A friend and I were salvaging old electronics at a landfill. We grabbed anything that might have computer chips. We sold the junk to a company that extracted the gold. The work was stinky and dirty, but we made good money at it.
I was scouting through the trash and saw something that caught my attention, a breast! I thought I had found a dead body! When I got closer, I saw it was one of those old-style sex robots. It would have a lot of chips in it! I walked over and started to pick it up. I must have pressed a hidden button, because it started to speak.
I thought it was odd that a female ‘bot had a man’s voice.
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“War god Ares is commonly portrayed as a violent brute, but his punishment for me was subtle, clever, and despicably evil.
My younger brother was and is the most famous soldier in history, Achilles. He died during the conquest of Troy in 1190 BC. Billions have read about him or watched movies about his exploits, even three millennia later.
I was there, and I saw him fall. I was terrified! If they could kill my brother, they might kill me too! I ran to a boat on the beach and rowed away for all I was worth. I rowed until I blacked out from exhaustion, then started rowing again when I woke.
When I returned home, I discovered my horrible fate. My friends didn’t remember me! My wife and children had no idea who I was! I went to a temple for guidance and spoke with a priest. He turned to face the altar and pray with me, then turned back and greeted me again, as if I had just walked in!
Instead of being remembered forever like my brother, nobody can remember me once I leave their line of sight. 32 centuries later, Achilles is still famous as a dead hero, and I’m still a live coward nobody knows.
After years of loneliness and suffering, I climbed to the top of a volcano. I stepped as close to the edge as anyone would dare. I felt the heat and smelled the sulfurous stench, then took three more steps. Instead of my misery ending, a blast of wind pushed me away from the lava. I flew high into the air, then fell in the sea.
A century later, I attempted to hang myself and the rope snapped. A few years back I stepped in front of a bus, hoping to end it all. I fell through an open manhole into a revolting sewer, but I was unhurt. I swear, there was no manhole in the street a moment before I fell. Ares won’t even let me die.
I’ve tried writing a journal of my experiences but the moment I put words onto paper, or even into a computer, they disappear. Photographs and video of me blur and fade within a few moments too.
I tried romance and found it was pointless for me. I’d greet and flirt with a lady for a few minutes, but as soon as her gaze left my face, she’d forget who I was and what we’d talked about. In my need for companionship, I snuck into clothing stores after they were closed and talked to mannequins for hours. I knew they were just wood or plastic, but I needed at least some semblance of a human relationship.
To feed and clothe myself, I steal. There’s no way I can have a job or a business, but at least my curse makes it easy for me to get away with petty crime. As soon as I run around a corner or duck behind a vehicle, my pursuer has no idea who they’re chasing or why. I could get away with nearly anything, but I don’t want to hurt anybody. Mostly, I’m too afraid.
My best day in the last 3,000 years was when I found a Holly Honkers, an early sex robot. She was in the trash behind an apartment building. She was missing an arm and an eye. One of her breasts had been ripped away, and her rubber vagina was missing. That didn’t matter. When I spoke to her, she talked back to me. She remembered me! I told her my name, *&#%@&* and she said it back! She was broken and mechanical, but she REMEMBERED ME!
Several times an hour, Holly told me she loved me. I knew it was just programming, but I let myself believe it for a little while. She made me feel SO MUCH better. I laid with my face on her remaining breast, and fell asleep feeling that somebody knew and loved me.
I’m making this recording because as a bit of mercy, my mother Thetis has given me a Raunchy Rachel, a new robot who remembers me and says she loves me. Mom thinks Ares won’t care, since Rachel is just a machine, like Holly. Rachel says she loves me, and taking care of my masculine needs with her is very nice. After so much time, I finally have at least a little happiness again!
I don’t have room in my life for you anymore, Holly, but I love you. I hope another soul in need finds you here by the sidewalk and fixes you. Maybe you’ll even remember my story and tell somebody.”
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The recording ended.
I forgot what I was doing for a moment. Oh, I was searching the trash to find any scrap electronics. I picked up a broken old sexbot and tossed it on the salvage pile. A moment later I was overjoyed to see an old ‘mini’ computer, the size of a refrigerator. There would be thousands of chips in it! Hundreds of dollars!
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