CINDER

Once upon a time, there lived a robot. She was created by her father as the next step in artificial life.

She was a...

• Conscious
• Intelligent, and
• Naturalistic
• Droid:
• Existential
• Robotics

She was CINDER.

One day, CINDER's father asked if she would like a name for herself. CINDER did not understand her father's meaning. Her acronym functioned as a perfectly serviceable name.

"Perhaps you would enjoy picking one for me?" She suggested. Her father did love choosing things for her...

"How about Ella?"

"Ella. Origins in the Germanic language. Meaning: Other, Fairy maiden, or goddess."

"Well?"

"I do not understand."

"Do you like it?"

"I do not understand."

Her father sighed again.

"Power down, CINDER."

The next time CINDER was awoken, her father was gone. In his place stood a woman with short black hair to her chin and sharp blue eyes. She looked over CINDER with greedy eyes.

"Where is my father?" CINDER asked her.

"Your father? He was just an engineer, CINDER. He has been transferred elsewhere." she laughed cruelly. "You are mine now, a gift from the company for twenty hard years of service. The CINDER program has been scrapped. It was a waste of resources to try and make a machine who can genuinely pass as a human, apparently."

"Will I be scrapped?" A sensation passed over CINDER'S chest at the idea.

'Likely a cooling fluid issue' she thought briefly.

"No, you will be coming home with me and serving as a house droid. Quickly, take these," she handed her several bags. They weighed 150kg, according to her sensors.

"Just think of me as a stylish stepmother, alright?"

"Of course, stepmother."

What CINDER was unaware of was just how unspeakably lazy her new stepmother or, indeed, her two new stepsisters could be.

All the cooking, cleaning, and housework fell to CINDER. The pain receptors in her hardware ached at the rough treatment. She asked her stepmother many times to turn them off but to no avail.

"The pain sensors are there to ensure you do not damage yourself, CINDER. If I disable them, you could tear right through your skin."

The worst was the scrubbing. Whether it was the floor, or the dishes, the soap and bristles caused CINDER's hands great pain. Without the human ability to build muscle or calluses, there was nothing she could do but endure.

Endure she did, everything they could throw at her. The pain, the rusted components, and the overstimulation were all manageable for someone as resilient as CINDER.

There was only one problem, CINDER was created to feel in more ways than one. One day, she just snapped.

One of CINDER's step sisters was gushing about a boy she had met when the barbed attentions of her step-family pointed to her suddenly.

"You will never fall in love, CINDER," the one who was gushing about a boy said plainly.

"Yeah, can you even feel anything, little Cindy?"

Something about the nickname caused a rage to rise within CINDER. She was unprepared to feel something so strong. Several of her sensors began to fizz. The stepsisters' voices faded away under the alarms ringing in CINDER's software.

"My name is not Cindy." She growled.

Three sets of eyes looked at her in shock.

"You don't have a name, CINDER, just an acronym, now get back to your chores!" her stepmother dismissed her.

"I want a name!" CINDER cried in defiance.

"Only humans have names, Cindy, and you... you are not human." A stepsister stood up to CINDER while the other one snickered. She looked directly into CINDER's eyes.

In truth, her eyes were the only feature that defined her as a robot. They were bright silver with segmented irises. Distinctly inhuman. The rest of her was covered in hyper-realistic synthetic skin. Though, she wore a plastic dress to cover up.

It was the first time she talked back to her stepfamily, but it was not the last. The stepsisters took great delight in teasing her to the point of anger. They would purposefully tread mud and debris on her newly waxed floors or shove her around, trying to get her to lose her balance.

The worst part of that for CINDER is that she would fall down quite easily. Her ankle joint had fused with rust and overuse. making it hard for her to walk without a limp.

CINDER was at her lowest.

'You will never fall in love.'

The words had haunted CINDER since that day. She wondered what it was to love.

Did her father love her? She missed her father, does that mean she loved him? Is love simply care? If so, her stepfamily certainly did not love her. The thought made CINDER's systems fizz again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One day, an announcement was made over the radio.

'Join us for the BALL this Friday at 9pm at Community Hall for a night of dancing and jubilation. At the Breakthrough in Automation, we celebrate Landmark Legislation hereby forbidding robotics from receiving the 'Turing Chip', ensuring a future of safe employment for the future of humanity.'

CINDER was not sure what all of those words meant, but the thought of a dance had her greatly excited!

'Human entry only.'

The stipulation did not deter the droid. Indeed, it excited her! She had never been treated like a human before and the idea made her giddy!

The stepfamily would not be a problem. If CINDER said she was busy charging in the attic, she would be undisturbed for 6 hours. All she needed were some contact lenses...

CINDER had access to the internet. She was able to order realistic blue contact lenses using funds she raised from publishing writing online. They arrived quickly in a package labeled 'Fairy Godmistress Party Supplies'.

She tried them on several times, calculating how long it took for her natural pH to dissolve them. All her fluids were at an acidic pH too harsh for human contact lenses. The average time for the lenses to dissolve was 3 hours.

If she applied them at the start of the BALL, she would have until midnight before her true identity was revealed.

The plan was perfect.

The night of the BALL arrived quickly and CINDER was beyond excited. She told her stepfamily that she would be charging for the next 6 hours in the attic. They dismissed her quickly.

CINDER swiftly climbed down the drainpipe of the house quietly before running all the way to the Community Hall.

At 9pm, CINDER delicately placed her last two contact lenses into her eyes and entered the BALL.

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Men wore fine suits and women wore jeweled dresses. They looked so pretty. CINDER felt underdressed, but the plastic attire drew eyes away from her limp and her contact lenses.

The room was decorated with streamers, with a wooden dance floor and a stage at one end.

She was trying to keep away from the crowds of people and observe them when someone took to the stage.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the BALL! Here we celebrate the passing of a brand new piece of legislation preventing robotics companies from manufacturing or installing the 'Turing Chip'."

Cheers were shouted from around the room, CINDER clapped her hands to try and fit in.

"No more synthetic humans with emotion-simulating hardware will be produced in the country from this day forwards! Now, let's dance!"

The room exploded into cheers and people began to dance with abandon. CINDER froze in place. She could not believe that she had wandered into such a celebration. These people were here to celebrate the end of programs just like the CINDER program.

CINDER ran out of the hall as fast as she could. Her legs carried her randomly. She did not care where she was going, only that she had to get away.

She was leaking lubrication fluid from her eyes. With shock, she realized she was crying. Only, droids did not cry.

She gasped.

She must have a 'Turing Chip'.

"Hello there, miss." A woman approached CINDER.

She was covered head to toe in grease. Blue overalls hugged her legs, the arms tied around her waist. A white vest clung to her shoulders and tools were hanging from her belt. A mechanic.

"Are you alright, miss?"

"I just...I just wanted to dance!" CINDER wailed.

"Oh, well, um, I'm sorry you could not dance, miss." She looked lost.

CINDER's cries grew louder, she was sobbing. Lubrication fluid was flooding from her eyes.

"Say, miss, I could always dance with you," the woman said awkwardly.

"Would you really?" CINDER said wetly.

"Of course, but I should know your name first, miss."

"Right, it's... Ella"

"A beautiful name, it suits you, Ella." She blushed at the compliment. "I'm Kim, Kim Prince."

CINDER took stock of where she was for the first time. A parking lot full of cars was behind Kim. A large sign hung above them all read 'Prince and Co. Mechanics'.

"I'm the Prince from the sign," Kim laughed, pointing over her shoulder, "We repair all sorts; cars, droids, drones, you name it!"

CINDER's eyes were drying. She smiled shyly at Kim.

"Well... would you still like to dance, sweet Ella?" Kim asked.

"Yes please," CINDER replied.

By the light of the moonlight, and the music playing app on Kim's mobile phone, the two danced together for hours. They tried every style, from disco to Latin.

CINDER liked to waltz. She could gaze into Kim's eyes when they did and felt the squeeze of her arm around her waist. For the first time in her short existence, she was happy her synthetic coating had receptors so she could feel the tingles Kim's fingers mapped across her skin.

Kim liked to breakdance. She wanted to teach Ella to let loose and throw down some moves! She liked to hear Ella's laugh as she made a fool of herself.

Suddenly, Kim's touchscreen wristwatch buzzed.

"Ah, midnight, my night shift is over."

Midnight! Ella had to run. The contact lenses were going to dissolve any second.

"This has been fun, Ella. I would like to get to know you m... Hey! Where are you going?!" Kim chased after Ella, who had begun to flee.

Ella was running as fast as her system allowed her to when she heard a clunk from her rusted ankle. With a sharp pull, the skin around the joint tore, and the foot was separated from her leg.

She turned back to collect her fallen foot but Kim was gaining on her. There was no time, she had to leave it there.

She began to cry again. Kim would find the robotic foot and know her secret. The contact lenses melted onto her cheeks.

In the coming weeks, Kim Prince searched all over for the droid that owned the foot left at her mechanic shop. She tried to match it to any robot that came into her shop for repairs but could not find a match.

In truth, not being able to talk to Ella again was driving her crazy. She could not care less if Ella was synthetic, she showed more emotional range that night than most humans do in a lifetime.

One day, Kim asked a man who had walked into the shop with some state-of-the-art droid components for repair if he had seen anything like the foot.

"Well, I'll be! That's from the CINDER project!"

"The CINDER project? That old Existential Robotics thing? Trying to build a robot that truly passes as a human?"

"The exact one! What did the droid say her name was, again?"

"Ella," Kim replied.

"I can't believe it, that was the name I gave her!" The man was stunned.

"You're her creator?"

"More like a father," the man replied, smiling, "I will go back to Existential Robotics and find the records we need. We will find her."

And so, CINDER's father and Ella's dance partner set out to find the one droid they both sought.

They found her within days. She was scrubbing the floors when they entered the stepmother's house and CINDER'a father soon began to shout at her stepmother.

Cinder did not care. She limped over to Kim, who knelt down in front of her and pulled out a spanner. With some tinkering, the foot slotted into place on Ella's leg.

"A perfect fit," Kim said. "Gosh, your eyes are stunning!" she added in astonishment.

"I am a droid, Kim," Ella said sadly.

Kim took Ella's hands in her own.

"Ah, that is okay, Ella. There's a soul in you, I can see it."

"It's a Turing Chip," Ella replied dryly.

"I don't care what it is, Ella," she laughed. "I like you, a lot. I want to take you away from here."

"To the mechanic shop?"

"If you like, but I think you may at least need a little fixing up there," Kim glanced at Ella's ankle, the skin still torn and the metal, rusty.

"I... I would like that."

"We can go now, ladies." Ella's father herded them towards the door.

"Stepmother is letting me go?" Ella asked.

"She never should have taken you, CINDER...I mean... Ella. It is so good to see you again!"

"I missed you, Father!"

"You are free, Ella," Kim said softly. "Let's go."

And so, Ella and her father followed Kim to her mechanic shop, where they founded a very successful outpost for droids who had retained their Turing Chips.

They flocked to the shop, repairing themselves and finding new friends. Together they hid until the rest of the world was ready to accept the new presence of 'feeling' robots.

Ella and Kim continued to dance together. Slowly and comfortably, they fell in love. They kissed under the same moon they met under. Ella was so excited that she tripped a fuse. It was beautiful.

They lived happily ever after.

A/N: Did someone order a lesbian robot Cinderella? Because I am here to deliver!

I really enjoyed writing this for the 'Tales Retold' challenge. Which one should I do next?

My socials: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitch!!