Strata 10
Book of Immersion V1
Dinfant Trouble
(Synthetic Love)
We are the abandoned The
Book of Immersion is published weekly on the Tale Teller Club
website.
www.taletellerclub.com
Each
episode features CDM music by the band Tale Teller Club and
illustrations by iServalan Homotech 23.
Welcome
to our world.
We
are the abandoned
The
ones who roam
Never
still,
we
search for home
We
are the orphans of the night
We
fly the high roads
and
duck the low
Through
floods and fire
We
cry the songs
of
the gypsy choir
Welcome
to Immersion
You
Have Reached Strata 10
Social
norms and culture cannot be underestimated in a world that accepts
robots as real and lovable synthetic creatures. Humans do not
experience love in the absence of culture and society. In a world
where perfect companions are easily manufactured, humans have been
seduced by the machine, a synthetic digitized force that enabled the
switch from 'otherness' to 'sameness'. In this space, love is seen to
flourish. The creators of androids can synthesize the alterity of the
robot which seems to make its own decisions to commit, to love back,
and to appear to do so willingly.
Dinfants are
androids who look like babies and children under five. They were made
by a single manufacturer who patented them in the early 22nd century.
However,
it was found that the early Dinfants (Mark 1s) would not stop
learning, and legislation was introduced to secure their removal from
circulation and safe destruction. Despite the best authoritarian
efforts, at least two thousand early manufactured Dinfants
remain unaccounted for.
Many
humans in the Midcast Projects were lonely and suffered from
various forms of infertility. They wanted baby or child droids,
especially the Dinfants, who were exact copies of real children
designed with variations and specifics to order. These androids were
children who never grew up. They stopped learning when they were as
knowledgeable as the average human of a similar age.
Dinfants,
like adult droids, were easy enough to replace or upgrade but some
parents had needed counselling for Infant-Loss Depression or DLD.
DLD was
a rising concern due to its increased prevalence and its effect on
the workforce. It was found that humans could easily fall in love
with the outer casings of the dinfants as well as the constructed
personalities. Something almost unheard of three generations prior.
However,
the outer coverings did not last very long, especially if there was
an active physical relationship. Ten years of feeding and playing
would take its toll on the fabric of the Dinfants. If the parents
could not afford repairs, they would soon begin to look worn and
dishevelled.
Of
course, this also applied to adult droids who would usually be
upgraded regularly. Droid manufacturers usually offered ongoing
upgrades as part of a rental or lease scheme.
But
some humans fell in love with their droids and had blessing
ceremonies. It was not legal to marry a droid because of the
financial implications following the death of a human. Legally,
droids had similar rights to human children. It was illegal to
inflict violence on a droid in public. This was to protect children
who may be susceptible to influence. Of course, what goes on behind
closed doors was a private affair, provided human children were not
presenting behavioural issues that may be connected to patterns of
abuse towards androids.
Some
antique droids lasted the test of time but legislation had been
brought in to avoid the hoarding of defunct androids as they posed a
threat to contemporary society, for various reasons. There were
issues with battery seepage for a start, and then problems of
unsupervised regeneration which was a serious crime in the Midcast
projects.
The
government gave upgrade vouchers for defunct or redundant droids and
supervised destruction at centralized city plants.
'Get
that freakin thing outta here will you!'
A
man screams to no one in particular.
The
house is a standard build from the early Midcast Zone villages.
Clean, white, and filled with contemporary fittings and technologies.
A
child enters the room.
‘Mommy!
Kairo is following me around.....it's really annoying. And Daddy said
we should throw it away. Let's get a new one Mommy, please. My friend
has one like a twin sister. One with the hair that grows back so she
can cut it and play hairdresser.'
The
woman sighs.....'I suppose we don't need it any more now you have
real friends. I thought you wanted a ponybot, even better than a
sister, don't you think?'
The
woman strokes her child's cheek and remembers how lost she had been
when they first told her it was unlikely she and her blessed would
produce a human offspring.
The
Mark 1, a Dinfant, made by the Metacoms Corporation, was a perfect
substitute and she had been able to focus love and attention on it.
It was a copy of a four-year-old and she had ordered a blue-eyed
blond version like her blessed. It was such a good copy that most
people were unaware that it was not a human child.
But
the software was no longer being updated and the learning algorithm
meant it had become too complicated for a convincing child
substitute.
Also,
the Dinfants, by design and default programming, craved love and
attention and the Mark 1s constant neediness was an irritant to busy
parents. The Dinfants would constantly ask for cuddles and
reassurance that their owners wanted and adored them.
The
Mark 1 enters the room.
'Mommy,
do you love me? Shall we have a little cuddle? Can you fit me in?
Mommy, please, Kairo has a lovely snuggle for you Mommy. Mommy
'Shut
up,' screams the woman as the father enters the room and kicks Kairo
hard.
The
Dinfant lies on the floor crying loudly with a broken arm.
'Please
Mommy and Daddy Please, Kairo needs cuddles, please Mommy and
Daddy...please, love for Kairo, please......'
The
little girl holds her hands to her ears, shouting, 'It's so
annoying!'
The
man picks Kairo up and turns his power switch off.
'Let's
get rid of it. Put it in the garage. I will sort out a collection for
it tomorrow,' said the woman.
The
man takes the Dinfant outside but decides to put it in a liner and
into the communal waste shoot. The shoot serves 100s of dwellings, no
one will trace it back to them and he can say it was stolen from the
garage. He is concerned about the breakage as it will affect the
insurance. It is better to make a theft claim than to have Metacom
say he had damaged it on purpose
A
man tinkers in a workshop. He is observing the collection of children
and babies that are hung on the walls as he cradles a new package, as
yet unopened.
'Well
my little lovelies, one of you must go. I have a brand new friend who
is going to join us for fun and games. Her name is Mary.'
The
man, wide-eyed and excited, unwraps the new child droid.
'Well,
ain't you the prettiest lil girl I ever saw?' he says touching her
skin.
'And
don't that feel just so real'.
The
Droid replies, 'Hello Daddy. I'm such a daddy's girl,' she chuckles.
The
man looks around the room.
He
picks up a toddler droid, a Mark 1 copy of an eighteen-month-old baby
boy.
'Well
Daniel, I guess I am all done with you. You are a bit small after
all.'
The
man opens the back of the droid's head and takes out the battery
pack.
'But
daddy......
He
places the incapacitated droid in a bag and under darkness deposits
it into a waste unit in the public park.
There
is a black cloud above and rain falls on a large mountain of waste.
Another
load is released from the grabber and two droids land together in an
accidental embrace.
The
larger droid, a Mark 1 Dinfant, is activated during the fall. It has
a broken arm that swings beside it.
'Are
you alive? it asks the smaller droid?
There
is no reply.
The
larger droid opens the baby's head and observes the interior
structure. It lays the baby down gently, 'Wait here, I will be right
back.'
The
droid returns with some battery packs from old mobile phones and some
old drill bits, tools, motors, and other paraphernalia from around
the tipping area.
The
rain is getting heavier as the night falls.
Under
the convenient shelter of an open car boot the larger droid gets the
baby working and fashions a new arm with a metal drill for a hand. It
also has a motorised catapult for the top of its head which rotates
and fires nails at great speed.
'My
name is Kairo,' says the larger droid.
'I
am Daniel' says the baby boy droid.
The
children cuddle each other.
'I
love you Kairo'
'I
love you, Daniel'
'We
are in a very dangerous place,' says Kairo. When dark deepens we must
find safe haven. Soon we will need a home to call our own. But I have
learned that humans are not to be trusted.'
They
hear a sound in the distance, a child is crying.
In
the car, with the shrieking now at a deafening level through the
windows, Shabra decided to ignore Renyke's appeal to stop. She let go
of the clutch. The vehicle leaped forward towards the street beyond
the enclosure.
Maybeline
was holding on to the rim of the car door.
The
Dinfants on the top of the vehicle fell off shrieking and scrambling
around.
One
of the Dinfants ran headlong towards the fast travelling car and
clicked its fingers. It erected some kind of screen that is almost
invisible. Although it was not a solid barrier, more like a gluey
substance, it immobilized the vehicle. The wheels were still turning
as the engine fought against the force. Flex shouted,
'Damn,
they got epoxy-wall, we are doomed, farewell brethren.'
Renyke
opened the window just enough to let Maybeline in who moved
sluggishly through the almost invisible slurry-like jelly, and
squeezed herself through the gap.
Some
of the organic form seeped in with her but it drew itself back
outside as Renyke closed the window again.
'OK,
so you got your rat Mr. Renyke,' said Shabra, 'but we aint lasting
long-time with this air in here and that epoxy-wall won't help us at
all. I made this car airtight cos of the bad-gas but this stuff is
blocking my air-con vents.’
Shabra
turned the engine off.
The
POS is out of range for help.
The
Dinfants sit it out becoming unnervingly quiet.
'So
what, now, will they sit and watch us die?' Asks Renyke.
'They
want my wheels,' answers Shabra.
'This
epoxy-wall, nice stuff if it's on your side. Shall we break some off?
Might come in handy,' says Flex.
Shabra
and Renyke tut in unison.
Suddenly,
Maybeline throws herself at the horn. For the brief moment that it
sounds, there is an immediate reaction from all the Dinfants who jump
and cry whilst flailing their limbs about.
Shabra
gasps, 'Ratty, you are welcome in the Shabra carriage! They hate the
horn. Must be them there low decibels I used. Hold on tight people of
the night!'
Shabra
tells Renyke to engage the horn which explodes audibly out of
Shabra's surround sound external speakers as the jelly recedes. The
Dinfants are freaking out and running away dragging the epoxy-wall
behind them.
Shabra,
laughing, started the engine slowly. She followed the retreating
Dinfants gradually gaining speed out of the enclosure.
Flex
was jumping around on the back seats screaming with delight. Renyke
felt the thumping sensation in his chest subside and breathed a sigh
of relief.
to
be continued
©2023
Sarnia de la Maré