Days went by and Go-bot continued his quest for more data as he roamed the village.
He was still having grips to the change in cognition his mind had gone through. He was so used to being on the Serv network with all the other Block-5 robots, being ordered around and being told how and what to think. He still wasn't quite sure what Locke had done to him, really.
But he was starting to make his own decisions. He walked where he wanted to, even if he couldn't put his finger on why he wanted to walk there. He studied what he wanted to. Even if it didn't serve any obvious purpose to him. He enjoyed recreational activities with the children, even though they served no benefit except for something called: fun. An odd concept. And something he was once again trying out right now.
The children were kicking a ball to him, he was standing in front of a wall which had a box painted on it. It was called a "goal" his job, apparently, was to stop the ball from hitting the "goal".
He was very good at this game. Even though he usually blocked with his face, he found a curious sensation known as enjoyment from it. The children were laughing and having fun, and he felt like he was one of them. Didn't Locke say that he was a child too? So, these kids were like him too, yes? They wanted to learn too, maybe.
"C'mon Gogo! Throw the ball back!" said one of the boys,
Go-bot waddled to the ball, which had bounced off him and landed a few feet ahead. Even though he was short and slow, his extendable limbs made him brilliant at this game "football", although he never used his feet.
Nothing was gained from this activity, at least humans trained their muscle and fitness by doing it, but for him, nothing changed. Probably. He wasn't sure.
And yet he wanted to keep doing it. He "liked" stopping the ball, and he "liked" when the children called him "Gogo".
He liked having friends.
His afternoon was like many of his others, he gathered analogue data by scanning Aphrodite's books. He was much faster than her at reading, and hence, by the time two weeks were up, he'd already managed to read her entirely library of content. Hundreds upon hundreds of book. Sadly none of them made sense to him, or at least, not noticeably so.
Analogue data was very very different from digital data. Digital data was far more efficient, directly feeding information into the brain and installing it with complete comprehension and understanding. Mission parameters were instantly clear to Go-bot the moment they were sent to him, but now, whenever Locke asked him to do something, like go to the shops to buy food, in his head thoughts would roll around in his head. Oh, I wonder if we're cooking something nice tonight or why did he send me when he could go himself? Or Did he send me out just so he could get rid of me?
Information was questioned, it was interpreted, potentially, it could be misunderstood. Yes, he'd read a book a think he'd interpreted it perfectly, and then Aphrodite would tell him otherwise, but then Locke would turn up and tell them they were both wrong.
Analogue consumption of data was awkward, but at the same time it was so much more "enjoyable".
Why?
Zero.
For some reason the number zero, or maybe, the concept of zero, kept on popping into his head.
***
Yet another morning broke in Aphrodite's room, the dawning sun shone a familiar crack of light through the small parting of her curtains and woke her up. She sat up from her bed and felt a throbbing inside her head, a headache. She'd had this feeling before, always in the mornings, it was getting frustrating and Locke, who usually had all the answers, wasn't able to explain why she felt how she did.
Aphrodite got out of bed and put on her clothes, she wanted to clear her head, go for a walk perhaps. She left her room and headed to the corridor, upon which she noticed both Go-bot and Locke in the kitchen. They were cooking together, both wearing aprons. Go-bot looked ridiculous.
"I'll be going out for a walk if that's ok," said Aphrodite, lazily,
"Oh its rather early isn't it?" said Locke in return, "make sure you don't stray too far dear."
"Ok, I'll stay close by, I'll be fine as long as I have this disguise, right?" the local area was nice enough anyway. Aphrodite found the keys and grabbed the door handle, to her surprise, the door was already unlocked. Did they forget to lock up last night?
No, she was certain she locked up last night.
"Locke, Go-bot, did either of you go out this morning?"
"I just woke up!" said Go-bot,
There was a pause from Locke, "I just went for a walk before dawn Aphrodite, that's all, no need to worry. The door was locked through the night."
"Oh." Aphrodite looked at Locke's face through the kitchen door. No, she wouldn't be able to read any emotion from his face, he was a robot, he could control his facial features, she wasn't sure how to decipher his answer. "Will you be ok without me?"
"You won't need to worry about that Aphrodite," Locke replied, "get some fresh air before I finish breakfast!" he said in a cheerful voice "Remember to keep your wig and contacts on though".
Wig and contacts? She was wearing those things all the time now, it was like it was her real hair at this point.
After some slight apprehension, Aphrodite made her way out and walked through the streets of the sanctuary, the sun continued to rise. Shopping stalls were being put up, people were starting to populate the streets, all sorts of faces, all so familiar, started to flood into the streets.
It wasn't long until someone screamed in a nearby alleyway, a scream of terror that resonated throughout the roads.
Aphrodite ran as fast as she could to the sound, what could it be? Other people followed behind, she didn't want to imagine what it could be, but she knew what she'd find.
And there it was. A woman had found the corpse of another young lady hidden in the alley. It was difficult to make out the lady's face, it had been bashed in with a blunt object, a complete mess where her head used to be. As usual though, her hair a body structure was the same as Aphrodite's. No doubt the face was originally similar too.
The heavy footsteps of Locke thumped as he rushed to the alley to see the commotion, he stood there with a look of sorrow and disappointment on his face.
"Please stand back everyone." He said calmly, "I-I'll sort this out," his voice wobbled a little, it was Locke's job to be the voice of reason and mediator in the town. Aphrodite supposed that perhaps he was suppressing his display and shock for the benefit of the people.
Surely.
Locke covered the girl's face with his Apron. Concurrently all the humans in the road fell on their knees and started to pray, they chanted the name of several gods as Locke watched over the body. Aphrodite was still unfamiliar with this aspect of humanity, and so she backed away and ran back to her home. What a nightmare she'd woken up to. That poor girl, who could be so cruel!? Tears streamed from her eyes as she ran back, this caused her to stop dead in her tracks, right in the middle of the path.
Tears? Yes, she'd heard of this sensation before. Empathetic sadness. Sadness for another person. She'd unlocked another emotion.
"Aphrodite you are crying," said a familiar, child-like voice,
"Huh?" Aphrodite recognised it as Go-bot immediately. It seemed like he had left the home at the same time, however he was rather slow so he'd only made it part way. "Yes, it looks like I am."
"I've heard of crying. It's bad, isn't it?"
"It's terrible Go-bot."
"Crying is caused by sadness, are you sad?"
"Yes Go-bot. I'm sad. I want to go home and sleep." Aphrodite sniffed,
"Sadness is a bad emotion. I'm sorry Aphrodite." Go-bot's voice carried a clear sign of empathy,
"You know what sadness is Go-bot?" she wiped the tears from her eyes,
"My parents. When I think of my parents I am sad." Go-bot replied, "I miss them."
"I see." Aphrodite knelt down next to Go-bot and hugged him, "I had no idea." She rested her head on his round metal head. "I'm learning more and more about what it means to be human. And it looks like you are too."
"I can't see you any more Aphrodite!" Go-bot exclaimed, of course, her body was covering his eyes as she hugged his tiny body,"
***
Crack
Crick
Splat
Screaming
Screaming
The screaming fades
"Stop it! Stop! No more Aphrodite!" a voice fading in and out in the background, "wake up! Wake up!" still, fading in and out.
And then, Aphrodite woke up, lucidity returned to her mind and body and she found herself outside in the middle of the road. The sky was black, night time, perhaps. Everything was fuzzy.
To the right was a figure in the distance, Locke, he was running towards her from a great distance, however it seemed to be in slow motion, her mind was processing the world around her piece by piece. He was shouting something.
More of Aphrodite's senses returned and she realised she was holding something. A knife. She loosened her grip, the knife fell on to something soft. She had blood all over her hands.
And arms.
And face.
Her awareness grew and she noticed she had pinned someone down between her legs, someone who's face had been bashed in and cut to pieces. A woman.
The blood all over Aphrodite's body, it belonged to this woman, this blood that was splattered all over the road, it belonged to this woman.
Aphrodite's eyes widened, she couldn't control her body as it trembled in fright.
She screamed louder than her body could allow.
It was a scream that pushed her soul out of her body and made her insides feel like they were about to explode. A scream that seemed to make the world around her tremble and the earth light up into a sea of flames.
She grabbed her head tugged at her hair and continued to wail like an animal until Locke reached her and grabbed on to her body. He muffled her screams with the palm of his hand, gently enough not to hurt her, but firm enough that she couldn't make a noise.
"Stop Aphrodite! You mustn't wake everyone! People can't know!"
Aphrodite started to cry,
"Don't cry! It's not your fault!"
Aphrodite continued to cry, she didn't understand what was going on. What did this all mean? It couldn't mean what it looked like it meant, so maybe she was misinterpreting the situation and it meant something else. Or maybe it was a nightmare, maybe she was having a nightmare.
It's just a dream.
Isn't it?