A Robot's Life

… Ribbits was determined to complete his inspection of the first floor of the Samson Building in downtown New Chicago before the night was over. He had begun the after-hours cleaning of the 15 floor glass building that illuminated the night sky, as soon as the humans had vacated it. He was almost finished when his internal alarm blared, signifying his day was over.  It was sharp to his mechanical ears, reminding him to return home to his owner, R. Foust Home & Business Cleaners. His maker, Evan T. Inc., had outfitted all of the Domestic line with special detection systems in cases of fire, burglaries and when it was time to vacate a job site.

Ribbits was very good at his job, but sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be in a different type of work. Once back at his owners, he stepped into the small utility room that his wife called home, plugged himself into the electrical socket beside his wife, and tapped the button at the middle of his chest console that read Charge. Tomorrow was his purchase-day, what the humans referred to as their "birthday" and he tried to imagine what his wife would get him. He was excited. He would be 5 years post-Production. It seemed like yesterday he had come off of the production line and had been Purchased by R. Foust Home & Business Cleaners.

Reaching over to his sleeping wife, who was 2 years his senior, he smiled and held her robotic arm. The soothing music that flowed from her communications speaker made their fine storage room cozy. Closing down his central calculations center, or his CCC, he felt his body start to hum, as he began his charge for the night.