Go-bot walked around the Human town and observed all the people, as they went along their daily lives, people selling their wares at the shopping stalls, children playing on the streets, mothers hanging clothes out to dry. All such mysterious behaviours that he didn't quite understand.
As usual, everyone was staring at him as he walked by. Locke had revealed to him that he'd told the humans he was just a stray animal that was found outside the village. Locke said that the humans were rather ignorant of the outside world and that it was safer to keep it that way.
Ignorance is bliss, that's what he said.
So according to all these humans, robots didn't exist. In fact, they didn't even know that robots could exist. This also confused Go-bot, because what else could exist but robots? Then again it worked the other way around, he didn't understand how humans could exist. So here were these two races, separated by thousands of years, unable to really comprehend the concept of each other's existence.
Or something.
Go-bot didn't understand.
He continued to walk, it had been about two weeks since he crash landed on the Sanctuary, and he'd found he quite liked walking as a hobby, it gave him time to test out his new muscle. His brain. He tried to take in as much of the world around him as he good, try to figure things out as he saw them. It was such a different and liberating feeling from when he worked with the Serv. That wasn't to say he didn't miss Miss Sylvie and Mister Ava, he missed them a lot. Hopefully they'd be impressed with his new found level of cognition.
He walked past the town square. Ah yes, that building. What was it called? A church, it was called a church. It was larger than the other buildings, a little more elaborate, this was one of the few buildings that were made from stone. According to Locke a lot of the buildings and environments in the colony were pre-made for the humans, this probably was too. Apparently the Evos didn't know what this building was for, they simply recreated it based on records they'd found on Earth, apparently it was a building that was essential for human survival, even though people didn't live there or anything. And the information was correct, the humans flocked to it. Even though it didn't look to serve any purpose.
The words "House of God" were written in English above the doors. Most likely the Evos who made this building didn't know what that meant either. Go-bot sure didn't.
Still, he was always curious, and it seemed to be empty at this time of the day. Why not pop in?
The inside of the church was rather barren, just rows of seats facing an alter at the end, There was a massive stone statue that was illuminated by the light that passed through the church windows. This was something Go-bot recognised, an elegant looking woman holding an orb in her hand, the orb itself was painted in all sorts of shades of red and orange, it was surrounded by four other orbs that were suspended from the floor with thin stone pillars.
The big orb looked like Jupiter, what were the other orbs? They can't have been Jupiter's moons, Jupiter only had three moons, after all. The woman herself, she looked familiar too, but he wasn't sure where he'd seen her before. The only woman he saw most often was Aphrodite, they looked kind of similar but that was only because Go-bots facial recognition for humans wasn't perfect (he usually identified them by voice instead).
Go-bot stayed there and looked at the statue for a while. Eventually the door of the church opened behind him.
"Ah, trust you to be in the last place I'd look," it was Locke, "you seem fascinated by this statue."
"What is it?" asked Go-bot,
"They worship this, this is their god." Said Locke,
That word again, he'd heard Mr Ava say it a few times before, he sort of knew what the word meant. But he still wasn't sure what the concept behind it was.
"What is God?" asked Go-bot,
"Oh my, quite a loaded question." He paused for a while as the cogs in his head turned, "God is like our Mother Brain, except humans don't really have a Mother Brain, so they made one up."
"What is Mother Brain?"
"Mother Brain gave the Evos life Go-bot, surely you know that. She controls our rationale and makes sure that our society functions to the best of its ability."
"...But humans don't have a Mother Brain, so they make one up?"
"Sort of."
"If we have a Mother Brain, they should have one too. Maybe it's not made up."
"It's definitely made up Go-bot."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"...Yes"
"Really?"
"Go-bot, please." It was evident that Locke was starting to feel uncomfortable, as if Go-bot's question was actually more challenging than he thought. "everything here is artificial, the humans themselves, they're artificial. Even the sky and weather, everything is generated artificially. None of this is real, nor is their god."
"I'm sorry. I just want to understand." Go-bot was cresftfallen,
"No, I understand, now that I've unlocked you your desire for knowledge has increased exponentially. I'm delighted to know that!"
The two left the church and walked out into the sun. Children were running around kicking a ball,
"Such a nice day, isn't it Bishop Locke?" asked a woman walking by,
"Ah, indeed it is Julianne," Locke replied,
"Yes, we much praise the sun goddess for such a prosperous day," the woman smiled, "praise her indeed,"
The two continued to converse. Go-bot looked at the sky. The sun was fake.
He didn't understand humans. There was someone else he could ask.
***
Aphrodite was sitting on her bed. Again, reading. Go-bot had waddled into her room without knocking.
"Oh Go-bot! I'm glad you're here. I was getting bored. What do you want to talk about? I was reading more on particle physics, let's talk about that." She said enthusiastically.
This was the girl Ava had thought wouldn't have a personality. Enthusiastic and full of life.
"Aphrodite, I feel dumb, please help me. You're smart." Go-bot's adorable child-like voice made it hard for Aphrodite's natural human senses to not want to tend to him,
"Oh um, no you're not dumb Go-bot! You're the same model as my father, and he was a genius! And Locke, a person I love very much, he also says you're very smart!"
"Then please tell me what a human is." Asked Go-bot.
"Huh?"
"What are you and what am I?" asked Go-bot again
Aphrodite's eyes widened, she never really thought about what her relationship with the humans were, after all, Schweitzer was her father, Locke was sort of her uncle, Go-bot was her best friend. All Evos. All the humans she saw, they were so alien to her. Even when she looked in the mirror, she didn't recognise what she was looking at.
"Why are you asking this question now Go-bot?" Aphrodite replied,
"I have an opinion. But maybe I'm wrong."
"What's that?"
"I can't tell the difference between man and machine. I think we're all the same." His voice lowered, "if that's true. It's very sad. Very sad."
The same? How? And what was sad about it? "I'm not sure I understand Go-bot." Aphrodite could see Go-bot was having a crisis or some sort, but she wasn't sure what it was.
Aphrodite had never been out the lab before, but she's talked to a lot of Evos before she met Locke, even the Mother Brain contacted her. None of them seemed to have the thought processes Go-bot had. What did Locke do to that thing? There was no Evo like it.
No.
Go-bot wasn't an Evo was he? He was a Serv. In that case, there was something about the Servs the Evos didn't know. Something about these mysterious alien creatures that definitely set them apart from Evos.
"Go-bot. The answer doesn't matter. Why should it? What matters is what you are, what do you think you are Go-bot? You're more than just a machine, what makes you who you are?"
"I don't know." Go-bot hadn't thought that far ahead, because Go-bot was still a little dumb, maybe.
Author's note: Hey guys, Monday update! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Want more chapters with Go-bot? Enjoying what I'm doing with him? Leave a comment, don't forget to vote, and let your friends know about this story if you want to give me extra motivation! Meanwhile, check out @scination for more cool sci-fi stories of a similar style! Thanks! :)