looking for you. He wanted to get to know you or something."
"I know. He’s been searching the city for a short while."
"Aren’t you going to go find him?"
"Yes, but for now I want to talk to you. Ricky will be there when I go to find him."
"Sounds like you were made for each other."
"Maybe. But considering the time between our completions, I think it’s more likely we’ve just been built in ways that make us friends."
"Well spoken. So what do you want to talk about?"
"I need your advice. You are new, and you do not know much of this world, but I wish to confide in you."
"Okay. What do you want help with?"
"Do you think Ricky will find me compatible with his systems? I find that I am right in our exchange, but I am taken by ulterior complications in emotional processing that hinder my comprehension of these things."
"I think you guys are totally compatible for each other. That’s just my opinion, but I’d say go for it. See what happens."
"But there are so many unknowns. I can’t even think them all through without my sub processing systems needing to reboot."
"Eh. That’s called love. You’ll find yourself around these things eventually."
"I think you are correct. But, I am still unsure."
"Just go talk to him. Everything should be fine."
"I will leave now."
"See you in the future!"
"Maybe." Crystal gestured farewell and left by the same alley way shed been standing in earlier.
Dale turned back to the entrance to the computer and made his way inside. There were old terminals on either side for the duration of Dales walk down the entry hall. But the disuse seemed to imply there was a better way to interact with the computer up ahead. That, or the computer was completely broken and no one could use it.
Another set of doors were at the end, but before Dale could react, they both opened up revealing a room just beyond and the bulk of a large sphere made entirely of black glass.
Dale walked in, noticing the total lack of any other distinguishing features. He hesitantly touched the sphere. It beeped and pictures and patterns began playing across its surface. There was a moment before a voice resonated around the room.
"Hello. How may I assist you?"
"Oh um. Hey. So, I was wondering if there’s any way I can get off this planet."
"There are many such ways. Which do you require of me?"
"I want to know if there are any spaceships that can take me home."
"Where is home?"
"Earth. I don’t think you’ll know it."
"Earth There is no planet in my records."
"Yeah, I thought so. So are there any ships?"
"No. If your goal is to leave this planet, your options do not include a ship."
"Well, if not a ship, can you send a deep space signal of some kind to let Earth know I’m here?"
"Yes. I have done so."
"Oh. So, what now?"
"Can I assist you with anything else?"
"Well, I guess so. The sweeper that protects this city: Do you know how to fix her?"
"No. Only the overseers knew such things."
Dale frowned. "Sorry to hear that. Maybe there is someone who can help you?"
"If there is knowledge pertaining to advanced electronic circuitry in your system then yes, you can help. But if not, then there is no one who knows how to help."
"Well, sorry to hear that."
"Tell me, if you require means to travel to a planet unheard of, then what are you? I have noticed discrepancies in your behavior, thinking, and physical structure."
"Well, funny thing. I’m actually a human. I’m not a robot even though I look like one."
There were several disjointed images on the sphere. One of which depicted a half masked individual that looked vaguely human by the bad shot.
"You resemble the overseers. Do you descend from the overseers?"
"Well, I don’t think so."
"Your form suggests you are not a creation of the overseers. You are not robot."
The doors behind Dale shut tight.
"Yeah, I said I was a human."
"You are not robot."
The sphere emphasized the blurry image of the human-esque face.
"I told you that. Why are you making a big deal about it?"
"If you are not robot. You are overseer. You command robots and so you command me. I am yours to command."
There was a giant booming sound from outside, shaking the ground and forcing Dale to his knees.
"I am rebooting all systems at their highest functioning capacities. You will be given charge of the robots and I will be your servant. I am alerting all computers of your return. Welcome home overseer."
"What is happening?" Dale asked. The ground shook again and the sound of crunching metal and falling debris followed.
Dale went to the doors and began trying to pry them open.
"Open the doors!" He yelled.
"As you command." The computer let the doors slide open. The monitors were on in the hall outside and the light had returned. Everything felt more electrified and alive than it did when he came in before. Dale could see the ramshackle huts just outside.
He ran through the hall, his breath heaving by the time he made it through.
The sky had opened up above, and the last traces of the sweepers leg past through the sky behind the computers spire.
"Dale! You are our overseer!" The call came from Crystal who had been standing with Ricky.
"Great. That means I’m like the most pointless person on this planet. I’m going back to speak with the computer."
Dale turned back before listening for a response. He trekked back through the hall and confronted the computer.
"Build me a ship so I can leave. Now. I want to get off this stupid planet and go somewhere else."
"As you command." The computer displayed plans on the screen. "The ship will be completed shortly and will be delivered here soon. Do you require anything else?"
"No, except maybe a lady friend, that would be a relief."
"As you command. Analyzing personality and structure now. Please wait."
"Sweet."
There was a moment of graphing and modeling in the computer.
"Process complete. Please hold for lady friend."
Something hissed open on the other side of the sphere. Dale thought of the most horrible, terrible sights imaginable as he waited. But when the creature finally emerged, he was taken aback by the simplicity of her design.
She was human in shape and size and she was looked kind and nervous as if she was taken by Dale. Her skin was human as well and her eyes, hair, and the way she acted seemed to be human as well.
"We have kept many such overseers in our storage as we have awaited for the day when you would return. However, the design you see before you is of computer design. She was constructed at your request and carries no desire except your own. She has free will and is human as you say you are, but she is not original. She carries your memories and your thoughts, in sync as your own. You will be the perfect pair for one another as I have deemed it to be."
"Thank you. I’m actually, honestly touched by this."
"You are welcome overseer. Do you require anything else?"
"Err. Happiness for everyone?"
"As you command." The computer took a moment to think. "I am now analyzing robot systems. Prepare for happiness."
There was an out rush of humans, robots, and materials from inside the computer. The girl who the computer made for Dale clung to his arm and pulled him away towards a wall where she huddled alongside him. Most of the humans went outside to see the world as it was. The few of the others stayed by the sphere, talking with the computer and making adjustments to the system. To Dale, the whole scene looked as though it was just another day for the people to get up and go to work. Almost as if they were not aware of the time they had spent in the
computer. Also, images of various human doings were being displayed on the sphere in videos and pictures that must have been live feeds from outside.
Where the terminals sat in the hallway, many of the humans had gathered, sitting down on square stools that had risen from the ground. It almost seemed as if the overseers had erased every instance of themselves when they first left, only keeping the main ground force in place for the day when the others returned from space.
The whole operation seemed kind of strange to Dale who had taken the girls hand and left through the main entry way. Outside though, the robots had begun dismantling the shelters they had built for themselves and begun setting them aside in piles where large scrap recycling robots had started grinding them down to shreds. A single robot came up to Dale and saluted him.
"Dale Hendricks, your ship has been built and is awaiting your command. I will guide you to the launch platform." He gestured to his left.
A wheeled vehicle stopped alongside the two of them. They got in, Dales lady friend following closely. The vehicle was grey, the color of old steel. It had no paint, just seems that fleshed perfectly from one plate to the other. It seemed new, as if it had just been created for the purpose of the overseers who had come from the computer inside.
Silently Dale wondered why the people had been kept inside the computer for so long and why the others had left without a second thought. It was almost as if they were abandoning them here because they had some kind of future use for them. Almost like whoever managed this planet had bankrupt themselves and had to shut everything down for a short while. Short meaning several thousand years without any sort of return policy.
Dale’s lady friend clung to his arm and nuzzled her head in to his shoulder. She looked content, a smile planted on her lips and her eyes closed. Her hair was brown, and her skin was