Code: Family

Welcome to Newer Metro, the product of science and the consequence of greed. Once a thriving mega-city that would advocate for change as well as the environment, now reduced to graveyards of mechs and droids assigned to assist humanity. Almost a lifetime ago, Ives’ Corp introduced a new AI form of technology. Arthur Ives’ research was dedicated to the advancement of robotics that would undoubtedly benefit mankind. He built the perfect empire...

...how mightily did he fall.

“What did you do?!”, Artie demanded as soon as they walked into my garage. “Kelly, are you crazy?”, they added in a strained whisper. I scoffed and continued to tinker with the old droid that was laid across my workbench.

“What do you think?”, I glared, daring them to say something.

Their eyes widened and they put their hands up in surrender, “Whatever, girl. Just so you know though, if you get caught with that hunk of junk you’re on your own.” Rolling their eyes, Artie sat down in their chair at the opposite side of the garage. They had set to nervously fiddling with their bomber jacket. I shook my head, amused, and shifted my focus onto my project. This was the first time either of us had seen an Ives’ droid this close. We were taught the same set of rules, of course, but I had the troubling philosophy that in the name of science: rules are meant to be broken.

As I finished fusing the last wires together, a dreadful chill crept down my spine-- my neck twitched from side to side, trying to relieve it. C’mon, Kelly, focus. Pushing the uneasiness aside, I slid the mainframe’s panel shut and refastened the bolts. The clock above Artie clicked, tick tock tick. Kicking off of the workbench, I rolled over to my desk, stopping at my computer. Using a backdoor Artie had taught me, I booted up the droid’s system and studied the strings of codes and programs. Most of the files were corrupted, others were missing completely.

“A factory reset?” I muttered, thinking out loud. Artie caught it though and it had grabbed their attention. They came up behind me to look over the files I was referring to, Artie mumbled to themself and set to introducing a new code to the system. As they clicked away, I fiddled with my locket, smoothing my thumb over the heart’s edges. When Ives’ Corp first introduced their droids to the city, it was just New Metro back then, my parents worked in the factories. They knew the ins and outs of each hunk of metal, and their work was the heart of who they were; it consumed them, and left no room for anything else, not even me.

“Kelly?”, Artie snapped their fingers in front of my face, effectively sealing off that dark tunnel. I met their stare and glared. “Don’t give me that look. Check this out.” I followed their gesture and watched the screen as they ran the new code. The screen blinked.

REBOOT SYSTEM: [Y/N] ?

We glanced at each other, the glow of the screen brightened their charcoal eyes-- or was it anticipation? I nodded and we sat there with baited breaths as Artie entered “Y.” Immediately, the droid whirred to life and the two of us jumped and spun to face the our actions. We powered up a droid. The weight of what we did hit Artie like a tsunami, and they slumped to the floor, tugging on their curls. While they muttered panicked whispers to themself, I approached the workbench, intently watching the stilled droid for any signs of life or aggression. As I got closer I noticed that its optics were switched on and the green “pupils” were scanning the garage’s ceiling. When I got to close, its optics switched to me, the edges sliding down to give them a narrowed effect as it sat up. The suddenness of the motion made me flinch and its optics blinked to red. Quickly, I raised my hands and allowed the droid to scan me and the rest of my garage. I heard Artie whimper as the red glow landed on them.

“Easy, Mr. Roboto, we’re not a threat.” My voice was shaky but I pressed on, “My name’s Kelly Steele, what’s yours?” The droid looked back to me and returned to the original green optics, though they remained constricted. I could feel Artie’s bewildered glare behind, but still, “Or what’s your serial number?” I stepped closer, keeping my hands up.

It let out a few beeps then, “Humanoid Assistant No. 0574-k.” I exhaled, then smiled, it was wobbly at best but I knew from my research HA’s responded best to “polite” reactions. They were programmed to treat manners and generosity as human nature, recognizing these traits created a subliminal “ideal man.” Very Get Out of Ives’, if you ask me.

“its nice to meet you, that’s kind of a mouthful so I’m just gonna call you Hank, alright?”

“Hank.”, it blinked once. “Yes, I do see how it is more aesthetically pleasing.” Against my better nature, I chuckled and behind me, Artie stifled a laugh. More docile now, Hank scanned the garage again out of curiosity. “Your laboratory seems to be lacking the basic equipment needed to repair my circuits. I will not be a very useful assistant to you without proper updates.”

Artie stood up now, only to return to the computer, “Kelly there already did what she could with your mainframe, but yeah, your circuits are fried and your hard drive is no better off. its a miracle we even brought you back online.” I took it that the last bit was more directed to themself than Hank and I.

“As to be expected.” Hank moved to stand, instinctively I reached out to steady its wobbly posture, “Ives’ protocol entails resetting, corrupting, and recycling a malfunctioning humanoid. Part of the procedure requires completely rendering any valuable or incriminating hardware useless.” With a heavy droid leaning on me, Artie and I stared at each other equal levels of terrified and apprehensive, respectively.

“Incriminating?!”, we echoed.

We sat in shock and awe as Hank began to explain its history and how deep Ives’ illegal ties were set in Newer Metro. All the while I grounded myself by fiddling with my locket, which had caught Hank’s attention more than once.

“Why is that in your possession?” Hank tilted its head and eyed the locket.

“What, this?” I unclasped the chain and handed the necklace to it, “My mom gave it to me before she died, so “our hearts will always be close.” That’s what I called hugs, it’s dumb.” I looked down at my old sneakers and Artie placed their hand on my shoulder in solitude.

Hank fiddled with the heart for a moment before-- click. A USB popped out of the side of the “locket” and Hank approached the computer, an eerie blue light illuminated its optics. It inserted the flash drive, opening a file labeled: BACKUP AND RESTORE. It had happened too fast, Artie scrambled to stop Hank, who with clicking “open” had set off a chain reaction in Newer Metro. Sirens had tore through the air, complemented with the sounds of mechs and old appliances roaring to life. The power had gone out and Hanks optics blinked green once more, casting a chilling glow across the garage. Artie immediately shut off the droid and “finished what Ives started”, removing all of Ives’ Corp protocol and sleeping triggers.

That was over three months ago. Now our little family has adopted another mech, a errand bot Artie named Rover. The four of us now work tirelessly to pay penance for our actions and undo Ives’ final attacks from behind a broken screen. Everyday, Hank becomes more and more surprising, like replacing the cursed flash drive in my mother’s locket with a hologram of Artie and him teaching Rover how to fetch. “Now your loved ones are closest to your heart.” And under the glow of what could be our last sunset, I smile.