D0 y0u l0v3 m3? by Pedro Conceição Coutinho
There is a fine line between love and hate, jealousy and obsession, life and death. And some people cross that line without realizing it.
#
September 21, 2038
That Tuesday morning, when Stephen Hill told his family that he would buy them the SK-11/22/63 — a humanoid robot created eleven years before that aimed to facilitate the daily life of the human population — they all got elated, but most of all, surprised. The patriarch of the Hill family was known to hate technology because he considered it to make individuals lazy and useless.
Only one in thirty families worldwide had an SK. And now, they were the proud new owners of one.
Each of the four family members wanted the robot for different reasons.
In the case of Carrie Hill, the matriarch of the family, it was an opportunity to show off to her friends and co-workers. After all, SK were quite expensive.
For Johnny Hill and Charlene Hill, the couple’s children, it was an opportunity to have a new toy. A toy that could walk, talk, think, and behave just like a normal person.
Regarding Stephen Hill, he saw the robot as an opportunity to redeem himself from the mistakes of his past. Or so, he hoped.
#
June 4, 2027
Stephen Hill was sitting on the couch of the office. In front of him was his psychiatrist. Stephen had been undergoing therapy for over a week now to overcome the death of his beloved girlfriend after being advised by family and friends to do so.
“Let’s start with where we ended the previous consultation, Mr. Hill,” said the psychiatrist. “You said that in addition to being sad, you also feel guilty about the death of your girlfriend. Why?”
“I am a doctor. A very good doctor. I should have known something was wrong with her. If I had paid proper attention to her, maybe I could have seen the signs of her illness, and maybe now, she would be alive. But unfortunately, I was too busy working on those damn robots.”
“Are you talking about the… SK?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were a neurosurgeon.”
“And I am. I was called by the company that created the robots to develop their brains. That is why they can act and think like us,” He sighed. “I wasted so much time with these metal creatures when I should have been with her.”
“I see,” The psychiatrist paused. “Mr. Hill, to overcome your girlfriend’s death, you will have to understand that the control of life and death is out of our hands.”
“What if I can’t do this?”
“You will have to do it. To end the pain that destroys you inside. But the first step to accomplish this is to say your girlfriend’s name. I realized that since we started our consultations, you still haven’t told me her name. Because of the pain, sadness and remorse you feel. So, Mr. Hill, tell me her name. Free yourself.”
After a brief moment in silence, Stephen opened his mouth and spoke the name of his beloved:”Holly.”
#
September 21, 2039
The SK was in the kitchen, quickly preparing breakfast for the Hill family, who were sitting in the living room, waiting for the food.
“Where’s breakfast?” asked Carrie.
“I’m almost done, Madam.”replied the SK.
“Hurry up!” She yelled. “I don’t want to be late for work.”
“Please, be more polite, Carrie.” said Stephen to his wife.
“To the stupid robot? Why? It was created to do this kind of work,” Carrie looked at SK. “Come on, or I’ll send you to the recycle center, your piece of useless junk!”
The couple’s two children laughed and repeated Mrs. Hill’s words:”Piece of useless junk!”
Stephen opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, much to his disappointment.
It had been a busy year for the SK since every member of the Hill treated the robot like a maid. All but Stephen. Therefore, a small hatred for the three elements had grown in the spirit of the SK. Especially for Carrie, Lazy and vain cow. Often the robot thought about Mrs. Hill’s.
Most of all, what the SK hated about Carrie was that she was married to Stephen and had the life the robot should have had. In another life.
The SK finished preparing the breakfast, then took the food to them.
While each of the family members ate, the robot was standing in the corner of the room, looking at Mrs. Hill, who looked like a pig, devouring the food without chewing it, How could Stephen have married her? The lazy cow doesn’t deserve him. He deserves someone better. Someone like me. He and I were always perfect for each other.
And so, slowly and without realizing it, the idea that Carrie should disappear started to permeate the SK’s mind.
#
June 5, 2027
Stephen was digging a hole in his girlfriend’s grave with a shovel to try to get to the coffin where she was buried. Beside him, on the floor, was a jar with embalming fluid.
A thick night fog covered the entire cemetery.
After an hour of hard work, Stephen finally managed to reach the coffin. Although he was dirty and his whole body hurt, he didn’t care, such was his happiness.
Stephen hurried to open the coffin, seeing his girlfriend’s nearly decomposing body.
“Don’t worry, my dear. I will bring you back. One way or another.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he began to hit the head with the shovel until he managed to open the skull. Cracking it.
Stephen dropped the shovel and then carefully pulled his girlfriend’s brain out of the skull. He held the brain in his hands like a baby.
Stephen came out of the hole with some effort and put the brain inside the jar with embalming fluid, to preserve it.
“Good.”
In the minutes that followed, he put the dirt back into the hole, leaving no trace of his presence there, nor of what he had done.
#
September 20, 2038
“Where am I?” The only thing Holly saw in front of her was darkness.
“Holly, dear.”
“Stephen?!”
“Open your eyes.”
“Stephen, where am I?!”
“Calm down and do what I tell you, dear,” He said in a calm voice. “Everything will be fine. I promise you.”
Holly obeyed, opening her eyes and seeing Stephen in front of her. He looked older.
Then Holly looked around, recognizing where she was. It was the basement of Stephen’s house. She tried to smile but failed for some reason, What is happening? My face. My body. Something is different.
Holly raised her hands and saw that they were robotic and made of metal.
“What is happening?!” Then, to her horror, she saw that her entire body was robotic and made of metal. “My body! What happened?!”
“Your disease killed you! Do you remember?!”
“What?!”
“But I brought you back to life! Or at least a part of you!”
“What does that mean?!”
“Your brain! I copied the memories that were in your brain to an inorganic brain that I created especially for you.”
“A what?!”
“Let me explain it to you in a simpler way,” Stephen paused. “It is like copying files from a computer to a pen drive. Your brain was the computer, the inorganic brain I created is the pen drive, and the files are your memories. That’s what I did. I copied your memories from one place to another.”
“And my body?”
“Unfortunately your body is gone. So I put the inorganic brain, which contains your memories, basically you, in an SK-11/22/63.”
“The robots you were working on ?!”
“Yes.”
After thinking about everything Stephen had revealed to her, she asked:”Why do you look so old?”
“Well, copying your memories took years.”
“Years!”
“The larger the file, the longer it takes to copy.”
“How many years?!”
“Eleven years.”
#
November 22, 2039
5:35 PM
Carrie entered the house. The whole place was filled with silence and darkness, making her understand that something was wrong. Normally, when entering the house, she could hear the children’s voices in the different rooms. But today, it was different.
Carrie pressed the switch, but the lights didn’t turn on.
Despite all her senses telling her that she should run away from home and ask for help, Carrie started walking down the hallway. She pierced the darkness that engulfed the place, making her way slowly and carefully to the living room, while calling for her children and the robot.
“Johnny. Charlene. SK. Where are you?”
She entered the living room and started looking around.
Without Carrie noticing, behind her, a figure appeared in the darkness, out of nowhere, and began to walk slowly towards her.
“Madam.”
Carrie got startled to hear the SK’s voice. Then she turned and looked at the robot.
“Stupid machine! You scared me!”
“Sorry, Madam.”
“Where are the children?!”
“In the bedroom.”
Carrie sighed with relief.
“Let’s go!”
#
November 22, 2039
8:17 PM
Stephen drove his car while listening to the radio.
“With the revelation that the SK company will launch new types of robots specializing in different professions, the company’s stock rose, reaching a new record today. However, economists are concerned about what could happen to the economy as unemployment could rise, leading to a global economic crisis. Just like the one that originated during the pandemic of two thousand and twenty. In other news, three bodies were found in a garbage container in the northern part of the city. Two are of children, and the third is of an adult woman without skin. According to the police…”
Stephen turned off the radio, feeling uncomfortable with the kind of news he was hearing.
Ten minutes later, he finally got home. And like his wife, he also had the same feeling as she did.
Stephen went through each room in the house, trying to find his wife and children, until he finally found someone in his bedroom. A figure. In the middle of the darkness. Lying on the bed.
“Lie down beside me.”
“Holly? Where are the kids and Carrie?”
“She took the children to the cinema. We still have a few hours before they come. Lie down beside me. Make love with me.”
“What?!”
Stephen pressed the switch, turning on the bedroom light, and to his horror, he saw the SK wearing Carrie’s skin as if it were clothes. The skin was attached to the robot’s metal body by tape. Giving it a monstrous aspect instead of the human aspect that Holly intended.
Stephen fell to his knees. His whole body was shaking in fear, but most of all, regret.
Holly, SK, or whoever she was now, got up from the bed and started walking towards Stephen.
“Do you love me?” With each new step the robot took, it asked the same question. “Do you love me? Do you love me?”
The robot bent down in front of Stephen, and brought its face — which was covered with the skin of Carrie’s face — close to the face of its love.
“Do you love me?
—
Pedro Conceição Coutinho is a screenwriter and a writer who finished his first manuscrit.
