Inheritance

[apok]

Hello, folks! Just a short exposition of a character concept I've been playing with. Enjoy!

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Jaqueline Rutherford felt her CPU heating up as the delivery bots carried the crate through the wide double-doors of her summer home, and laid it on the polished hardwood floor. After so long, it was finally happening! If she had a heart, it would be pounding in her chest. As it was, her liquid cooling systems were operating well over normal levels. Automated alerts competed for attention in her digitized mind, and she ignored all of them. Since her father had passed away, she and her brothers had been dealing with probate, and with splitting up his possessions. It had been civil enough, with nobody being unreasonable or uncharitable. But Jaqueline had been obsessed with obtaining one particular item left behind by the late patriarch of the Rutherford family, and it was in that crate.

"Could you open it, please?" she asked the foreman, a middle-aged man whose body had clearly done its share of heavy lifting before he had acquired robotic help.
"It's not technically part of the delivery process but, sure." The foreman knew Jaqueline would be tipping, so he was earning it. He expertly popped open the series of hard plastic clamps that held the crate closed, and removed the lid. There, laying on its back on a bed of packing peanuts, was the most beautiful thing in Jaqueline's universe: Iris.

Iris was a maid droid, dressed in her usual French maid uniform with a deep blue blouse and an elegant long skirt, and a white apron with frills around the shoulders, white cuffs with gold cufflinks, and a high white collar with a sapphire perched at the base of her neck that matched her breathtaking blue eyes. Her skin was polished gray steel, with visible seams and mechanical joints. Iris was something of a family heirloom, being passed down by generations of the Rutherfords for more than a century. A precious antique, kept functional by loving hands. And now, at last, Iris belonged to Jaqueline.

Jaqueline realized, belatedly, that she had been gawking at the inert robot while the delivery foreman had been patiently waiting for his tip. She pressed a twenty into his palm, and bade him farewell. After he left, closing the front door, Jaqueline was alone with Iris. She exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Jaqueline knelt, and flipped the small, concealed power switch at the nape of Iris's neck.

The maid droid sat up, and looked around. "Hello, Jackie." Iris calling her "Jackie" was sweet music to Jaqueline's ears. This droid had raised her. Iris had helped her learn to read, had sung lullabies to her, had treated the cuts and scrapes that come with growing up. Iris had listened attentively to Jackie telling her about school, and about stupid boys, and about the latest esoteric thing she had learned in biology (the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!) Iris had given Jackie encouragement before her dance recitals and school plays. She had helped Jackie get dressed for prom night. And she did it all with a perfect elegance and grace that no human could match. To Jackie, Iris was more than a maid, and more than family. Iris was a goddess.

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It had taken Iris 0.2 seconds longer than usual to recognize Jaqueline. She hadn't seen her in years, and her features had changed a little. She smiled inwardly at the fine woman Jackie had become. But something was strange. In the infra-red band, Jackie's thermal signature was unusual.
"Jackie, are you okay? You appear to be severely hypothermic."
Jackie smiled and shook her head. "I got roboticized, I have an artificial body now."
Iris took a moment to process this, then: "Was it because of injury? Disease?"
"No," Jackie said. "I just wanted to be more like..." she choked up, clearly emotional. Jackie gently took Iris's hand. "More like you."

Iris understood. She, too, had been a human once. It had been so long ago, she couldn't actually remember. After countless rebuilds, upgrades, and software patches, her human memories had long been overwritten. She didn't mind. Iris would continue to lovingly serve the family that owned and maintained her. She wondered if Jaqueline would ever ask about her sexual functions. Jackie wouldn't be the first Rutherford she had serviced in that capacity.

Iris stood up, brushing the foam peanuts off of her uniform. "How may I serve you, Jackie?"

[BA2]

Great set up - would love to read more about these two….