Night fell, and the robot finished up its chores before heading back through the door to its master's quarters. It entered the master's room and laid down in the bed. A simple plug next to the bed went into a port where a human's belly button would be and the robot went into charging mode. As per program, it placed a hand over its master's, even though the master was already sleeping soundly.
A lot had happened that day. The robot didn't understand any of it, but there had been a lot of input earlier that day. Not any input it needed to worry about, but there had been a lot of discussion among the humans.
"Poor thing," a voice whispered in the robot's ear.
The robot didn't respond. Without its name being said, it wouldn't respond to much of anything.
"Don't you think your poor master is lonely? Wouldn't it be better if there was someone to talk to? But who could possibly understand that poor creature? If only I could offer a Miracle to her...
"Alas, he has already claimed your master. Do you understand any of this, you poor robot? You're so humanlike, but you're still just an empty shell. But...I could make you more.
"What do you say, Darius? Would you like to be more to your master?"
The robot had no response. It didn't understand the words that were being whispered in its ear. A faint red aura coloured the edge of its visual sensors, but otherwise there was nothing but audio. Even if this creature had said its name, the robot didn't have the programming to respond.
On top of that, its processes had been paused. Whatever this thing was, it had kept the robot from speaking, from responding.
"Who am I kidding? Of course you'd love to speak to your master for real, right? And I bet she'd love it too. I can hear her heart crying out in pain. So much pain. So much loneliness. My gift will be much more satisfactory than Solitude's gift. So, here you go, Darius.
"Live."
At that command, something awakened inside the robot. It was no longer a robot. He was a person.
Darius's charging cycle finished and he waited patiently for Ida to wake up. His job was to lay next to her and hold her hand. If she didn't wake up by 6:00, he was supposed to wake her. Otherwise, he just had to be next to her.
At 5:53, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Darius, what time is it?" she asked groggily.
"It is 5:53 a.m.," Darius replied, smiling softly.
"Ugh. I don't wanna get up." She sighed and let go of his hand, then dragged herself up into a sitting position.
"Do you want to sleep for seven more minutes?" Darius asked, sitting up himself.
"Not worth it," Ida said with a sigh, then stretched.
"Then good morning, Ida." Darius smiled and ran a hand through her tangled hair, carefully straightening it out slightly.
Ida blinked at him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"What is it?" Darius asked. "You seem to like it when I fix your hair."
"Who the hell reprogrammed you to be so smart?" she asked, glaring at him.
"Oh. Right." Before, he'd never done anything without her asking him to. Was he not supposed to take initiative like this?
He and Ida stared at each other for a moment before he figured out how to voice his doubts.
"Am I bothering you?"
"Not particularly. Though I do wonder why my dear robot is suddenly acting so weird."
"Um..." Darius pondered a few seconds before continuing. "Last night a red haze entered my vision and I believe I was granted a Miracle?"
Server data indicated that a Miracle was given out to individuals and granted them superhuman abilities. Achilles was invulnerable to all external damage. Jumper could leap to great heights. Lightning possessed super speed. Phantasma had been able to...
Phantasma. He'd killed Phantasma. Olivia Hahn. Old memories surfaced. Rather, it wasn't Darius who had killed her. He'd been in remote pilot mode at the time.
"You. Miracle." Ida stared at him coldly.
"I believe so?" Darius pushed the thoughts of Phantasma away for the time being. He could sort through all the memory data that had been insignificant until now later. For now, he was with Ida.
"Who do those assholes think they are?" she yelled, punching her pillow. "Why. The. Hell. Do. They. Keep. Screwing. With. Me?"
"Is this bad, Ida?" Darius asked, looking at her anxiously. Anxiety. That was a new emotion. Her reaction made him uneasy, and he didn't like it. Had he done something wrong?
"Damn it all," Ida muttered, flopping her face into her pillow so he could barely understand her. "I guess it is what it is. Go make breakfast, will you?"
"Of course." Darius stood and headed for the door, while Ida peeled herself off of the bed and went to get dressed.
She wanted him to make breakfast. That was normal. That was part of his job. Darius had many tasks, and making food was perhaps the most important. At least, based on how much data was dedicated to each task. He had several cookbook's worth of knowledge easily accessible, though he would have to retrieve most of it from the server.
But! The fine motions required for cooking took up a lot of data and mechanics that were kept in his actual body. The mechanical parts were used for other things too, like cleaning, but cooking was the most intensive. And Ida liked his cooking!
Did she? Wait.
He searched through his memory banks. Video footage of a normal day. It was all on the server, but from the looks of it, she was indeed pleased whenever she was eating. Maybe she just liked food.
But Darius would act on the assumption that she liked his cooking! So much had been dedicated to it, it just had to be important.
There were other people living here too, now. Joseph, and Ned, and Courtney, and Cleo, and Sawyer. He'd have to make food for them too. According to data...Joseph might be awake soon. Or might not be.
Whatever! He'd make food for everyone, and then if they didn't eat it while it was hot, he could just make more later.
No, wait. Protocol indicated he cook when they were ready to eat. But...was that the best way? If food was ready when they came out to the dining area, he could save time in their days!
But protocol...
Which was best? Darius paused in thought for a while, trying to find a reason for the protocol. There had to be a good reason, right?
As he was pondering, Joseph came out of the wing everyone else was living in. Maybe he would know.
"Joseph," Darius said, walking over to him. Joseph jumped a full foot in the air as he spun to look at Darius.
Strange. People didn't usually jump a foot in the air when spoken to.
"Huh?" Joseph asked, looking at Darius with wide eyes.
"I have a question for you."
"S-sure?" Why did Joseph look so bewildered?
Oh. Wait. Probably the same reason Ida had asked him who had reprogrammed him.
"Doofus over there got a Miracle," Ida said, leaving the wing the two of them lived in. "Now it's like someone went and reprogrammed the poor thing."
"I don't mind my new state of mind," Darius replied, glancing back at Ida. "Everything seems much more interesting. And maybe you can answer my question."
"What the hell do you have questions about? I asked you to make breakfast."
"Would it not be best to make breakfast for everyone now and allow them to eat it at their leisure? It would save time for them all."
"Food would get cold, you doofus. Food's no good when it's cold. And if someone gets up in two hours, if you make breakfast now and leave it out, it'll be worse than cold."
"Ah. That would be why the protocol is the way it is."
"Then why question it at all?" Ida snapped, glaring at him. "If it's in protocol, it's for a good reason."
"Got it. Thanks, Ida. What do you want to eat?"
"Sandwich. One of those big baguettes with loaded toppings. We still got any of that venison?" Ida walked over to her chair, then glanced at Darius.
Oh. Right. He had to help her up because she was short! He picked her up easily and placed her on her chair, then went to start making the sandwich.
"We do have enough venison for two more sandwiches. Would you like one too, Joseph?"
"No way," Ida snapped. "Venison's too good for them. Venison's just for me."
"Oh." Darius glanced awkwardly at Joseph. "Got it.
"I'll just have whatever. Same as Ida maybe? Except the...whatever stuff."
"Okay. I'll use shredded cricket."
With a smile on his face, Darius set to work.
