Jeffrey

A collector bot stands just outside the forest line of the clearing surrounding the massive glass habitation dome. Two caretaker bots stand across from the collector in conversation over a wealth of human objects in its possession.

“This is human jewelry” the collector states, holding up a gold necklace with a heart-shaped locket. “Inside this compartment are depictions of more humans”, the collector continues.

“A curious shape …” mentions caretaker unit 218, a robot with an anthropomorphized body.

“It looks like a human ‘butt’, does it not?”, the collector speculates

“My human Jeffrey talks about human butts often …”, adds caretaker unit 234, a robot with spider-like legs extended from a large ball with a four-armed torso perched atop. “Perhaps butts had more significance before.”

“Yes, humans do enjoy speaking of butts and ‘ass’”, 218 affirms. “My human Starmallow enjoys pants. I would like to give her more pants.”

“I haven’t found more pants yet” the collector responds. “but I have a few decorative long-shirts”. The collector points toward a collection of tops with decorative fabrics extending past the waistline.

Inside the habitation dome Starmallow walks down a well-maintained sidewalk in front of an immaculately groomed suburban lawn, wearing fitted jeans and a length of fabric tied up with a large knot as a top. Beside her, Jeffery is wearing a white sleeveless long-shirt with a picture of a pug’s face on the front of it.

“oh no”, Jeffrey exclaims exhaustedly “Squiggles is in his yard again”

“just ignore him” Starmallow chastises “you do this every time! Do not engage with him!”

On the front lawn of one of the houses stands a towering man, so dense with muscle that his arms are fixed in a splayed position like an excited penguin. He stands naked behind a translucent barrier, ripping articles of clothing to shreds with his bare hands and laughing maniacally.

“Baby man!” Squiggles shouts at Jeffrey as he passes the barrier. “Hey little baby man! Hey! Look at me when I insult you Jeffrey!”

Jeffrey keeps his eyes forward, pretending to not hear Squiggles shouting at him. Squiggles then makes a series horrifying and startling shouting noises, spooking Jeffrey into looking over in shock.

“HAAAHAA”, Squiggles laughs “Did you pee yourself, little baby man?”

“You know what Squig!”, Jeffrey returns in anger and embarrassment. “You’re a real piece of work! This is why you live behind a fence!”

“Come to this side of the fence baby man” Squiggles says mockingly “I’ll show you a piece of work upside your ass!”

“What did I tell you?!” Starmallow scolds Jeffrey while leading him away from the encounter.

Jeffrey shudders with anger over the exchange as he and Starmallow walk up to the main gate of the habitation dome.

“I’m kinda hoping my caretaker comes back with some shirts”, Starmallow mentions “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like pants …”

“I’d like some pants” Jeffey interrupts.

“but sometimes I want some options for tops too, ya know” she continues.

“I’m going to make it to the forest this time!” Jeffrey states defiantly.

“again?!” Starmallow sighs. “You always do this. What’s so great out there?”

Jeffrey looks at Starmallow and furrows his brow.

“Why do they try to keep the outside from us?” He asks aggressively “don’t you want to know what’s beyond those trees? What about all those birds and things?”

“we have trees and birds, and things in the dome”, She replies condescendingly.

“But those are different trees, different birds”, Jefrey asserts as he returns his focus to the main gate. “I’m going to make it out there this time. You watch”

Starmallow looks at Jeffrey with concern. She sees him work himself up over so many trivial things every day. She thinks about how easy her life is. Good food multiple times a day, comfortable home and bed, safe outdoor areas to roam. And her Caretaker has this way of stroking her hair and massaging her back that leads to the most restful mid-day naps. Why can’t Jeffrey just accept how content he can be in the dome?

As her thoughts wander, the gate cracks open. Caretaker 218 and 234 stand on the other side with their objects that they acquired from the collector. In an instant, Jeffrey bursts through the gate with panicked laughter. He zig-zags across the clearing to shake off any pursuers without ever peeling his gaze from the forest. His goal. His freedom!

“Jeffrey no!” shouts 234 as the caretaker begins chasing him.

“Jeffrey!” 234 shouts “Jeffrey!”

Jeffrey makes it to the tree line and slips into the undergrowth.

“Jeeeffffreyy!”, 234 calls enticingly. “Come back boy! I’ve got meat loaf!”

218 catches up top 234 at the tree line.

“I sent a notification out over the network”, says 218. “Another unit will bring him back if he strays too far”

“He does this everytime!” 234 says somberly. “Am I a bad caretaker?”

“No!”, 218 reassures. “You are a great caretaker. Jeffrey is just high spirited. You know that.”

Jeffrey dashes through the forest undergrowth elated by his triumph. Darting between trees and laughing with joy. He did it! He made it into the forbidden wilds!

Years ago, the caretakers would take them on guided walks in the forest, enforcing strict zones for them to explore. They were the most exciting times, but it felt to Jeffrey like they were just expanding the cage. This is the outside of that cage, though! Jeffrey is in charge now.

The forest canopy shaded the sunlight and created this dappling of bright circles across the forest floor that draped across everything like twinkling lights. Sheer curtains of wispy sunlight hung from the foliage in places and danced with the wind. Birds chirped and harmonized in new ways. The plants had smells that couldn’t be defined with words. This was everything that Jeffrey could have hoped for and still more than he could imagine from inside the dome.

He wandered and drank in the new experiences like nectar, until the light grew dim, and he knew that he had a promise of meatloaf waiting for him. He turned around and confidently strode in the opposite direction … only … did he make a left turn at that tree?

“uh oh”, Jeffrey exclaimed.

He turned in place until he felt confident in a direction and focused on walking a straight path. The forest however, did not seem any more familiar; and as the light faded, the darkness brought fears. What dangers lurked in these woods? Is there a kind of animal that eats humans? Jeffrey stayed true on his path, believing that this strategy would lead him to something familiar. Soon he began to hear the distant whirring of machinery.

“That has to be home”, he thought.

As the sound of machinery grew louder, it became clear that this was not home. The noise became unnerving and soon grew into a cacophony. However, toward the noise, rays from the sunset poured in from the canopy. Seeing anything felt like a comfort.

Massive walls from a structure shot up through a clearing. Like a block of stone and metal that reached for the sky, perforated by squares of glass, mostly shattered and jagged. It is like a home, but ancient and choked with plant life. In the vermillion light of the evening, Jeffrey saw machines, like the caretakers, only very different. A gigantic machine was sheering metal from the structure of another of these ancient buildings. The sound was deafening. A smaller machine flying on rotating fan blades hovered around the area. The small machine stops suddenly and shines a spotlight at Jeffrey. Startled, Jeffrey runs for the tall structure. Its strong walls seemed safe.

“stop!” the hovering bot shouted “wait!”

Jeffrey kept running, making it into the shadows of the building and searching for the tightest corner. The bot can fly, so maybe if he should find a lower area …

He didn’t get far before the hovering bot spotted him again. Shining the spotlight in Jeffrey’s face as he backed himself into a corner.

“Do you speak English?”, the bot asked. “What’s your name?”

“Jeffrey”, he replies cautiously.

The bot lowers its spotlight to a dim glow. Its rotors reduce to a hum.

“There is a notification on the network that a dome lost a Jeffrey”, the bot says softly. “Are you from a dome?”

Jeffrey nods nervously

“Come with me, I can take you home”, the bot requests with a gentle voice as it turns to lead Jeffrey out of the crumbling building. “I am talking to your caretaker now. I hear that you like meatloaf”

Jeffrey follows the bot, taking another look around the unsettling scene of the ruins.

“What is all of this?” he asks

“The world still needs a lot of work”, the bot replies. “This is just one part of that”

“You said ‘a’ dome …”, Jeffrey pries

“That’s a nice dress you have Jesse” the bot interrupts.

“Jeffrey”, he corrects

“Jeffrey! I’m sorry”, the bot responds

Questions and thoughts buzz around Jeffrey’s mind like mosquitos as he struggles to grasp at even one. The words get caught in his mouth as he speaks. The world suddenly seems so overwhelming.

“What’s a dress?” Jeffrey asks.