Grandma Robot

Chapter 1

One spring morning, author Karen
Warwick found a missed call on her cell phone after she placed two
grocery sacks in the back of her car. A call that was about change
her life. It would liven up her days and give her cause to wonder
what happened to her loved ones in the afterlife.

The call came from Karen's friend,
Amy Brown. Amy worked at the science experimental laboratory on the
outskirts of Lockridge, Iowa.

Karen was in town to buy groceries
to stock the kitchen of the century old country house she'd just
bought from her parents. Karen's parents, Helen and Sid Warwick,
were content living in Lockridge so they didn't want the
house.

As luck would have it, her father
put the acreage up for sale, and she asked if she could buy it. Her
mom and dad thought she was crazy to move to what her mother called
the sticks. Karen knew she'd like the peace and quiet that country
life would afford her.

Besides, her parents let her pay
for the acreage by the month which was a plus. She wasn't sure how
much income she'd have from year to year from books she'd
written.

That kept her from having to go
through the bank to get a term loan with interest. If she was late
with a payment her parents would wait until she had the money. So
this was an ideal situation for her.

Since she'd go right by the lab on
her way home, Karen decided to see what Amy wanted instead of
calling her. After she stopped her car in the laboratory parking
lot, she rifled around in her purse for her mirror and comb. The
breeze had been hard on her flighty, honey shaded hair.

Amy had given Karen a tour of the
lab once so she knew her way to her friend's office. As she walked
along the long hall, she looked in the large windows of the rooms
on either side. Lab technicians, in white coats, didn't look up
from tables they leaned over, busy with projects.

Karen spotted red haired Amy in a
room not far from her office. Karen pecked on the window. Amy waved
as she walked across the room to let her in. As Karen waited, she
surveyed the tables. Arms, legs, hands and feet were strewn out on
two tables and torsos laid on two more. Heads were beside the
bodies. The room looked like a morgue after a horrific bomb
explosion.

“Good morning,” Amy greeted. “What
a nice surprise. I just called so I didn't expect you this
quickly.”

“I happened to be in the grocery
store when I missed your call. I'm on my way home now so I dropped
by to see what was up,” Karen explained. “Do you want to go for a
bite to eat tonight and a movie?”

Amy groaned, “I know we talked
about doing that one evening soon, but I haven't got time right
now. I've put in long hours here already and still have a few more
days to go before I can cut back. We're on the downhill side of our
latest experiment.”

Karen glanced at the tables and
brought her focus back to Amy. “Looks like you've been dissecting
human bodies. That's illegal you know.”

Amy's peal of laughter brought two
lab techs heads up from their work. “Relax! None of the body parts
you see are real. They're part of the experiment. I can't think
about anything else until I get this project out of the way. What I
need is help with it.” Amy paused and faced Karen. The next words
came out fast. “That's why I thought of you.”

Karen looked dismay. “I'm not a
scientist, and I don't want a job. What could I help you
with?”

“Well, I don't need a scientist, I
need people to test our projects and see if they work like we want
them to,” Amy said cautiously.

“What kind of projects?” Karen
asked.

“We've invented robots to hold
jobs as maids and butlers. They do housekeeping and any duties
servants do,” Amy said tentatively. She turned her pretty blue eyes
into a beseeching mode. “This could really be a help to you as well
as us. Please consider it for me, old friend.”

“What makes you think I need a
robot maid to do my housekeeping.” Karen studied her friend, trying
to figure out the catch.

Amy stuck her hands in her lab coat
pockets and shot back, “You forget I’ve seen the way your apartment
looks. It's usually a cluttered mess. I'm just saying you need some
serious housekeeping done, and I have the solution for you right
here at the lab.”

“So what's your solution?” Karen
asked.

“We've been working on
experimental robots perfect to use as maids and butlers, but we
need volunteers to try them out. I thought of you right away,” Amy
said.

“Now why would I want to be one of
your volunteers?” Karen protested.

Amy's rote speech sounded as if she
had practiced a sales pitch. She was ready to convince Karen. “To
help me out when I need a friend to come to my aid. I've picked one
robot out that would fit perfectly in your place. I’m not asking
you to keep Henie, the robot, forever. That's her name. She's just
the one I have in mind for you to try.

Remember this is just a trial
experiment. You would be taking this robot maid as a favor to me.
That's all. We need to conduct the trial to see if we made her
function satisfactorily, before we put her on the
market.

I'm in charge of finding people we
can trust to conduct an honest experiment and take good care of the
robots. They're costly. It wouldn't be good for the lab if
something happened to them.”

“One very good reason I shouldn't
get involved. I don't want to worry all the time about what might
happen to something that expensive,” Karen retorted. “No way could
I afford to pay the laboratory back.”

Amy responded quickly. “Actually,
the robots are built so well there isn't much danger of a mishap
with them. Henie just needs a good testing on all her skills to see
if she will do what she's built to do before we can sell
her.

Your apartment will certainly be a
challenge for her. If Henie can handle cleaning your place, we know
we have succeeded. She'll be able to handle ordinary housecleaning
for sure,” Amy finished bluntly.

“Thanks a lot for pointing out
housekeeping as my weak point, friend. For your information, you're
out of luck. Just a little too late with this idea. I gave up the
apartment. Walls were too thin. Neighbors too noisy and nosy,”
Karen explained. “I couldn't concentrate on my writing so I moved
just recently.”

Amy sounded very disappointed when
she said, “No kidding. Where you living now?”

“I just moved to the country to an
old farm house that has been in my mom's family for years. My
parents helped me move, and Mom has the house neat as a pin right
now,” Karen shared. “I hoped writing a book might be easier in the
country where it’s quieter. So far I've been right. I even have
time to go for walks in the fresh air. Since I haven’t had time to
mess the place up yet I definitely don't have any need for a robot
maid to do all the housework you described. Why don't you let the
maid clean your place?”

Amy shook her head as she took
Karen's arm and moved her closer to a room without windows. “That
wouldn't work.”

“Oh come on. I know you aren't the
slob I am, but you could make a few messes before you turn the
robot loose so it has something to do,” Karen joked.

Amy opened the door and held out
her hand for Karen to enter the room as she explained, “The reason
is I haven't got the time it takes to stay home with the robot
while she works. I need someone that can watch her and tell me how
Henie does.

Please, check her out anyway,
before you make up your mind. Henie is quite versatile and could
pass for a human being which is one of the reasons we think buyers
would want to have her in their home. We're hoping looking human
will make the fact the servants are robots less creepy. Servants
tend to get ignored by company so maybe human looking will fit
right in with the upper crust lifestyle.”

Amy led Karen down the aisle
between a variety of robots. Men in black butler suits and women in
maid uniforms, all of which were a variety of ages and strangely
lifelike looking and at the same time lifeless. Karen could do
nothing but stare at the variety of so called servants as she
listened to Amy's speech.

Amy stopped and pointed at the last
robot as she turned to Karen, “What do you think?”

Karen inspected the robot up and
down. Finally, she said, “This is Henie?” Now that she saw the line
of robots she walked by, they all fit the description lifelike, but
they were dressed more believable for the job than this
one.

This robot was shorter than the
others and younger. She had on a white blouse, a line, black mini
skirt and tennis shoes. The kind with sides that flashed when
walking and air cushioned soles.

Karen edged all the way around the
robot, studying her. “This robot looks like a teeny bopper from the
1970’s right down to the pony tail.”

“That’s a wig,” Amy said
double-quick. “We can hunt up other wigs to try.”

“Is this someone's idea of a joke
in this lab? What kind of servant looks like her?” Karen
asked.

“I don't know how you can ask
that. We've put a lot of hard work into making these robots look
real and as different from each other as all human beings are,” Amy
said, sounding offended.

Karen gave her a level look. “Let
me tell you what I think. You wanted my honest opinion, and you're
going to get it. This robot doesn't give me the impression she
could be presented as a maid and get away with it.

More likely, she'd be suitable to
amuse college boys in their dormitory houses, but they can't afford
her. How do you expect her to fit in with upper class working
people? Any upper crust woman will be about decorum and looks. This
robot doesn't stand a chance.”

Amy backtracked. “I’m not in charge
of dressing the robots. I do understand where you're coming from
now that I've taken a closer. The last time I saw her she wasn't
dressed. Someone took my idea of dressing each robot differently to
appeal to a diverse group of buyers to a new level.

However, Henie does come with
another outfit of clothes in that satchel beside her on the floor.
Someone in her line of work will need a change or two so her
uniforms can be washed. There must be a suitable uniform in the
satchel,” she said.

“The other clothes better be more
appropriate, because I'm telling you, how the robot looks right now
would be a deal breaker,” Karen declared.

Amy insisted, “Please just give her
a try. I sure she comes with a uniform you can dress her in for
working.”

“I can dress her! Great, this
sounds like playing with an overgrown doll. I'm twenty five, not
five,” huffed Karen. “I don't have time for pets. I certainly don't
have time to take care of a robot.”

Amy shook her head again. “That was
a poor way to phrase what I meant. Actually, Henie dresses herself
just like real people do. The whole idea of inventing these robots
were for them to take care of human beings not the other way
around. What you will do for her is plug in her battery to charge
it. The connection to the outlet is in her satchel.”

“What all does she do exactly?”
Karen asked, still looking closely at the robot.

“Anything you can, dishes and
laundry, which means yours and hers, and clean the house. She has
sensors that tell her when certain routine jobs need done. The rest
she will do at your command if she's working properly.

Best of all, Henie will pick up
after you while you’re writing your book. She can cook for you so
you don't have to stop until it's time to eat,” Amy explained,
still trying to sell her friend on taking the robot
home.

“Very funny. I told you I didn't
have much of a mess right now. I've been trying very hard to keep
it that way,” Karen repeated.

“Well, just know Henie will keep
you from having a problem. She'll keep the house straightened up
all the time. So if your mom does a surprise visit and inspection
like usual, the place will always be neat,” Amy said. Karen's head
shot toward her. “Don't try to tell me that won't happen. I've been
at your place when your mom drops in unexpectedly. She always
criticizes a little and starts tidying up.”

“A little?” Karen corrected,
“Mom's more like a whirlwind cleaning up destruction she likens to
tornado damage. I've gotten used to it since she's a neat freak.
She means well I think. I guess I take more after my slob of a
dad.”

Amy checked her wristwatch. “I've
got other volunteers coming soon to take home some of the other
robots. So what do you say? Will you try this one out as a favor to
me? Take her home. If you don't like her, I'll come get her. I
think you will find Henie a good deal for busy, working women
everywhere that hates housework.”

“This might be a news flash to
you. I'm not interested in the problems of other working women. So
not so fast. I need some information about this creature. Like how
do you activate her?”