?? Nov 40 PY
Dear Diary,
I still feel disoriented. I remember the point when I almost crushed Roger to death. I still do not know what to think of this. I am sure that I am angry at that low-life Beck. Even my internal clock is off. It is unsettling.
Norman told me that he had downloaded the disrupted sensory data logs from my mind. He hopes that this will help reorient me, since there were several hours that I spent functional, but do not remember. The scrambled memories had cluttered my main bank of memory and needed to be offloaded before reboot. He gave me the reels of my memories and assured me that no one had viewed them yet. I went to the projection room and wound the video reel into the 35 mm projector and the audio reel into the sound system. I followed the printed instructions on the machine and sat to watch my first dreams.
The sepia reel runs.
[Setting: A domeless city. It is a dark and stormy night near the ball park. Two men shelter from the rain on the front steps of a museum, which is built in a neo-classical style. The younger man, Roger, leans against a column. He is dressed completely in black. The other man, Dastun, is older. He wears a brown jacket and sports a brimmed hat. A pale female android, R. Dorothy is also sheltering from the storm. Her light colored dress is ragged. She wears a shawl around her head, which hides most of her face. Threadbare gloves hides her hands. A frayed wicker basket sits beside her feet.]
DASTUN. 8 to 9 in overtime! Bartholomew with a clutch catch! What a game! I tell you, I thought that the Mets had them on the ropes for sure.
ROGER. It's all about toughness, and the Dodgers were the tougher team.
DASTUN. You called it.
ROGER. Sports or anything else, it's about people. During the season, the Dodgers won six games in overtime. The Mets relied on offensive fireworks. It came down to behavior.
DASTUN. There's talent too.
ROGER. Of course, there has to be a base level to make it into the Paradigm League. But beyond that, it falls to determination.
DASTUN. I suppose you're right.
ROGER. Of course I'm right, it's elementary.
[A soaked blond woman, Angel, takes shelter with them. She is soon followed by a dapper elder man and an equally dapper android, Instro. The men are not with the woman.]
ROGER. Behavior. Take this woman for instance. From her pin-stripe skirt and blazer, I assume that she works for Paradigm. [R. Dorothy begins to approach the newcomers, but stops.]
BLOND. So what? A lot of people do. [Places a cig between her lips and sparks her lighter.] Damn, damn it. [spark] Damn it all!
ROGER. From the way she's trying to light her cigarette, she's angry.
DASTUN. [dubiously] A reasonable assessment.
BLOND. [addressing Roger] Hey buddy, got a light?
ROGER. Don't smoke. [Dastun offers a light.]
BLOND. Thanks.
ROGER. Since she's still in business clothes, she probably met a coworker for dinner and then the game, probably a higher up in another department. She seems too smart to try for her own boss.
BLOND. [testily puffs] You're full of it.
ROGER. Anyway, from her scary expression and the fact that she's alone, the date did not go well. [Angel puffs away like an chimney.] From the wine stain on her blouse, I would imagine that her date got a little rough with his affections in the private box.
BLOND. [peeved] You don't know what you're talking about.
ROGER. The chipped nail tell me that she slapped him and stalked out of the booth at the bottom of the ninth with one out, two strikes, and two balls.
INSTRO. How would you know?
ROGER. It couldn't have been sooner, otherwise she'd had caught a taxi by now. It was in the time it took for the umpire to eject the Mets coach for unsportsmanlike conduct, there was no other time in the last half an hour that the fellow would have taken his eyes from such a close game. The previous opening would have been the top of the eighth, before the 4 run rally. [Angel turns red.]
INSTRO. I see.
BLOND. [angry] Excuse me. [Extinguishes the cigarette butt on the lapel of Roger's damp coat. Stalks out into the rain.]
ROGER. [to departing Angel] You're excused. [to Dastun] What's with her? [brushes ashes off of his damaged coat.]
INSTRO. I do believe that was rather rude.
ROGER. [offers his hand] Roger Smith and this is my one-time college, Daniel Dastun.
INSTRO. [takes hand] Pleased to meet you, I suppose. Instro. This is my father.
AMADEUS. Roger Smith, the Human Behaviors expert, I presume. I am Amadeus, an inventor.
ROGER. You presume correctly. Good to meet you.
R. DOROTHY. [She pulls metal tulip from the basket and holds it up to the gentlemen. Her voice is mechanical and distorted.] Would you like to buy a flower?
ROGER. What the heck is that?
DASTUN. It looks like a flower made from a can of some sort.
R. DOROTHY. A tomato soup can to be precise.
INSTRO. I'm terribly sorry, but I am not carrying much money.
DASTUN. Yeah, sorry but I'm not carrying any change.
R. DOROTHY. Very well, I suppose that I shall not be able to help my aged father.
ROGER. Your technique is terrible.
R. DOROTHY. Technique?
ROGER. Yes, your technique. You aren't sympathetic enough for people. Why don't you take off that shawl?
[R. Dorothy removes the shawl to reveal a half finished face. The rest is a complex mass of exposed circuitry, motors, and metallic tendons.]
ROGER. Yeesh, you can put it back on now.
R. DOROTHY. If you buy a flower, I will. I made them myself.
ROGER. Did you now? [pulls a bill from his pocket and exchanges it for a rusted rose. R. Dorothy moves with the sounds of whining servos. Dorothy replaces her shawl.]
INSTRO. Well, the storm is letting up a bit, I should get a cab for us, father.
AMADEUS. Are you sure? You don't have an umbrella.
INSTRO. I'll be fine. [leaves shelter]
AMADEUS. Such a pure child.
ROGER. Yes, I suppose that he might be considered a child.
AMADEUS. I suppose that you may not understand it, but he IS my child, because I am his father.
ROGER. If you want to look at it that way.
R. DOROTHY. How else would one look at it?
ROGER. Over attachment, it's common among needy humans.
R. DOROTHY. That is a horrible thing to say.
ROGER. What is?
R. DOROTHY. That you don't believe that androids can have parents.
ROGER. Well it's true.
AMADEUS. It's hard to believe that so many brilliant thoughts came from such a narrow minded mind as yours. [Instro waves to him from the street in front of the museum.] Good night to you all. [Exits, hunched against the light rain.]
DASTUN. Well, it's getting late. Good night. [he decided to put a bill into R. Dorothy's basket as he passes her and tips his hat]
R. DOROTHY. Thank you.
ROGER. Anyway, it's the truth. Parenting is a biological function, it's impossible for androids to have parents and I can prove it to you.
R. DOROTHY. How?
ROGER. I would, if I had the time. [He leaves R. Dorothy alone beneath the stone pediment. In his hand, he twirls the rusted rose.]
That is all for today. I hope that a night of rest will allow me to regain my equilibrium.
R. Dorothy Wayneright