The Asenti- Part 3
Author- Aisling Castilla
Title- The Asenti
Rating- R
Configuration- M/is (intersex)
Warnings- Intersex character, use of "it" as a pronoun (Yes, I am aware this is far from politically correct)
Summary- Hundreds of years in the future humanity has been devastated by a worldwide plague, changing everything from the structure of nations to everyday life. In the midst of the chaos, scientific breakthroughs lead to humanities greatest and most controversial accomplishment, the Asenti. Completely organic, self aware and capable of thought and emotion, the Asenti are still no more than slaves to their creators.
Suhka is an Asenti who belongs to a powerful Senator. When the question of the presence of a soul in Asenti is brought before the Senate, their world begins to change in ways that can shake the foundations of what it means to be human.
(I don't have a beta reader for this story, so I apologize for any errors. :/ )
Part 1
Part 2
I couldn’t keep from staring out the window as we drove through the countryside and into the city. The forest was beautiful, but I saw it almost every day. The metro was another thing altogether. Smog hung over the city like a film and it almost seemed like the very light itself changed. We drove through the outskirts that were filled miles and miles of old broken down houses that were nothing but dead shells now. What had once been the suburbs of the city were nothing but homes to ghosts and the unfortunate.
The freeway became more crowded as we entered and we slowed with the traffic. Once the metro had been a number of different cities, now it was just called the SC or the SC Met. All the news broadcasts and the e-books I had read couldn’t really contain it all. It was immense and parts of it were gritty and dark while others were monstrously beautiful.
Hale guided the hydro-car through surface streets and my master put his hand on my thigh. “If I had known you would be this fascinated I would have brought you out a long time ago,” he said. I smiled at him and moved closer so that he put his arm around my shoulders.
“I’ve read about it. I was curious to see where you went every day and I don’t remember much from the day you brought me home, but seeing it on the net isn’t the same.”
“You were terrified that day,” the master laughed. “So worried you would get everything wrong and so surprised by even the littlest things. It was almost like bringing a child home.”
At first I wanted to say something in my defense, protest that I was no child, but the memory brought a happy look to his face and I didn’t want to spoil it. Darkness fell over us as we moved into a parking hangar. Hale got out first and opened our doors. Once they were closed, the hydro-car was moved off into the structure.
Hale and I fell in behind our master, staying just three steps behind; me to his left and Hale to his right. He led us onto a walkway made of clear plastic that gave a complete view of the street below. Some were Asenti, the laborer models that many corporations bought to complete menial tasks. They were humanoid, but had no hair or defining features. All of them looked the same and they could be loaded with any program they needed to be able to do simple tasks.
Humans passed us in the walkways and, even though some smiled at my master, they gave us our space. Across the walkway we entered one of the buildings that served for retail space and restaurants. On screens around us sales and specials were advertised on flashing monitors and music emanated from many of the shops. Each store was like its own little world connected by the large, sterile seeming concourse. Humans were everywhere here; some passing through, others stopping to look.
With so many of them in one place it was hard to believe that nearly seventy percent had died in the world plague. Some thought that number would climb higher still in the aftermath. I saw no children as we walked.
We came to a hall that was a little less crowded. Looking up, I recognized the sign for the restaurant written in tasteful lighting. As my master introduced himself to the attendant to look up his reservation, a news bot hovered through the crowd. It looked like a large grey eyeball moving through the air with its network’s logo in chipped paint on its casing and its large lenses contracting and expanding like an iris. It was scanning the faces of everyone slowly, running them through its identity programs. When it saw my master it hovered closer, watching.
Hale gave it an annoyed glance and we were escorted inside. The restaurant was decorated in a total opposite style from the silver metal and white plastic of the rest of the building. Round booths with soft cushions were surrounded by tent like veils made of gossamer thin fabric that provided the illusion of privacy. All over there was vibrant color and the statues of long forgotten gods stood in corners and passageways. I was delighted by it all.
Hale remained standing as my master motioned for me to sit with him. I did so, keeping my knees pressed tightly together in consideration for the skirt, even though no one could see anything beneath the tablecloth.
The news bot remained outside, for now, but I could see it through the sheer fabric with its lenses still trained on us. The table in front of my master came to life as the interface displayed the menu options. My attention wandered as he made the selections. Looking around I saw more than a few of the other people in the restaurant glancing at us. Their expressions were not entirely friendly.
It was then that I noticed I was the only Asenti who was seated as if for a meal. Others stood beside their master’s table, like Hale had done, and others went to a back room set aside for them to wait. Looking back at my master, I saw him place an order for two.
“Master? Is this allowed? Should I stand?” I asked in a whisper. Another Asenti, one programmed to serve, came and placed two glasses of wine in front of him. My master slid one over to me.
“Remain where you are. You are to eat as if you and I were sitting at our table at home,” he said and took a long drink. The server refilled the glass. Outside, the news bot had gained friends. Several others floated beside the first. Each one was watching our table. Nervously, I took a drink of the wine and closed my eyes.
It was real wine, not the imitation they made. It must have cost a fortune and it only added to my apprehension. Fidgeting, I smoothed my skirt and adjusted the sleeves of the shirt, my fingers finally coming to rest on the locket.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?” the master asked. Staring at the now blank table, I nodded.
“You have good instincts, Suhka. What I am doing is not something that will be widely accepted. Some people may become angry.”
“Then why do it, Master?” For a moment I considered disobeying him and getting up to stand beside Hale. What was going through the master’s mind?
“Colin keeps me informed of what you watch and read so I know that you saw the new bill. Tell me, Suhka, if Asenti were given the same rights as humans, what would you do?”
I blinked at him with an expression of confusion. He waited for a moment but eventually raised an eyebrow in a way that said he wanted an answer.
“Nothing. Master, I would stay at your side, in your home. I wouldn’t change anything.”
“Really?” as he asked his hand slipped inside his pocket to where I knew the remote to the egg was. The vibration was light, but my breath caught in my throat anyway as he ramped it up slowly until I crossed my legs and my hands gripped each other beneath the table as I struggled to keep my composure. It wouldn’t do to give myself away in such a public setting.
“I ask again, is there nothing you would change?”
It was both pleasure and a kind of aching pain now, but I fought to hold myself still and keep my breathing even as I raised my eyes from the table to meet his.
“There is one thing,” I said softly.
“What is it?” The vibration eased a little, but did not stop.
“If Asenti have souls, then that must mean we really are capable of love. I would want you to know that I serve you out of love. Not because you own me or keep me, but because I love you. That is the one thing I would change.”
He sighed and toyed with the thin stem of the glass. “Suhka, you were designed to love me. Every part of your physiology was manipulated so that it would respond only to me. What you feel is just a product of hormones and brain chemicals.”
“Forgive me, Master Daniel, but isn’t it the same for humans? Humans are not specific like Asenti but what humans call ‘love’ is a result of the same hormones and brain chemistry that causes me to feel what I feel. The only difference is that humans change their loves throughout their lives and Asenti do not.”
He smiled now, warming to the debate. “So humans are fickle? Perhaps what humans feel is different than what you feel. Perhaps love is something that transcends body, mind and soul and Asenti only have two parts of the puzzle.”
“That is speculation. In every scientifically measurable way, love is the same for an Asenti as it is for a human, Master.”
“And yet an Asenti cannot choose. A human has the free will to love whomever they want. An Asenti does not. Change is the catalyst of growth.”
Now it was my turn to smile. “Master, love changes. The way I love you now is not the same as it was when you first brought me home. Then I needed to feel your touch and I couldn’t explain why. I needed to be near you because I was told that was my place. Now I want to touch. I miss you when you are gone. I want to know how your day has gone and what you are feeling and why. It is not all physical anymore. There is something in me that only you can soothe.”
He watched me for a moment, eyes contemplating something I couldn’t quite follow until the moment was interrupted by the server setting plates in front of him. The indulgent smell of yellow curry hit my nose and I grinned as my master slid a bowl of it and a plate of jasmine rice over to me.
I gave him my thanks and we ate for a few moments in silence while the number of glares pointed in our direction increased. It was hard to avoid them entirely and at one point my gaze was caught by that of another Asenti. It was standing beside it’s master’s table, four hands clasped in front and head bowed except for the slightly amused glance it gave me.
“There is one other difference between an Asenti and a human,” my master said suddenly. “Humans frequently have their hearts broken because of love. They fall out of love, or leave or are left by the one they love. An owner cannot legally abandon an Asenti and Asenti who are created to match a certain person never lose that.”
The curry was sweet with a touch of spice and I poked at a piece of calamari- real calamari!- with my spoon as I thought about my response. Without me seeing, the master turned up the vibration on the egg just a bit, making me bite my lip in heady pleasure. Between the wine, his presence and the egg I wasn’t sure how long I could hold onto the calm façade.
“Master, what if you were cruel?”
He looked at my oddly then grinned. “What do you mean?”
I pretended not to see the wolfishness behind the question. “I mean, what if you had brought me home and I needed your touch and to be near you, but your cruelty kept me from falling in love with you? What if it even drove me to inwardly despise you? I can only imagine what that would be like, hating someone but needing them.”
“An Asenti cannot despise their master,” he scoffed.
“I beg to disagree, Master. An Asenti cannot show that they despise their master.” That earned me another enquiring look. My answer was interrupted when another patron entered the restaurant and the news bots swarmed through the door and right over to our table.
“Senator, is this a response to the bill recently proposed by Senator Evans? Are you trying to make a statement by treating your Asenti in such a manner?” the first bot asked, the reporters voice sounding tiny as it came over the tiny speakers. I tiny microphone extended from the bot as it awaited my master’s answer. The other, slower bots were almost at our table and the host was looking slightly panicked as to what he should do before franticly hitting keys on his com unit.
My master took another sip of wine, folded his napkin neatly in his lap and pretended not to notice the bot. Nervous and a little scared, I did the same but suddenly the wonderful curry had lost quite a bit of its flavor. All of the news bots arrived and began asking questions, talking over each other in their urgency.
“Senator, what is your relationship with your Asenti? Do you-”
“What do you think about Asenti being granted rights?”
“Senator, do you consider your Asenti a person? Does it have a name? Have you-”
When the din became unbearable, my master touched my shoulder and whispered to me to get up and go to the back waiting room. Hale reached out and took my hand, helping me up and forcing the news bots to make space. Many of the other humans in the room did the same with their own Asenti and we all ended up making a small exodus to the waiting room.
We were quiet until the door closed behind us, leaving us in a bare room with a grey concrete floor and grey walls. It was stepping into a drab world after stimulation of the colorful and sumptuous dining area.
“What was all that about?” the Asenti who had caught my eye earlier asked, eyes glimmering in curiosity. Two of its hands gestured toward the door while the other two smoothed it’s hair. The others who had come in with me nodded and gathered around, those who had already been here and had missed the scene watched us, confused.
“Your owner is a Senator! Is he going to vote for the bill?”
“Is he always that nice to you?”
“Does he change your settings all the time? Mine does, it’s so annoying!”
“What happens if the bill gets passed? Do we just leave our owners?”
It was worse than the news bots. The questions were endless and I didn’t have any answers. Overwhelmed, I put my hands over my ears and stepped back.
“Hey, be quiet all of you! It’s a bed keeper, you can’t throw all of this at it at once!” Two comforting hands rested on my shoulders as two more gestured for quiet. I blushed at the term ‘bed keeper’, among Asenti it meant someone who was used by their master almost expressly for erotic purposes. It wasn’t meant to be derogatory, Asenti were very rarely judgmental of other Asenti, they knew all too well what it was like not to have a choice in your position, but it made me wonder what it was about me that gave me away so easily.
The others quieted and watched me, waiting. The hands on my shoulders squeezed reassuringly. “My name is Elon. Go ahead and talk when you’re ready.”
Taking a deep breath, I began. “Yes, my master is a Senator. I don’t know how he will vote when it comes to the bill,” I said, trying to answer the questions that had been asked the most.
“What is this bill you are all talking about?” one of the Asenti who had been waiting in the room before we came asked. It looked like a human female but for its eyes, a silver color that no human could boast. It came from where it was leaning against the wall to join us, leading some of the others to follow suit.
“The bill would grant Asenti the same rights and considerations that humans have in the eyes of the law. It says that Asenti have souls and are capable of love, just like humans, so we should be treated like sentient beings,” I explained, hoping I hadn’t made a mess of it. I knew that wasn’t exactly what the bill had said, but some of the Asenti in the room looked as if they had not been created with very high intelligence and speaking in complex terms would confuse them.
“Wait,” the one with the silver eyes said. It reached into it’s pocket and pulled out an old fashioned communicae, a small screen that it dialed into a news broadcast. The restaurant appeared and my master was standing with Hale at his back. He was smiling and answering the answers the reporters asked via the newsbots. On the communicae the screen was split between the face of the reporter and the scene with my master.
“There is no question that our creations have surpassed our wildest dreams. My Asenti has proven to be an integral part of my life, fulfilling needs that would otherwise be left unattended due to either my long work hours or the simple lack of social interaction due to the severe population decrease.”
A few of the other Asenti glanced at me, some gave me looks that would have been the equivalent of a wink in human expressions. Others looked at me with naked jealousy. Uncomfortable, I turned back to the screen.
“Senator, in the past you have been firmly on the side of your close political ally, Senator Jameson. Are your actions today a statement that you may disagree with the political right on this manner? Do you support the bill proposed by Senator Evans?” The room was silent as the reporter asked the question and my heart fluttered in my chest.
My master didn’t answer at first and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a nervous gesture that he was usually too controlled to make in front of a camera. When he lifted his head there was a resolve under the mask of geniality that unsettled me even more. It was a simple question and shouldn’t have been this hard for him to answer.
“While I admire my esteemed colleagues I confess that I believe the Asenti have grown beyond their original conception as organic robots. They have emotions, desires and personalities of their own as well as sentience. How can we deny right to such beings?”
Silence filled the room as every Asenti watched the screen, stunned by what they had just heard.
“Senator! Do you believe the Asenti have souls?”
My master flashed a smile that he used when he wanted to charm someone, a smile that made you feel as if he were your childhood friend.
“I’m not a man who pretends to know anything about souls. I will leave such things up to the divine.”
The news bots began asking more questions, talking over each other again in an effort to be heard. The Asenti with the silver eyes turned off the communicae. We all looked at each other, dazed and a little confused. My master was only one Senator, but this was the first time that a member of the Right had been swayed on any matter regarding the Asenti.
“What if they do give us rights?” someone asked.
“Would that mean we had to find other places to live? What about those of us who can’t?”
More questions followed, mostly about the practicalities of change, but silence fell again when the silver eyed Asenti spoke.
“Do we have souls or not?” it asked. “I mean, are we like the humans? Are we real?”
I wanted to answer, to tell it something but the egg within me began to vibrate. It caught me by surprise and I gasped. The others looked at me curiously and I blushed again.
“I must return to my master,” I explained. Some of the others gave me pitying looks, others smirked while more than a few just went back to their places along the wall with blank faces. The Asenti with four arms had moved away and seemed lost in thought.
“Wait,” said the silver eyed one came to take my arm and usher me to the door. When we were out of earshot of the others it handed me a small crystal chip. “It’s how you can find me,” it said. “Just in case.”
The door opened to reveal Hale. He gave me an impatient look and I knew there was no more stalling. I smiled at the silver eyed one, hoping that it understood and followed on Hale’s heels back to my master’s side.
Want to connect with this profile elsewhere?
Facebook
Fetlife
Twitter
Most of the above profiles aren't set up yet, but once they get going I will be posting news about my stories and published works through them more quickly than LJ.
Title- The Asenti
Rating- R
Configuration- M/is (intersex)
Warnings- Intersex character, use of "it" as a pronoun (Yes, I am aware this is far from politically correct)
Summary- Hundreds of years in the future humanity has been devastated by a worldwide plague, changing everything from the structure of nations to everyday life. In the midst of the chaos, scientific breakthroughs lead to humanities greatest and most controversial accomplishment, the Asenti. Completely organic, self aware and capable of thought and emotion, the Asenti are still no more than slaves to their creators.
Suhka is an Asenti who belongs to a powerful Senator. When the question of the presence of a soul in Asenti is brought before the Senate, their world begins to change in ways that can shake the foundations of what it means to be human.
(I don't have a beta reader for this story, so I apologize for any errors. :/ )
Part 1
Part 2
I couldn’t keep from staring out the window as we drove through the countryside and into the city. The forest was beautiful, but I saw it almost every day. The metro was another thing altogether. Smog hung over the city like a film and it almost seemed like the very light itself changed. We drove through the outskirts that were filled miles and miles of old broken down houses that were nothing but dead shells now. What had once been the suburbs of the city were nothing but homes to ghosts and the unfortunate.
The freeway became more crowded as we entered and we slowed with the traffic. Once the metro had been a number of different cities, now it was just called the SC or the SC Met. All the news broadcasts and the e-books I had read couldn’t really contain it all. It was immense and parts of it were gritty and dark while others were monstrously beautiful.
Hale guided the hydro-car through surface streets and my master put his hand on my thigh. “If I had known you would be this fascinated I would have brought you out a long time ago,” he said. I smiled at him and moved closer so that he put his arm around my shoulders.
“I’ve read about it. I was curious to see where you went every day and I don’t remember much from the day you brought me home, but seeing it on the net isn’t the same.”
“You were terrified that day,” the master laughed. “So worried you would get everything wrong and so surprised by even the littlest things. It was almost like bringing a child home.”
At first I wanted to say something in my defense, protest that I was no child, but the memory brought a happy look to his face and I didn’t want to spoil it. Darkness fell over us as we moved into a parking hangar. Hale got out first and opened our doors. Once they were closed, the hydro-car was moved off into the structure.
Hale and I fell in behind our master, staying just three steps behind; me to his left and Hale to his right. He led us onto a walkway made of clear plastic that gave a complete view of the street below. Some were Asenti, the laborer models that many corporations bought to complete menial tasks. They were humanoid, but had no hair or defining features. All of them looked the same and they could be loaded with any program they needed to be able to do simple tasks.
Humans passed us in the walkways and, even though some smiled at my master, they gave us our space. Across the walkway we entered one of the buildings that served for retail space and restaurants. On screens around us sales and specials were advertised on flashing monitors and music emanated from many of the shops. Each store was like its own little world connected by the large, sterile seeming concourse. Humans were everywhere here; some passing through, others stopping to look.
With so many of them in one place it was hard to believe that nearly seventy percent had died in the world plague. Some thought that number would climb higher still in the aftermath. I saw no children as we walked.
We came to a hall that was a little less crowded. Looking up, I recognized the sign for the restaurant written in tasteful lighting. As my master introduced himself to the attendant to look up his reservation, a news bot hovered through the crowd. It looked like a large grey eyeball moving through the air with its network’s logo in chipped paint on its casing and its large lenses contracting and expanding like an iris. It was scanning the faces of everyone slowly, running them through its identity programs. When it saw my master it hovered closer, watching.
Hale gave it an annoyed glance and we were escorted inside. The restaurant was decorated in a total opposite style from the silver metal and white plastic of the rest of the building. Round booths with soft cushions were surrounded by tent like veils made of gossamer thin fabric that provided the illusion of privacy. All over there was vibrant color and the statues of long forgotten gods stood in corners and passageways. I was delighted by it all.
Hale remained standing as my master motioned for me to sit with him. I did so, keeping my knees pressed tightly together in consideration for the skirt, even though no one could see anything beneath the tablecloth.
The news bot remained outside, for now, but I could see it through the sheer fabric with its lenses still trained on us. The table in front of my master came to life as the interface displayed the menu options. My attention wandered as he made the selections. Looking around I saw more than a few of the other people in the restaurant glancing at us. Their expressions were not entirely friendly.
It was then that I noticed I was the only Asenti who was seated as if for a meal. Others stood beside their master’s table, like Hale had done, and others went to a back room set aside for them to wait. Looking back at my master, I saw him place an order for two.
“Master? Is this allowed? Should I stand?” I asked in a whisper. Another Asenti, one programmed to serve, came and placed two glasses of wine in front of him. My master slid one over to me.
“Remain where you are. You are to eat as if you and I were sitting at our table at home,” he said and took a long drink. The server refilled the glass. Outside, the news bot had gained friends. Several others floated beside the first. Each one was watching our table. Nervously, I took a drink of the wine and closed my eyes.
It was real wine, not the imitation they made. It must have cost a fortune and it only added to my apprehension. Fidgeting, I smoothed my skirt and adjusted the sleeves of the shirt, my fingers finally coming to rest on the locket.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?” the master asked. Staring at the now blank table, I nodded.
“You have good instincts, Suhka. What I am doing is not something that will be widely accepted. Some people may become angry.”
“Then why do it, Master?” For a moment I considered disobeying him and getting up to stand beside Hale. What was going through the master’s mind?
“Colin keeps me informed of what you watch and read so I know that you saw the new bill. Tell me, Suhka, if Asenti were given the same rights as humans, what would you do?”
I blinked at him with an expression of confusion. He waited for a moment but eventually raised an eyebrow in a way that said he wanted an answer.
“Nothing. Master, I would stay at your side, in your home. I wouldn’t change anything.”
“Really?” as he asked his hand slipped inside his pocket to where I knew the remote to the egg was. The vibration was light, but my breath caught in my throat anyway as he ramped it up slowly until I crossed my legs and my hands gripped each other beneath the table as I struggled to keep my composure. It wouldn’t do to give myself away in such a public setting.
“I ask again, is there nothing you would change?”
It was both pleasure and a kind of aching pain now, but I fought to hold myself still and keep my breathing even as I raised my eyes from the table to meet his.
“There is one thing,” I said softly.
“What is it?” The vibration eased a little, but did not stop.
“If Asenti have souls, then that must mean we really are capable of love. I would want you to know that I serve you out of love. Not because you own me or keep me, but because I love you. That is the one thing I would change.”
He sighed and toyed with the thin stem of the glass. “Suhka, you were designed to love me. Every part of your physiology was manipulated so that it would respond only to me. What you feel is just a product of hormones and brain chemicals.”
“Forgive me, Master Daniel, but isn’t it the same for humans? Humans are not specific like Asenti but what humans call ‘love’ is a result of the same hormones and brain chemistry that causes me to feel what I feel. The only difference is that humans change their loves throughout their lives and Asenti do not.”
He smiled now, warming to the debate. “So humans are fickle? Perhaps what humans feel is different than what you feel. Perhaps love is something that transcends body, mind and soul and Asenti only have two parts of the puzzle.”
“That is speculation. In every scientifically measurable way, love is the same for an Asenti as it is for a human, Master.”
“And yet an Asenti cannot choose. A human has the free will to love whomever they want. An Asenti does not. Change is the catalyst of growth.”
Now it was my turn to smile. “Master, love changes. The way I love you now is not the same as it was when you first brought me home. Then I needed to feel your touch and I couldn’t explain why. I needed to be near you because I was told that was my place. Now I want to touch. I miss you when you are gone. I want to know how your day has gone and what you are feeling and why. It is not all physical anymore. There is something in me that only you can soothe.”
He watched me for a moment, eyes contemplating something I couldn’t quite follow until the moment was interrupted by the server setting plates in front of him. The indulgent smell of yellow curry hit my nose and I grinned as my master slid a bowl of it and a plate of jasmine rice over to me.
I gave him my thanks and we ate for a few moments in silence while the number of glares pointed in our direction increased. It was hard to avoid them entirely and at one point my gaze was caught by that of another Asenti. It was standing beside it’s master’s table, four hands clasped in front and head bowed except for the slightly amused glance it gave me.
“There is one other difference between an Asenti and a human,” my master said suddenly. “Humans frequently have their hearts broken because of love. They fall out of love, or leave or are left by the one they love. An owner cannot legally abandon an Asenti and Asenti who are created to match a certain person never lose that.”
The curry was sweet with a touch of spice and I poked at a piece of calamari- real calamari!- with my spoon as I thought about my response. Without me seeing, the master turned up the vibration on the egg just a bit, making me bite my lip in heady pleasure. Between the wine, his presence and the egg I wasn’t sure how long I could hold onto the calm façade.
“Master, what if you were cruel?”
He looked at my oddly then grinned. “What do you mean?”
I pretended not to see the wolfishness behind the question. “I mean, what if you had brought me home and I needed your touch and to be near you, but your cruelty kept me from falling in love with you? What if it even drove me to inwardly despise you? I can only imagine what that would be like, hating someone but needing them.”
“An Asenti cannot despise their master,” he scoffed.
“I beg to disagree, Master. An Asenti cannot show that they despise their master.” That earned me another enquiring look. My answer was interrupted when another patron entered the restaurant and the news bots swarmed through the door and right over to our table.
“Senator, is this a response to the bill recently proposed by Senator Evans? Are you trying to make a statement by treating your Asenti in such a manner?” the first bot asked, the reporters voice sounding tiny as it came over the tiny speakers. I tiny microphone extended from the bot as it awaited my master’s answer. The other, slower bots were almost at our table and the host was looking slightly panicked as to what he should do before franticly hitting keys on his com unit.
My master took another sip of wine, folded his napkin neatly in his lap and pretended not to notice the bot. Nervous and a little scared, I did the same but suddenly the wonderful curry had lost quite a bit of its flavor. All of the news bots arrived and began asking questions, talking over each other in their urgency.
“Senator, what is your relationship with your Asenti? Do you-”
“What do you think about Asenti being granted rights?”
“Senator, do you consider your Asenti a person? Does it have a name? Have you-”
When the din became unbearable, my master touched my shoulder and whispered to me to get up and go to the back waiting room. Hale reached out and took my hand, helping me up and forcing the news bots to make space. Many of the other humans in the room did the same with their own Asenti and we all ended up making a small exodus to the waiting room.
We were quiet until the door closed behind us, leaving us in a bare room with a grey concrete floor and grey walls. It was stepping into a drab world after stimulation of the colorful and sumptuous dining area.
“What was all that about?” the Asenti who had caught my eye earlier asked, eyes glimmering in curiosity. Two of its hands gestured toward the door while the other two smoothed it’s hair. The others who had come in with me nodded and gathered around, those who had already been here and had missed the scene watched us, confused.
“Your owner is a Senator! Is he going to vote for the bill?”
“Is he always that nice to you?”
“Does he change your settings all the time? Mine does, it’s so annoying!”
“What happens if the bill gets passed? Do we just leave our owners?”
It was worse than the news bots. The questions were endless and I didn’t have any answers. Overwhelmed, I put my hands over my ears and stepped back.
“Hey, be quiet all of you! It’s a bed keeper, you can’t throw all of this at it at once!” Two comforting hands rested on my shoulders as two more gestured for quiet. I blushed at the term ‘bed keeper’, among Asenti it meant someone who was used by their master almost expressly for erotic purposes. It wasn’t meant to be derogatory, Asenti were very rarely judgmental of other Asenti, they knew all too well what it was like not to have a choice in your position, but it made me wonder what it was about me that gave me away so easily.
The others quieted and watched me, waiting. The hands on my shoulders squeezed reassuringly. “My name is Elon. Go ahead and talk when you’re ready.”
Taking a deep breath, I began. “Yes, my master is a Senator. I don’t know how he will vote when it comes to the bill,” I said, trying to answer the questions that had been asked the most.
“What is this bill you are all talking about?” one of the Asenti who had been waiting in the room before we came asked. It looked like a human female but for its eyes, a silver color that no human could boast. It came from where it was leaning against the wall to join us, leading some of the others to follow suit.
“The bill would grant Asenti the same rights and considerations that humans have in the eyes of the law. It says that Asenti have souls and are capable of love, just like humans, so we should be treated like sentient beings,” I explained, hoping I hadn’t made a mess of it. I knew that wasn’t exactly what the bill had said, but some of the Asenti in the room looked as if they had not been created with very high intelligence and speaking in complex terms would confuse them.
“Wait,” the one with the silver eyes said. It reached into it’s pocket and pulled out an old fashioned communicae, a small screen that it dialed into a news broadcast. The restaurant appeared and my master was standing with Hale at his back. He was smiling and answering the answers the reporters asked via the newsbots. On the communicae the screen was split between the face of the reporter and the scene with my master.
“There is no question that our creations have surpassed our wildest dreams. My Asenti has proven to be an integral part of my life, fulfilling needs that would otherwise be left unattended due to either my long work hours or the simple lack of social interaction due to the severe population decrease.”
A few of the other Asenti glanced at me, some gave me looks that would have been the equivalent of a wink in human expressions. Others looked at me with naked jealousy. Uncomfortable, I turned back to the screen.
“Senator, in the past you have been firmly on the side of your close political ally, Senator Jameson. Are your actions today a statement that you may disagree with the political right on this manner? Do you support the bill proposed by Senator Evans?” The room was silent as the reporter asked the question and my heart fluttered in my chest.
My master didn’t answer at first and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a nervous gesture that he was usually too controlled to make in front of a camera. When he lifted his head there was a resolve under the mask of geniality that unsettled me even more. It was a simple question and shouldn’t have been this hard for him to answer.
“While I admire my esteemed colleagues I confess that I believe the Asenti have grown beyond their original conception as organic robots. They have emotions, desires and personalities of their own as well as sentience. How can we deny right to such beings?”
Silence filled the room as every Asenti watched the screen, stunned by what they had just heard.
“Senator! Do you believe the Asenti have souls?”
My master flashed a smile that he used when he wanted to charm someone, a smile that made you feel as if he were your childhood friend.
“I’m not a man who pretends to know anything about souls. I will leave such things up to the divine.”
The news bots began asking more questions, talking over each other again in an effort to be heard. The Asenti with the silver eyes turned off the communicae. We all looked at each other, dazed and a little confused. My master was only one Senator, but this was the first time that a member of the Right had been swayed on any matter regarding the Asenti.
“What if they do give us rights?” someone asked.
“Would that mean we had to find other places to live? What about those of us who can’t?”
More questions followed, mostly about the practicalities of change, but silence fell again when the silver eyed Asenti spoke.
“Do we have souls or not?” it asked. “I mean, are we like the humans? Are we real?”
I wanted to answer, to tell it something but the egg within me began to vibrate. It caught me by surprise and I gasped. The others looked at me curiously and I blushed again.
“I must return to my master,” I explained. Some of the others gave me pitying looks, others smirked while more than a few just went back to their places along the wall with blank faces. The Asenti with four arms had moved away and seemed lost in thought.
“Wait,” said the silver eyed one came to take my arm and usher me to the door. When we were out of earshot of the others it handed me a small crystal chip. “It’s how you can find me,” it said. “Just in case.”
The door opened to reveal Hale. He gave me an impatient look and I knew there was no more stalling. I smiled at the silver eyed one, hoping that it understood and followed on Hale’s heels back to my master’s side.
Want to connect with this profile elsewhere?
Fetlife
Most of the above profiles aren't set up yet, but once they get going I will be posting news about my stories and published works through them more quickly than LJ.