Violetta got an earful when she was dragged into the house. Amistad was very angry. People died in lightning ball storms all the time! He comes home expecting Violetta to be inside like every other person with an ounce of sense, and what does he find? A little monkey covered in grease. The workshop door, open to the elements, while she giggles like a mad scientist with lightning balls going off in the background. She could have been struck and died!
He had begged Laura to let Violetta stay with him this weekend. Now he knew, she was not going to be able to come back the rest of the month. School would start next month, and then he would only see his daughter every other weekend. On the weekends he didn't have her, Laura would have her. During the weekdays, Violetta would stay at school. He was saddened by the fact that his precious baby girl was going to be away from him so much. She didn't even have the sense to come inside during a lightning ball storm. How could he trust her to live in the school? He was going to be worried the entire time. Tomorrow, when the charge release team had cleared the area, he would buy her a communication ring. This way he and Laura could contact her after class. But right this instant, Violetta was not leaving his sight for the rest of the weekend.
…
…
Amrica City population
7,620,000
5,500 square km
82 km from one end of city to the other
Population density is 1,385.45 people per square km
Population - Mostly human
During a lighting ball storm, each and every person hides inside, even the homeless find shelter in abandoned buildings, or the sewers. Every living person has enough sense to get out of the elements during this time.
Far away from Violetta's home, across the entire metropolis in the slums, the robot unit of 5 is still looking for the hand and book. They are to search every part of Amrica city. Leave no person unchecked. But right now, there are no people in the streets. The robots are out in an alley. Uncovered and exposed. Lightning balls are attracted to them instantly. Striking the unit and knocking them into an abandoned factory through the windows.
…
…
The next morning, people dressed in light gray rubber suits with a blue stripe running down the arms and legs were all over the town. They patrolled all of the streets touching metal objects with rods of iron exposed on one end and protected by rubber on the other. Sometimes lightning jumped from the metal object to the rod, and then the rod got submerged in a strange sticky liquid in barrels marked Hill2983. They pulled the rod out, cleaned off the liquid and repeated the process, all over the city. This is the charge release team. If this was not done, and someone touched anything conductive, the lightning ball that attached itself to the item would instantly kill the person who touched it.
The robot unit witnessed this horrific scene, and hid further into the abandoned factory, running into a crazy old man. He knew they were struck by the lightning balls. They scared him half to death when they flew through the windows.
He sighed inside his heart, "Follow me if you don't want to die here young ones."
…
…
Violetta, Heath and Amistad now have to clear the workshop. Because the door was left open, and there's so much metal inside it would not be logical for there to be no lightning attached to any of it. They walk in with the rods and a bucket of sludge. The same strange sticky liquid the charge release teams use. The workshop is mostly cleared now. Lightning balls safely put out in the sludge.
The robot is still seated where Violetta left it. She pokes it with the iron rod, no lighting sparks from the robot. The Robot is safe to touch. She looks for any damage, and doesn't find any. Amistad notices his little grease monkey has started playing with her robot. He sighs. There is no chance of her getting hurt now. He checked the overhead door once more just to be sure it is safe to touch before closing it. Amistad decided to go get the communication ring without Violetta. This area is cleared and he knows Violetta is smart enough not to touch random things, but right now she is safe here. Amistad had to take the liquid to the collection facility and get a new bucket anyway. "Heath, make sure she doesn't do anything too dangerous, ok?"
Heath nods. Violetta was now working on the generator. Perhaps the robot needed a jump start.
…
...
The robot sat motionlessly, watching everything happen in front of her, wondering what would happen. The rod came close, the rod made contact. The little spark of lightning that now inhabited the robot did not want to come out. The pink adult left. The purple child and the brown child attached wires to a scary looking thing. Then the purple child began to approach the robot with wires. There was no way the robot was letting the purple child do something weird to herself with those wires!!
It was now or never! "Don't!" The robot jumped out of the chair, and hid behind it, leaving a very shocked looking purple child standing stunned.
…
…
What just happened?
Heath and Violetta stood in shock as the robot cowered behind the chair. Violetta turned to Heath while pointing in the direction of the robot. "Did my robot just say 'don't'?"
Heath with eyes still on the robot nodded. His mind was blank. Didn't the robot... not work?
The robot remained cowering behind the chair, and Violetta put the wires from the generator away. Thousands of thoughts raged through her mind at once. The major conclusion being, this was not a robot. This was an android, but how? There was no AI system in place?
Violetta decided to go with the flow. In a soothing voice she coaxed the robot.
"Hey...Hey there. It's ok. I put all the wires away… You can come out now. We won't do anything to you." The robot peeked out and started to relax. "I'm Violetta, and this is Heath. Do you have a name?"
The robot shook its head. "I have no such designation."
"Okay," Violetta turned to Heath, and motioned him to come close as the robot sat back down on the chair.
"Do you want one?" Heath asked.
The robot tilted her head, and then hesitantly decided"...yes?"
"Ok," Violetta whispered to Heath, " What should we name her?" He looked around and his eyes settled on a cup resting on her fathers work table. Amistad always had mint tea when he was in the workshop.
"Something...Mint tea?"
"Minty?" Violetta was reminded of an old legendary hero her mother had told her about. Araminty was that hero's original name. "Araminty."
The robot looked at Violetta, "Will this be my designation?"
Heath nodded. "Do you like it?"
"I approve."
"We gotta do something about this…" Violetta realized that she did not input this programming or AI into this robot. There was no logical reason for Araminty to be so sentient. She knew that her father would figure it out eventually, but for right now... "Araminty? Can you do me a favor?"
"Favor-something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration; a kind act."
"Yes. That," Violetta began to explain. "Can you pretend to be very simplistic for a while? Try to hide your emotions? And just agree to what is asked of you to do?"
"Why?" Hmmm... Now how to explain this to a new life form…