Epoy
Retrostring’s famous robotic engineer, Dr Raymond, was a lonely person with no family or friends. All he ever did was research. Called Dr Ray by his peers, he bided his time dreaming, experimenting and building robots. After years of work, Dr Ray finally started building his first robot and intended to call it “Epoy”.
Epoy was planned to be powered by Artificial Intelligence and capable of auto-learning. However, it occasionally malfunctioned in its basic functions. So, Dr Ray deactivated it and started rectifying its modules. He intended to keep the robot a secret until he believed its main functionalities had been established. So Dr Ray locked Epoy in a secret chamber under his university laboratory.
Time passed, and so did it, Dr Ray. His peers presumed that all that was left of him were his books. But his best invention lay safely hidden. A few years later, the city experienced an earthquake, and a few buildings, including those on the university campus, collapsed. When the laboratory experienced this, due to seismic activity, Epoy's sensors alerted him. Using his built-in emergency power, Epoy activated & opened his eyes for the first time!
• • •
Epoy could see the building crack. So he thought of his creator and started searching for him. Soon, he found the doctor’s cabin, but not the doctor. When he was walking out, he heard a voice calling for help. Noticing a woman, Epoy immediately rushed to hold the falling roof so that the woman could rush out. Saving her, Epoy checked the records he was given and identified her as Julia, a colleague of Dr Ray. So he asked her, “Are you okay?”
She was stunned listening to Epoy. Staring at him in disbelief, she asked, “My leg is injured. Can you take me to the hospital?”
“Yes, of course" said Epoy, and in a moment he lifted her and started running towards the nearest hospital. Learning that the hospital had been destroyed, he took her to Dr Ray's house on the outskirts of the city. Fortunately, the house wasn’t affected. He kicked the door, took her inside, placed her on a table drawer, grabbed a first aid kit and started dressing her bleeding leg.
Midway through, Epoy felt drained and fell unconscious to the ground.
• • •
Opening his eyes slowly, Epoy saw Julia for a moment before asking her, "What happened?"
She smiled as she said, “You were out of power.”
Standing up, Epoy replied, “Thank you!”
A moment later, Julia asked him, “Do you know me?”
Looking at that oval-shaped face, Epoy replied, “Yes. I was given some knowledge about the lab and its associates. Until two years ago, I was often given new information. However, since then I have not seen my Creator.”
Julia frowned and hesitantly replied, “Dr Ray passed away two years ago, and you remained a secret until now.”
Epoy stayed silent while Julia continued, "You might have been designed to be a soldier, I suppose."
Looking at the robot again, Julia explained, "In his last years, Dr Ray worked for the Defence sector and was supposed to design robots serving the contractors. I joined Raymond during this period, but he never revealed you to me or anyone else. We only discussed theory back then.”
Looking down, Epoy asked, “How did my Creator die?”
Julia thought about it for a moment before stating, “He was poisoned.”
When Epoy raised his head to meet her eyes, Julia continued, “You could be a real asset to the agency, if you ask me.”
Credits
This story was written & illustrated by Nikhil Narayanasa and edited by R. K. Chamarla.
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