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
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
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