The memory file started to run from the beginning, from the origin of everything.
"Okay Fred, it's online" shouted a robust man with a thick mustache
"Are you sure Sam? Look, this is important, we can't risk another lawsuit from a visitor who gets hurt on an attraction" answered a skinny man in overalls that were perhaps too big for him.
"Yes, I'm sure, this thing will withstand any fall and record the data of each impact"
"Perfect! Are you staying for the fire test?"
"Nah, I'm going home, Belle will kill me if I come home late again" said Sam, turning around and walking towards the exit.
"Okay, buddy, say hi to your family, hey, and if the robot gets damaged"
"Tell Pam, she's just as capable as I am to make a repair" said Sam finally before closing the door and heading towards his house.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me Stu" Fred said in a jovial tone
STU, that wasn't even his real name if he ever had one, it was the acronym Starrpak. Testing. Unit, that was the purpose for which he was created, to test the attractions and verify that they were safe for the park visitors.
His life was a routine that rarely varied, crash, catch fire, get fixed and come back, and everything was repeated over and over again endlessly for years.
"You do this for the kids Stu, you make sure they can have fun safely"
Fred used to tell him as if trying to comfort him, although why would anyone do that to a machine that has no emotions?
Maybe the guy was a really good person… or was he just crazy?
One day some investors came to the park, everything had to be perfect, the owners of the place wanted to make a significant expansion, add a water park or something like that.
The entire ride had to be flawless, and it had been until they got to the end, they were supposed to finish with a test of the park's new attraction, a high-speed roller coaster, the plan was simple: they would put him in a cart, turn on the attraction and the investors would watch as he returned completely unharmed, sadly things did not go as planned.
Instead of the smooth, error-free ride that had been planned, just as he reached the second slope of the ride, the cart he was riding on went off the tracks and ended up flying through the air doing crazy somersaults, only to end up crashing into the ground.
"W-W-What do you think of our new project, gentlemen?" said the park's presentation manager, sweating profusely and constantly wiping the fog off his glasses.
"An acrobat robot" he said, feigning excitement, "it's better than a regular, flesh-and-blood acrobat, it doesn't get sick, if something breaks it's just repaired and ready to go again in record time, no waiting months for the star to recover, and best of all, it doesn't get paid."
"Of course, this is just a prototype so it still needs a little improvement." Although a smile was drawn on his face, internally, the poor presenter was praying to every deity he knew, if he failed at this, he was sure to be fired.
"An interesting concept," said one of the investors
"Certainly, but they would have to make adjustments," replied another
The investors began to argue heatedly about the idea, while the presenter looked on in shock As the investors began to argue amongst themselves, the presenter allowed himself a sigh of relief.
"They believed the lie," he thought, thanking his lucky stars.
In the end the investors told him that they would come back in a month to see the "stunt show" project and that if he convinced them they would not only offer the agreed upon money but would add an extra.
It was obvious that the park directors would get to work quickly, the opportunity could not be missed.
Sometime later Stu was preparing for his debut.
They had to make some modifications obviously, they replaced his legs with a motorcycle wheel, a great improvement to his previous condition since his old legs could not even move.
Something similar had happened with his arms, which were now not only able to move according to his new programming, but had been equipped with a pair of flare guns on his fingers, so he could put on a little pyrotechnic show after each performance.
They completed the package with a tailored outfit, a red leather jacket, a bright blue helmet and a matching cape to match, if I could have done so at the time, I would have admitted that he looked incredible.
But perhaps the most significant thing was the addition of a voice box, it was a somewhat funny voice and with that robotic filter if you don't understand if he wants to sound retro or futuristic, but it was his anyway.
He only had pre-programmed phrases, some of them maybe a little corny, but what did that matter, he wasn't aware of it anyway.
But there was one that had stuck in his memory permanently.
"Hey kids, look at this"
It was saying that phrase and seeing how all the kids turned to look at him with that expression of amazement and happiness that stayed forever in his memory, those moments the phrase that Fred used to say made sense in another way.
"You do it for the kids Stu".
Well yes, it was for them.
To say his routine hadn't changed much either, it still consisted of crashing, catching fire, getting fixed and coming back, it made a lot of sense since he was just a machine and the public for some reason loved to see him crash and just come out as if nothing happened, that's why they always made him perform stunts that should be impossible for anyone else, he had crashed so many times that even his voice box had been damaged which made him sound like a stutterer, they never thought of changing it since there was the possibility of disconnecting his memory unit and nobody wanted to have to teach him again the enormous amount of routines that he had already mastered, so they always repaired it halfway.
Oh but when the tricks worked out, when he gained self-awareness and started to remember all those successful performances, maybe his memory was playing tricks on him or it was emotions messing up those memories, but he was sure he loved that feeling, the speed, the adrenaline, the imminent danger, and that feeling of accomplishment at the end, followed by the cheers of the kids and the rest of the audience chanting his name, he was probably an adrenaline junkie maybe he just enjoyed his job too much, or maybe he just liked to see the smiles on the faces of those who saw him achieve one crazy thing after another.
"THE SPECTACULAR STU IS HERE FOR YOU"
It was the phrase he said most often at the end of each stunt, followed by a little show thanks to the flares on his fingers, he made the audience go crazy for him, the cheers, the smiles, he was a star, he was at the top.
The problem is that the higher you go, the harder the blow when you fall.
Although I couldn't say if I could really call it a fall, certainly the entire lifestyle I knew would soon be nothing more than a memory.