To the Stars -- And Beyond by Robert Reginald

Author:Robert Reginald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction, anthology, sci-fi, short stories, sf
Publisher: Wildside Press
Published: 2011-10-22T04:00:00+00:00

MY GUARDIAN

by Gary Lovisi

PART I: When I Was a Kid

Mom and Dad said we were going to have a guest soon, from Earthside. My guardian, Joey, didn’t think too highly of the people down there. I don’t know why he didn’t like them very much, but I could tell.

Joey and me were the best friends ever. Even though Joey looked like my twin brother—he looked my same age and size—he was really just my “andy,” my android guardian, and I could always tell when he was upset. They say andys don’t have emotions like real people, and I guess most don’t; but when you’re a kid and you’ve been matched to your guardian since before birth, the two of you can be a lot closer than any bio-brothers could ever be.

Of course Joey hadn’t always been my brother. Mom told me that when I was just a baby his directing intelligence—what made him him—was imbued into the controls of my crib, then my playpen, and later my stroller.

When I was old enough to understand, Mom and Dad told me that every Spacer child had an andy guardian. They had been created to watch and protect the specific child in their care, to be an unflinching advocate for that child no matter what the situation, and to ensure their charge grew up healthy, educated, and safe, regardless of their environment or the adults around them.

That included parents.

Sometimes, especially parents.

Guardians became android childhood pals, fierce advocates programmed with the child’s protection as their prime directive. That’s why our leaders tell us that after a couple of generations the people in our space colonies have advanced far ahead of the people still down on Earth. Joey tells me Spacers are just more stable, well-adjusted, even happier than our Earther counterparts.

Earthers call us Spacers, and they don’t like us very much. Joey says it’s just jealousy and that I shouldn’t worry about it. But I do. There’s talk of war coming someday, and it scares me.

Dad told me that the Earthers could have changed their society like we did but they decided to keep their old ways. They said that the old ways made them what they were. Special? Human? I don’t know for sure. They kept all the old problems too. Crime, war, violence, out-of-control population growth. Mom says they have a world full of maladjusted individuals, dysfunctional families, inadequate governments. She said today Earth is just a sad planet full of pain, rage, jealousy, greed and, now, hopelessness.

At least that’s what Mom told me the other day. I’m only ten years old so it’s a lot to understand, but Joey told me not to worry about it, and if Joey says there’s nothing to get upset about then I listen to him. Joey is my best friend in the whole world. I love him and respect him. And he loves me and respects me. We’re brothers. We’re even more than brothers.

The guests came the other day and among them was an Earther boy my age named Eddie, and his father, who was some kind of Earther big shot.

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