BANE: avenge

chapter 16

After I agreed to them accompanying me, we agreed on setting out for East London the following day due to half of that day already being consumed. We ate dinner, & retired to our dormitories.

I awoke as the light filtered through the window & onto my face, & I sighed, waiting for my IEMP to completely wake up & adjust to being out of the dream-land. I tried to recall what it had been that I dreamed, but failed, I could not remember in the least.

I heard a knock on the door & decided it was probably the maid-bot, due to the perfection of the knock, perfectly spaced apart raps on the door.

It came in after I commanded it to, & it delivered its message to me on a slip of parchment. The writing informed me that they (Pippin & Simply Edward) were currently waiting on me in the dining room.

I thanked the bot, despite my doubts that she could understand me, & dressed. Putting on a simple dress, black, with no pattern on it & mutton sleeves, I grabbed my simple black trench coat & shrugged it on. Looking in the mirror, I noticed the thoughtful frown I was wearing & flipped it upside down into a smile.

Cheerfully, I turned to the maid-bot, which was still waiting, hopeful that today's adventures would turn out for the better. I looped my arm in hers & started walking out the door, hoping that this also would turn out well. She got into the swing of walking in such a way quite quickly, & soon we were getting along fairly well. I readily took it as a sign that it would turn out splendidly that day.

I almost tripped going down the stairs, but by that time, the maid-bot had learned my way of walking so well that she caught me as I tripped, calculating everything before-hand. I was astounded at what I had created. I smiled so widely I thought my mouth would burst. If I had known, I might have been able to use her to help me fix Margaret. My smile dimmed at the memory of Margaret. Would I see her again?

Leaving her like that. perchance I should have stayed one more day. perchance I could take the maid-bot with me if I returned & repair her, could I not? Margaret would have known what to do in this situation.

This maid-bot. I did not know her name. Had Simply Edward never mentioned it? Was he the type of person that did not deem robots worthy of being named or had he never considered doing so? It should be the first thing I asked him when I saw him today, I resolved.

The maid bot & I pushed open the door to see the two men chatting over a cup of tea. The maid-bot beeped in what conveyed surprise, & printed out something.

Simply Edward stood up in surprise, almost knocking down his chair as he rushed to get the paper. He ripped it from the printing mouth as read it, his mouth dropping while his eyes widened.

Finally, he opened his mouth, stuttering.

“S-she talked! She has conveyed a message to me in the paper! She overrode the settings & printed out something!"

“She did?” I looked at the slip of parchment in his hand & looked over it slowly.

“You know how to prepare tea, Master Edward?” I read out loud.

The maid-bot make beeping sounds. They sounded very much like what I had just said! I repeated the phrase.

“You know how to prepare tea, Master Edward?"

“J-you-u k-nnow-- h-ouw t-to prepare tea, Master Edward?” she finished the last few words pretty well. Then, I laughed - she was saying it in my voice! That was exactly how my voice sounded to others! Simply Edward, or Master Edward, as the maid-bot called him, frowned. I stopped laughing.

“What is the matter, Simply Edward?"

The maid-bot repeated this sentence flawlessly.

“It has learnt to talk in a matter of second between learning how to print out what it wanted to say & actually vocalising it. It is inhuman."

“Well, she is a maid-bot, after all. Of course it is inhuman! Besides, she is merely repeating what I say, not actually wording everything & saying it completely by her own will."

The maid-bot mimicked this also.

“I suppose that is true, all the same, it makes me feel rather uncomfortable & incompetent that after all these years it should only develop these abilities when you arrived."

“I did create her, you know. I imagine that might have been quite a stimulus. She would have had to dig back into her earliest memories & shaping to have recognised me & Pippin, you see. It seems quite normal to me that she should have developed these abilities when we arrived. After all, does a little babe not learn most when surrounded by people?"

He blushed, & waited for the maid-bot to finish repeating my words.

“Well, I don't quite know, you see... I have not seen many babies in my time."

“Which proves my point. She has only been exposed to you during all this time, & I doubt that you talk out loud much while you are alone, therefore not giving her much chance to learn to speak. Also, I have something I had meant to ask you."

Waiting on her to finish the repetition, he answered.

“Yes, Ara?"

“Does she have a name?"

“A name?” both Pippin & Simply Edward chorused incredulously.

“Yes, a name! Is there something to call her?"

“Something to call me...” the maid-bot echoed.

Simply Edward blanched.

“I knew it! She has spoken of her own will! What has the world come to? Robots speaking of their own free will!"

“Does she have a name, though?"

“A name, though!” she said, varying the sound of the words.

“As far as I know, she does not have a name. I never gave her one, & the Earl never gave me a name to call her by. Also, I had never felt the need to call her by a name due to her being a droid. In fact, I had always called her an it despite her clearly female appearance. Did you ever give her a name?"

That was true, all the times I had heard him refer to her, it had been by it & not by her. I had called her a her without even questioning the matter. It seemed quite obvious to do so.

“No, I am afraid I did not give her a name. I figured that the Earl would give her a name he deemed appropriate."

“In that case, do give her a name. As her creator, I think it should be in your hands to name her appropriately, as you say."

“Me? I am no longer the owner! Surely it should be in your hands to name her, not mine!"

“I insist."

I thought of her pale "skin,” & the way he had blanched when she spoke for the first time & grinned.

“Blanche. Her name is Blanche."

She repeated it several times, as if getting a feel for it.

“Blanche! I like it!” she exclaimed.