Kate and Peter

by elveloy

"Tired after a long day at work? Then come home to Kate. Kate will hand you a cold drink while you sit down and relax in your sparkling clean home. Watch your favourite holovid, listen to music or read the epaper while Kate serves you a delicious home-cooked meal—no need for you to load the dishwasher afterwards! Your wish is her command. Never tired or cross, Kate is always happy to see you, day or night. Our latest and most advanced model, Kate comes in a variety of sizes and colours to suit all tastes. Only 2500 credits when purchased direct from Androids 'R Us."

"Looking for someone who cares? Peter will listen when you want to talk, or simply be there when you don't. Relax in your sparkling clean home, while Peter hands you a cold drink before serving you a delicious home-cooked meal. Never tired or critical, Peter always puts your needs first. Our latest and most advanced model, Peter comes in a variety of sizes and colours to suit all tastes. Only 2500 credits when purchased direct from Androids 'R Us"

That should do it, decided Bianca, rubbing tired eyes. She closed down her work console. I wouldn't mind having a Peter to go home to myself, she thought ruefully, then shook her head. She didn't need an expensive new android when she had Handy Andy, the housemaid's dream, and Luke, her very human partner.

She gazed at the miniature holograms of blond, blue-eyed Kate and tall, raven haired Peter hovering above her desk and smiled proudly. Version 8, they were her best product yet, she could hardly wait to see the sales skyrocket when they went 'live' tomorrow.

Programmed to obey every command, even to agree the sun was the moon if its owner insisted—that's what their focus group and market research had revealed people wanted.

And why not? Surely people had the right to expect complete obedience from their android servant.

She pushed back an unwelcome memory of her business partner's reaction to the prototypes. "But they look so human, Bee," Elsa had protested, uneasily. "You don't you think that could be a problem?"

"How could that be a problem? That's going to be our best selling point."

"People might get... confused," Elsa continued to look worried. "They look too real."

Bianca had laughed. "They might look human, but they're only androids you know— machines when you come down to it. Just a good looking household appliance."

Elsa hadn't seemed convinced, but Bianca had persevered and now here they were, her perfect creations. She could hardly wait for morning.

~~~

Kate and Peter were an instant success. Models flew out of the warehouse as fast as they could be produced. As Bianca had calculated, male buyers tended to buy Kate while women preferred Peter. Not always, of course. Her own brother, Vincent, had been one of the first to buy a Peter.

"Just what we need to do all the boring stuff," he told Bianca with a wide smile. "I know Giorgio is going to love him."

Vincent hurried home, eager to get Peter set up before Giorgio returned from work. An hour later, Giorgio opened the door of their flat to be greeted by a strange man with a warm smile on his face. To be honest the smile was the first thing Giorgio saw, before he realised the man was offering him a salt rimmed glass of marguerita.

"Welcome home, Mr Giorgio," said the stranger, "How was your day?"

"Er... fine," answered Giorgio automatically. "Er... who?"

"I'm Peter, your new household companion. If you'd like to relax for a while, dinner will be served in about an hour, if that suits?"

"Er... fine," said Giorgio again, bewildered but polite. He wondered where Vincent was. Surely his husband should be home by now—perhaps he would know what was going on.

"Vince? Are you here?"

Vincent appeared from the living room, beaming from ear to ear. "Isn't he great?" he asked, coming up to Giorgio and giving him a hug. "Peter is the latest in android technology. I bought him for us, this morning."

Giorgio was still staring at Peter. "He's an android? He looks so real."

Vince nodded. "He'll do all the housework, cooking too, when we can't be bothered. Anything we want."

"He looks like me," Giorgio blurted suddenly. "Like I did when we first met..." his voice trailed off. Before I put on ten years and ten kilos, he finished, silently.

"Does he?" said Vince, turning to stare at Peter. "I suppose he does, a little bit. Good thing he's not human, then! I wouldn't want to get you mixed up," he laughed.

~~~

Bianca's feet were aching and she was thinking only of a hot bath and bed when she opened the door of their flat. She'd called Luke earlier to warn him she'd be late and not to wait up, but he'd left the hall light on low for her.

"Welcome home, Ms Bianca." A woman's voice came out of the shadows. Bianca only just managed to stifle a small scream. Who the hell?

A hand offered her a glass of whisky, single malt by the colour.

Her dazed brain took a moment before she registered that the stranger was a Kate. The most popular model of Kate, the blonde, blue-eyed one, with perky breasts. What the hell was a Kate doing here? She hadn't bought one. She and Luke had already discussed the matter and decided it was really too soon to upgrade. After all, their Version Seven, Handy Andy, was still less than a year old.

Luke must have made the decision to buy one, by himself. She felt cross and disgruntled. They didn't need a Kate. Why had Luke gone behind her back?

"Surprise!" Luke's voice came from the top of the stairs. "Isn't she great?" he beamed, full of enthusiasm. "She's already run your bath and there's food in the warmer if you're hungry."

Bianca tried to summon up a grateful smile. Luke was only trying to be thoughtful, but she couldn't help wishing he'd discussed it with her first. If he really wanted a Kate—he should have said so, instead of pretending to agree with her.

~~~

It was a week before the first headline hit the news.

"He Left Me For a Machine! Woman files for divorce, names Android Kate as co-respondent. 'She took over everything. I didn't care about the cleaning, but when she took over all the cooking, that was just too much,' sobbed Maria Hortense, aged 41. "I tried to be understanding, but then Fred said her chilli was better than mine! My own mother's recipe that he'd always loved. How could I be expected to put up with that? I said either she goes or I go.'

'Well, it's true," admitted Fred Hortense, aged 42. "Kate's chilli is better than Maria's. It's not my fault, is it?'"

And that was just the first.

"Do androids make better lovers? Marylin Tranio, star of the latest holovid sensation, Summer Sexcapes, says yes! 'Not only does Peter have more stamina,' says Marylin with a wide grin, 'but even more importantly, he listens when I talk to him. Peter understands me,' she adds, earnestly.

"Woman Files Suit for One Million Credits. Angela Baptista filed a suit today for one million credits, against electronics company Androids 'R Us over the death of her husband. 'He had a bad heart,' admitted Ms Baptista. 'I had to be so careful with what he was allowed to eat and drink, but once we got her—Kate—he stopped listening to me. She'd bring him anything he asked for, pizza after pizza, beer, more beer, and it killed him! I thought they were supposed to be programmed so they wouldn't do a person any harm? I reckon the company owes me!'

"Man attacks android. Earlier today a man was charged with damage to property, after he threw his girlfriend's new android from the balcony of her fourth floor flat. 'Ever since she got him, she stopped paying any attention to me,' claimed Gremio Padua, 26. 'It was like he was controlling her or something. All she could talk about was Peter. How he looked after her, how they liked the same books, the same holovids. Then today I caught him in her bedroom and she was naked! That was the final straw. She said he was giving her a massage, but... she couldn't expect me to put up with that, could she? He had to go. When she comes to her senses, I know she'll thank me.'"

~~~

Bianca snorted with incredulity as she tossed the epaper over to Luke. "Can you believe those people? How could anyone be jealous of a machine?"

Luke scanned the epaper. "Has she got a case? The woman suing you, I mean?"

"Of course not," said Bianca, dismissively. "The android was merely following instructions, doing as it was told. It's not as if it can think for itself and make decisions, for god's sake!"

She tapped the screen with her finger. "This whole thing is crazy. Why would any intelligent human being want even a friend to obey them without question? Let alone a husband or wife. It would be like having a slave instead of an equal partner. I can't understand it. The whole idea of having a relationship with a machine is just creepy!"

Kate came over to top up Luke's cup of coffee then moved back quietly to the sink to finish washing up. Luke dropped his eyes and reached for the coffee. "I suppose some people might find it easier. More restful."

Bianca snorted. "More boring, more like."

~~~

Giorgio turned off the light in their bedroom and tried to fall sleep. But his mind was buzzing, full of thoughts and fears. It was no good. He had to tell Vincent.

"Vince? Can I ask you a big favour?"

Vincent, who had been on the verge of drifting off to sleep, muttered. "Uh, wha..?"

Georgio repeated his question, his soft voice sounding more hesitant than usual, and Vincent struggled to wake up and pay attention. "Of course you can. What is it?"

"Would you mind terribly if we sent Peter back to the store?"

"What?" asked Vincent, taken aback. "I thought you liked him, having all the household jobs done for us."

Georgio looked away for a second, frightened he was making a fool of himself. Then he gathered his courage and turned back to face Vincent. "It's not that. It's just... he makes me uncomfortable."

Vincent looked confused and Giorgio could tell he didn't understand. He took a deep breath. "He cleans, he cooks, he tidies up after us. He's perfect, but..."

"But?"

"He's too perfect and he looks too human!" Giorgio blurted out. "He's tall, he's handsome, he looks about twenty-one—and I don't like it when he smiles at you." God! How pathetic was that? Giorgio closed his eyes in dread, waiting for Vincent's scornful disbelief.

Instead, Vince pulled him across the bed, into his arms. "Are you saying you're jealous? Of Peter?"

Giorgio opened his eyes and looked hopefully up into Vincent's smiling face.

"Idiot," said Vincent in a fond voice. "He's a robot. You're the only man I love. But if you don't like Peter, we'll send him back tomorrow. We can trade him in for one of the earlier models, Version Seven perhaps, the Handy Andy."

~~~

As she opened the door to their flat, Bianca was looking forward to her welcoming glass of whisky from Kate. It had taken longer than she expected, but she'd finally come to terms with her presence in the house. Luke, of course, had been enthusiastic from the start. But even Bianca had to admit it was wonderful not to have to bother preparing a meal when you came home after a long day. Nor to have to force yourself to spend time tidying and cleaning when all you wanted to do was collapse into a chair.

She closed the door behind her and peered around the hall. It was empty. Where was Kate, and her whisky? "Kate? Luke?" There was only silence.

She went upstairs, maybe they were up there for some reason. The door to the bathroom stood open—and empty. Where could they be?

Hesitantly, she pushed open the door of their bedroom. Was Kate bringing Luke a nightcap before bed? What reason could they have for being in there? She soon found out.

Bianca froze in shock, one foot poised in the doorway. She blinked, hoping vainly that she was imagining things, but no.

There was Luke—in their bed with... Kate. Both of them were naked. How could he?

She drew in her breath, uncertain as to whether she was going to shout or sob. The sound of her indrawn breath alerted Luke, who turned to face her, his expression a curious mixture of guilt and defiance.

"How could you?" Bianca managed to get out. The words seemed woefully inadequate—five years of loving commitment cast aside in one devastating blow.

"I don't know why you're so upset," said Luke, sitting up, challenging her. "You're the one who said she was just a machine. It's no different from using a sex toy."

Bianca flinched as if she'd been struck. She felt dazed, her mind grappling with what Luke had thrown at her. That was true, it was exactly what she had said. Kate was a machine—she just looked and acted like a person. Could Luke be right? But however much her head rationalised, her heart wasn't buying it. Her heart didn't see a machine—her heart saw her partner in bed with another woman.

Luke was wrong—this was different. It felt different. Bianca felt betrayed.

She slept downstairs, not waiting to see if Luke would tell Kate to leave... or not. She felt too hurt and emotional to cope with the scene that was bound to follow if she challenged him in her current mood.

The next morning, she tackled Luke, making an effort to speak calmly and reasonably. He might honestly see Kate as the equivalent of a vibrator, but she couldn't. Luke loved her, surely he would listen to her.

But to her dismay, Luke refused point blank to get rid of Kate.

"Having Kate here has made a real difference to my work. I can spend my spare time on my inventions, instead of housework and other crap. I'm not sending her back. You're being silly, Bianca. It's just a machine! You said so yourself."

~~~

Bianca moved out into a hotel, no longer able to stay with Luke in the flat in which she had been at once so happy and so miserable.

Naturally the media had a field day.

"Android Romance Splits Couple. The romance of high profile partners, Bianca Minola, 28, and Luke Veron, 27, is on the rocks, reputedly over Veron's relationship with their android. 'No comment,' says a tight-lipped Bianca, owner of Androids'R Us, the multi-million electronics business which shot into prominence recently with the release of the popular Kate and Peter models.

'There's no romance! It's only a damn machine,' protests Veron, angrily. 'And besides, a man has to be boss in his own house, doesn't he?'"

~~~

Over the next few weeks, Bianca found herself wondering bitterly whether this was cosmic payback for her scornful laughter. Now she understood only too well, the feelings of those other people in the news; their relationships torn apart by an android—a machine that was supposed to make their lives easier, not harder.

Perhaps Elsa had been right, perhaps Kate and Peter were too human, at least for a lot of people. Should she withdraw them from sale? But despite herself, she couldn't help thinking that if a relationship was sound enough, the android wouldn't have been a problem. Look at Vincent and Giorgio, for god's sake. They had worked it out, together. Maybe the androids were not the cause of the problem but a symptom. Was humanity still not ready for relationships built on equality?

Even now, she couldn't forgive Luke for that crass statement about being the boss. He'd denied it of course, blaming the media for misquoting, but...

The separation was messy. The court case dragged on, month by painful exhausting month, Luke fighting every step of the way. The vicious struggle over who got what share of Bianca's business, Androids 'R Us, soon eroded any remaining feelings of love or even friendship between them, but eventually it was over.

~~~

Two weeks later

Bianca's feet were aching and she was thinking only of a hot bath and bed when she opened the door of her new apartment. Thank god she could finally move on with her life. The hall light was on low.

"Welcome home, Ms Bianca." A voice came out of the shadows. A hand offered her a glass of whisky, single malt by the colour. "I've run your bath."

Bianca took it with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Peter."