A Long Forgotten Past

The estate towered among the dust and the ashes that surrounded it. Inside the Victorian house, its owner was reading a book in the living room. A small fire in the fireplace illuminated the room with a trembling feeble light. Fine carpets were laid on the floor, and the fire projected the shadow of the reader on some beautiful paintings. A red leather armchair was standing in the middle of the room, right in front of the fireplace. The reader was absorbed by a dusty old book. As his eyes flowed on the pages of the book, devouring every single word, an image started to take shape in his mind, an image of the world described by the book. A world so strange, so different from reality, that what he was reading could have even been fiction.  The reader laid the book on the old table next to the armchair and slowly walked towards a big window.

Looking outside, the reader was meditating, trying to imagine the absurd world described by the book...A world without robots! How was even possible to imagine the total absence of robots! A technological stone age! How could someone live without robots!

But the book was clear, and not just that book. Many other books told of a time when robots didn’t exist. The reader and his acquaintances had talked often about this, and none of them were able to even think of such a thing. A life without robots! What a sad life! A wasted life!

But why did he need to speculate, when he could have the most direct evidence? He called in his personal assistant. He said: “Unit 17, could you please come here?”. He returned to sit in his armchair as he heard the noise of the unit’s footsteps. He waited for the unit to position next to the armchair. The fire lit the number 17, imprinted on the unit. The unit asked: “Does the master have any request?”

“Yes unit 17, please tell me, what is your purpose?”

“The purpose of this unit is to serve the masters and to fulfil their requests”

“And what is the purpose of your fellow units?”

“The purpose of this unit’s fellow units is this unit’s purpose”

“Don’t you have any desire of yours?”

“This unit doesn’t understand the master’s question”

“What I am trying to say, seventeen, is: Have you ever wanted, for example, to create something?”

“The purpose of this unit is to serve the masters. The masters’ will is this unit will. The reason I was created in the masters’ laboratories is to fulfil the masters’ requests”

The reader said: “Very well unit 17, you may return to your duties”. As the unit left he returned once again to the window. He was thinking about the books stating that there was a time in which no robot existed.

Looking outside the windows, he could see the ground, covered by the ashes of a long forgotten war, the dark light of a sky obscured by vast grey clouds. Outside the estate, apart from some feeble leafless trees, there were just ashes, dust, and the void.

No, what that book said wasn't true, and now he had the proof: How could something without free will, something which can only carry out orders, something created in a laboratory, do such a thing. How could something only made of flesh and boes, create a robot !