Krishna kumar Mani: SFS1: Science Fiction Short Stories

“I’m here to request a divorce. I don’t wish to continue my life with Blue Tiger any more.” The judge terned to the opposite party to proceed.

Blue Tiger introduced himself and proceeded to plead his case. “I am not interested in getting divorced. I am still very much in love. If there’s anything you can do to help me, I’d like to continue to be married to her.”

“Why do you want to divorce him when he’s still in love with you?” the judge asked Rose. “No, my lord. I don’t like him any more. Please won’t you grant me a divorce?”

“My lord, would you please ask her the reason why? If she can give me a good reason, I’ll agree to a divorce.”

“You have to provide a reason before I can grant you a divorce,” said the judge to Rose. Rose thought for a moment before she replied. “He doesn’t suit my taste, nor does he suit my frequency. I plan to get a divorce and pick a new partner who meets my needs.”

“No, my lord!,” shouted Blue Tiger “She has already chosen another robot. His name is Smart Bridge and he works in the shipping division. She wants to marry him. That’s why she’s looking for a divorce. It’s not a good reason at all.”

“Is it true?” the judge asked Rose. “Are you in love with some other robots?”

“It’s not love, but I do plan to get married to him,” replied Rose.

“You do know that an extra-marital affair is illegal as per the Robot Affairs Act, section 2116?” asked the judge.

Rose was silent for a moment before answering. “No, it’s not like that.”

“If there is evidence that you have broken this law, you will be punished.”

“My lord, I have evidence they send messages back and forth,” interrupted Blue Tiger. “Rose has even written poems about him. I accessed her mail and found the poem.”

The small robot took the evidence from Blue Tiger and handed it to the judge.

“Oh shit,” whispered Rose.

“I will have the judgment in two hours. We will reconvene then,” said the judge.

During the break, Rose sat silently for a long while thinking over what had transpired in the case. She eventually got up to talk to Blue Tiger.

“Won’t you please consider withdrawing the case? We can just get a mutual divorce.” “I know why you’re asking for a divorce. It’s because my model is out of date. I’m not doing any favors for you. What do I care if you’re punished. I loved you so much, but you cheated on me. I don’t owe you anything.” Rose left the break room and went to a quiet place to communicate with Smart Bridge. She updated him on the status of the case.

Two hours later, just as the judge had prescribed, he announced the judgment. “The evidence that Blue Tiger has provided indicates without a doubt that Rose has been having an affair with another robot named Smart Bridge. Both Rose and Smart Bridge shall be punished,” said the judge. “However, to retrieve this data, Blue Tiger hacked and accessed the private correspondence of Rose so he too will be punished as per the Cyber Act. “Officers, please find and arrest this robot named Smart Bridge,” said the judge turning to the court officers. “As per the regulations set down, all memories of these three robots will be erased. They will be assigned different names and given back to their employers today after the procedures have been completed.” Later the judge sat in his study writing a letter to the legislation.

“In the future, the government needs to instruct robot manufacturers to only manufacture genderless robots. No more male or female robots. This will save the court time and expense.”

I am a stupid scientist and right now I am standing on a bridge.

Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, the name’s Joe; I was a top scientist at a university and got many offers for employment in the private sector but I chose to teach because I loved the university environment because it offered a great opportunity to continue my own research. For the last six years I’ve been working as a physics professor at the same university I graduated from.

Although I’ve been fully focused on it for the last few years, I’ve not been able to complete my research. All my hard work seems useless. Once I understood that I couldn’t complete it, I decided that I didn’t want to continue my research at all.

I’ve tried to stop a couple times before but I convinced myself to keep going at it. But now I’ve decided that I must quit and the only way is to destroy all my research. As long as they’re around I’ll be tempted to continue with the research and wreck my own future. This research has already spoiled my last six years. A top scientist at a university that earns less than the average classmates do! I don’t even own my own car or house because of all this damned research.

Sorry, I guess I’m getting a little ahead of myself again. My research. Yes it’s about… well, no maybe I shouldn’t tell you right now. I don’t even want to think about it. In fact, it’s useless. I’m about to throw all my research into the river.

Now you know why. I’m standing on the bridge, taking one last look at the briefcase before I throw it all away. Unless I throw it all away, I’ll never be able to do anything useful with my life. So often we read about research successes. Does anyone care about stories about failures in research?

No more waiting. I have to throw it in. I looked around to see if anyone was watching. No one was even nearby enough to see what I was doing. OK. Time to throw. I closed my eyes for a moment to control my emotions.

Just then what sounded like a very modern bike swooshed down to a halt right next to me. A guy got down from the bike and shouted at me.

“Don’t you dare throw that research into the river!”

I was shocked and looked around. But yes, he was talking to me. He must have been around twenty-five years old.

“Please don’t throw it away. Keep your research. Keep it safe.”

I was speechless for a moment because no one else even knew about my research. He was talking to me like he knew me very well.

“Who are you?” I asked. “How do you know about my research?”

“Listen, I can’t explain. Even if I did you wouldn’t believe it. I’m merely someone who wishes you well. Please keep it safe. I have to go now.”

I grabbed his arm. “Tell me,” I demanded.

“You won’t believe it!”

People had accumulated on the bridge, crowding in to see his ultra-modern bike.

“First you tell me,” I insisted. “And then I’ll decide whether or not to believe it.

“You’re thirty one right now, unmarried and you don’t have kids” he said with a smile.

I was silent and merely looked at him.

“If I told you that you had a grandson, would you believe it?” he asked

“What?”

Now people were touching his bike. He looked at them.

“Listen, I have to get out of here. I’m from the future and I’m your grandson. My father invented a time machine based on your research documents. If you destroy them, how will he ever invent it? I have come here to save the documents. Whether or not you believe me, you have to keep them safe. You might fail at all your inventions, but the research will live on, granddad.”

Without waiting for my reply he started his bike and vanished with a subtle movement but more like a light going out. I gazed with astonishment at where he had been a second ago.

Then, as if reminding myself, I thought “My research certainly is about a time machine. It might not be possible now, but it will be possible in the future. My son will invent that time machine in the future. I’m not a stupid scientist at all.”