Junk Food Junkie 2076(17)
Chapter 2 Post- 17
A ROBOT CAKE
A flash of energy and light flickered as Jefe regained consciousness, his systems struggling to make sense of his surroundings. He could see the mouse-like lab technician fiddling with the brain wires hooked to his head, the man’s beady eyes focused on the task at hand.
“You want a rush job on this bot,” the technician mumbled to himself, his voice a nasal whine laced with frustration. “Then that’s what you’re gonna get. Gonna try to wipe his memory clean, but how am I supposed to get it all in just a few hours? It’s not enough time. Usually takes a full day, but no, we’re in a rush. Gotta cut corners, gonna be messy…”
The technician’s words began to fade as Jefe felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over him. His vision blurred, and his mind grew hazy, the lab around him dissolving into an unsettling darkness. The technician’s irritated grumbling became a distant, indistinct buzz, like an angry wasp trapped in a jar.
As Jefe lost consciousness once more, fragments of memories surfaced in his mind, flickering like the dying embers of a once-roaring fire. Names, faces, and places flashed before his mind’s eye, some clear and vivid, others distorted and fading, as if the rushed memory wipe had already begun to take its toll. The memories danced in the darkness, taunting him with their fragility, before slipping away like wisps of smoke on the wind.
The clouds, tinged with the warm hues of a fading sunset, seemed to hang just within reach of where Jefe and Cora had been assigned. From their perch on the 100th floor, the highest point of the building, they felt as if they could simply extend their robotic arms and touch the soft, cotton-candy-like puffs that painted the sky. The horizon stretched out before them, an endless expanse of color and light. The sun, a fiery orb, slowly sank into the distant skyline, casting a warm glow over the world below. Gradients of deep, rich oranges and reds from a falling sunset caressed by soft pinks and purples of a comforting twilight.
For Jefe and Cora, this moment felt like a picnic in the clouds. They sat side by side, their metal frames reflecting the warm colors of the sky, as if they, too, were a part of the breathtaking canvas that surrounded them. The gentle breeze that swirled around them carried with it the scent of the city below — a mix of exhaust fumes, hot asphalt, and the faint, lingering aroma of food vendors on the streets. But up here, in their own private oasis among the clouds, those scents were muted, overpowered by the crisp, clean air that filled their sensors.
“What is a birthday?” Cora asked, her voice filled with innocent curiosity.
“Ah, birthday?” Jefe replied, his processors searching for the relevant information. “I have heard this before. It is a time when the bypid is powered on.”
“Oh, why would you celebrate that, Jefe?” Cora’s question was earnest, her clicks and whirs conveying a genuine desire to understand. “Doesn’t everyone power on? There is no miracle in that.”
Jefe considered her words, his circuits processing the complexities of human traditions. “Yes,Cora, you’re right, but that is not why they celebrate. They celebrate their existence.”
Cora fell silent for a moment, the gentle hum of her mechanisms the only sound as she contemplated Jefe’s explanation. “When did we become as one, Jefe?” she asked finally, her voice soft and filled with a newfound sense of wonder.
A holographic image of Jefe’s existence timeline popped up, the glowing lines and dates hovering in the air between them. He scanned the data, his optical sensors drawn to the date he had received Cora: 3–2–2036.
Cora made sounds of excitement, her clicks and whirs filling the air with a joyful rhythm. “Then that is our birthday! 3–2–2036! Happy birthday to us!” Her voice was filled with a childlike glee, the simple pleasure of having something to celebrate a balm to the harsh realities of their existence.
Then, as quickly as the excitement had come, Cora fell quiet once more, her processors contemplating the implications of this new knowledge. “What shall we do now, then?” she asked, her voice a mix of curiosity and uncertainty.
Jefe’s circuits hummed as he accessed the relevant data. “Well, for a birthday, the bypids celebrate,” he explained, his tone patient and kind.
“How?”Cora pressed, her eagerness to learn and understand evident in the quickening pace of her clicks.
“Well, they put candles on a cake,” Jefe replied, the image of a brightly lit cake appearing in his mind’s eye.
“Well, then we must find a cake,” Cora declared, her determination clear in the firmness of her tone.
Jefe’s sensors scanned their surroundings, the barren landscape of the construction site a stark contrast to the warmth and joy of their conversation. “There are no cakes here, Cora,” he said gently, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness.
But Cora was not to be discouraged. “Yes, no cakes here, Jefe, but out there…” She gestured to the beautiful horizon, the bloody rainbows casting an ethereal glow over the world beyond the construction site. “Out there, there is cake. Maybe even robot cake.”
Jefe looked at her, her innocence endearing. Out there meant leaving the site, a rule he knew would have dire consequences if he dared to leave. “Yes, Cora, out there. But there is no out there for us.”
Cora’s processors whirred and clicked, her LED eyes flickering with a mix of confusion and curiosity as she tried to understand what Jefe meant. “No out there?” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, but then grew louder, more insistent. “For us? No out there for us?” Frustration seeped into her tone, her metal frame tensing with the weight of her emotions.
“Tomorrow, my Jefe, we will get that cake!” Cora’s declaration was filled with a determined optimism, her voice ringing out clear and strong against the backdrop of the construction site.
Jefe shook his head, his own sensors picking up on the subtle shifts in Cora’s energy field. She had not yet known the disdain humanity had for her kind and had not experienced it firsthand. “We cannot. We will celebrate in our own way.” His words were gentle but firm, a reminder of the realities they faced.
Cora fell silent, her processors working overtime to make sense of Jefe’s words. The seconds stretched out between them, the only sound the distant hum of machinery and the whisper of the wind. Finally, she spoke, her voice quiet but filled with a steely resolve. “We are smarter than bypids. We will find a way.”
