Two
The next few days were busy. I was running this way and that, preparing the conference hall, finding information on all the Robotic Leaders, ensuring that everything down to the decor in the conference hall was appropriate and would not offend.
"You need to remove that portrait of Lord Sparrow Grim," I told one of the maids.
"But he was one of the court's most loyal friends," the maid replied, looking as though I'd told her to simply keel over and die; which I would never do by the way. That's disgusting.
"He was also one of the original preachers of eternal robotic dependence when the Decrees were being written. Besides, he's been dead for centuries; I highly doubt he's going to find out. Put it up after they leave."
The maid look scandalized, but obeyed just the same. I sighed, and looked at my checklist. Things were all in order, as far as I could tell.
"Everything seems to be working perfectly."
All eyes flew to the doorway, and everyone bowed to the Queen.
"Yes, your majesty, everything is right on track."
"That's excellent," she sighed and sat down in the nearest chair, looking tired.
"Are you alright, majesty?"
"Oh, yes, yes, everything is fine."
I nodded, "Is there anything I can get you?"
"Water would be nice, if you don't mind."
"You there, get the Queen some water," I said, and the maid nodded and hurried out, returning moments later with a glass of water and child attached to one of her legs.
"Az, where is your nurse?" the Queen laughed, accepting the water with a nod of thanks. The princess Azkadellia looked up and grinned.
"Hide and seek."
"Oh, Az," the Queen sighed, "you've probably scared the poor woman half to death!"
"She was scurrying around the kitchens," the maid smiled.
"My little mouse," the Queen smirked.
"Squeak!" she giggled.
"Alright, go back to the nursery before you give the woman a heart attack."
"Does she need an escort?" I asked as the girl of only four annuals ran out.
"No, Azkadellia is rather responsible for her age," the Queen said proudly.
I nodded absentmindedly, not knowing the first thing about children.
"Actually, Cal should be coming for a visit soon," the Queen rose stiffly and sighed, "I'm sorry for this; I only wanted to see how you were doing."
"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask," I bowed. The Queen smiled and elegantly left the room. I stared at the door, and then turned to one of the servants.
"Who is Cal?"
"He's the son of a Western nobleman and the princess' future husband and our future king."
"An arranged marriage?" I said distastefully.
"Not entirely. It's traditional for the parents to arrange something foolproof for their children, but if either party at any point does not agree, they can always back out."
"I see..." I sighed. Taking a break from planning made me aware of how long I'd been at it, "alright, everyone, take a ten minute break. You've been working all day."
A few people mumbled their thanks, while several others ran to use the bathroom. I slumped down into a chair and rubbed my eyes. Of course, it hadn't helped that I'd spent all night fixing my uncle's inventions. His ideas were brilliant, but I could see that the disease was inhibiting him from doing good work. Luckily, I was there to make the necessary corrections.
And suddenly, it was the day of the conference. While the Queen was obviously in charge of the ordeal, both the King and-as I was shocked to discover-myself were required to attend. We sat down at a large table, the King on one side of the Queen, and myself on the other, the farthest away from the robots, which-to be honest-I was grateful for, because the moment they saw how young I was, they were barely able to hide their laughs.
"To business then," the Queen said, "I understand you wish to be treated exactly like humans?"
"That is our will..."
"Most of us," another Leader said sharply, "some of us would see robotic superiority."
"That is unreasonable and out of the question," the Queen said sharply.
"She is right," a third said, "they are our origins. To dismiss them would be a deep sin."
"Sin? Ha!"
"We simply want respect, your majesty," the first Leader said.
"There is the matter of those who were programmed to serve."
"Stop programming us to serve, then!"
I looked down at the table. This was not as civilized as I'd thought it would be. The Queen remained calm and respectful, but some of the
Leaders would not stop yelling out their opinions for five seconds!
"Welcome to government," the King muttered, and I gave a weak nod.
"-the fact of the matter is, the act of programming a robot for a specific task is the exact same as brainwashing small children into doing things against their will."
"It's nothing like that at all," the king retorted.
"Why not simply add the ability to choose into their programming?" I asked quietly, looking up for the table, "they'll know how to do the job they were designed to do, but also have the option of not doing it."
Everyone stared at me, and the Queen spoke slowly, "that's an interesting idea."
"But there is still the matter of programming for specific-"
"-Humans created machines to serve them," I said in a sharp voice, one that I didn't even know I possessed until that moment, "you have artificial intelligence, which makes you equal to humans mentally, emotionally, and somewhat physically. As this is the case, surely you know that humans are good at some things but not at others. I am rather gifted in the field of science, but put me in the same room as magics and I'm as stumped as anyone. This is no different. We don't choose what we're good at, sir, so why should you?"
Now I felt I truly commanded the attention of everyone in the room.
"That's actually a remarkable point," the Queen said, sounding impressed, "I'm willing to pass a mandatory law requiring that mechanics place the idea of choice in any machines with artificial intelligence and that humans allow robots to use this choice without giving them any trouble."
"I agree," one of the Leaders said, "if we are to be true equals, we must take the faults as well as the benefits."
"I also agree."
I'd like to say the agreement to my opinion was unanimous, but it wasn't. Still, it was the majority, and that was enough to convince the queen to give it a test period of three months. I returned to my rooms, beaming with pride at what I'd accomplished, and was about to take a much needed rest, when there was a knock on my door.
"Mister Ambrose, the queen needs you."