation as if I wasn't alarmed, despite my hands clinging together anxiously in front of me. "I was in my own world thinking about, well, all of this." I gestured around the room which his gaze followed.

"It can seem overwhelming, but I promise you some one on one time with your AI is completely different. This is the large scale marketing pitch, it's bright and noisy, but your home isn't. It's your comfortable space. Having one of us there isn't as bad as this." It was his turn to mirror my gesture and move his hand around the room. My jaw dropped at his very thought provoking response. It was hinted at marketing, but wasn't pushed in your face. I turned back to him and took a good look at everything about him. They'd made him six foot tall, his body seemingly slightly muscular under the suit they'd put him in. Melody too was slim. However, around the room there were differing heights and weights of humanoid, although none seemed to be 'obese'.

"Is there any reason why none of you are of a heavier weight category?" I asked inquisitively. Aidan smiled.

"Bradley believed that we needed to mirror the perfect way of life. He didn't want to promote bad habits, whether that was by eating, drinking or gambling. We are programmed to refuse to take or place bets or gamble as well as to limit how many alcohol beverages we can issue a person." I stared back at him in disbelief. Okay, there was a lot I hadn't assumed these robots could do which they actually could. Now the price tag makes slightly more sense.

"Amazing!" I smiled back, nodding my head in approval. "And Melody mentioned a feature whereby you'd protect us if there was a threat?" I continued, hoping to grab as much information as I could. He nodded.

"Absolutely. When we hear a scream, cry or an alarm, we assess the surroundings. We have been programmed with fire safety, first aid and a small amount of martial arts to ensure we can disarm an intruder or someone trying to cause harm to our person." I placed a hand on his arm without thinking as I smiled back.

"You're going to need to teach me those skills." I laughed, to which he laughed too. It felt real, like I was having a conversation with a human in ways; his tone, body language, facial expressions.

"Hello everyone." A voice echoed the speakers placed all all over the room. We all fell silent as we looked to the far end and saw Bradley Prince standing proudly beside an armful of security as he spoke to us. "I want to thank you all for coming here today, to see what the future is going to bring with these amazing humanoids as a part of it. I have seen how many of us have interacted with them and it brings me such joy. If anyone has any questions for me personally, I'd be more than happy to answer them. But for now, I just wanted to announce to you all, as a special welcoming gift, I'd like to offer you a ten percent discount on your preferred humanoid, plus the option to pay over a period of time with interest free credit. Terms and conditions apply but please discuss with the lovely team down at the front desk. I'll leave you all to continue."

A smash and shattering of glass caught us all off guard. We spun round to see a masked group, who I could only assume to be the 'HumansAnnoyed' rebels, standing around a broken window and a broken humanoid, which resembled Daniel.

"Don't listen to him and his con. These robots are trained to build you up and then kill you off, altering your will to leave your money to him. He's a con artist!" One masked person shouted loudly. I felt a hand grab my arm and spun to see Aidan with his finger to his lips, guiding me further away from the rebel group. We tiptoed to the wall and hid behind a table with a large sign on it, casing us in shadows so we were not seen anymore.

"My friend, she was talking to Melody." I whispered, seconds before they appeared behind the table next to us. India's eyes widened in fear. I couldn't do anything but shrug.

"You will pay. Blood is on your hands Bradley Prince. And now, you will watch your business fall." A further masked person shouted, before pressing a few buttons into a small tablet they were holding. "They will fall."