Evolved(4)

Three months, and then I wouldn’t be alone anymore.





Chapter Two





Three Months Later





I walked into the staff break room just in time to hear Mrs Van Der Heek say, “I just don’t think it’s right. I get that androids are a part of everyday life. I have no problem with that. They do all the menial tasks that humans don’t, so I can appreciate their usefulness, but those synthetic androids…,” she said like the words tasted bad. She gave a visible shudder. “It’s not right.”

I froze. Did she know? How did she find out? No, there was no way she could know. Nobody knows…

“Professor Salter,” she said. “How do you feel about those Class-A synthetic dirtybots?”

Dirtybots. The word unleashed a bubble of anger through me but I hid it well. “I don’t think it’s anyone’s place to judge,” I said coolly. “If you don’t like them, don’t get one.”

She blinked, and a few other professors smirked. Old Mrs Van Der Heek was a dinosaur, in age and ethics. It was a shame her mouth wasn’t as closed as her worldviews.

“Well, I believe it goes against God,” she went on to say.

And her bigotry was Jurassic as well.

I placed my salad neatly in front of me and straightened my fork so it was perfectly in line, adjacent and parallel to all other lines. A lifelong habit. An OCD habit.

I ignored Mrs Van Der Heek as she soon started talking about the good old days before robotics. It was something she ranted about often, an argument we’d all heard from her before. The fact that she used Class-C and Class-B androids for driving and cleaning made her a hypocrite.

The world was, unfortunately, full of hypocrites.

“So, you’ve got some extra leave?” Jae asked me. Jae Jin was the faculty IT guy, and despite me not knowing him overly well, he was probably my only true friend at the university. We had a lot in common. He ate silently, breathed soundlessly, and always arranged his lunch in perfect order. He was neatly dressed at all times, though he had a penchant for wearing shades of brown. His thick jet-black framed glasses matched his hair, and he had traces of OCD, though I never asked him outright. We were just drawn to each other’s company.

Birds of a feather and all that.

“Yes, a week,” I explained.

“Travelling away?”

“No, family time,” I lied. It wasn’t that I was close to my family at all—I wasn’t—but this was personal time. I could hardly explain to him that I was taking the time to become acquainted with my synthetic android. I didn’t want Shaun to arrive and for me to leave him at home by himself. I’m sure many people did, but it didn’t feel right to me.

Jae grimaced sympathetically. He came from a large Korean family and his parents lived with him, and although he was true to his culture, I knew some days he appreciated solitude. “Maybe just a short day trip then,” he said. “The Great Ocean Drive is pretty this time of year.”

I chewed my mouthful of salad thoughtfully. Could I be so brazen as to take Shaun for a drive? It did seem a rather romantic notion and I wondered if Shaun would like it. I wondered about a lot of things Shaun might like. “That’s a good idea,” I allowed.

“Well, enjoy your time off.” He went on to sigh quietly and proclaim his thankfulness that mid-terms were over for another year. Classes weren’t due to wrap up for another few weeks yet, and I would no doubt spend the actual week-long break getting ready for the next semester so this week was solely for Shaun. It was recommended that all new custodians of A-Class Synths take time to help integrate their android. A whole week was probably ambitious, but my anticipation thought it best. It also gave me time to get used to sharing my space with another being.

Jae shot old Mrs Van Der Heek a hardened glare. “Does she ever know when to shut up?” he whispered to me.

I’d been too caught up thinking about Shaun and hadn’t heard what she’d said, but I liked that Jae and I were of the same opinion about her. I smiled. “Apparently not. Is she still going on about synthetics and God?”

He rolled his eyes and fixed his glasses. “If an android were allowed to replace her, I’d fund it myself.”

I chuckled, and for a brief moment, I considered telling him about my delivery tomorrow. But fear and privacy stopped me, and the fact it was an android and not a gynoid. I’d out myself in more ways than one. “You and me both. We could halve the cost.”

Jae smiled and neatly folded his lunch wrapper and set it on the table at a perfect ninety degrees from the edge. Yes, I liked him a lot.

“Well, have fun on your break,” he said.

Nervous butterflies swarmed my belly. “I’m sure I will, thank you.”



By the time my intercom sounded at nine fifteen the next morning, the butterflies in my belly felt more like stomping elephants. I buzzed the delivery team through and waited for the elevator to ping down the hall.

Breathe, Lloyd, I reminded myself.

My apartment was a spacious two-bedroom luxury unit on the top floor of the complex. Polished concrete floors, high ceilings, a bookcase as one entire wall, and floor-to-ceiling windows on the north-east facing wall. I liked the clean lines, minimalistic furniture. Well, I didn’t just like it. I needed it. Clutter and closed spaces made me anxious. My ex-boyfriend had found my apartment cold and clinical, but I found the whites and greys soothing, peaceful. Then again, he’d found a lot of things about me clinical…