A month had passed since the day of the robbery and, more important, the day Katy's potential to live as a member of society met its demise. She sulked in her apartment when she was home, and during the rare occurrence she needed to head somewhere, she donned a disguise. She wanted to wear a mask, perhaps a ski mask like the one robber wore; then no one would see her shameful face. But people who wore ski masks were criminals or terrorists: unwanted members of society. So she wore a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses that she bought for cheap from a store to the laboratory of Prof. Janet Oswalt—the only friend Katy felt like she had anymore.
She skulked about the university grounds, avoiding the high-traffic areas on her trip to Oswalt's lab. She walked with her head down the entire time, but when she turned the knob and opened up the door at 11:57 a.m., her mood improved as she anticipated the glowing aura of Oswalt upon seeing her.
Oswalt sat at her computer terminal as she always did whenever Katy visited. “Ah, Katy!619Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBg0tmtOyoj
The instant Owalt's eyes met Katy's, a smile illuminated the professor's face. “How have you been since your last visit? Feeling any better?”
Katy was required to visit Oswalt at least once a month for a physical checkup, but she made weekly visits ever since the attempted robbery. The sight of Owalt brought the smallest smile to Katy's lips, but it faded as she stepped into the room and answered Oswalt's question: “No, not really.”
“Still feeling blue?”
“Yes,” Katy said and closed the door. She sat down at the stool used for her inspections with her hands on her lap.
“You have mail, by the way,” Oswalt said as her fingers struck her keyboard.
“Since when do I get mail?”
“It's on the counter. The red envelope.”
Katy looked on the counter behind her and found the envelope Oswalt mentioned. There was no postage stamp, return address, or any sort of writing found on the typical piece of mail. All that was written on it was Katy.
“Did you make this for me?” Katy asked.
“No, a friend of yours dropped it off.”
“A friend?” Katy hadn't labeled anyone a friend, and, as far as she knew, nobody had done that to her. It could have been a trick, she suspected, and Oswalt, for all the brains she had, was fooled as well. “Who brought it?”
“I believe her name was Erin.”
The image of the busgirl from Hank's flashed before Katy's eyes at the mentioning of the name, but it couldn't have been her, could it? She was the only person named Erin Katy knew, but why would she take time out of her day to give her what appeared to be a card? And how did she know of Oswalt's connection with Katy, unless...
Panicked, Katy asked, “How did she find you? You didn't tell her about me, did you?!”
“Relax, Katy,” Oswalt said as she spun her chair around to meet Katy's gaze. “She said she heard about my project from another coworker and did some research. Anyone with internet access could have found out where I am, you know,” she said, spinning back around to her computer monitor. “But, yes, I did tell her about you.”
“Why would you do that?!” Katy sprung up from the stool. “I didn't want anyone to know about me, and this is what you do?” With sadness she said, “Professor, I thought I could trust you.”
“You know, Katy,” Oswalt said while getting up from her chair. “For an android with eidetic memory and the capability to take out a handful of armed criminals as efficiently as possible, you sure can be irrational sometimes.”
As Oswalt walked up to her, Katy shouted, “What is that supposed to mean? First, you betray me, then you ridicule me? Professor, I—”
Oswalt placed her hand on Katy's head and said, “Katy, relax. How could I ever hurt you or any of your siblings?”
Katy felt the long nails of Oswalt rub her skull through her short wig of chestnut-colored hair. Though she felt no pain when the robber's bullet punched a hole through her skin, she could feel warmth pooling at the pinnacle of her figure from Oswalt's smooth nails. Despite still directing traces of anger at Oswalt, she lost her fight.
“This has yet to fail me,” Oswalt commented. She continued for another moment more before dropping her hand and asking, “Calm yet?”
After a few seconds of silence, Katy looked up at Oswalt as far as she dared and asked, “Professor, why did you program me the way you did?”
“I'm sorry?”
Katy met Oswalt's confused gaze and asked louder, “Why did you give me the personality I have? If you had given me one where I thought only logical things, you wouldn't have so much trouble with me.” She looked down and continued: “But instead, you gave me this one, and I can't understand why you would torture yourself like that.”
Oswalt pulled in a fresh breath of air and said, “Sit, Katy.”
Katy held a hand out to find the stool, and she sat on it when her fingers brushed against it. Oswalt leaned against the counter and lifted Katy's chin with her index finger curled into a ring. Plastered on Oswalt's face was a sentimental smile.
“You know you're right when you said that I could have programmed you so that you weren't so much trouble. But I could have done the same with your siblings.” She amended her smile, and it lit up her face with amusement. “But believe me when I say that none of you are without your share of trouble.”
“Then why program us like this?”
Oswalt looked up at the ceiling and had herself another sigh. “To be honest with you Katy, I never had any logical reason for giving any of you human personalities. It was something that just kind of...happened, with all of you having randomized human personalities. And once it happen, I couldn't build you guys any other way.”
“It's not something you regret?”
“How could I ever regret what I've brought into the world? I built you guys to protect people, but I kept you all, because you became people, and I wanted you all to become a part of the society you're protecting.”
“But we're not people! We'll never fit in!”
“And who told you that?” Oswalt asked teasingly.
“I saw it on the news and on the internet. If people can't accept other people, how could they ever accept a couple of androids?”
“You're right, Katy. There is prejudice in this world. And hatred and jealous and resentment; all of those negative emotions people point at one another. But did you ever stop and read how people donate to charities to help those they don't even know? Or see two people who aren't alike get along just fine? Or think that if someone can love a dog or a fish or their pet turtle, they can't do the same for an android?”
Katy looked down when Oswalt's arguments stung her, because she knew Oswalt was right. She looked up from the bottom of her brow to say, “But...pets are living things, and I'm not.”
“That means nothing, Katy. People love books, the clothes they wear. Now, I'm not trying to compare you to a novel or someone's dress, but you can't tell me that your coworkers still don't think of you as a person.” Oswalt flicked her head at the envelope on the counter.
Katy slowly picked it up and turned it over to inspect the flap.
“That Erin girl must be a good friend of yours,” Oswalt said. “She also told me to tell you that you should get your job back.”
“But...I don't think of Erin as a friend. Nor do I know her that well.”
“She obviously thinks better of you,” Oswalt said. “Or maybe she understands how irrational you've been, too.” She chuckled twice.
Katy tore the top of the envelope with her finger and pulled out the card. It was a large colorful card with the message We Miss You on the front. She opened it up to find that she could barely see the background of the inside flaps, because there were so many pen scribbles: messages long and short with names and signatures written at every angle possible. Katy read some of the messages.
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Katy I nearly died that day from a heart attack then you saved the day.
But then you just ran out! You need to come back to protect this old lady's hind.
Linda
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I miss you Katy! We all miss you! You need to come back!
Christina
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The fact that you're an android makes you infinitely more awesome! We should hang out sometimes. My friends will think you're awesome.
Mateo
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Youre the quietest girl Ive ever worked with but youre one of the best dishwashers I've had the pleasure of working with. You should talk more so that we can have a real good time back here.
Andre
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Please come back Katy.
Lucia
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There were so many Katy had yet to read, but just the couple she had read so far felt like a well-earned slap to the face. She looked up at Oswalt for a comment, but the professor gestured back at the card. After reading each message, she thought back to the news stories she had seen and the articles she had read and doubted them for the first time. She had thought they showed her the whole world, but she saw for certain now that what she had been looking through the entire time was but a single window: a very, very small window. And this card and its messages took a sledgehammer to the window, smashing it, and to the surrounding wall, crumbling it. The whole wall came tumbling down when she read the message on the back of the card:
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Katy,
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Professor Oswalt was kind enough to tell me everything about who you are and what you were built for. I know that you're an android with the mind of a human, save for a few tweaks here and there. She told me how you read about how ugly the world can be, and if that's how you were introduced to the world, I can understand why you ran out the way you did.
But you have to understand, Katy, that not everybody's like that, especially not the people here at Tammy's. Haven't you noticed how we're a cast of snowflakes? We're all of different races and personalities, yet we all work together and get along just fine. And you were a member of that family, too, Katy. You may not be human, but nobody here thinks of you as a robot.
I know I can't convince you to come back or even visit, but I wish you would. So please consider it.
Erin
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After finishing the message, Katy sat silently for a moment. The silence was killed by Oswalt when she said, “It's like I told you before, Katy: you'll find out whom you should and shouldn't surround yourself with when they find out that you're an android. And by the looks of that card, it looks like just about the entire company wants you back.”
“I guess you're right,” Katy mumbled. She felt Oswalt's hand plop down on her head, but instead of scratching it, Oswalt ruffled her hair.
“Cheer up. You've met people who want you in their lives. You should at least do them the favor of visiting them.”
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