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"There's no point in making a mistake unless you understand the mistake so that you don’t make it again."
- Alfred Bester
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| Human-Passing | ||
| A robot that is so convincingly human that most people cannot tell. |
It seems to me that this is a very useful term.
| “And now, for a verrrry special appearance,” the human compère said on stage, “The Lunar Rose, Magdalena Tasso!”
The robot was carrying a tray back to the kitchen when it heard her voice. It turned, its task forgotten, and watched the stage. Magdalena Tasso, the Lunar Rose, human-passing, small, stood alone in the spotlight. When she sang her voice rose like a prayer. The robot stared, helpless before her, caught between memories of horrors it had not drawn upon in many year and the beauty of the voice. “Oli stap koko,” the singer sang, “ol olfala tingting blong yumi i kam lus, solwota blong taem i kilimaot ol trak blong yumi long sanbij blong laef…” It goes on and on, she sang, our memories fade, the sea of time vanishes our footprints on the shore of life… Later, when its shift ended, the robot found the Lunar Rose sitting at the bar, still alone, and sipping a small glass of cherry liqueur so black it was like liquid darkness. “Mind if I sit?” the robot said. “You’re one of the old ones,” she said wearily. Then, “Do what you want.” The robot sat on a stool. “I know—” it began. “What I am?” she said. She sipped her drink. “Good for you, then.” “My name is R. Riperem-ol-Gud.” She looked at him in some amusement. “Is that what you call yourself?” she said. “You’re a, what, an R76-2? General purpose, carer type? You don’t have a name. You’re just a robot. You’re obsolete. Junk.” “And you’re a II-V Tasso,” the robot said. “Walking bombs. You used to infiltrate civilian populations and go off. I saw it happen…” “You were in the war, huh?” she said. “Figures. Well, as you can see…” She gestured at herself. “I didn’t go off. Are we done here?” |
| Technovelgy from The Robot,
by Lavie Tidhar. Published by Uncanny Magazine in 2024 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the robot baby from Life Everlasting (1934) by David H. Keller, robotic infiltrator from Second Variety (1953) by Philip K. Dick, the robot brother from Brother Robot (1958) by Henry Slesar, the android son from Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (1969) by Brian Aldiss, the Purza the Pukha from The Rowan (1990) by Anne McCaffrey, the Coin-Op Clockwork Friend from All I Care About Is You (2017) by Joe Hill, the artificial friend from Klara and the Sun (2021) by Kazuo Ishiguro and human-passing from The Robot (2024) by Lavie Tidhar.
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