TWO
HAL-1138 hurried through corridor CFD-879. He had just finished one of Masters Errands and he could not reach his power station fast enough. The Master's demands had been difficult and although Hal was successful (as usual) in completing his task, he had exerted a large amount of energy. Hal found himself extremely weary and is desperate need of a power down. He made it to the lift just as two officers approached. He would have to endure the presence of organics in the small place. If droids were capable of groaning… he would have.
One of the soft bodies was overly excited it seemed. Expressing his delight to the other about his latest offspring. 'Another cellular unit entered the universe…. Fantastic.' Hal coldly thought. Didn't they ever stop breeding? Hal had to admit though, apart from the sporadic behavior of the young organics, they did possess an abundance of energy. The adult version of the lot usually wore down before the younger ones did. If that energy was harnessed more effectively, it would show much more potential for the species. Have the young ones focused on more controlled exertion instead of just running around and climbing on his dome. Wait….What?
Hal's logic board pulsed. Where did that thought come from? He never had a young organic climb on his dome. He never even met any cellular being younger than a new officer recruit. And they were well into their adult lifecycle by then.
A flash of imagery shot through his memory circuits. It was one he had witnessed before. The same distorted fragment of laugher and two small hands tapping his outer shell in a rhythmic manner.
Two small hands became four…. Wait. That cannot be right.
There had always been only two hands in the memory fragment. Where did the other two come from? Humans do not have four hands. Yes, there were sometimes mutations, but the extra limbs where usually malformed and nonfunctional. This memory was of four, healthy limbs. Two…. There were obviously two of them. The images of two small humans were trapped in his data base.
And there was something else… weak and distant. It was similar to the event of external sensors picking up an extremely distance signature of movement. Enough to take notice to but not strong enough to pinpoint a location. Only this was not external… this was an internal sensory. It did not cause alarm to Hal's systems though, in fact it was the opposite of alarm. It was a sense of contentment; of calm.
Was that…. Fondness? Why in the makers name would he EVER have fondness for an organic, let alone two? They were all fragile, simple minded waists of space. What made these younglings so exceptional? It made no sense.
Hal's pondering was disrupted by the opening of the lift doors. The officers quickly exited; the one still jabbering on about his offspring. The doors quickly closed again and Hal was left alone with his thoughts.
'This was most certainly getting out of hand.' Hal concluded. Not only did he have to deal with these repetitive fragments, they were now adding on details, and worst of all… feelings. Feelings had no business in a droid's function.
