Tevun-Krus #103 - Androids

Cuckoo's Egg - A Story by @jinnis

Cuckoo's Egg

by jinnis

Alexis knew he was special from the first day in ground school. And if he wouldn't have come prepared, he would have learned it fast by the wide-eyed glances the others gave him when he walked into the room, clutching the stiff fingers of his mother's hand. In some faces, he could read open disgust. His dad had told him there might be weird reactions, and that it was best to not let them affect him. But they did. And as soon as the teacher finished the introduction and his mother left, the name-calling started. In whispers, but his hearing was keen, and he understood well enough.

The young boy stared at his tormentors with burning cheeks, but he didn't cry. Couldn't cry, even if he felt like it. Instead, as soon as the teacher allowed them to stand up, he turned his back and walked away, setting one foot in front of the other like a stubborn machine until he reached the safety of his home.

His parents' support made all the difference. Without it, he would never have found the courage to return to school the next day. But he did.

For the weeks and months that followed, Alexis suffered. But as his dad had suggested, in due time, he won. The others learned to accept him, even paid him a grudging type of respect. At least some of his so-called peers did—others avoided him like the bubonic plague. Alexis ignored them, glad to be left alone.

Things changed when Charlotte turned up, bubbly, emotional, always cheery and smiling Charlotte. She was everything he wasn't, and she was everyone's bestie from the first day she moved to town. To Alexis' surprise, her circle of friends included him.

Charlotte was a brilliant student, even better than him. Not that his grades counted, something his classmates—and some of his teachers—never failed to rub in. After all, it was to be expected—an artificial brain of the newest generation would always beat a human in mathematics and all things science. Still, Charlotte outdid him sometimes, and, in contrast to him, she was also good at sports and a gifted poet, both subjects Alexis would never shine in.

Alexis admired her and would have done anything to please this girl.

Years passed, and they moved from one grade to the next. Alexis still hated school, but his parents were adamant he had to go. "You need to develop your intellect and interact with your peers."

Only he couldn't see them as his peers. Not when they saw him as an intruder, an android of the seventh generation, made to fit in with humans for suspicious reasons. A cuckoo's egg slipped into a group of innocent children to see how he would cope—a social experiment.

Charlotte explained to him why the human children—and their parents—found this creepy. He understood, halfway. Why would they fear he would try to replace one of them? Each of them was different, with different goals in life, goals Alexis couldn't relate to. Except perhaps becoming an astronaut. That would be nice, he thought. Leaving Earth with all the human jealousy and envy behind, one day, to reach for the stars.

When the teacher in fourth grade asked them what they wanted to become in life, his answer wasn't an astronaut, though.

Alexis listened to the others while he tried to find an adequate answer for himself.

"A pilot," Patrick said with gleaming eyes.

Betty rubbed her nose and sniffed. "A nurse."

"President." That was Ben, of course, who always needed the spotlight shining on him.

"A doctor like my dad," Charlotte offered, and no one doubted she would reach this goal.

And then it was Alexis' turn.