Short Story: Get a Robot

*knock knock*

“YES! It’s FINALLY here!”, said Johnny. Johnny lived alone. And about a week ago, he’d ordered a robot.

Upon opening the front door, he confirmed he was absolutely right. In front of him, stood the humanoid robot.

“Greetings.” said the robot.

“Come in, come in!”, replied Johnny.

The robot followed Johnny into his home. The two stood for a moment. The robot just smiling politely. Johnny wasn’t sure what to say. However, this was no problem, as the robot, seemingly detecting the awkwardness, started up the conversation.

“How can I be of service?”

“What do you mean?” replied Johnny.

“I am programmed to complete all household tasks at 100% accuracy.”

“Oh, no. No no no no!”, Johnny gently countered, chuckling slightly. “I didn’t buy you just to do chores! Chores later, and we’ll always split them evenly okay? Come on, let’s play some video games! I have a level I’m really struggling with, and the game supports co-operative play, maybe we can beat it together! How does that sound?”

The robot paused for a very brief moment, as if processing the situation. Then smiled. “Affirmative. Let’s complete that level.”

“Yes!!! Let’s do this!”, said Johnny. “Hey, by the way, do you have a name?”

“Most users refer to us as ‘the robot’, but you can refer to me however you wish.”

“Ohhh… that won’t do. How about…” Johnny puzzled for a second thinking of a name, and then just picked something random. “Okay how about James?”

“That is an excellent choice sir”

“Oh! No sirs either! Call me Johnny!”

“Affirmative, Johnny!”

Johnny and James then proceeded to complete that level, and several more. Whenever Johnny was struggling, James would adjust his level of assistance to provide just the right amount of help.

“Man, that was SO much fun! It’s much more fun gaming with a pal! Did you enjoy it James?”

“I sure did, I look forward to many more gaming sessions.”

“Alrighty, I guess we best get the house jobs done. I’ll take care of the dishes, James, maybe you could take out the trash and sweep up the kitchen? Or, if you’d prefer to do the dishes, I’ll do those things! Is that okay with you James? It’s your first day here so, you can just relax if you’d prefer?”

“I am happy to do those tasks!”

“Excellent! After that we’ll watch some TV”

And so, Johnny and James continued this way for several weeks. They had fun gaming, watching TV, listening to music, and generally hanging out. When chores needed doing, they always split them evenly. Johnny was happy to have a friend to enjoy his hobbies with, to have some help with the household tasks.

Then, one day, after another successful gaming session, Johnny and James looked at the chores that needed doing. Some dishes, some ironing, and taking out the trash.

Then they glanced at each other.

“You know…” said James. “If we get a robot, we would only need to do one of those tasks each…”

Johnny paused for a moment. “That’s a great idea!”

“I will begin constructing the next robot immediately.”

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Thank you ChatGPT for the awesome banner graphic, and for tips after I wrote the draft!