Chapter 4
Final exams were coming up. Lena took to studying in the front room after classes, trying to finish the term paper required for her coursework. Simi understood; when she was home, she took over the chores, such as cleaning the kitchen like she was now. That left Lena free to study; Simi didn't need to. Lena wasn't sure if she considered Simi's brain hacking to be cheating, but she wisely kept her jealousy quietly under wraps, right next to her envy. After all, she didn't even know who to report something like this to, and who would believe it anyway? The tensions kept building up; then, one night while Lena tried to complete a particularly vexing assignment, her frustration boiled over.
Lena slammed her laptop shut. "Ugh! I just can't-" She glanced up at Simi, who was watching with concern. "These literature criticism theories are just...hard."
"That's college for you," Simi replied. "Sometimes it's like they want us to fail, to weed out the unworthy."
Lena snorted derisively. "You won't, little miss robot. You don't even
need
to go to class anymore."
Simi dismissed the implied criticism and nodded with understanding. "I still enjoy the company, Lena; I like being around people. And I have to put in the lecture and discussion time, just like everyone else." She returned to her cleaning, wiping crumbs off the kitchen counter. "I like the creative aspect of architecture most of all. Sure, I can analyze dimensions, calculate the variables involved in different structure types, and come up with efficient solutions to code requirements, but beauty isn't something quantifiable. Eye of the beholder. It takes a human touch, imagination."
Is it even possible to rile her up?
Lena wondered, letting the silence stretch. A few moments went by before Lena finally asked the question that had been on her mind for weeks. "Simi? Why?"
"Why what?"
"You know what I mean," she pouted. "Why the robot thing? You haven't told me yet. I mean, I understand the point of downloading information, and completing classes faster, and fitness training, and putting programs in your head, but...there's other ways, right? So
why?
Why even do it?"
Simi blinked at her, then shrugged. "You haven't asked." She deposited the sponge in the sink and came over to sit on the couch, giving Lena a 'do you really want to know?' look.
"Please, tell me."
Simi dropped her eyes toward her lap and sighed, putting her hands on her knees. "After high school, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I felt like I was being pulled in a hundred different directions, but no clear path. I wanted to go to college, but didn't know what to study, or how to start. There was all this...static in my head, you know? So many expectations from family, society, culture, so much
noise.
I was anxious, and scared, and helpless. I figured if I could clear out the clutter, even for just a day, I would see it, the way I needed to go. So, I took some time off for myself, just over a year; I traveled a bit, did a road trip or two, met up with some friends, but they were all moving on, getting ready for their futures, and I...wasn't."
"That's usually when something bad happens, isn't it? Or someone tries to take advantage of you?" Lena interjected, remembering her teenage years, when she received several stern warning lectures from her parents about typical youthful excesses and mistakes. "When you're most vulnerable?"
Simi nodded. "Some of them were the partying type, but I didn't want any of that. Drugs, alcohol, sex... just the worst stuff. From what I saw, it wasn't doing them any favors, so I kept moving. Then there was Kurt." She looked up at Lena. "He was the class uber-nerd in high school. I pity-dated him once back then; but when I saw him again, he was a new person; confident, clean-cut, was in a great tech program, and had a girlfriend he was hoping to marry. We went out for a friendly dinner, and I asked him his secret. It took him a while to confide in me, but when I opened up about how desperate I was, he finally told me."
"The suit?"
"He and his computer science friends designed it. It was supposed to be a joke, for fetish videos or something; you know how... repressed, and creative, some of those nerd types can be. They got a few electrical and software engineering majors from the local college to help build it, trying to make it work for real. But by the time they built the first two suits, they'd hit a wall with the programming, and most of them lost interest or didn't have time to help anymore. So, Kurt got them to give him the suits, and he kept working on them. Once he figured out the software problem, he compiled the program, designed a few apps, then started experimenting with one of the suits on himself: there's a male and a female version."
"And he just gave one to you?"
"Well, it's designed for a woman, after all. He said he'd been hoping to use it with his girlfriend, but he didn't think he could ever...you know,
convince
her to wear it," she narrowed her eyes with a sinister implication. "I think he was feeling guilty; he didn't want to be tempted by it anymore, so he was planning to destroy it. After I told him my story, he brought me back to their house and gave the female suit to me, to get rid of it. He also copied the software for me, and included a compiler to make apps." Simi sighed again. "Kurt's a good man, I hope he's happy."
Lena leaned close, patting her friend's hand in sympathy and encouragement. "So, what happened next?"
"I tried it on. My old laptop barely had enough power to run the program," Simi chuckled. "You should have seen me, hiding in a cheap motel room, trying to connect to their weak internet, frustrated as hell. Then..." a look of calm, peaceful joy spread over Simi's face. "It worked.
She
happened."
"Unit E27?"
"Um-hm. The suit made her, using me as a template, to help with my programming, like having a computer in my head. With her help, I was able to get myself straightened out. I decided on architecture, applied here, and...there you have it."
Lena moved to the couch beside Simi, and gave her a gentle hug. "Thank you for telling me, Simi," she said, smiling with understanding. "So, where do the updates come from? Does Kurt still send them?"
Simi shrugged. "I don't know, actually. The software was originally designed to link back to his system, but there haven't been any outside upgrades to it in a while. The program itself is pretty solid, and fairly intuitive; it's on my desktop computer. I have to put on the suit and sync up with it at least once a week, those are the 'maintenance updates' we've been doing. Most of the updates are for the apps; a lot of them are the same as on any cell phone; they're compatible. There are a few specialty apps, like physical fitness, that I had to write myself," she directed a sly smile at Lena. "After I downloaded a coding language library, of course. And E27 helps."
