Akta Manniskor, Niska becomes "real"
This story is my take on how Dr. Eicher came to make the first free Hubot. If you haven't heard abut it you should check out the series "Real humans" It is truly amazing. In short it plays in the future where humans have developed human robots which perform any kind of function they are programmed for. That leaves a lot of room for conflicts, for example do I treat a human looking toaster like a toaster or like a human. Where is the line to be drawn. When are we exploiting Hubots and what kinds of tasks are still acceptable. Especially interesting since there is one group of Hubots to whom self-awareness has been given. So they do not want to be enslaved by humans but rather want to be free and independent, which makes them illegal and hunted.
They deal with all of this (and much more) in a very fair fashion, no one gets painted with just one color and you somehow get to see every side of the arguments which take place. Very good series indeed.
Since I really like Niskas Character (leader of the free Hubots and quite dangerous because she also doesn't hesitate to kill to ensure the safety of her people) in the Series I will take the liberty to ATTENTION SPOILER assume that she was not killed and that also Leo is still alive. And tell the story of how she became a free Hubot. So all of this will take place before the series starts and at a time when Hubots in society were not so common and also less regulations about them existed.
Of course I cannot hope to reach the narrativ level of the series itshelf but I hope to start the whole thing of for fanfiction because I really would love to have a substitute while the series is in summer pause and am hoping other fanfictions will follow soon.
Mr and Ms Paulson, Eddy and Nea
Nea was walking home slowly. People were busy around her, shopping, walking their dogs, delivering mail or just passing by, in a hurry to get from where they were coming from to where they had to be next. She was one among many on the street, yet she felt alone. Isolated.
The feeling was numbing her and she welcomed it. Soon she would reach her house, its small garden and large kitchen and family rooms empty. Her husband was still at work even if he really wanted to be here with her today, at this very special occasion. It was supposed to have worked this time. The doctors had been sure, the midwife had been sure and even her mother had agreed that this time she would be pregnant. But they had all been wrong and now she was walking home again. To the empty family room and the empty baby room that would remain empty probably forever.
Nea new what Eddy, her Husband would say. He was always incredibly sensitive but she new that he was suffering just as much as she, he so desperately wanted a child. Eddy would take her in his arms and tell her that it wasn't her fault and that next time they would be luckier and that she shouldn't blame herself and that everything would be alright. But she knew better. It was her fault and it would never be alright. She knew that she was a bad mother and that's why the baby didn't want to be with her. Eddi certainly deserved better. He would probably realize that soon and than he would finally leave her and be with a real woman.
Nea hadn't realized that she had started crying, and also not that she had wandered past her house and was now close to the beach. On this chilly day the wind, spraying the water from the sea into her face, was enough to make her shiver. The sea looked angry too as if it wanted to tell her: "It is your fault. You make everyone unhappy." Nea sank on her knees, the ice cold water flowing around her. She didn't feel it. 'If I just sit here, maybe they will all forget that I exist and go on and live a happy life' she thought staring of into the sea, unmoving until it became dark.
A month later Nea was returning home. Eddi, in panic because his supposedly pregnant wife had not come back from her appointment in time, had started a search and one of the neighbours had found Nea just in time to warm her up again. After that she had been admitted to a hospital with expert knowledge on psychiatry. Here Nea had been recovering and she and Eddi had talked a great deal about their inability to have kids and how they both felt and what to do now. So fare Nea was still not able to see a solution to the problem, but the doctors were confident that with the correct medication Neas depression was now manageable.
When Nea walked through that door at this afternoon she was still wondering why Eddi was in such a great mood. He had previously seemed reluctant to have her back home. Maybe because he thought she would "do something foolish again" as he had put it to her once before. But know he seemed awfully cheerful.
"Honey. You know I have a wonderful surprise for you" Eddi said.
Nea frowned. Eddis surprises were much too often only fun for one person called Eddi.
"I know it will take some getting used to but. This will solve a great deal of problems. Maybe even … But let's first see how it fits in." he trailed of mysteriously.
Nea became even more suspicious.
When she entered the living room she saw that someone was already there, waiting for them on the sofa. The woman was not very tall but she had something intriguing about her that would have drawn everyone's attention. If it were her remarkable blue eyes or her sharp intelligent features and black hair or something else entirely she was not sure.
"Oh. Hello." Nea greeted her, somewhat astonished not just about the woman herself but also surprised that Eddi would invite someone on the day she got home from her stay at the hospital.
"Hello." The woman replied, her face remaining absolutely neutral. Never once blinking she looked at her then at Eddi.
Her Husband did not respond to the greeting. Instead he ignored the woman completely and turned to her.
"Honey. This … Ähm well. This is a Hubot."
Nea was shocked. Of course she had heard about them. They were becoming more and more popular as workers in battery factories, in smelters or any other inhospitable place but she had never seen one so lifelike.
"Eddi what the hell…? Where did you get that? Why would you by something like that? What …"
She was at a loss for words.
"Well you see, these are really much more sophisticated than the ones we are used to. In the States they are much more common already. People use them as housemaids and to go shopping for them and all this kind of stuff. And I thought … Well I thought … It could come in handy."
"It could come in handy. Are you crazy? What did that thing cost us? And why should I suddenly need someone to help me with the dishes? Eddi what is this really about?"
Her husband suddenly looked very sheepish.
"Well I thought… Of course we don't have to decide that right away but … Well this one is … You see there are a lot of benefits and we could be a part of all of it and it would be almost like … You know."
"Eddi you are not making any sense. Just spit it out. What is it, it is supposed to do around here?"
"Well you see I have a friend oversees in one of the designing studios and he… Well he designed this one so it can carry a child.
Any child.
…
Our child."