A Robot’s Hobby
A bored robot takes up cooking as a hobby
“How do you pass your time?” asked AX555.
“Well, it’s been seven months since humans moved out of the earth. In the beginning, it was boring without any work, but then I picked up a hobby,” replied PQ100.
“What hobby?”
“Cooking. As you know, humans needed food to get their energy, just like how we need sunlight to get our energy. They prepared their food using recipes which are step-by-step instructions. I have been studying those recipes and preparing a few dishes myself.”
“Interesting. Did you prepare anything recently?”
“Yes, I just finished cooking lasagna,” PQ100 opened the oven door and pulled out a hot glass tray. Layers of cheese and pasta were stacked perfectly with geometric precision.
“How do you know it has come out good?”
“Towards the end of the twenty-first century, humans started assigning a unique number for every dish. That number is derived from various factors — the ingredients, color, texture, taste, and smell. For example, the number for a perfectly cooked lasagna is 56489. I have this machine, called Food Scorer, that can analyze various factors of any cooked dish and spits out its number,” PQ100 pointed at a device that looked like a microwave. “If it gives out a number closer to 56489 for my lasagna, then I have a winner. Let’s see what it says.”
PQ100 opened the Food Scorer, inserted the lasagna tray, and pressed a button labeled SCORE. The device came to life with a whir and within seconds flashed the number 56485.
“See, it says my lasagna is almost perfect!”
“What do you do with this lasagna now?”
“I can’t keep it. It loses its color, shape, and texture within days.” With that, PQ100 dumped the perfectly cooked lasagna that can feed six people into a trash bin.
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