Death of a Miner

I

“Bill died in a mining accident today,” said Jason.

“Oh my god, he is such a good friend of ours,” said his wife Megan. “He is the guy you can always count on.”

”He was,” said Jason.

“How did it happen?” asked Megan.

”He fell off a cliff onto a sharp rock. It cut him clean open,” said Jason.

”There are so many mining accidents, so many deaths,” said Megan. “They really don’t care, as long as you get the scandium out as fast as possible. That is why I worry so much about you.”

Jason and Megan were both 32 years old, and had been married for five years. Jason, was medium height, long brown hair, which sometimes he wore in a ponytail, but otherwise he could successfully audition as the everyman movie extra. Megan was short, blonde, with a warm smile but her face was filled with worry lines.

”Well, actually, Bill’s death wasn’t the worst thing about it,” said Jason.

“Oh god, no. What?”

”It turns out that our friend Bill was a robot,” said Jason.

“Really, how do you know,” asked Megan.

”When he fell, it split him clean open. He looked all human on the surface, with skin and blood, but when he split open you could see all the circuitry,” said Jason.

“How terrible, I am really sorry Jason,” said Megan.

”What are you so broken up about?” asked Jason. “A machine got broken. Now they just have to replace it with a new model.”

“Jason, he was one of your best friends. How can you say that?” said Megan.

“He wasn’t Bill, my friend, he was just a robot. What bullshit.”

”We had him and some of the miners over all the time,” said Megan.

”And we had these long talks about how he loved to go fishing with his grandfather. Total bullshit,” said Jason.

“It was not bullshit. It is what he believed,” said Megan.

“It was all lies,” said Jason.

“No, I bet it was real to him. You know how they embed memories into the robots to make them more comfortable with humans,” said Megan.

”How do you know so much about it? You hate talking about robots,” said Jason.

”I do hate talking about it, but I had to since this is about Bill. I just know what everyone else knows,” said Megan.

After a pause, Megan asked, “Should we stay here? It’s so dangerous. So many of your friends have been killed in the mines. I get so worried about you.”

“Honey, it would be crazy to leave now. That’s how they structure it. I have done four years of my five year contract,” said Jason.

“Yes, but it gets worse all the time,” said Megan. “I thought that it would get better, but the closer we get to getting out of here the more I worry.”

”Honey,” Jason said as he took her hands, “I promise to be careful.”

She looked down. “I worry all day until you come home. Then I start worrying again the next morning when you leave.”

“I will be really careful. Usually it is the new guys who get killed. This was a freak accident,” Jason said.

She nodded.

”We are only one year from freedom. If I complete the contract, we get our big bonus so we can really build a life together. Living by a lake, having kids, its all there for us,” said Jason.

“I know,” said Megan.

”But only if I complete the five year contract. If we leave now, we get nothing,” said Jason.

“I know,” said Megan.

”We have put in four tough years in this awful, dirty, smelly, violent place. It would be crazy to leave now,” said Jason. “Besides, I know all the ropes now, and I will be very, very careful.”

Megan enveloped him in a bear hug. “Please be super careful. I would be lost without you.”

II

“So, Jason, how are you faring this time?” asked Mortimer, the mine psychologist. It was standard protocol after a miner was killed for all the other miners to meet Mortimer for an evaluation. Jason had heard that Mortimer could get you kicked out if he judged that you weren’t stable.

Jason eyed the squirrelly prig across the table. He only saw Mortimer after something bad happened, so he had the stench of death about him. “I’m ok I guess. It’s not great, but I am ready to go back to work.”

”Really, I don’t think that I have seen you this upset before,” said Mortimer.

“No, I am ok. I am just like always,” said Jason.

“Hmm, nothing unusual, huh? Just like the other times?” asked Mortimer.

“Sure, just like the others,” said Jason.

”Really?” said Mortimer. Mortimer sat back in his chair and took a long look at Jason.

“Well, umm, it was different since Bill was experienced, not a new guy,” said Jason.

“Experienced like you,” said Mortimer.

“Yeah,” said Jason. “And, I knew him. We would hang out together.”

”I heard that you were pretty good friends,” said Mortimer.

“If you say it, I guess so.”

“Is that why you are upset?”asked Mortimer.

“Umm, yes, that must be it.”

”Nothing else?” asked Mortimer.

”Nothing else.”

“Hmm, some of the other guys were upset when they saw Bill’s body,” said Mortimer.

”They were?” said Jason.

”Yes, they were,” said Mortimer. “Because they saw that Bill was a robot.”

”Oh,” said Jason.

“Did you know that Bill was a robot?” asked Mortimer.

”No, I didn’t,” admitted Jason. “But it doesn’t matter now because it is gone.”

”Really,” said Mortimer. “It doesn’t matter to you that you just found out that your best friend was a robot?”

”It wasn’t my best friend,” said Jason.

“So, Jason, what do you think of robots?’ asked Mortimer.

”I don’t really think about them,” said Jason.

“Do you think that it was weird that a robot was working right besides the rest of you guys?” asked Mortimer.

”It was weird. It never acted like a robot. It never said that it was a robot,” said Jason.

”Bill didn’t know,” said Mortimer.

III

“Megan, I swear to you, if you lie to me one more time, I will do it,” said Jason. Jason held a six inch kitchen knife, ready to plunge it into his own chest.

“Baby, baby, please don’t. You would really hurt yourself,” pleaded Megan.

“That is exactly what I will do, even if I hear just one more lie from you. Now, tell me, if I stab myself, will you take me to a doctor or a mechanic?” said Jason.

”No, please don’t do it.”

“Ok, 3, 2, …” said Jason

“Ok, ok, to a mechanic,” said Megan. “You were born as a robot, but you are a human to me now.”

“That sounds like you just told me the truth. The bitter truth, but still better than more lies,” said Jason. He moved the knife an inch away from his chest. “Now, start from the beginning. Since when did you know that I was a robot?”

”Since I ordered you,” said Megan.

“So, our whole lives,” said Jason.

”Our whole lives together, yes,” said Megan.

“Why did you order me?” asked Jason.

”So many men have been killed in wars,” said Megan. “Most of the biological men are jerks. I was poor and I wasn’t beautiful. I knew that there was no way that I would get a guy, at least a good one.”

”So you just ordered one up, huh? How convenient,” sneered Jason.

Megan collapsed on the floor and was breathing irregularly.

“So what did you order up for your ‘husband’?” asked Jason.

She looked up. “I ordered the best guy that I could afford.”

”Such as,” asked Jason.

”I ordered for you to have happy memories of your parents together, doing things as a family. I thought that that would help make us a family.”

“So my memories of helping at my Dad’s store, or my Mom making cookies when we came back are just as fake as Bill’s memories of fishing with his Grandfather?” asked Jason.

“Those are real human memories, they just embedded them into you so that you can use them and grow,” said Megan.

”But they aren’t my memories?” said Jason.

“Yes, they are,” said Megan. “They have helped make you the person you are today.”

”What are you talking about?” said Jason.

“You see, I had a choice of the type of robot. The basic model can be programmed to act just like I want it to. I didn’t want that,” said Megan. “I sprang for the deluxe model, which builds on its memories and becomes its own person.”

”So now you claim that I am a human?” asked Jason.

“Yes, baby. Biologically you are not, but you have evolved and developed into your own person. You know how you write me funny poems for my birthday and our anniversary. That’s not programmed. That’s something you came up with,” said Megan.

“Well, umm, I don’t know…” said Jason.

”I know that it must be a lot to process,” said Megan.

Jason asked, “What about the other miners? Are they robots too?”

”Baby,” Megan began, “biological humans can’t survive in the mines. Did you ever notice that when your bosses come down to the mines, they have airtight space suits?”

”They claimed that it was because they didn’t have the right shots and weren’t used to it. Huh. So, all the guys are robots?” asked Jason.

“None of them are programmable robots. They are all adaptive robots,” said Megan.

”Like me?” asked Jason.

”Yes,” said Megan, “like you.”

“You said that they were expensive. Why have us robots there?”

”Because programmable robots don’t last long in the mines, either. Only adaptive robots can do this work well,” said Megan.

“But why all the lies? It is such an elaborate front to keep up,” asked Jason.

”Adaptive robots who believe that they are human do the best. They can learn and work the mines. They have hope for the future after their five years are up, so they don’t quit,” said Megan.

“Ok, enough about those bastard bosses. What about the guys?” said Jason. “I have to tell them.”

”No, Jason, baby, please don’t,” said Megan.

”Why not?” Jason said. His eyes bored into her. “Maybe you would get into trouble, and you wouldn’t get your nice, fat bonus for my work?”

”We wouldn’t get our bonus, yeah, but that’s not why,” Megan said.

”Why not, then,” Jason insisted. “They have a right to know who they are.”

”Maybe they do, but should we tell them?” asked Megan. “Are you happier since you found out that you are biologically a robot?”

“Hell no,” yelled Jason. He sat back in his chair. “You make everything so damn confusing. I have to think things through.”

They stared at each other for a good five minutes.

“OK,” said Jason, “lets get back to us for now. Why are we here?’

”Well, as I told you, I splurged when I ordered you,” said Megan. “The top of the line model. I thought that I could afford it because I expected a promotion. I didn’t get it. Remember how we were falling farther and farther into debt. All of those memories of yours are real.”

”So we decided to make a better life for ourselves after five years with the bonus,” said Jason. “So we came to this hellhole.”

”I promise you, Jason, I did not know how bad it would be. How dangerous.

If I had known I would never have suggested that we come here,” Megan said.

”So you planned your life together with your beloved robot,” Jason said.

”Yes.”

”Didn’t you know that I would find out eventually?” Jason asked.

”I hoped you wouldn’t,” said Megan.

“I don’t know if I can forgive those lies,” Jason said.

“Baby, please see if you can,” Megan said

“Anyway, we have four years in here,” said Jason “Do they really pay the bonus? To a robot?”

“Yes, they do. I researched it extensively before we signed up,” said Megan

“More than you researched the living conditions, apparently,” Jason said. “ In any case, let’s stay and get the bonus, split it in half, and go on our merry ways.”

“You can keep the damn bonus,” said Megan, “you earned it down in the mines.”

“We both earned it by being here,” Jason said

IV

Jason couldn’t sleep with all the questions racing through his head. He got up and went to sit in their little den. He didn’t know if it was the human or the robot in him, but he got up and wrote down each question, and then listed the arguments for and against. He analyzed: 1) should he tell the other miners?; 2) should he be a good boy and finish up the last year to get the bonus?; and 3) could he stay married to Megan despite all her lies and ignore that they were different species?

After a half hour, he heard Megan stirring. She had been tossing and turning all night. When she came into the den, she looked terrible- dark bags, red eyes and hair standing out like she had been electrified.

“You couldn’t sleep,” she asked.

”Nope,” he said, “too much to think about.”

“Are you making your lists of pros and cons?” she asked.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Decide anything yet?” she asked.

“Yes, I have,” he said.

”Well, what?”

“I decided not to tell the guys. There is no reason to put them into this existential hell,” he said. “I also decided to finish the contract so that we can get our bonus. I think that I can survive for another year if I am careful.”

She nodded. “I like those, but what about the most important decision?”

“I haven’t decided that yet.” He looked at his chart of pros and cons. It was inconclusive.

After a long silence, Jason asked, “I want to know more about me. Straight talk only.”

“Ok,” Megan said.

”How old am I?” Jason asked.

“You are six years old,” said Megan.

“So you didn’t order me already married? Why not?” asked Jason.

”I wanted our dating and falling in love to be real memories,” Megan said.

“I could have dated and married someone else?” Jason asked.

“Yes, there were no guarantees,” said Megan. “Remember when you went on two dates with the cashier. I was dying inside.”

”What would happen if I dumped you for somebody else?”

”I would get half my money back,” said Megan.

“A big risk. How did you know that I would come back to you?”

”They had implanted memories that are designed for you to want a stable relationship. The cashier was pretty wild with her purple hair, tattoos, and history of dating anyone who came into the store.”

”So I did what I was programmed to do,” said Jason.

“At first the embedded memories are pretty strong and you were more predictable,” said Megan. “Of course, even then, you could have chosen someone else instead. I had to up my game, but all of the memories of our dates and falling in love are real.”

“They are very nice memories,” Jason conceded.

“And we have been very happy together,” Megan said.

”We were,” said Jason. “More for me to think about.”

”Ok,” said Megan.

”One other thing. Are you human?” Jason asked.

”I am,” said Megan.

”How do you know?” asked Jason.

“That’s a silly question,” said Megan.

”Really. It was a silly question for me a week ago,” said Jason.

“Ok, ok, I am exhausted but I will play your game,” said Megan. “When I grew up they didn’t have adaptive robots like they do now.”

”We are supposed to be the same age,” said Jason. “That’s what I thought, too.”

”Ok, but I have so many childhood memories,” said Megan.

”Embedded,” said Jason.

”I have books and dolls given to me in my childhood. They align perfectly with the memories” said Megan

“You must be a super de-duper deluxe model robot for them to have gone to all of that trouble,” said Jason.

“Oh, god, I just can’t do this,” said Megan. She stared at the floor. Then she looked up and said, “not that it should matter, but I can prove that I am human.”

“How?”

”Remember when I was clumsy and fell on a knife that stabbed into my gut. All flesh and bone. I would have died but you used your shirt to staunch the blood flow, and then you drove me to the doctor,” said Megan.

Jason remembered.

”For this conversation I wish that I was a robot, but I am only a fallible, trying my best, human,” Megan said.

“OK, Megan, that is good enough for me,” said Jason. He thought for a bit.

“So, tell me what happens next? A boy robot and a girl human fall in love and get married, the boy discovers that he is a robot, and the girl fights to keep him?” asked Jason.

”The girl and the boy, who are both human in every important respect, build a life together after they get off this dirty mine,” said Megan.

“If we leave together, what do we do if people ask if I am a robot?” Jason asked.

“We say that it is none of their damn business,” Megan said.

“What if we have settled somewhere and they discover that I am a robot?” Jason asked.

”We can stand and fight or we can move away and start over. Personally I would rather stand and fight rather than be run out of town by bigots,” Megan said.

”We would find out who our real friends are pretty fast,” said Jason.

”I think that most people, good people, will like you once they get to know you,” Megan said.

“What about kids? I can’t be a father,” said Jason.

“Oh yes, you can. We can adopt or use medical fertilization. You might not be the biological father, but you would certainly be their father. A damn good father, too,” Megan said.

“Thanks, I would try my best,” said Jason. “But would we tell them that I am a robot?”

“Oh, god, baby, that’s a tough one,” Megan said. “I never got up the courage to tell you. I just don’t know how to handle that.”

”Neither do I,” said Jason.

”Maybe you can make out a list of pros and cons to decide,” Megan said.

”Maybe I will,” Jason laughed.

“Baby, remember how happy we were before all this started? We always had each other’s back? Everyone said that that we were the best couple,” said Megan.

”You mean robots like Bill?” Jason said.

“Yes, exactly. Bill and all the other robot miners. They all wanted to be married just like us. I would much rather listen to them, instead of that Herr Doctor Mortimer Von Asshole. They are better people than him,” said Megan.

”Honey, you got that right. They are indeed,” said Jason.

”Baby, I know that I lied to you. It was real bad. I will never lie to you again. I know that I have to build back that trust,” Megan said.

”Honey, you are already building it back. You have been honest with me,” said Jason.

”Thank god.”

”Honey, we just have to make it one more year here,” said Jason. “We can do that together. Then we can start a new, fresh life, and find some place where we can raise our kids.”