Song Inspired Story

Song Inspired Story


My mom used to tell me a story every night before I went to bed. It wasn’t a story about princes and princesses. Okay, it was but not the kind you would expect. There weren’t any little talking cuddly animals either. Those types of things were of no interest to me. My mom told me the story of the Robot who fell in love. The Robot's name was STEVE, Self Transitioning Electronic Variety Executor. I always thought that meant he was used to kill people. She always told me that it was just a name.

STEVE worked for a wealthy royal family in the twenty-third century. The King's name was King Lexiban. His wife was Queen Ellie. They had a son named Rex and three daughters named Hattie, Alexia, and Rose. Their land was called Carendula. When they first hired STEVE the oldest of the children, Hattie, was 23 and the youngest, Alexia, was 16. Rex and Rose were twins who were nearly 18 at the time.

With her older siblings preparing for life as adults, Alexia was often left to spend her time alone. She found great comfort in reading. By her 18th birthday she had read every book her family owned. At this point, she had to ask STEVE to purchase her more books.

Robots at this time did their tasks by using bar codes that were on everything they needed. STEVE had been at the top of his class at Robot Academy. He was approximately twenty years old when he joined the family although for a robot age really doesn’t mean anything. When Alexia asked him for books he was quick to assist. He rushed down to the local book machine and began processing her request. The weather was rather stormy and while he was there he was struck by some lightning. He quickly reset himself and hurried home with Alexia's books. It was then bedtime. He plugged himself into his room and shut down for the night.

That night he had his first unrobotish experience. He had a dream. In his dream, he saw millions of pages from books. He heard a voice telling him he had to read them or he would be sent to the Robot Cemetery. All through the day he was slightly distracted by his dream. He had the same dream every night that week. He finally decided to do something about it.

The next morning he went to Alexia's room. He asked her if she would teach him to read. She was confused as to why he would want to read but she did agree to help. They spent every afternoon together. First, they stuck to reading simple children's books. Then they decided to try more advanced books. Now, STEVE could read anything he wanted to.

With all of his reading he was beginning to better understand humans and their emotions. He was worried because robots aren’t supposed to have feelings. He was always taught that emotions and feelings were bad. He then thought about how Alexia had feelings and emotions and she was okay. He had actually been thinking about Alexia a lot. Whenever he read, he thought of all of those afternoons spent with her. Every morning, he woke up wondering what help she would need him for that day. She was always on his mind.

He went to his books to figure out why this could be. He eventually discovered that he was in love. He decided to go tell Alexia that he loved her. He knocked on her door. She was surprised to see him. He explained to her how he had been thinking about her constantly and that he was in love with her. She told her that her parents had just arranged a marriage for her and that she could never really love a robot anyways. STEVE was heartbroken.

That night, the Queen asked STEVE to help prepare a fancy dinner because they were having a very important guest. STEVE was happy to help because it would give him something to get his mind off of Alexia. He spent the next day in the kitchen preparing a meal. When it was time for dinner he gathered up the food and headed out to serve it. When he was finished, the Queen introduced STEVE to Hank, Alexia’s future husband.

STEVE went nuts and began attacking Hank. By the time STEVE realized what was happening, it was too late. He had killed Hank. STEVE quickly apologized and resigned. He went to collect his things.

As he was leaving, Alexia stopped him. She told him she was sorry and that she felt she was to blame. He thanked her and left. STEVE never saw Alexia or her family again. He also never allowed himself to read anymore. He still thinks about Alexia all the time. She is his curse.