Emily's Secret

15. Sal's house

I cried. I couldn't help it. I was overcome with emotion upon seeing my father. My father was very emotional also. He seemed so happy to see me. My father explained that the news reported that my mother was found dead in our house, and I was reported missing. He said he was very sorry about my mom, but was so relieved that I made it to his house, safely. My mom always said my dad was a loser, but he didn't appear that way to me.

After we got that emotional stuff out of the way, I gathered myself together and tried to clear up some more things.

"Are you ROARK1943?" I asked him.

"Yes, that's me." He said. And then he took a dime out of his pocket, held it up in front of him, and let go. Instead of the dime dropping to the floor, it hovered in the air! My dad had the same telekinetic power that I had.

"But you should be careful about using your power near advanced model robots, it can damage their AI chip," he said. And then he looked knowingly at Rob and Cherry, who backed off.

"I guess there's something I should tell you," he continued. "Your companions are robots."

"Oh, I already know that!" I said, feeling proud of my knowledge.

My dad smiled. "How did you find out?" he asked.

And then I told my father about the robot detector. Unlike most people, whose eyes glaze over if I try to explain the more technical details of the project, my father was very interested, and asked me some knowledgeable questions about what types of software algorithms I was using.

"I"m glad to see that you inherited my engineering aptitude, as well as my telekinetic power and my unfortunate predisposition for weighing too much," he said, patting his large stomach to emphasize his unfortunate predisposition for weighing too much.

"I didn't know you were an engineer," I said. "I thought you were just a truck driver."

"I promise to tell you the story later," he said. "But first, how about a meal? Are you hungry?"

"Yes!" I said. "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"I have a great robochef, it will cook anything you ask for, that I have ingredients for," he said. And then he shouted, "Robochef! Come here!"

A robot walked into the living room. "How can I help you?" asked the robochef.

"Can you make a salad?" I asked.

"Yes," said the robot. "What kind of salad would you like?"

And then my father cut in. "It can make a great grilled chicken salad with walnuts and cranberries. How does that sound?"

"It sounds great!" I said.

"And would you like some freshly baked bread with that?" my father also asked.

"Sure!" I said, not believing my good luck. How did my father afford all of these luxuries?

"It will probably take about twenty minutes," my father said. "While we're waiting, let me give you a tour of the house."

So I followed my dad, and the first place he took me too was his garage, but instead of housing a car, it was full of robots and electronics! Some of the robots were standing at attention, and there were many disassembled robot parts. There were robot heads, robot arms and legs, robot torsos, various electronic circuitry, computer screens,

"This is my robot lab," he said. "It's where I repair and reprogram them."

"Wow" was all I could say.

Then he showed me the other rooms of the house.

"This is the extra bathroom, feel free to take a shower after dinner, if you want to."

"This is my extra bedroom, it's yours for as long as you need to stay here."

"This is where I keep extra robots parts that I don't have room for in the garage," he said, of a small bedroom that had been turned into a big storage closet for robot parts.

"I still don't understand why there are so many robots in your house," I said.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything, I promise," he said. "Let's go see if the robochef is done cooking that grilled chicken for your salad."

I began to feel bad for Rob and Cherry, who must have been feeling left out.

"Dad," I said, "Rob and Cherry are more than just robots, they have feelings, you can't just treat them like they're machines."

My father looked very thoughtful. Then he turned to them and said, "Hello Rob and Cherry, my name is Salvatore, you can call me Sal. Some of my friends call me 'Big Sal,' but just Sal will do fine."

They proceeded to engage in some small-talk, and then I remembered Mercedes who was parked outside. "I also have to introduce you to Mercedes, that's our car. She's like Rob and Cherry."

I walked outside, with my dad and Rob and Cherry following.

"Emily," said Mercedes, "I'm so glad you found your father. Rob has kept me updated about what was going on inside."

My dad had a conversation with Mercedes, then we went back inside and I ate a delicious dinner. Having your own robochef is so great. Then dad showed Rob and Cherry where they could plug in to recharge their batteries. I took that shower in the extra bathroom. Unfortunately I didn't have any clothes except the ones I was wearing, but dad assured me that we would take care of that tomorrow.

"Let's get a good night's sleep'," my dad said, "and then when we're all fresh in the morning, we can exchange stories, and decide on our course of action."