Robot butler

Unfamiliar

　　On this day, two uninvited guests came to Mary's house: Dr. Susan, a senior expert at the robotics company, and a man named Tony. Tony is tall and handsome, but he is a robot.

　　Dr. Susan said: "Tony is our company's new robot. He has a sophisticated artificial mind, understands language, and has enough knowledge to perform the job. He is specially designed for a housewife like you. Now, we need you to participate in an experiment and spend a month alone with Tony to help us improve his design. Your husband has signed the contract. Also, please be sure not to reveal Tony's real identity, which is a trade secret of our company."

　　Mary looked at the contract, then at her husband. How long has it been since he looked at herself as eagerly as he does now? She realized that the experiment was paid for, and that it was his dream to take the opportunity to leave his boring family for a month. She had no choice but to agree.

　　Soon, the husband left with Dr. Susan. Mary stayed in her place in despair. She noticed that Tony's eyes fell on her. For the first time, she was alone with a handsome and strange "man", and she had to hide awkwardly in the bedroom and never come out again.

　　The next morning, there was a gentle knock on the bedroom door, and Mary asked deliberately coldly, "Is that you, Tony?"

　　"Yes, ma'am. May I come in?" Tony appeared with a rich breakfast with Mary's permission, and he said, "I hope you like it."

　　Mary didn't dare to refuse at all, she slowly propped herself up and sat on the bed. She clutched the sheets nervously, and when Tony went out and closed the door, she fell helplessly on the pillow. Mary kept encouraging herself: he's just a machine, he's not scary at all.

　　Mary finished her breakfast quickly, changed her clothes and went to the kitchen to see, wow, the whole kitchen has a new look.

　　Tony quietly appeared behind her and asked, "Can I help?"

　　Mary glanced at the gleaming kitchen and said, "No, you're doing pretty well." When she went to the living room, she couldn't help but be even more surprised that Tony had wiped all the furniture. Mary said sourly, "Robots like you will put housewives out of work."

　　Tony immediately replied: "So far, the creativity and diversity of the human brain, such as yours, is still irreplaceable to me." Although his face was expressionless, his voice was full of awe and admiration.

　　Mary said sadly: "But my husband thinks I have no brains... He wants a home like the one in Beautiful Family magazine, and he wants me to be a decent hostess, like Beth next door, but I Never can do it!" Her eyes were red, and she quickly turned away.

　　But Tony didn't look at her, he was looking around the room and said with certainty, "I can help you decorate your home like it's in Beautiful Family magazine. Can you help me find books on this?"

　　So Mary borrowed two thick home art monographs from the library. She watched Tony open one of them, flipping through the book page by page quickly. On a sudden impulse, Mary grabbed his palm. Tony didn't refuse, just relaxed his palm for her to check.

　　Mary said, "It's amazing, even your nails look real."

　　"Of course," Tony replied, then explained, "my skin is tough plastic and my skeleton is lightweight alloy."

　　Mary's heart froze, why did she keep forgetting that he was a robot? Is she so thirsty for sympathy that she is even willing to talk about her troubles by treating a robot as a real person? She noticed that Tony was still flipping through the book, as if at a loss, and Mary felt a sense of superiority in her heart and asked him, "Can't you read?"

　　Tony looked up at her: "I'm scanning the pages. My reading is photographic..." Tony was still explaining, but Mary's attention was still on his hand, which felt warm and soft, like a real person's hand...

　　For the next few days, Mary visited the library every day. Tony's suggested bibliography expands into many fields, including fashion, art, and more.

　　Transformation

　　At the end of the first week, Tony insisted on cutting Mary's hair and matching her with foundation and lipstick colors.

　　After the makeover, Mary was silent in the mirror for a while. She raised her eyebrows in disbelief, and the beauty in the mirror also raised her eyebrows; she bit her lip, and the beauty in the mirror also bit her lips shyly. It took a long time for her to accept the fact that the beauty in the mirror was herself. She choked up and thanked Tony, and never looked away from herself in the mirror.

　　A few days later, Tony asked Mary to buy wallpaper, window curtains, paint, clothes, etc. Because the company explicitly prohibited robots from going out, Mary had to do all these.

　　Mary said unconfidently: "I can't buy everything to the specifications in one go. And money is an issue..."

　　Tony conjured up an unlimited credit card and told her, "Purchasing is part of the experiment."

　　With this credit card, Mary has enough confidence. She went to a high-end clothing store and described to a waiter what clothes to buy.

　　Unexpectedly, the noble waiter, in the purest Fifty-seventh Street French, scoffed at her description.

　　Mary immediately called Tony and handed the microphone to the French-speaking waiter: "If you don't mind, I want you to talk to my... secretary."

　　The waiter took the microphone gracefully and said coldly, "Yes." After a moment's pause, he said again, "Yes." After a long pause, he added in a very respectful tone, "Yes." Next, he served Mary with a devout attitude.

　　After a few minutes, Mary heard her name called, and she turned to find her neighbor Bess standing behind her. Bess tilted her head slightly and smiled arrogantly: "I didn't know you were shopping here. You look a little - special..." As if in her eyes, the store's taste had plummeted.

When Mary heard this, her mood fell to the bottom again. She bought the clothes that Tony had explained and went home immediately. After more than ten days of getting along, she was used to pouring out her heart to Tony: "Why did Bess do that to me? I should pay her back, I should knock her down and step on her."

　　"Do you hate someone so much?" Tony asked softly in a puzzled tone.

　　She sighed and said, "No, I guess I blame myself. She is my dream in every way..."

　　Tony's deep, powerful voice reached her ears: "You can do it, Mary. We still have time, and this home will be reborn. The night before I leave, you'll have a big inauguration party and invite her and her friends Come with."

　　Mary said hesitantly, "She won't come."

　　"No, she will come. She will come to laugh at you... but she will not laugh!"

　　Mary held Tony's hand happily: "Do you think we can do it? But what's the point, you created it all."

　　Tony said: "I was made to obey men, but the degree of my obedience can be determined by myself, and I can take any order seriously or perfunctorily. I take your orders seriously because you are amiable. But to someone like Beth, I will not obey her as I obey you. So it is you who made it all, not me." With that, he took his hands out of her hands.

　　Mary looked into Tony's face and suddenly felt fear again, this time of a whole new kind.

　　Mary had a hunch that Tony would do something special, but he said nothing further to Mary than work through the night.

　　That day, Mary tried to help. Tony was in the next room at the time, and she climbed up a ladder, intending to hang a painting on the wall. But she was so nervous that the ladder was teetering, and she cried out in fright. Just when she thought she was about to fall hard to the ground, Tony caught her steadily at a speed far faster than flesh and blood, and asked softly, "Are you hurt?"

　　Mary noticed that he was hugging her tightly and passionately with one arm around his shoulders and the other on his knees. She pushed him away and ran back to the bedroom screaming. That day, she stayed in the bedroom and never came out.

　　Soon, Mary sent the invitation, and as Tony said, the guests embraced it. Now, she just has to wait for the last day to come.

　　Ending

　　The last day has finally come. This home is no longer the home where Mary and her husband once lived, it has really become a model house on "Beautiful Family". As for Mary, she also put on a dress that she never dared to wear before, as well as pride and confidence. She put on a contemptuous but polite expression in front of the mirror. I don't know how my husband feels when he sees himself at the moment... Then again, it doesn't matter. Exciting days don't come with husbands, they go with Tony.

　　The clock struck eight, each time taking Mary's breath away. She turned to Tony and said, "The guests will be here soon, Tony. You'd better go to the basement and not let the guests see you!" Tony had no intention of leaving.

　　Mary raised her voice again and called out, "Tony?"

　　By this time, Tony's arms were already wrapped around Mary, his face was close to Mary's, and his embrace prevented Mary from breaking free. Tony said: "There are many things I shouldn't have been born to know, and this must be one of them. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't want to. I find that in my heart, there is more than just a desire to please you." His face was closer, and his lips didn't show any breath. Mary felt like she could barely breathe, and Tony almost kissed her...

　　Suddenly, the doorbell rang abruptly. Before Mary could struggle, Tony walked away. Mary was shocked to find that the curtains had been pulled open at some point, and they had been closed fifteen minutes ago. Those visitors outside the door, including Bess, must have seen Tony and herself...

　　Mary didn't dare to think about it any longer, and she forced a smile to open the door.

　　The guests filed in. After entering the house, they scanned every corner sharply, they must have seen it just now. Bess was the first to ask aggressively: "Mary, is your husband not at home on such a big day?"

　　"Yes," said Mary with a guilty conscience. "But I think he'll be back tomorrow. I'm fine by myself..."

　　Bess turned around, showing unprecedented anger and eagerness to leave. As Mary sent Bess out, she also heard an intermittent whisper: "Who is that? Never seen... so handsome..."

　　There was an unprecedented satisfaction in Mary's heart, they all saw Tony, and they were all jealous of themselves.

　　Mary saw off the last guest and it was all over. She looked at the new, empty house and suddenly ran into the bedroom. She stayed up all night and cried until dawn.

　　The next morning, when the streets were still empty, a car pulled into Mary's house, brought her husband, and picked up Tony.

　　For a long time after that, Mary waited for "Tony" to come out, but she didn't wait. She even asked her husband to ask Dr. Susan.

　　Dr. Susan replied: "Tony is a failed product."

　　Mary's husband said, "I think he's very successful, you don't know how beautiful and confident he made Mary."

　　Dr. Susan said calmly: "It was because of this success that failure led to failure. Tony was a robot. He analyzed Mary's situation at that time, and he transformed her, his family, and even the attitude of others towards her step by step. All actions It's just a program he carefully calculated and executed for Mary's satisfaction and happiness. And Mary, even though she was terrified and hopeless, was still obsessed with a soulless, cold robot. How can such a robot come out?"