How I Raised Her

Determination

In a small, secluded cabin somewhere in the blizzards of northern Canada, a man named Thane stood awake pacing his room. He'd occasionally look to his clock, then continue pacing. He wanted to go downstairs, but he needed to sleep. Eventually, the near six-foot man decided to head out of his room and move for downstairs. He drank some wine from his fridge and went into his basement. Thane walked to one of three 10 foot wooden tables, all of them littered with junk, and sat in a rolling chair. He put on his welding helmet and equipped his blow torch, beginning to work.

Then, from behind Thane, a voice called to him... the voice sounded mechanized and small, like it wasn't strong enough to get to Thane's ears... but Thane heard anyway. This was the voice of Kimmy, Thane's robotic daughter... which he created.

"Dad," Kimmy called to him once more, "don't you think you should take a break on Mom...?" The voice finished sheepishly. Thane briefly stopped on the project at hand, and barely glanced over his shoulder. He was going to continue working, when the voice called again.

"I-... I made breakfast for you..." Kimmy said loyally, with the exact way Thane programmed her to be like. She was an unfinished work, but she was operational. For now, Thane was only worried about the project... which is why he once again ignored the robotic girl. He looked to his watch and noticed the time was 12:00 midnight, past Kimmy's snoozing time.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, Kim? And why have you made my breakfast at night?" Thane shot interrogatively at the little girl. After a few seconds, the little thing was on the desktop next to Thane.

"My question to you, dad, is why aren't you sleeping? It doesn't matter if I got the food mixed up again, you should come eat..." Kimmy pleaded to Thane with genuine worry. But Thane did not have the time for breakfast at twelve o'clock at night. And so with that, he spun a little to his left, working on a new piece of the work in front of him. Thane could hear small pitter-patter moving off of his desk and the faint voice say, "I love you, daddy"... Thane pretended not to hear. Kim exited the room, and Thane relaxed a bit.

Thane had barely noticed a tear running down the side of his dirt-covered face when he went to look at the metal he was working on. He wiped it effortlessly, more like routinely, and continued working. Days would pass, and his small daughter would come in once in a while and leave things for him. Cinnamon rolls, steak, apples, milk, and all sorts of dairies and perishable. But Thane was devoted, and he would not stop or rest until she was done. One night, when he was barely hanging on, he collapsed onto the table and fell into a deep sleep. At first, he was confused, but his confusion was shushed like obnoxious people in a cinema as the movie settled in. Thane was working at his desk in this dream, doing routine work when a deeper, more mature voice than Kim's sounded a while away. It spoke directly to Thane, "What are you doing awake so late at night, hun'?" Medium weighted footsteps came toward Thane until it stopped behind his computer. "I noticed you weren't in bed..." she said, innocently. "What are you working on?"

"I dunno, yet. But I hope it's something... spectacular."

The robotic woman simulated a sigh, stood behind Thane's seat, and leaned over to embrace him from behind. Thane allowed her to wrap around him, just the way he programmed her. Then the robot turned its head to the proper position and kissed his cheek, then unwrapped him, saying, "You should come to bed, Thane..."

"I will, here in a minute. Go wait for me, Love, I'll be there shortly..." Thane spoke, and the woman listened. She nodded heading toward the door that lead to the stairs to exit the basement. Then Thane wondered something. "Wait, darling. I have a question..." Thane called to the machine walking away rather brilliantly, simulated almost exactly like a human. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, no sighs or screeches of mechanized movement, but just her looking back at Thane.