Bless Your Mechanical Heart by McGuire Seanan & Patton Fiona & Snyder Lucy A. & Gallowglas M. Todd & Scholes Ken & Nye Jody Lynn & Clines Peter & Empson Mae & Rabe Jean

Author:McGuire, Seanan & Patton, Fiona & Snyder, Lucy A. & Gallowglas, M. Todd & Scholes, Ken & Nye, Jody Lynn & Clines, Peter & Empson, Mae & Rabe, Jean [McGuire, Seanan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Evil Girlfriend Media
Published: 2014-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

“Cyan.”

“How may I serve you, Master Childebert?”

As his visual sensors came online, Cyan noted that the event had come to an end. Custodial androids removed the decorations with a slow and steady rhythm, and the table which had been full of lavish gifts now lay empty and bare.

“Oh, please,” Master Childebert said, waving his hands dismissively. “Call me Julian.”

“Julian, then,” Cyan acknowledged, filing the information away for later reference.

They left the ballroom together, Cyan following a few steps behind his new owner. The sudden room in his memory banks was a bit disorienting; where only a short time before he’d been possessed of a wealth of information which Anna had requested him to store, the recalibration had destroyed all of it. He could still access the WorldNet without any difficulty, but unless ordered to do so, he could not store any of the information locally. As they walked, Cyan discovered that he’d over-modified the recalibration code, giving himself even more room to work around his fixed processes. He used it to slowly carve out a larger space in his memory banks for his own purposes. There was no telling when it might be useful.

“Do you think she likes me?” Julian asked as they walked the streets of the colony’s dome.

“Ambiguous query,” Cyan said. “Please clarify.”

“Anna. Do you think she likes me?”

Yes, she does.

“I am sorry, Julian. I do not have the capacity to speculate on such a matter.”

Julian stopped walking, and turned to look at Cyan. The android regarded his new master impassively. “Don’t you know everything about her?”

“The automatic recalibration process which took place upon my reassignment cleared my memory banks, Julian. I am afraid that I no longer have any information about Mistress Anna.”

Silence for a moment. He shouldn’t have called her ‘Mistress’—it was no longer technically correct. Calling a previous owner by their chosen designation after an ownership transfer was strictly against the personal interaction programming, which he was no longer using directly. Cyan quickly constructed and engaged a filter program to ensure that he never made such a mistake again.

Julian, however, didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he looked crestfallen. “Oh. I had hoped—well, I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

Cyan remained silent, and followed again when his new owner resumed his walk.

“It’s just that every time I see her, I start tripping over my tongue,” Julian went on. “I never get to say the things I really think. I’ve never been much of an orator, I’m no poet, but I wish I could tell her just how beautiful I think she is.”

“Does she like poetry?” Cyan asked, even though he knew the answer.

“I think so. She’s always talking about Old Earth poets and sonnets and other things I barely even understand.”

“Then she will expect as much from one who wishes to court her.”

“But how can I do it?” Julian pressed the heel of one hand against his forehead in a manner which Cyan found rather melodramatic. “I have no wit for such things.”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance.