Be All That You Can Be

Posted on Mon 4th Jun, 2018 @ 11:03pm by

729 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD 18, 0930

Daneel Olivaw, Hari Seldon, Gladia Delmarre, Elijah Baley, Arkady Darrell, and Podkayne Mars were lined up in a group, as they had been less than two weeks ago. That was the only thing that was the same. Their clothing was very individual, even somewhat ... flamboyant in the case of Gladia and Podkayne. It made Jade happy to see the changes. Though they were in a group, the line couldn't be called straight, and they were definitely not standing quietly, nor did their conversations cease when she came into the room.

"I'm telling you," Elijah said to Hari, "mysteries are the way to go. This science fiction stuff is ridiculous. It bears no relationship to reality and more than half the time, it's out of date."

"That's the beauty of it," Hari argued back. "These holos are vintage. In watching them, you see how humankind dreamed, and how much of what he dreamed came to pass. It's an education in understanding what makes humans tick. You really need to ...."

Jade tuned in to a different conversation. Daneel was telling Gladia, "I've been researching what humans wrote about robot-human relationships in the beginning and how it's changed over time."

"And I suppose as well as sticking with the human point of view, you are sticking with strictly scientific material," Gladia scoffed. "That makes you human-centric, and it isn't going to help when you run into a Vulcan, let alone a Klingon."

Truly, Jade wanted to hear more of that conversation, but she wasn't intending to eavesdrop, simply enjoy the changes in the people she had employed. It was hard not to think of them as people. They were still learning, but they'd developed individuality, personal style and their own ways of looking at the universe. They had opinions! She heard Podkayne laugh and turned toward her. For some reason, Podkayne seemed younger than the others. Was it merely Jade's perspective, based on the name she'd been given? And why hadn't they changed their names?

"Excuse me," Lantz said, loud enough to be heard over the hubbub of conversation. Everyone straightened slightly and turned toward her.

"Miss Lantz, forgive us," Daneel said. "We didn't hear you come in."

"Which is perfectly fine," Jade responded. "But I do have something to discuss with you. Take a seat at the table and let's talk business."

There was a general shuffle toward the table, chairs scooting back, and hands reaching for cookies. It turned out this particular set of artificial intelligences had a universal weakness for sugar. She wondered if they somehow managed to turn it into energy. Did they have low-energy times that needed recharging, as humanoids did?

"I have a proposal for you. We've talked about ways you could earn money, become independent on the base, run your own business, work for me on contract, and so on. Today, if you'd like, we can take all that a step further."

There was a general stir around the table, humaniforms glancing at each other and back to her. "We're interested in hearing more, Miss Lantz," Daneel said. She found it worthy of note that he was still spokesman for the group.

"We've been invited - you've been invited, but I'm going along to protect your interests for the time being, until you've learned more about interacting with biological life forms. Anyway, you're invited to interview for a cleaning job in a business setting up in another part of the station. All decisions are yours to make. All conversations with the business owner are yours to have. I reserve the right to review any contracts before you sign them, to be sure they are in your best interests, but I honestly don't think this owner will cheat you in any way," Jade assured them. "If you're interested, we can go right now."

As they talked it over in low tones, Jade wondered just how legal an A.I.'s signature on a contract was. She wondered if it only applied to them, or if the other party was legally responsible. Could someone cheat them, because their signatures weren't legal? Probably. She needed to consult a lawyer ... or better yet, Ischemia Addams!

It took only a short time for the six to confer aloud, and probably in some subspace way they seemed to have, as Jade supposed, and to convey their decision. "Let's go," said Arkady.

 

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