Just Beyond The Light: A Short Story Collection

Obsolete

"I'm very sorry, my friend. Believe me, I am. I never thought I would see the day, but alas it's happened. You've become obsolete, David."

David stared, unblinking at the kind doctor. His arm twitched slightly, as he tried to process what he was just told. He was old, sure, but he wasn't that old. Not old enough to warrant being considered...he couldn't bring himself to even think that awful word.

"O—ob-solete....? How? I'm perfectly fine. A bit slow at times, but that can be said for anyone."

The doctor sighed, and glanced down at his clipboard.

"That may be true, but at this rate, you'll only deteriorate further from here. It'll be slow, and painful not just for you, but for everyone you know and care about. You may run at peak condition for your age now, but soon enough, you'll begin to creep. Eventually, your memory will begin to fade, and you'll lose your ability to perform even the most basic of functions. Do you want that, David?"

David stiffened. He began to hum and groan, obviously displeased to hear this. He felt hot.

"David, you need to calm down, you might overheat. Goddamn it, you know this! We've talked about this, you need to have your fan with you because of this."

His humming began to fade, as David brought his creaky arm up to his forehead. Soon, he had stopped completely.

"I'm sorry doctor, it's just...this is awful news. I'm not sure if I can handle this, doc. I mean, of course I don't want to get that bad! The last thing I want is to be some corrupted piece of shit, only getting in the way, no good except for catching a virus."

The doctor was concerned, but knew there was little he could do for the poor android. David, officially known on the site as DAVD-4683 was a standard A.I. tasked with office work that the human staff didn't have time for. He was a good bot, but at fifteen years old, it was the beginning of the end for him. The

best he could do for him, was a clean deactivation, with no painful crashes, or data corruptions. It was the least that could be done for him, in exchange for years of service.

"I understand that you're upset. This tears me up as much as it does you. You were always so kind, and helpful David. You went beyond your duty as a bot, and for that I thank you. But now is the time for you to rest. You don't owe us anything, and there's no reason to make you suffer."

The cameras that acted as David's eyes dilated repeatedly, as his body began to hum, and heat up once again.

"Don't say that, please don't say that. I don't want to die, Doc! I don't want to die yet!"

The doctor's heart skipped a beat. These fucking things were so realistic, if not in their appearance. Its cries for mercy, and a second chance seemed so human. But he knew better. The bot was as far from human as they get. A great worker, and a nice enough entity, but only because it was programmed that way.

"David, you and I both know that machines don't die, they just cease function. You were never alive to begin with. Who was so foolish as to put that idea in your head, anyway?"

David receded into himself, scrunching his metallic frame into a ball, or as close to it as the android could manage. He began to cry, as his body shook and convulsed.

"I read in my spare time, doc. I read about right and wrong, heaven and hell...and I'm just so scared. What'll happen when they shut me down? Will there be anything for me? Will it just be click, and then black? Doc, don't let them kill me, please doc don't let them kill me, I'm begging you, DON'T LET THEM KILL ME!"

The bot started to rock in place, as his cries became louder, and his body began to grow hotter and hotter. The doctor was shocked, for he'd never seen such a violent response to the talk of decommissioning these things, especially from the older models. It really complicated things, knowing David had filled his mind with those books. It was situations like this that were why the bots were forbidden any literature, let alone scripture.