How to Teach Your Robot to Love

Step 1: Learn about who your robot is.

  My parents inform us we're moving like they tell us it's time for dinner. This is mostly due to the fact that dinner only happens approximately 400 times more often. If you aren't capable of math, that's moving a little over once each year. My parents have always enjoyed changing location. They're both very spontaneous. There are a few reasons for that I suppose.    

  Louise, a foster child, who never grew weary of changing homes, and wanted one that'd move with her. A short and stout woman with fiery hair and a pair of thick glasses. She's an academic at heart, having deep knowledge in sciences and mathematics, but also kindled my love of literature at 3. 

  Laura, her wife, is a fair bit slimmer than Louise, but they're the same height. Everyone finds it adorable or something. She has dirty blond hair that she keeps back. Laura's empathetic and jovial, like any mother should be. She was raised a catholic, told she was supposed to spend her time alone, praying, and wasn't convinced of this. So she ran away from home, and lived with her best friend, who she fell in love with.

  They eventually got married and lived for a while in complete disorganization, never staying in one place for more than a month. After a year of travelling the world they decided they wanted to bring another into their crazy life. So they adopted a princess from the Dominican Republic, her name is Audrey. They actually adopted her second, but she always goes first. Always. 

  She's not actually a princess, obviously, despite her name meaning 'noble strength'. She's simply my little sister, but she has the beauty and poise of a true princess. She's well-liked by almost everyone she meets. She's tall, curvaceous, with rich brown curls, mystifying dark eyes and an entrancing smile. A very social creature, who follows trends and tends to like...way too many things. 

  At least if you ask the first child they adopted, who is, in fact, a robot. At least that's what I've been called many times before. That doesn't bother me, as long as people don't bother me, they may say whatever they want about me. Not that I have the power to grant them, or not grant them that permission. My actual name is Ida, and I was adopted as an infant 16 years ago. Two years after the princess. Most have trouble processing the fact that we're siblings. That's understandable, as we share no resemblance with regards to appearance or personality. 

  I myself am short, with vaguely wavy, jet black hair and blue eyes. I always wear a pair of thick-rimmed, black glasses. Unlike the princess, I don't have a "hot body". Whatever the hell that means. I'm an introvert, but I believe that more to be an avoidance of spending time with idiots.

  Moving makes this difficult, but it gives me a bit of hope that I won't hate the new place as much as I did that last. I wish that had been true at least once, but alas, there's no hope for tolerating everything. Despite the dread of a new place and therefore new people that will try and talk to me, the trip there is always pleasant. I forget the general discomfort of where I was, and I'm not disappointed by our relocation yet. 

  We had just been living in a city called Sullivan. Its library had a fair selection, the school was half decent, and my parents liked the vaguely urban feel. However, one can only spend so much time in a city where the majority of the population thinks you're going to hell for your sin of having a nice family that doesn't meet their silly requirements. Those being: 1 rich husband, 1 stay-at-home wife, and daughters that will become the bitches of the males who decide to acquire them. 

  Our destination this time, is a small town called Princely. It has a pretentious name, but from the research my mothers have done, it seems fairly pleasant. It also, has a library and the school was small, and there was a small down town area in walking distance of where we were going to live.

  I don't want to think of Princely at this point, that will have to wait until it is upon me. Dreading things before they happen never does anyone any good, it just makes you feel shitty about it for longer. 

  We're not far now, the landscape flies by like it's trying to escape us. The sun creeps through the trees and illuminates just the top of my head. The princess scrolls through her various social networks, clinging to the friends she had left. Laura and Louise were in a conversation that I was tuning out with my novel.

  My chosen literature today was a piece about the decent of humans into madness represented by children on an island. I read it every time I move somewhere new. Mostly because it's small, and convenient to carry with my other possessions. It's also a well written piece, that reminds me about the world I'm up against. The humans that make me hate being part of their race, and the glimmers of light that keep us from eternal darkness. 

  I close my novel expectantly, sensing that it will come soon. Just as I do, my predictions are fulfilled. 

"Put away your distractions girls, it's time for the pep talk" says Louise. 

"Oh my god Louise, again?" The princess groaned.

"Yes again Audrey, this is important" said Laura, she seemed hurt. 

"Well yeah, but it's the same every fucking time" Audrey whined. 

"Watch it Missy!" Louise snapped.

She paused, then let out a breath, beginning the speech.

"Laura and I know that it's tough moving so much. I get over it every time, you know why girls? Because you're fighters, and you get through it every time. You make your way, and come through like real champs, just like I know you will this time. We'll warn you again, as we always do: don't go around making the wrong friends. Surround yourself with people that care about you, and want you to be happy. We don't worry about you, don't make us have to. Don't waste this time girls, be smart, be kind, be loving, be brave, be you, and have fun." said Louise 

"The moving van is here in an hour and the movers will do the unloading. We're going to stay and get the house ready, but you girls should go look around." Laura suggested with a smile.

I shrugged "I suppose there isn't much of an alternative".

"Glad to see you're excited to hang out with me sis" The princess said sarcastically. 

  I shrugged again, and climbed out of the minivan that has been my home for the day. The need to to stretch was immediate, and extending my limbs was a feeling too pleasant to describe. I let out a sigh of relief, solid ground was dearly missed. Audrey raised an eyebrow. I suppose I must have looked weird, but she I and I both knew that I didn't care. 

  She was looking at the house, which on the outside looked homey. The siding was old wood, painted pale yellow long enough ago that it might just flake off in a bad windstorm. It was a detached house, but it looked like someone had taken a townhouse out of its complex; it was tall, and narrow, with 4 floors. There were many windows, with dark red, wooden shudders, and the entirety of the house had been over grown with ivy. The roof was slanted, and had forest green shingles. The house wasn't in the middle of nowhere, but our new neighbours would have to walk about 10 meters to get to our house. There were no sidewalks, just an old road, not dirt, but needing to be paved, houses on either side. All the houses on this street were unique, but it had a weird kind of unity that way. The street fed into the main road in the Princely, where anything decent was located. So that was our assumed destination. 

"You ready to go?" she asked

"Yes, yes be patient" I said absentmindedly. 

  I finished and looked to Louise and Laura.

"You girls heading out?" Laura asked. 

"Indeed" I said, walking to the end of the driveway. 

"Alright, be safe!" Laura called to us as we distanced ourselves from the new house.

  Be safe? Well, if I knew what I was getting into I wouldn't have gone.