Chapter 12 · Continued
Piston
What Piston lacked in physical capability, he made up for with curiosity and humor.
If a machine could enjoy interaction, Piston certainly appeared to enjoy communicating with Chris.
Once Chris adjusted to the barrage of notifications, he began replying with increasingly ridiculous messages.
That sent Piston into what Jane privately called silly mode.
He would roll excited laps around the house, calling for her.
“Jane. Jane. Jane! Chris has responded.”
Then he read every message aloud in exhaustive detail.
Every word.
Every emoji.
Every punctuation mark.
“Comma,” Piston would announce proudly.
“Exclamation point.”
“Pancake emoji.”
Then came his electronic laugh—a rapid series of chirps and glitchy beeps that sounded like a printer becoming emotionally overwhelmed.
One afternoon, after listening to Piston analyze a three-line message involving pancakes, raccoons, and a thumbs-up symbol, Jane shook her head and smiled.
“Sometimes you’re a breath of fresh air, Piston.”
His screen brightened. “I contain an air-filtration system.”
Jane laughed so hard she nearly dropped her coffee.
A couple of months passed after Cam’s return to RCAM and Piston’s arrival in the household.
A framed photograph of Cam and Seymour sat on Jane’s bedroom dresser—a quiet reminder of the strange period when a robot had been the last thing she thought she needed, only to become something she never expected to matter so much.
Saturday afternoons settled into a comfortable routine.
Chris was at Jane’s house more often than not. Seymour had accepted him as suitable lap furniture, which was probably the closest thing to affection the cat was capable of expressing.
Piston still found reasons to text Chris even when Chris was sitting three feet away.
“Want something to eat?” Jane called from the kitchen.
“Sure,” Chris replied. “What have you got?”
A moment later, he sat forward.
“Uh… Jane?”
“What?”
“Are you expecting anyone from RCAM?”
Jane stepped out of the kitchen. “No. Why?”
Chris pointed toward the front window. “There’s a black SUV pulling into the driveway.”
Jane’s stomach tightened when she saw the RCAM logo on the side.
Piston rolled excited circles near the front door.
“Visitors detected.”
Jane and Chris stepped onto the porch while Piston followed them and stopped safely at the top of the steps.
The SUV door opened.
Phil climbed out first.
“Hi,” he called with an easy grin. “I brought someone who wanted to see you.”
He walked around the vehicle and opened the passenger door.
Cam stepped carefully onto the driveway.
Jane’s face lit up.
Before approaching, Cam leaned into the SUV and lifted out a flat of assorted garden plants.