Krishna kumar Mani - SFS2 - Science Fiction Short Stories

“And what about the fire in the lake? Was that an accident as well?”

“Although we looked for evidence of arson, none was found. That too was an accident.”

The commissioner was not satisfied with these answers. “The boy’s mother put in a complaint. She said that they had already looked where the boy had been found the night before. How do you explain that?”

“They just didn’t notice him. They were out there in the dark and they were untrained. It’s not that hard to believe, really.”

The commissioner thought for a moment.

“There’s no wounds on the boy’s body,” continued the officer. “It was an accident. He drowned. The boy didn’t know how to swim.”

“Well hopefully when we autopsy the body again that the case will be closed for certain,” said the commissioner.

The story was still in the news, but Stephen’s mother couldn’t take it anymore. She surprised everyone when she told them to just close the case. She couldn’t handle the constant media presence outside of her house and around her, reminding her of Stephen’s death every moment of the day. Stephen’s mother removed his pictures from the house and gave away all of his things. Eventually the story became old news and talk started about the new Robot Act.

Sales executives meeting in a conference room:

My name is Peter. I recently joined this company as a sales executive. You could say I’m the hero of this story. Everyone met the target of ten orders per month, but I made only three sales. Everyone knows my last sale was a big tragedy. But now everyone will find out how I finally solved that issue.

“Secretly, one night, I went to Stephen’s mother’s house and saw her inside. She was distraught about her son. Her robot would constantly ask her to eat, but she rejected every offer of food. I knocked on the door and placed the second letter and the memory card on the doorstep. She was confused about what these things were, but she picked them up and read the letter. I had drafted the letter based off of the company’s customer letter template. It reads as follows:–

I don’t want to tell you my name, but I’ve done a favor for you. I understand that losing a child is the largest pain a person can experience. As a mother, you’re well aware of that. I also know because my five year old child died in an accident. You see, that’s what made me begin to copy the human memories from dead bodies to convert them to digital memories. I did this for your son, Stephen. But accidentally, you found clues that would have led you to me and that would have been a problem. That’s why I set fire to the lake area. I’ve helped many others, but as you’re no doubt well aware, this memory transfer process is banned by the government. But the government doesn’t understand the feelings of mothers and fathers who lose their children. I do. Please take this memory card and replace your robot’s existing memory card. You will have your son back. Perhaps not in flesh and blood, but his mind, personality and memories will all be there. Please destroy this letter and keep what we’ve done a secret otherwise the police will erase your son’s memory for good.

One additional thing:

If you want to help other people as I’ve helped you, whatever amount you can transfer to this account with non-traceable currency, please do so. The account number is written on the back of the page.”

“Stephen’s mother has been happy since that day. As I mentioned in the letter, she transferred a large amount. It’s more than enough to cover the missing sales from this month,” I said.

Everyone smiled and was happy that I had made my sales figures.

“We’re involved in a secret business that’s very profitable,” said the team leader. “We’ve got to be careful when we expand our business to other cities. We’re transferring memories and helping out those who have lost loved ones. They’re more than willing to donate for this cause. But as we know, this process is against the law.”

The team leader stopped and looked me in the eye. “Don’t take this risk again. You transferred the memories where the boy had died. That’s reckless. Next time, just enter the mortuary and transfer the memories from there. You might have earned more money with one sale, but your stupidity could have cost the company everything. Don’t do it again.”

Everyone laughed.

Sometime in the 1700s.

The king hated lies and the liars who told them. He punished them when he could, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Liars were popping up everywhere. And he knew that if he decided to start punishing them more severely, there wouldn’t be any people left in his kingdom at all. So, instead, he decided to announce a competition.

“Whoever manages to not lie for a month will get thirty gold coins. A person’s neighbor will confirm that the person didn’t lie for the entire month. However, if I find out that the person did speak a lie, I will severely punish both the liar and his neighbor who vouched for him,” declared the king.

The king’s subjects were wary of this competition

“Even if we don’t lie for a whole month, someone else might tell a lie about us and we’d be punished. But if we do not claim that we have done the thirty days worth, the king will think we’re all liars. All of us would be better off deaf in this kingdom!” was the common consensus of the king’s subjects.

Ultimately, they could not come to a conclusion on what to do for the thirty days.

“How many of my subjects have been put forth as winners?” asked the king to his minister.

“Not a single one,” replied the minister.

“So then they’re all liars!”

“You’re Grace, the people are afraid to put forth anyone as a winner. Even if someone claimed they didn’t tell a lie, how could they be trusted?”

The king thought for a while and came to the conclusion that the competition had been useless. He called in the royal doctor.

“Doctor, your task is to find a medicine that detects whether or not a person is telling the truth.”

“Your Grace, based on my knowledge of medicine I do not think this is possible. You see…”

“Well, look through your books again! Contact all the doctors you need to. Only then will you be able to tell me for certain if it is possible.”

Two weeks later, the royal doctor returned to speak with the king. “You’re Grace, I am sorry to say that I could not find a medicine which detects lying. However, my teacher may be able to help. We should send for him immediately. He lives far away, but is the master of all medicines.”

“Then I have to meet him,” said the king.

The king’s summons was sent far and wide to search for the master of medicine. Finally they came upon him studying in a cave and brought him to the king. The king explained the situation to the master of medicine.

“As my student has told you, there is no medicine in the world which can detect when someone is lying. However, I can make a medicine which may make a person keep from lying. Anyone who tells a lie after taking the medicine will die within twenty-four hours. Would you like this medicine?

“I am not worried about the lives of liars. I believe this medicine is exactly what I’m looking for.”

“We can first implement this in a small village,” began the master. “I will be there to administer the medicine and see the results. Then from there we can implement it in the whole kingdom. It would be good to test it in the village first and it would give me time to produce the medicine for the whole kingdom as well.”

The king thought this was a brilliant idea. After a week they decided to start the test in a village. All the people in the village were assembled without telling them what was about to happen. They administered the medicine to them. After the last person had received the medicine, the master spoke to the people.