Author's note: This is one of my longer stories and it's a bit of a slow burn, but I'm pretty sure it's worth it.
***
One of the perks of my job is that I get to choose my own hours. For me the best thing about this is being able to make it to the gym during the mid-afternoon sweet spot when it's nice and quiet. On this particular day I was in a good mood and looking forward to dressing down to my yoga pants and tuning out for an hour or so. I always loved coming to the gym, and I was looking forward to getting in a good sweat and feeling strong and energised.
As I made my way to the cardio machines, I spotted a familiar face out of the corner of my eye. It was Amber, a fellow gym goer who seemed to be about my age, and sort of a friend given that she always seemed to be in the gym around the same time as me and we always said hi. Amber was fit and athletic, with long wavy brown hair and a bright smile. I admired her dedication and discipline, how she was always pushing herself to be better.
I had always wanted to know more about Amber, and I remembered that she had once told me that she was some kind of engineer. She hadn't given me any details though, and I had always been a little curious about what kind of work she did.
After I finished my session on the cross trainer I spotted her again. She was on the treadmill, absolutely killing it as usual, with sweat dripping down her face and a determined look in her eyes. The form fitting jumpsuit she was wearing hugged her curves in all the right places, showcasing her figure. I made my way over to the weight room and started my own routine, stealing glances at her every now and then. She had always been an inspiration to me, and I confess I was also a little jealous of her, and a little intimidated.
After finishing up my workout, I decided to say hello to Amber before heading home. As I approached her, she smiled and greeted me warmly. "Hey Cat! How's your workout going?" she asked.
"It's going great, thanks for asking," I replied. "I saw you going for it over there and I knew that meant I didn't have any excuse to slack off."
"Aw, thank you Cat," she said with a chuckle. "I'm happy to be of help. I know how hard it can be to find the time and energy to work out, especially with everything else going on in our lives."
"Oh," I said, "now that reminds me. I've always been curious since you told me that you were an engineer. You never said what sort of engineering."
Amber grinned and shook her head. "Oh, I'm a robotics engineer," she said.
"Oh wow!" I said. "Who do you work for?"
"I work for me." Amber said, an amused smile on her face. "It's one of those situations where your hobby gets out of hand and all of a sudden you're an entrepreneur."
I couldn't believe it. A robotics engineer! I had never met anyone like Amber before, and I was fascinated. "That sounds amazing," I said. "I've always been interested in technology, but I've never really considered engineering as a career. What sort of things do you engineer?"
"I work on all sorts of projects," Amber said. "Right now, I'm really excited about a new massage robot I'm developing. It's designed to provide comprehensive full-body massages, using multiple arms and different techniques to target different areas of the body. It's really state-of-the-art."
I was amazed. "That sounds incredible," I said. "I've never heard of anything like that before. I can't wait to try it out."
Amber seemed to think for a moment, then she said. "Do you want to give it a try? I'm actually working with the gym and I have the robot set up in a back room here. I've had it working now for a couple of weeks and I'd love to get your feedback."
I couldn't believe my ears. "Are you serious?" I asked, my heart racing with excitement. "I would love to try it out! Thank you so much for offering."
"Of course," Amber said, grinning. "Come on, I'll show you."
Had she known that I'm a total massage junkie? She had definitely chosen the best time to ask me, with my muscles feeling heavy from the time I'd just spent with the weights.
I followed Amber to the back of the gym and to one of the doors I'd never seen opened. She held up an RFID card to a reader to unlock the door, opened it and ushered me inside. There was a privacy screen just inside the door so I couldn't see anything immediately. I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity, but when I stepped around the corner I was blown away by what I saw.
The small room was minimalist and clinical and everything was matt white and spotless. The soft lighting in the room came from strip lights along the walls, and when the door closed I realised that the whole room must also be soundproofed. When Amber had said engineering and robots I had expected to see boxes and cables everywhere, but apart from a large touch screen control panel at waist height there was only one other piece of furniture in the room.
There was a complex padded table in the centre, and it was immediately clear that this was the focus of the room. What drew the eye, however, was the robot mounted to the ceiling above the table. It had more arms than I could count, and it looked a bit like a giant spider, though it too was white, minimalist, and spotless. It was clear that this was a highly advanced piece of technology, and I couldn't wait to see it in action.
"Did you make all of this?" I asked Amber, my eyes wide with awe.
"Yes, I did," she replied with a smile. "Well, I bought a lot of the parts off-the-shelf and 3D printed the rest. I have robots making robots, welcome to the future."
"It looks so professional." I said, still taking it all in.
"Thanks. I've been working with the gym to make sure everything looks good and the experiences feel right for clients. I know how important it is to have a space that is comfortable and welcoming, and I wanted to make sure that this room fit that bill."
She swiped her keycard over the control panel and it lit up with a friendly looking user interface.
"It's very easy to use. It's all controlled by a very sophisticated human interaction artificial intelligence based system and that takes care of the massage program. All you have to do is choose a program - see here: 'Post-Workout Recovery Massage'" she tapped an option on the screen. "You don't have any injuries or medical conditions do you?"
"Not really."
"Great." She tapped another option. "And, you're good to go."
The screen flashed up green and I heard a warm artificial female voice say "Thankyou. Please stand on the platform and enjoy your massage."
