A New Day

Circular white lights brightened the room, all the walls were painted a
sleek white and an ominous hum came from underneath. Ross woke up,
immediately swivelled to the side and sat up to expect someone. Almost
like clockwork, the doors slid open and a tall figure in a long white lab coat
walked in, blue writing was sewn on his breast pocket: CSIRO. He had
pale green eyes behind the thick glasses that sat on his red nose, a few
greys visible amongst his combed dark hair and a long face without any
wrinkles. He wore a closed but warm smile.
Morning Ross, was the usual greeting every day, his voice was deep but
comforting, How are you feeling today?
I feel normal, Professor. was the usual sleepy reply. The Professor got
busy with his pen and clipboard. What are we going to do today? Ross
asked and hoped for a different answer.
Oh you know the usual. Observations, measurements. The answer was
never different. Actually, the Professor broke his attention away from the
clipboard, I do have a guest here today. he said with a wide smile. Ross
face suddenly changed. Let me inject you with this first and Ill be right
back. Ross felt not even a pinch on his arm as the syringe plunged down.
Then the Professor left, his footsteps echoed until there was nothing but
that soft hum.
Ross sat on his bed, pondering who it could really be about. Nobody really
visits him in fact no one at all besides the Professor. Shortly afterwards
the Professor returned, with a peculiar little being by his side. He was
short, up to the Professors waist, had ginger hair, freckles and wore a
closed but warm smile.
Hello Ross, Id like you to meet my son Remy, the Professor moved him
closer towards Ross, still smiling.
Hi Ross! His voice was bubbly. They sat down on the bed next to Ross,
Remy on his fathers lap.
Hello, Ross replied, nice to meet you.
Dad told me about you. He says youre special. Ross did not know how
to reply.
Thanks! He took it as a compliment followed by a silence that seemed
to go on for minutes.

Ill be right back, I need to get something. The Professor interrupted

and placed Remy next to him.
We just had breakfast, said Remy, I had toast. What did you have?
Whats toast? Ross thought to himself.
Nothing. I dont eat. Ross lied.
Oh okay. My dad brought me to his work today. Where does your dad
work?
Ross thought about it for a moment, he has not thought about it before
and could not remember much of his own father. Ross tried to flood his
mind with memories of his dad but a blank page was all that came.
How do you have fun here? seeing Ross was took a while, Remy
changed the subject.
Fun. A simple word Ross had never heard of.
Whats fun? he asked.
Ill show you! Have you played games before?
The foreign word games struck Ross like a trigonometry question but
Remy made it easy to understand. Learning how to play scissors paper
rock, Chinese chopsticks and thumb war; it was nothing Ross experienced
before. Was it joy? Happiness? Maybe this is what fun means. He
thought.
The Professor suddenly appeared again but with a thin square book in his
hands. Here you go Remy, heres what you wanted.Remy almost leapt
up towards his father, grabbing it from his hands and returned next to
Ross. The Professor went outside again.
The cover read THE FUTURE OF ROBOTS, with below it a cartoon
metallic figure.
Whats that? Ross asked.
Robots dont you know?
Whats a robot?
Remy began to talk, sounding almost like his father, using the picture
book as references for his explanations like a preschool teacher. Page after
page, Remy went on and on about robots: what they do, why they do it
and how they are made were only a fraction of the topics in his lecture.

But for some strange reason, his friend listened attentively. Ross soaked
up every sentence that came out of Remys mouth and nodded
unconsciously in rhythm with the words as they were being spoken.
Mid sentence of Remy explaining a robots future purposes, the Professor
returned into the room. Hey guys, Im really glad you two are getting
along! he said cheerily, but we gotta go for a while. Remy will come
back later okay? Both Ross and Remy looked at each other in
disappointment. The Professor took his sons hand leading him out but
stopped.
Hi-five! Remy held his hand up.
What? Ross was confused at his random gesture. The Professor help up
his hand up just like Remys. Then Remy slapped it as a demonstration.
Smack!
Thats a hi-five. The Professor chuckled. Although still confused, Ross
held up his hand at Remy. Smack! The two then disappeared as the doors
slid closed behind them.
Ross immediately returned to the book and was on the last few pages
when something caught his eye: Robots are very much real and are
currently under development at the CSIRO. Scientists are looking into their
capabilities of feeling human emotions.
CSIRO? That seemed familiar. Ross thought to himself.
Under the text was a picture of tall man in a long white lab coat with blue
writing sewn on his breast pocket: CSIRO. He had pale green eyes behind
the thick glasses that sat on his red nose, a few greys visible amongst his
combed dark hair and a long face without any wrinkles. He wore a closed
but warm smile. The caption underneath: Leading researcher of the
Robotic Sympathy System, RoSS.
*****
Circular white lights brightened the room, all the walls were painted a
sleek white and an ominous hum came from underneath. Ross woke up,
immediately swivelled to the side and sat up to expect someone...

Little circular lights brightened the room, the walls were a solid sleek
white and an ominous hum came from below. There was nothing else in
the room except for a bed with a young boy in it.
Ross eyes opened and he sat up immediately. A tall man in a long white
lab coat sat on a chair next to his be. He had pale green eyes behind the
thick glasses that sat on top of his red nose. A few greys amongst his
combed brown hair. A long face that lacked any wrinkles. CSIRO in blue,
sewn in front of his left breast pocket.
Good morning Ross, how are you feeling today? Was the usual greeting.
His voice was deep but warm.
I feel okay Professor. Nothing actually. Was the reply. The Professor
scribbled it down on his clip board.
Hi Ross! An unfamiliar high voice of another boy echoed slightly in the
room. Ross was startled to see a peculiar little thing on the other side of
his bed. He was short, had ginger hair, freckles and was wearing a closed
by wide smile.
Id like you to meet my son, Remy. The boy joined his father on the
same side.
Dad told me about you. He says youre special. Ross did not know how
to reply.
Thanks! He took it as a compliment, followed by a silence that seemed
to go on for minutes.

I need to get something, boys, I shall return. The Professor got up and
placed Remy on the chair. His footsteps echoed out of the room, silence
fell again as the door slid closed.
We just had breakfast, said Remy, I had toast. What did you have?
Whats toast? Ross thought to himself. Nothing. I dont eat. He finally
said.
Oh okay. My dad brought me to his work today. Where does your dad
work?
Ross thought about it for a moment, he has not thought about it before
and could not remember much of his own father. Ross attempted to flood
his mind with his dads memories but a blank page was all that came.
How do you have fun here? seeing Ross take a while, Remy changed the
subject.
Fun. A simple word Ross had never heard of.
Whats fun? he asked.
Ill show you! Have you played games before?
The foreign word games struck Ross like a trigonometry question but
Remy made it easy to understand. Learning how to play scissors paper
rock, Chinese chopsticks and thumb war; it was nothing Ross experienced
before. Was it joy? Happiness? Maybe this is what fun means. He
thought.
The Professor suddenly appeared again but with a thin square book in his
hands. Here you go Remy, heres what you wanted.Remy almost leapt
up towards his father, grabbing it from his hands and returned next to
Ross. The Professor went outside again.
The cover read THE FUTURE OF ROBOTS, with below it a cartoon
metallic figure.
Whats that? Ross asked.
Robots dont you know?
Whats a robot?
Remy began to talk, sounding almost like his father, using the picture
book as references for his explanations like a preschool teacher. Page after
page, Remy went on and on about robots: what they do, why they do it
and how they are made were only a fraction of the topics in his lecture.

But for some strange reason, his friend listened attentively. Ross soaked
up every sentence that came out of Remys mouth and nodded
unconsciously in rhythm with the words as they were being spoken.
Mid sentence of Remy explaining a robots future purposes, the Professor
returned into the room. Hey guys, Im really glad you two are getting
along! he said cheerily, but we gotta go for a while. Remy will come
back later okay? Both Ross and Remy looked at each other in
disappointment. The Professor took his sons hand leading him out but
stopped.
Hi-five! Remy held his hand up.
What? Ross was confused at his random gesture. The Professor help up
his hand up just like Remys. Then Remy slapped it as a demonstration.
Smack!
Thats a hi-five. The Professor chuckled. Although still confused, Ross
held up his hand at Remy. Smack! The two then disappeared as the doors
slid closed behind them.
Ross immediately returned to the book and was on the last few pages
when something caught his eye: Robots are very much real and are
currently under development at the CSIRO. Scientists are looking into their
capabilities of feeling human emotions.
CSIRO? That seemed familiar. Ross thought to himself.
Under the text was a picture of tall man in a long white lab coat with blue
writing sewn on his breast pocket: CSIRO. He had pale green eyes behind
the thick glasses that sat on his red nose, a few greys visible amongst his
combed dark hair and a long face without any wrinkles. He wore a closed
but warm smile. The caption underneath: Leading researcher of the
Robotic Sympathy System, RoSS.
*****
Circular white lights brightened the room, all the walls were painted a
sleek white and an ominous hum came from underneath. Ross woke up,
immediately swivelled to the side and sat up to expect someone...