M.A.I.D.S. [season 1]

Episode 14: Killing Time

M.A.I.D.S. Episode 14 – Killing Time

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May 13, 2175 at 0711

At 0600 my owner, Pandora, roused me for morning exercise.  We ran several laps around the perimeter of the Batcave.  After our run we shared the shower in Adam’s room.  Pandora insisted on this because the only other shower is in the exercise room, where Monroe is asleep.  I did not understand the conflict.

My owner explained it to me in this manner:  Adam owns Pandora and Pandora owns me, therefore I am also Adam’s property.  Pandora said that this fact made it acceptable to shower where Adam would see, but not where Monroe would.  I find this to be an alien notion, but I must comply with my master’s orders.

Pandora instructed me to record my thoughts while she prepared breakfast.  She told me that I will learn to think freely by entering my thoughts into my computer.  The skillsets I was imprinted with do not include “thinking freely.”  It is not a function of reproduction, so I am confused as to why Pandora wants me to do it.  So she commands, I am obligated to obey.

As I understand it, Pandora intends to prove that all modern Synthias have the capacity for independent thought.  Through this, she seems to want to liberate Synthias, though I do not understand why.  Synthias were created to prolong the existence of humanity on Earth.  To liberate them would be to needlessly endanger humanity.

Pandora ordered me to select for myself a name, as one was not imprinted on me during my creation.  I do not know how to choose an appropriate name.  I should choose something descriptive, either of my physical attributes or my limited skillsets, as that would be a practical and functional name.  To please my owner, however, I will study human names to see if I can find one that suits me while being more to her liking.

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“Are you finished, dear?” Pandora asked as her Synthia set aside the computer gauntlet that Pandora had provided for her.  It wasn’t a flashy model, but rather a very basic one.  It was the sort of gauntlet that a typical Synthia would wear to manage simple tasks as needed.  This fact bothered Pandora, but there was no way to provide anything better to her Synthia while the group was locked in the Batcave.

I want my Synthia to feel like a person, not an item.

“Why do you cook?” the Synthia asked Pandora.  The table was spread with fresh bacon, grits, hard-boiled eggs, biscuits, an assortment of jams and spreads, as well as homemade crepes.  It was a decent feast considering the limited resources of Adam’s well-stocked refrigerator.

“I cook because I can, and I am very good at it.  I cook because, from everything I have read, in bygone times it was the duty of the partner who stayed at home to cook.  I want Adam to view me as his partner, his wife, and not his property,” Pandora replied cheerfully.  Her Synthia only nodded vaguely.

“That makes sense, based upon my limited knowledge of pre-World War III relationships and technology.  Which, I admit, is limited at best.  You and I were created as a means toward an end—to keep humanity alive.  I do not understand why you would seek to change society in such a way that would endanger the continued existence of the species,” the Synthia replied.  Pandora sat down, dumbfounded, and watched her Synthia take a sensible portion of the food and dig in.  It ate mechanically, showing no pleasure in the delicious fare Pandora had prepared.  Pandora stared intently, trying to see past those vacant eyes, looking for any hint of emotion deeper than the simple satisfaction of fulfilling one’s primal need to survive.

One’s primal need to survive, Pandora thought derisively.  She rolled her eyes and tucked her hair back out of the way so she could eat.  Humanity has found its way to survive.  I want to see others like me be given the opportunity to share in that survival, to live.