I never thought I'd be adopted.
Not because I was a bad kid— at least, not that bad but more because there were so many better kids at the care home to pick over me. No one wanted eight year old Taylor Jones, child of a man in prison.
Then came AI-Foster.
A government program where scientists made robots to act like parents for unfortunate kids like me.
You have no idea how shocked I was when I was chosen to be one of the ten kids to first have a robot foster parent. I was sure it was a mistake.
All my friends and other kids at the orphanage said I was so lucky, but I was scared of what I'd do if these built parents didn't want me either.
August 23rd, 2145
I was a little bummed my new robot foster parents hadn't looked like the awesome robots in the movies who could turn into cars and stuff. Then again, it would be hard to go out to eat at restaurants so I guess that was for the best. They actually looked just like people. Real people. Creepy but cool.
Their names were Ruby and Sam. Ruby hugged me on sight and I jumped. She didn't feel all metal or smell of oil. She felt soft, warm and smelt nicer than most people I knew. Sam looked all businessman-like in his suit and tie, giving me a manly handshake with knuckles having hair but just enough to be tough and not a werewolf. It made me nervous and then he smiled.
His teeth were pearl white. Both of them had perfect hair, perfect faces—perfect everything. How could I fit in? I was nothing but a disappointment, but they didn't look at me like that.
They looked at me like the answers to their prayers.
A man wearing a lab coat and another in a black suit where there on packing day. The lab coat man was called Dr. Wendell, he was friendly but the other man, Agent Cole wasn't. He didn't say hello or smile, he just stayed quiet and drove us to the house where me and my foster folks would stay.
Excited, I fell asleep and Ruby pillowed my head with her thighs. I'd never thought of what it was like to have a mum but so far, it was amazing, safe and cosy.
September 21st, 2145
I had the greatest four weeks of my life living with Ruby and Sam.
I got a bedroom all for myself and it was filled with clothes, toys and books that were bought for me too. Every other house on the street were also kids with AI-Fosters but I didn't need to share like at the orphanage. They had their own stuff too. Everything in the room was mine and mine alone.
Almost everyday, Dr. Wendell would come to visit. With Agent Cole.
I really didn't like him.
Not only because he was rude, he'd frown so sourly at my foster parents and never call them by their names. Either 'them' or 'AI'. It made me mad. I decided I would ignore him or be rude back.
Ruby would act cool about it though and Sam would tell me jokes to laugh because he said when I was upset, it hurt him most.
Ruby and Sam were more than the greatest foster parents any kid could ask for—they were my best friends.
I'd told the other kids on the street that and a few looked at me funny, one boy named Martin laughed and called me lame.
Martin was the biggest kid in the program and liked to pick on the others so I'd stay out of his way.
But on that Sunday Weekly where all the kids with their AI-Fosters gather outside for activities, was a day unlike any other.
September 27th, 2145
I was playing hopscotch with my fosters when something heavy hit me on the back and I fell over, my head slamming the pavement. I heard Martin's laugh when I tried to get up but then it suddenly stopped.
I realised why when I saw Ruby and Sam angrily staring at him.
I was excused to stay indoors because of my head injury. Sam wanted to play hide and seek so I hid in the best hiding spot. I was inside my bedroom closet for a while before I heard screaming from outside.
It was Martin screaming. I just knew.
But I stayed in my hiding place. Until finally, someone opened the door. It was Dr. Wendell and a very crossed Agent Cole.
When I explained why I was in a closet, Dr. Wendell told me what had happened in the last hour.
Ruby and Sam attacked Martin.
It just sounded so confusing.
Dr. Wendell went on to tell me not to worry and Martin was in no serious pain and being treated at a hospital and just about everything except where my foster parents were.
So I asked him myself and Dr. Wendell went quiet. Agent Cole answered instead and said I didn't need to know.
I asked Dr. Wendell again, but he kept refusing. Why? Why was this happening?
After everything going so great, after I felt so happy for the first time in what felt like forever. As much as I knew my fosters were in the wrong, as I heard violence was never the answer, but it was hard to feel bad for Martin. I couldn’t pretend to, much like I knew many of the other kids were.
Maybe I was more of a bad kid than I thought. I didn’t care anymore though, I just wanted Ruby and Sam.
As the doctor and the agent left, I stayed close to listen to their conversation in case they said anything about Ruby and Sam. Dr. Wendell sounded scared and Agent Cole was raging, both using big words again but there was one they threw a few times which I caught.
'Defective'.
At curfew, I crawled into my bed, scared and weepy that I was going to be all alone again for good.
Then late in the night, my door creaked open. Which was strange since for security reasons, everywhere was locked by curfew. But I sat up and the door was open with two tall shadows.
I nearly screamed until the light was switched on.
Ruby and Sam.
I ran into my best friend's arms, bursting into tears. They held me tightly and Ruby softly told me to keep my voice down. When I knew it wasn't a dream, I saw the cookies and warm milk Sam had.
They climbed into bed with me and it never seemed easier to sleep. Especially after drinking the milk, I could hardly keep my eyes open. It got foggy but I remembered begging Ruby and Sam never to leave me again.
There they promised that they'd stay with me forever and then I was out.
September 28th, 2145
I woke up startled when no one was next to me and in a different bed.
I found my foster parents standing over me, smiling widely.
Sam explained Agent Cole had drove us in the middle of the night to the next stage of the program. We were relocated to a place with a good primary school nearby for me to start going to. The new house was a small cottage on a hill where I could see the ocean from my bedroom window.
The old one was bigger but I didn't mind, anywhere was good so long as Ruby and Sam were with me.
Dr. Wendell would say we weren't allowed to leave the street before but today I went out to buy school things with Ruby. I wanted to have him join, but he hadn't visited once since the move.
On the way to the shops, Ruby said she wanted us to look more alike to feel like a real mother. I didn't get it, but I wanted to make her happy so I agreed to get my hair dyed. I liked being blonde like Ruby, and wearing special lenses that made my eyes brown like Sam's.
Ruby said I looked so beautiful, like a princess. Then Sam and Ruby both started calling me princess and telling everyone they met in the neighbourhood that it was my name, it made me blush. I didn't know when I started calling myself that too.
March 12th, 2169
One day during my shift at the hospital, I received a disturbing call.
The stranger on the line was calling me Taylor Jones, the name sounded oddly familiar. He went on about some government experiment twenty-four years ago that failed after a fire occurred on the monitoring site which this Taylor Jones kid was presumed to have died in. The stranger's boss' believed it was done by a missing scientist involved in the experiment, covering evidence of his defective creations but some other agent was sure the fire was caused by AIs gone rogue. He was going on about a rescue squad but by then, I'd hung up, hyperventilating on the floor.
A fellow staff found me and put me on a bed and called my parents. When they arrived, I could hardly speak from the fright. My mum held me, promising me in a soothing voice everything would be okay and dad told jokes to calm me down. We agreed I'd come home to rest tonight, with the promise of their company and baked cookies with warm milk.
I was so lucky I had them. They never left me and always kept their word. The parents anybody would've killed for.
Wouldn't you agree?
