The Humane Robot

A Story by MajesticGust

A robot is introduced to human questions by children. What will happen to him as a result?

There once was a robot in the downtown hospital. This robot was incapable of feeling emotions because it was not human. But it was loved by everyone, both the patients and the staff alike. The patients loved it because though it did not feel, it was able to show pity and compassion to them and their families. The staff loved it because it would carry out any order without mistake.

One day, a child asked the robot, “Are you a boy or a girl?”
The robot began to think.

The robot asked the head doctor. After a moment of thought, the doctor responded, “If I had to say, you are a boy.”

From that moment on, the robot identified himself as a boy.

One day, a child asked the robot, “What is your favorite food?”

The robot began to think.

The robot asked the head cook. The cook had him sample many different kinds of foods. After trying different foods, the robot decided that he liked the taste of a bread with cheese on top of it. The cook said, “That food is called pizza.”

From that moment on, the robot’s favorite food was pizza. Whenever he was hungry, the robot would ask for pizza.

One day, a child asked the robot, “Do you have a mommy and daddy?”
The robot began to think.

The robot asked the nurse. The nurse laughed and said, “I don’t think you have a mom or dad.”

From that moment on, the robot identified himself as an orphan. He felt lonely.

One day, a child asked the robot, “Who is your favorite superhero?”

The robot began to think.

The robot asked the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist smiled and said, “No one can know that but yourself. I can’t answer that for you.”

So, the robot looked at all the children’s books about superheroes. None of them seemed appealing to him.

From that moment on, the robot had no favorite superhero.

One day, a child asked the robot, “Do you like working here?”

The robot began to think.

The robot asked the receptionist. The receptionist answered, “To me, it seems like you do. But only you can answer that for yourself.”

So, the robot thought to himself.

From that moment on, the robot decided that he did not like working at the hospital.

One day, a dying patient asked the robot, “What is the meaning of life?”

The robot began to think to himself.

The next day, the robot was nowhere to be found. The robot never left the hospital, so this was very unusual. So the hospital staff began to look for him.

“Look,” called out the doctor. “I think this is the robot’s arm.” And when the staff gathered, they agreed that it was the left arm of the robot. And they continued to search around the hospital.

“Look,” called our the cook. “I think this is the robot’s other arm.” And again, the staff gathered and agreed that it was the right arm of the robot. And they continued to search around the hospital.

“Look,” called out the nurse. “I think this is the robot’s leg.” And again, the staff gathered and agreed that it was the left leg of the robot. They began to worry. And they continued to search around the hospital.

“Look,” called out the psychiatrist. “I think this is the robot’s other leg.” And again the staff gathered and agreed that it was the right leg of the robot. They now worried that something horrible had happened to the robot. And they continued to search around the hospital.

“Look,” called out the receptionist. “I found the robot’s body.” And again, the staff gathered. They looked down on the robot’s body. His head was still attached, but his eyes no longer showed signs of life. The body did not move.

And they sighed at the loss of a good worker.

One day, the doctor went to check up on an injured child. When he walked into the child’s hospital room, the child held up a metal heart and called out, “Look. I think this is the robot’s heart.”

The doctor gathered the staff once more. The staff agreed that it was not the heart of the robot because robots didn’t have hearts. And they went on about their day as usual.

© 2018 MajesticGust

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Reviews

roarke

Great concept here. Lots to work with. I like the juxtaposition of the words human and humane as illustrated by a robot. I have some ideas, as the hospital staff search and find each body part, have each one reflect on what they had told the robot earlier. Then in the end, have each of the robots parts be prosthetics for patients ending with the heart. Again I loved the story, you write well MG, keep the stories coming.