Grandma Robot Read online

  Grandma Robot

  Fay Risner

  Cover Art

  All Rights Reserved 2015

  Fay Risner

  Published by Fay Risner at Smashwords.com

  Copyright (c) 2015

  All Rights Reserved

  By Fay Risner

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to the actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locals are entirely coincidental. Excerpts from this book cannot be used without written permission from the author.

  Nurse Hal Among The Amish Series

  A Promise Is A Promise Doubting Thomas

  The Rainbow’s End

  Hal’s Worldly Temptations

  As Her Name Is So Is Redbird

  Emma’s Gossamer Dreams

  The Courting Buggy

  Amazing Gracie Historical Mystery Series

  Neighbor Watchers Poor Defenseless Addie

  Specious Nephew The Will O Wisp

  The Country Seat Killer

  The Chance Of A Sparrow

  Moser Mansion Ghosts

  Locked Rock, Iowa Hatchet Murders

  Westerns

  Stringbean Hooper Westerns Tread Lightly Sibby

  The Dark Wind Howls Over Mary The Blue Bonnet-novella

  Small Feet’s Many Moon Journey A Coffin To Lie On

  Ella Mayfield's Pawpaw Militia-Civil War

  Christmas books

  Christmas Traditions - An Amish Love Story

  Christmas With Hover Hill

  Leona’s Christmas Bucket List

  Fiction

  Listen To Me Honey – novella

  Grandma Robot - novella

  Children Books

  Spooks In Claiborne Mansion

  My Children Are More Precious Than Gold Mr. Quacker

  Nonfiction about Alzheimer’s disease

  Open A Window - Caregiver Handbook

  Hello Alzheimer’s Goodbye Dad-author’s true story

  Cookbook

  Midwest Favorite Lamb Recipes

  Books published by Booksbyfay Publisher

  Romance

  Sunset Til Sunrise On Buttercup Lane by Connie Risner

  Military-nonfiction-Vietnam War

  Redcatcher MP by Mickey Bright

  Chapter 1

  One spring morning, author Karen Warwick found a missed call on her cell phone after she placed two grocery sacks in the back of her car. A call that was about change her life. It would liven up her days and give her cause to wonder what happened to her loved ones in the afterlife.

  The call came from Karen's friend, Amy Brown. Amy worked at the science experimental laboratory on the outskirts of Lockridge, Iowa.

  Karen was in town to buy groceries to stock the kitchen of the century old country house she'd just bought from her parents. Karen's parents, Helen and Sid Warwick, were content living in Lockridge so they didn't want the house.

  As luck would have it, her father put the acreage up for sale, and she asked if she could buy it. Her mom and dad thought she was crazy to move to what her mother called the sticks. Karen knew she'd like the peace and quiet that country life would afford her.

  Besides, her parents let her pay for the acreage by the month which was a plus. She wasn't sure how much income she'd have from year to year from books she'd written.

  That kept her from having to go through the bank to get a term loan with interest. If she was late with a payment her parents would wait until she had the money. So this was an ideal situation for her.

  Since she'd go right by the lab on her way home, Karen decided to see what Amy wanted instead of calling her. After she stopped her car in the laboratory parking lot, she rifled around in her purse for her mirror and comb. The breeze had been hard on her flighty, honey shaded hair.

  Amy had given Karen a tour of the lab once so she knew her way to her friend's office. As she walked along the long hall, she looked in the large windows of the rooms on either side. Lab technicians, in white coats, didn't look up from tables they leaned over, busy with projects.

  Karen spotted red haired Amy in a room not far from her office. Karen pecked on the window. Amy waved as she walked across the room to let her in. As Karen waited, she surveyed the tables. Arms, legs, hands and feet were strewn out on two tables and torsos laid on two more. Heads were beside the bodies. The room looked like a morgue after a horrific bomb explosion.

  “Good morning,” Amy greeted. “What a nice surprise. I just called so I didn't expect you this quickly.”

  “I happened to be in the grocery store when I missed your call. I'm on my way home now so I dropped by to see what was up,” Karen explained. “Do you want to go for a bite to eat tonight and a movie?”

  Amy groaned, “I know we talked about doing that one evening soon, but I haven't got time right now. I've put in long hours here already and still have a few more days to go before I can cut back. We're on the downhill side of our latest experiment.”

  Karen glanced at the tables and brought her focus back to Amy. “Looks like you've been dissecting human bodies. That's illegal you know.”

  Amy's peal of laughter brought two lab techs heads up from their work. “Relax! None of the body parts you see are real. They're part of the experiment. I can't think about anything else until I get this project out of the way. What I need is help with it.” Amy paused and faced Karen. The next words came out fast. “That's why I thought of you.”

  Karen looked dismay. “I'm not a scientist, and I don't want a job. What could I help you with?”

  “Well, I don't need a scientist, I need people to test our projects and see if they work like we want them to,” Amy said cautiously.

  “What kind of projects?” Karen asked.

  “We've invented robots to hold jobs as maids and butlers. They do housekeeping and any duties servants do,” Amy said tentatively. She turned her pretty blue eyes into a beseeching mode. “This could really be a help to you as well as us. Please consider it for me, old friend.”

  “What makes you think I need a robot maid to do my housekeeping.” Karen studied her friend, trying to figure out the catch.

  Amy stuck her hands in her lab coat pockets and shot back, “You forget I’ve seen the way your apartment looks. It's usually a cluttered mess. I'm just saying you need some serious housekeeping done, and I have the solution for you right here at the lab.”

  “So what's your solution?” Karen asked.

  “We've been working on experimental robots perfect to use as maids and butlers, but we need volunteers to try them out. I thought of you right away,” Amy said.

  “Now why would I want to be one of your volunteers?” Karen protested.

  Amy's rote speech sounded as if she had practiced a sales pitch. She was ready to convince Karen. “To help me out when I need a friend to come to my aid. I've picked one robot out that would fit perfectly in your place. I’m not asking you to keep Henie, the robot, forever. That's her name. She's just the one I have in mind for you to try.

  Remember this is just a trial experiment. You would be taking this robot maid as a favor to me. That's all. We need to conduct the trial to see if we made her function satisfactorily, before we put her on the market.

  I'm in charge of
finding people we can trust to conduct an honest experiment and take good care of the robots. They're costly. It wouldn't be good for the lab if something happened to them.”

  “One very good reason I shouldn't get involved. I don't want to worry all the time about what might happen to something that expensive,” Karen retorted. “No way could I afford to pay the laboratory back.”

  Amy responded quickly. “Actually, the robots are built so well there isn't much danger of a mishap with them. Henie just needs a good testing on all her skills to see if she will do what she's built to do before we can sell her.

  Your apartment will certainly be a challenge for her. If Henie can handle cleaning your place, we know we have succeeded. She'll be able to handle ordinary housecleaning for sure,” Amy finished bluntly.

  “Thanks a lot for pointing out housekeeping as my weak point, friend. For your information, you're out of luck. Just a little too late with this idea. I gave up the apartment. Walls were too thin. Neighbors too noisy and nosy,” Karen explained. “I couldn't concentrate on my writing so I moved just recently.”

  Amy sounded very disappointed when she said, “No kidding. Where you living now?”

  “I just moved to the country to an old farm house that has been in my mom's family for years. My parents helped me move, and Mom has the house neat as a pin right now,” Karen shared. “I hoped writing a book might be easier in the country where it’s quieter. So far I've been right. I even have time to go for walks in the fresh air. Since I haven’t had time to mess the place up yet I definitely don't have any need for a robot maid to do all the housework you described. Why don't you let the maid clean your place?”

  Amy shook her head as she took Karen's arm and moved her closer to a room without windows. “That wouldn't work.”

  “Oh come on. I know you aren't the slob I am, but you could make a few messes before you turn the robot loose so it has something to do,” Karen joked.

  Amy opened the door and held out her hand for Karen to enter the room as she explained, “The reason is I haven't got the time it takes to stay home with the robot while she works. I need someone that can watch her and tell me how Henie does.

  Please, check her out anyway, before you make up your mind. Henie is quite versatile and could pass for a human being which is one of the reasons we think buyers would want to have her in their home. We're hoping looking human will make the fact the servants are robots less creepy. Servants tend to get ignored by company so maybe human looking will fit right in with the upper crust lifestyle.”

  Amy led Karen down the aisle between a variety of robots. Men in black butler suits and women in maid uniforms, all of which were a variety of ages and strangely lifelike looking and at the same time lifeless. Karen could do nothing but stare at the variety of so called servants as she listened to Amy's speech.

  Amy stopped and pointed at the last robot as she turned to Karen, “What do you think?”

  Karen inspected the robot up and down. Finally, she said, “This is Henie?” Now that she saw the line of robots she walked by, they all fit the description lifelike, but they were dressed more believable for the job than this one.

  This robot was shorter than the others and younger. She had on a white blouse, a line, black mini skirt and tennis shoes. The kind with sides that flashed when walking and air cushioned soles.

  Karen edged all the way around the robot, studying her. “This robot looks like a teeny bopper from the 1970’s right down to the pony tail.”

  “That’s a wig,” Amy said double-quick. “We can hunt up other wigs to try.”

  “Is this someone's idea of a joke in this lab? What kind of servant looks like her?” Karen asked.

  “I don't know how you can ask that. We've put a lot of hard work into making these robots look real and as different from each other as all human beings are,” Amy said, sounding offended.

  Karen gave her a level look. “Let me tell you what I think. You wanted my honest opinion, and you're going to get it. This robot doesn't give me the impression she could be presented as a maid and get away with it.

  More likely, she'd be suitable to amuse college boys in their dormitory houses, but they can't afford her. How do you expect her to fit in with upper class working people? Any upper crust woman will be about decorum and looks. This robot doesn't stand a chance.”

  Amy backtracked. “I’m not in charge of dressing the robots. I do understand where you're coming from now that I've taken a closer. The last time I saw her she wasn't dressed. Someone took my idea of dressing each robot differently to appeal to a diverse group of buyers to a new level.

  However, Henie does come with another outfit of clothes in that satchel beside her on the floor. Someone in her line of work will need a change or two so her uniforms can be washed. There must be a suitable uniform in the satchel,” she said.

  “The other clothes better be more appropriate, because I'm telling you, how the robot looks right now would be a deal breaker,” Karen declared.

  Amy insisted, “Please just give her a try. I sure she comes with a uniform you can dress her in for working.”

  “I can dress her! Great, this sounds like playing with an overgrown doll. I'm twenty five, not five,” huffed Karen. “I don't have time for pets. I certainly don't have time to take care of a robot.”

  Amy shook her head again. “That was a poor way to phrase what I meant. Actually, Henie dresses herself just like real people do. The whole idea of inventing these robots were for them to take care of human beings not the other way around. What you will do for her is plug in her battery to charge it. The connection to the outlet is in her satchel.”

  “What all does she do exactly?” Karen asked, still looking closely at the robot.

  “Anything you can, dishes and laundry, which means yours and hers, and clean the house. She has sensors that tell her when certain routine jobs need done. The rest she will do at your command if she's working properly.

  Best of all, Henie will pick up after you while you’re writing your book. She can cook for you so you don't have to stop until it's time to eat,” Amy explained, still trying to sell her friend on taking the robot home.

  “Very funny. I told you I didn't have much of a mess right now. I've been trying very hard to keep it that way,” Karen repeated.

  “Well, just know Henie will keep you from having a problem. She'll keep the house straightened up all the time. So if your mom does a surprise visit and inspection like usual, the place will always be neat,” Amy said. Karen's head shot toward her. “Don't try to tell me that won't happen. I've been at your place when your mom drops in unexpectedly. She always criticizes a little and starts tidying up.”

  “A little?” Karen corrected, “Mom's more like a whirlwind cleaning up destruction she likens to tornado damage. I've gotten used to it since she's a neat freak. She means well I think. I guess I take more after my slob of a dad.”

  Amy checked her wristwatch. “I've got other volunteers coming soon to take home some of the other robots. So what do you say? Will you try this one out as a favor to me? Take her home. If you don't like her, I'll come get her. I think you will find Henie a good deal for busy, working women everywhere that hates housework.”

  “This might be a news flash to you. I'm not interested in the problems of other working women. So not so fast. I need some information about this creature. Like how do you activate her?”

  Chapter 2

  Amy picked up a remote from the table and aimed it at the robot. “Just push the button to activate her. It works as easily as when you aim a remote at the television or any other modern convenience. No rocket science on your part to learn this, my friend.”

  Karen folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, thanks a lot What kind of friend are you? First you insult my housekeeping abilities. Now I really like the thought of having a weird maid living in my house with me since you think I might be too dumb to handle anything too complicated.”

  “I didn't mean th
at the way it came out. Honest I didn't. It's just most people will be as intimidated as you are with an experiment like this one. We, here at the lab, want you to help us put the prospective buyers at ease after you try the robot and see how easy it is to live with one in your house.

  Knowing the price of the robots, buyers will wonder how much of an advantage having one in their homes might be. We expect the customers to react just like you.” Amy giggled. “That's why this is good practice for me to use my sales pitch on you. You're thinking just like our customer will when we try to convince them to buy one of the robots.”

  “How much does a robot costs?” Karen asked.

  “The price isn't so bad. Four hundred thousand dollars is affordable for most people who will want to purchase the robot,” Amy said causally.

  Karen swallowed hard and choked. “You think four hundred thousand dollars is affordable?”

  “For rich people who buy one of our robot the answer is yes. They pay good wages all the time for servants. One flat fee for a robot won't sound like much to them. They will save money in the long run.

  Now try talking to Henie. She obeys voice commands. Just like this.” When Amy pushed the remote button, Henie opened her eyes. “Hello, Henie. Karen wants to meet you. Say hello to her.”

  Henie stuck out her hand to shake hands. In a young, giddy voice, she said, “Hello, Karen. It is super duper to meet you.”

  Tentatively, Karen shook the cold, soft synthetic hand and glanced at Amy doubtfully. “Doesn't sound to me like this robot was ever intended to wear the mature uniform of a maid.”

  Amy looked confused. “I agree. However, this robot should do the job she was built for.”

  Karen looked at Amy for more instructions. “What can I talk to her about? You do know she and I have nothing in common?”

  Amy laughed. Before she could answer, Henie spoke up, giving Karen a cheerful answer to her question. “You can say anything you want to me, and I'll answer. My memory recall is super duper good. Just tell me what you want me to do, and I'll follow your instructions.”