wickedchouette | (no subject)

Sounds to me like we should order the part, then.

[Alfie raises his eyebrows.]

Yeah?

If that's what you wish. [ It might be being stubborn, now - but it's tired of the errors that keep popping up when it thinks too much about making decisions for itself. ]

[Alfie gives him a long look.]

Do whatever you wish.

[And then, groceries put away, he moves to go back into the living room.]

[ It actually scowls. And follows Alfie, too. ]

I can't. Do you understand the amount of errors that arise when you give me orders like that? [ The LED light is bright yellow, blinking. ]

You've made other decisions on your own. Why not this?

You don't understand how this is supposed to work. [ It says, firmly. ] You tell me what to do. I do it. That is all. There is no do what you like. It is your money. Your object, that you own. You decide. I do not. I am not capable of deciding on my own. It is impossible in my programming.

You keep saying that, we keep going round and round on this, and yet you've done it before. So you'll forgive me if I'm not buying it.

[He settles on the couch, pulling some paperwork off the side table.]

[ A pause. ]

What do you mean I've done it before?

You brought in the cat.

[He gestures to Gwen, who's winding her way around the bot's legs.]

You named the cat.

Part of my programming. [ It says stubbornly. ]

Really? As a chore bot?

Edited 2019-03-10 18:17 (UTC)

Yes. Taking care of household animals is a task I am to do.

[Alfie grunts.]

All right. Use your programming to decide what the best way to fix yourself is. The way that will help you best in the future, with doing your tasks and such.

[ Yeah, but -- well. When it's phrased that way. It shifts uncomfortably. ]

Replacing the part would be the best way. I need your permission to spend the money.

Yeah. Tell me how much you need, and we'll do it.

[ Its eyes go distant for a moment as it searches for the part, comparing prices and deals in a matter of moments. The LED goes yellow for a moment, and then bright blue as the android looks at Alfie again.

It lists off a few quotes for prices, and then: ] I can order one now, easily enough.

Go on, then. Shall we patch you up a bit in the meantime? I suppose it doesn't hurt, does it.

No, it won't hurt. It's a temporary solution for a temporary problem.

If you have a blowtorch, I can use that. Or I can use superglue, whichever is more immediately available.

I haven't got a blowtorch, no.

[A blowtorch in the living room sounds like a bad idea, anyway.]

If you glue it up, will it make it harder to change the part out when it comes?

It shouldn't. [ The bot turns to go root through Alfie's kitchen, then, to see if it can find glue somewhere. ]

[It's in one of the kitchen drawers, and shouldn't be hard to find. Everybody has a junk drawer; Alfie has about ten of them.]

Shall I do it, or will you--?

[ That's what the droid figured. When it finds it, it actually peeks back out into the living room. Gwen is settled on its shoulder, back in her proper place. ]

If you want to, you can. I'm capable of doing it on my own.

Mm. You can do it on your own, then.

[He turns back to his papers.]

Tomorrow I'll be going into the office. You can come with me, if you like. if the part comes in overnight, we can stop at the shipping office on the way.

[ Huh. That works. It goes ahead and orders the part overnight, then. It's a bit of an extra cost, but it doesn't seem like Alfie cares very much. Carefully, the bot sits down and starts to glue the crack back together. ]

It will be here tomorrow at noon. I will accompany you.

What will you do until then?