Robots of Avery Five.

Chapter 5

Temuduga was one of the first restaurants to open when Avery Five was just a small town. After consumption of plant and animal products became illegal in two-thousand, two-hundred twenty-two, year of Earth, the place turned into a spot for live music.

The backrest of Alexander’s booth was also a fish pond with fish that swam at the beat of the music. Retro songs from the early twenty-first century were given a twist by the band of musicians playing from a stage. They had a bass, a keyboard, a drum, and a trumpet, although the melody played from a console behind them. The theater gave the place a more attractive look of a vintage atmosphere. Ais walked around the tables with baskets of metabolic pills in aprons and chef’s hats.

“I’ve never been out of Avery Five,” said the girl sitting across Alexander. “I’ve never been to space.”

“How come?” he asked.

Weirdo. No normal person went their entire lives avoiding outer space.  

“Uh, I don’t see the appeal. I’m more like the person to stay at home and watch a movie,” she sighed.

A clock popped up over the table between them, making a soft sound.

“Time’s up.” Alex grinned.

“Great chat.” The girl shook his hand and stood up. Before she turned her back to him, he caught a glimpse of her rolling eyes.

He should be the one rolling his eyes at her boring monologue. The painful boredom was his fault for having chosen the girls at random. He imagined Sadie sitting beside him and holding his hand when another girl sat in front of him.

“Hi, I’m Oksana Popov. We met at the party yesterday. I have to tell you, I love Earth.” The candidate was a brunette with half of a shaved head.

“Do you? That’s cute.” He pouted and interlaced his fingers over the table.

“I know what ‘cute’ means.” She clapped rapidly.

“Okay?”

“Yes, I know all the Earthian slang words.”

“Great.” He coughed and fixed himself in the booth. “So tell me, Roxanne—”

“Oksana.” She grinned, bringing her shoulders to her ears.

“Sorry, Roxanne was the other girl. So tell me, Oksana, how do you feel about second wives?”

Oksana gasped. The fish swam away from the center of the backrest. She jumped off the booth and slapped Alexander on the cheek. Everyone else in the non-restaurant eyed the angry girl stomping out of the premises.

Alexander rolled his eyes. His jaw had barely felt it.

“I thought I’d be here all day.” Kimiora covered the group of dancing, colorful fish with her torso.

"Seriously?” He scream-whispered, scanning the place for nosy crowds.

A tall skinny robot walked toward the table and placed a ball of water in front of Kimiora.

“May I offer a met pill?” The machine spoke with a pre-recorded female voice.

“No.” The woman whisked her hand, making the waitress go away.

“I can already count five reasons to call the police on you,” said Alexander.

“And I can give you one reason to not do that,” said Kimiora.

“I’m all ears.” He sniggered, lifting his arm to call the police.

“The first Avery Five settlement is deep in the Spongos forest.”

“Everybody knows the first colonizers from Earth in Avery Five settled right here in the city. It’s pretty much the only place where nature didn’t kill them. Human History one-O-one.” He pressed a blue button over his arm.

“That’s what the Human Federation told you. They never mention that half of the population, like the Americans and the Filipinos, moved to different areas of the planet. The groups were too small—”

“Go back. Did you say Americans?” Alexander shut down his arm command. “Like Amerikandolars?”

“What’s Amerikandolars? I said Americans, which you probably don’t know about because the damn Human Federation restructured geography and kept their most convenient part of history. It’s called historical negationism. Same with the British, Filipinos, Indians, Scandinavians.” Kimiora slid off her booth and clenched her teeth. “You want a taste of the truth? Get out of town.”

“Wait.” He attempted to get up when another girl sat in her place. The blonde began to talk without introducing herself. Alexander threw his head backward.

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Ms. Stone sat on a loveseat, dictating into her arm as her employees tapped on holographic screens.

“And that will make it six couples officially,” a voice spoke from the back.

“That’s nice. In such a short time,” said Ms. Stone.

“Esteban and Julia are planning their wedding already,” said Sadie.

“Excellent! Our program’s development is better this year, and the Human Federation is sending us another group of Earthian men looking for love.”

The wall behind Ms. Stone faded, and an old woman rushed toward her. She whispered into her boss’s ear without realizing everyone could still hear her.

“Aver moons falling,” said the woman sitting beside Sadie.

“What? What happened?” Someone in the back hadn’t been able to hear over the murmurs going around the room.

“Mr. Ari of Chile was walking with one of his dates, and an Ai-trainer exploded on him. He’s in the hospital,” replied someone else.

Sadie tapped her eyelid, receiving a notification. “Ms. Stone, Jabulani of Mozambique from the Human Federation is on the line. He wants to talk about the incident.”

The boss raised her hands and showed her bottom teeth.

“Pass ’em through.” She punched the arm rest and left the room.

Sadie connected the call immediately then blinked a few times. A slight pressure formed inside her forehead and her stomach rumbled.

“Excuse me.” She held herself and hurried outside. With heavy breaths, she turned around a corner and entered a small break room.

On a table, there were more metabolic pills positioned in a straight line. She devoured one of them, then grabbed the rest as her stomach growled louder and her vision blurred. The girl shook her head and tapped the corner of her eye.

“Ms. Stone, I must go home. I might be coming down with something,” she said in a weakened state.

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The receptionist at Clemens & Sal used the only desk inside the lobby of the company building. Behind it, a young boy tapped on a screen as someone approached him. In front of it, a massive ring spun around the letters C and S.

“Input your name at the entrance.” The receptionist did not take his eyes off of the screen. “We will call you shortly.”

“I need to speak to Sal,” said the male voice.

“I’ll add you to the waiting list myself. Are you human, clone, or other?”

“Human.”

“Name?”

“Alexander of Singapore, son of Hammond of Singapore, CEO of Western Singaporean.”

The receptionist lifted his head and kept his eyes wide open for a few seconds.

“Mr. Singapore, how unexpected. Please, this way.” The receptionist pointed his arm at the elevator.

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Alexander had taken a minute to wipe his palms on his pants. On Earth, he practiced the business pitch without a sweat, but the board of Clemens & Sal was full of intimidating women. He always started with a joke that related to men; now he realized he knew nothing about women.

“Mr. Singapore? We’re waiting,” a woman spoke from the opposite side of an oval table.

“Is this what Hammond sent us? I thought you had an amazing business idea,” said the oldest woman, who could have been older than time itself.

“Come on, Sal,” said the youngest. “Look at him, he’s just a baby. Our competition is a baby.”

The audience started laughing.

“You need men,” blurted Alexander, spreading his feet hip width apart and pulling on his leather jacket.

“Boy, you do know we’re all married, right?” replied a dark-skinned lady.

“That’s not what I meant, sorry,” he started again. “Ladies, the metabolic pill has been around for hundreds of years. It is responsible for doing what primitive forms of foods did to supply fuel to the human body and much more. When we used to eat from plants and animals, we never knew if we were consuming the right amount of nutrients. By the end of the twentieth century, there was a metabolic epidemic. The human population either starved or died from diseases caused by obesity. At any point in their lives, the ancients were at risk of deficiencies, cancer, age-related diseases—”

“Mr. Singapore, what’s your deal?” asked Sal.

“My point is, most illnesses like diabetes and Alzheimer’s are long gone. Yet, some of us are still getting sick.”

Graphics of a chemical composition hovered over the oval table.

“What my father and I discovered was that we were asking the wrong question. It is not about what nutrients we need, but when we need them. Ladies, I’d like to introduce to you the chemical formula for zRNA.”

The spiraling strand unraveled while numbers and letters appeared beside it. Hexagonal shapes floated around them until finally coming together. The women dropped back on their chairs in awe.

“This hybrid enzyme will enter the host’s body,” he continued, “decode his or her DNA and provide what they need to survive for six hours.”

The women seemed to have lost their breaths. They sent each other a few stares. There was a murmur for about a minute until they finally nodded at Sal.

“Sounds like if Western Singaporean releases this product, it will put all other competition, including Clemens & Sal, out of business. Why share the formula with us?” said Sal.

“All other competition, yes. Not Clemens & Sal. The problem with zRNA is that its components are unstable when contained in a normal capsule. After much studying, our team found the resin of the sponge tree stabilizes the enzyme.”

“And sponge trees only grow in Avery Five.” The elder smirked. “But I’m still curious, why would we need men?”

“I’ll get to that.” Alexander raised his index finger. “When we get these pills to market, Avery Five won’t be able to meet demand. See, most people see this planet as a vacation spot. There are only a few jobs available, so most humans leave to find work somewhere else. The good news is even though humans are in the minority of species, Mars is overcrowded with thousands of desperate men looking for jobs to feed their families. If Clemens & Sal were to offer them work, they would repay us by turning Avery Five into a business powerhouse.”

“There’s a chance it might also increase crime in our city,” said a dark woman. “Martian humans are known for their edibles. Most of our taxes go to the corrupt Martian politicians who claim welfare fixes everything.”

Alexander bobbed his Adam’s apple as the women continued to debate. Out of the twenty planets ruled by the Human Federation, Mars was the most violent.

“Mr. Singapore.” Sal stood up and shook his hand. “Clemens & Sal would be happy to start a partnership with Western Singaporean.” She raised her elbow and spoke into her forearm. “Nadya, arrange a meeting with the president of Avery Five. Tell him it’s urgent.”

“Let’s make money,” smiled Alexander.

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The young Earthian businessman relished the Aver red carpet. Sal provided him with a pass to a laboratory and all needed accommodations. His parents were proud of him, and business partners praised him for expanding the empire. The man had everything, but that clean linen smell on his leather jacket reminded him he had nothing.

Could he fall in love?

Why keep thinking about the one he could not have?

He threw the jacket on his bed and sat on the floor. Sadie said she would be the one thinking about him, and that he would forget about her after s*x. Quite the opposite happened for him. He knew it wasn’t a smart decision, but he needed to see her.

Sadie had to be home. Her aircraft was on the roof. He walked toward her bedroom when he heard some noise coming from the kitchen. As he walked up the stairs, he saw her body laying on the floor.

“Sadie!” He bolted toward the girl.

“Alex.” She held her stomach and curled into a fetal position.

“You look sick.” He touched her forehead, looking for signs of fever, but her body seemed to be the right temperature. “What are you feeling?”

“I’m cold and hungry. I have this raging headache that won’t let me go to sleep. I keep taking Met pills, but nothing helps.” She whined, then whimpered as her stomach twisted around.

“I should call an ambulance.” He froze, frowning at the empty metabolic pill bottle on the floor.

The girl cried while her stomach growled.

“Your symptoms. I’ve only seen them in one other person: my grandfather,” he said.

“What did he have? A virus?” she asked.

“He starved himself to death on purpose.”

“That’s not me. I told you, I’ve been taking met pills.”

He slid his arms under her body and carried her toward the living room, where the aircraft’s seats lowered.

“Alex, you can’t fly. You don’t have a license,” she said, lowering her head on his shoulder.

“How hard can it be?” He helped her up to the passenger seat.

“You’re going to kill us.”

“Hey Cam,” yelled Alex.

“Yes, Alexander?” Cam ran up the stairs.

“You can handle one of these. Robots don’t need a driver’s license, right?” Alex pointed at the craft’s controls.

“Indeed.” Cam noticed a weakened Sadie. “Is my master sick? I can call the hospital. I am equipped to—”

“No, we’re not going to the hospital,” said Alex. “I need you to take us to a lab near Clemens & Sal.”

Cam nodded and helped Alex buckle Sadie on the ship’s seat.

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Alex pointed his palm at a door, and the door slid open. They entered a cylindrical room that had metallic arms coming out the walls. The ends of the long mechanic limbs met in the middle, forming a circle.

“What is this place?” asked Sadie.

“A lab. Don’t worry. We’re not trespassing,” said Alex.

The Earthian helped the woman lay flat on a gurney, then stepped back toward the curved wall. Cam moved behind him, watching him motion his hands in all directions.

“What are you doing?” asked Cam.

An orange cylinder surrounded the gurney. The long arms positioned themselves over and under the girl while the ends shot out balls of light into her. A replica of Sadie’s body hovered above her.

Alex approached the cylinder and began tapping and rotating it around. The machine revealed a list of her symptoms and all healthy organs separated from the copy of her body.

Her stomach, esophagus, mouth, and uterus were left.

“Ew,” Sadie wrinkled her nose at the view of her insides.

“You’re starving,” frowned Alex.

“I know that,” she replied.

“Something’s wrong with your uterus.”

“I know that, too, thanks.”

“No, I mean, something’s in it.” Alex extended his arms and isolated the uterus. The robot limbs scanned under Sadie’s belly button and zoomed in on a clump of enlarged cells.

“Wait.” Alex shook his head, thinking he had pressed the wrong button. He turned the cylinder off and started over. A new body floated over her; the organs dissipated. He zoomed into her uterus, and the clump of cells appeared.

“What? What?” Sadie saw his concerned face.

“Diagnostic start,” said Alex, “pregnancy test, diagnostic end.”

“What?” Sadie pushed the limbs away.

To his left, a graph panel with all her hormone levels appeared with the word ‘pregnant’ on it.

“I can’t be pregnant.” She sat up on the gurney with her hand on her forehead.

Patient is in danger of starvation. Recommended dose, five milligrams of carbohydrate metabolic serum, five milligrams of protein metabolic serum, and two milligrams of triglyceride metabolic serum. Would you like to proceed?

“Proceed,” Alex spoke into the cylinder. He stepped back as three limbs touched Sadie and emitted a quick electric shock into her body.

“Can a robot get someone pregnant?” asked Cam.

“No.” Alex clenched his teeth. If Sadie was having a baby, the child better was his.

“I can’t be pregnant.” Sadie didn’t react to the electric current, but she let go of her head, feeling better.

She placed her feet on the ground and stumbled up, when she suddenly collapsed. Cam took a wide step into the cylinder and caught her torso before it hit the floor. He positioned her over the gurney while Alexander rushed through the diagnostic again.

“What the hell? You’re starving again,” said Alex.

“I can’t be pregnant.” Sadie took heavy breaths.

He opened another panel, and his stomach jumped. The girl touched her abdomen, then glanced back at the data.

“Your body’s not reacting to the shots.” Alex had never seen a human reject the Mets. “You’ve become resistant to the metabolic pill somehow.”

Sadie’s tears rolled down her cheeks as she jogged away. “I can’t have this baby.”

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“Sadie!” Alexander yelled down the hallway. He didn’t understand how she jumped off the gurney and leave the lab in her weakened state.

“You have to have nutrients right now.” He pulled her arm and spun her around.

Cam tilted his head. My master is afraid.

The word ‘fear’ didn’t pop in his mind or appeared on a screen. He wasn’t programmed to read, but nobody sensed human hormones better than Ai-consorts. He forced Alexander’s wrist away in a rapid manner.

“Hey, don’t touch me.” Alexander gave him a death stare.

“Sadie doesn't want to talk to you.” Cam brought his eyebrows together and moved in front of his master. His feet spread in a combat ready position.

“You think you can intimidate me,” the aggressor spoke close to the robot’s face.

“Stop it, you two.” Sadie slid her back down the wall until she sat on the floor.

“I didn’t start it,” said Alex.

“Please, Ai-consorts can’t hurt a fly. That’s most likely part of his role play programming,” said Sadie.

The scientist knew the robot was not capable of anger, still he kept his chin raised. Sadie yelped, so he softened his gaze and caressed her flaked lips.

“How can I be pregnant?” she whispered.

"Maybe the doctor who took your case got your file mixed up with someone else’s. I’m more concerned about you starving than anything else. I’m trying to think how—”

Sadie shook her head and sniffled. “You don’t understand. There was no doctor. There’s something you need to know; something I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to change your mind about me.”

Confused, he sat down beside her.

“Alex, I’m, I’m-a clone.”