What defines a human?

Home

She stepped out of the cab and looked around the posh neighbourhood.

The light breeze took hold of her thin scarf and she had to grab it before she lost it to the wind.
The street was silent, but most windows were lit up and she could see movement inside the houses.

It looked exactly as it did all those years ago when she moved out.
Neat gardens full of tulips, rosebushes and tiny trees decorating the entrances of the big houses.
She sighed a little and turned to look at the big luxurious mansion that stood tall in front of her. The garden was neatly kept and all in all it looked well cared for in spite of her fathers illness.

Standing there on the sidewalk she realised she'd missed it. And some how she wished she'd never left it in the first place.
Her thoughts drifted to memories of her ex boyfriend and her old job, both where huge mistakes she had to live with. Wishing she could leave the past in New York but she was afraid it would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Grabbing her bag she moved towards the front door, pushing down the handle, the door unlocked and stepping inside she was instantly greeted by a robotic voice from the security system.

"Welcome home Amanda. It has been five years and thirty six days since you last visited."

"Thank you." She mumbled to the home system as she put her bags on the floor, removed her red wool coat and moved across the decorated hall.
As she approached the door, which she knew would lead her to the main room, she was startled by an unfamiliar voice.

"Good morning, your father awaits you in his studio."

She turned to look at the man that greeted her. "And you are?"

"My name is Markus, I am your fathers caretaker." The gentle voice informed her with a slight curve on its lip.

"I see." She already knew this, but it felt appropriate to ask. Her father had already told her a lot about his android and she knew all to well how found he was of it.
Which made her happy in a way, leaving her childhood home to work in New York had been a big thing for her career. But after her fathers accident she felt bad about living so far away from him and back then she wanted to move home to take care of him.

He had declined her offer, though, and happily told her about the amazing gift he'd been given by one of his good friends.
The god of all androids, their maker had happily supplied her father with a unique model. The same one that was standing in front of her, patiently waiting to escort her.

"Thank you Markus."

He gave her a slight nod and turned to show her the way, which felt wired since she was raised in the house, but treated like a stranger.

She inspected the android walking in front of her. Her father was right, he was unique. She had never seen a model like his before.
"I've never seen caretakers wearing clothes like yours."

"Carl chose these for me."

"Oh" she replied "he always did have a good sense of fashion."

Markus turned his head and looked at her, his face showed no emotion what so ever. And she had no idea why she expected him to, maybe because her father talked about him like a family member.

His clothes where noting like the common uniforms like androids used to wear. Markus clothes where more casual, the shirt in a dark blue with a boatneck, very flattering to his broad shoulders and slightly dark skin, still wore the triangle sign of a working android.

They turned left and Markus stopped at the big entrance to her fathers studio, allowing her to walk past him.

"Father?" She called into the big room.

"Amanda! Your finally here!" The old fragile man turned his wheelchair and smiled at her.

Her heart stopped for a moment when she realised how much he'd aged during these past years.
She quickly ran up to him to hug him tight "I've missed you!" She exclaimed with a sob.

He held her dearly and kissed her head "don't worry child, you're home now."
She nodded a few times, her face still buried in his thick knitted sweater.
"Markus, I believe it's time for some tea and refreshments."

The android responded with a quick nod "Of course, Carl." And moved towards the kitchen and left them alone.

"Whatever happened in New York is in the past dear, now you can focus on your future."

She stood up and smiled with a hunch of sadness in her voice "the internet rarely forget things I'm afraid."

"Give it time."

She moved behind him and took hold of the wheelchairs handles and walked towards the living room. The smell of old books, fabrics and dust hit her nose "Your collection has grown quita a bit."

"Indeed it has. We had to add bookcases on the second floor now."

"And the giraffe?"

Her father chuckled "it was a gift."

The old house looked more like a museum then a home, filled with books, paintings, conserved exotic animals and skeletons.
She placed the wheelchair at the center of the table and seated herself on one of the stuffed chairs.

"How was the flight?" He asked with a loving voice.

"The food was terrible but all in all it was a smooth trip."

"Good to hear."

"How was the found raiser?"

"Boring as always." He joked.

"But it was for a good cause." Markus added as he
poured them coffee and placed a tray of scones with different toppings on the table.

"Would you like something else Amanda? I prepared your fathers taste of food, I will arrange for something else if you wish."

She looked up into the blue artificial eyes and smiled. "This is fine Markus, I share the same taste of tiny breads and tarts as my father."

"She's a real sweet tooth" the old man smirked.

"I will add that to my memory, Sir" he smiled.

Amanda peered at the two, noting the exchange of looks and humours tone which added to the stories her father had told her on the phone.
It made her ponder the fact that her father had accepted this android as a part of his family, not just a simple butler, nurse or cleaner. And suddenly it made sense why her brother hated it so much.

This sparked her curiosity and she followed the android as he walked to the kitchen to take care of the dishes.
As he washed the plates she took them from his hand to dry them and place them in the cabinet.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my father."

He turned to look at her with quite a surprised look on his face. "There's no need to thank me. That's what I'm programmed for."

"I know." She smiled "but I can tell that your relationship to my father is quite different from what I've seen between other androids and their owners."

Markus stood quiet and looked at his hands for a while. The bright sun spread it's rays through the small kitchen window and shone on his arms and made the water sparkle in the sink and the reflections bounced back on his face.

"And I know why." She continued "he's curious about you and what you can become."

"Maybe." He stated "he does seem to enjoy testing me." He seemed thoughtful for a while " And like you, he treat me like a person and not an object." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye to see her reaction. But she only nodded in response, putting away the last pieces of porcelain.

"Because you are a person, aren't you?"

He froze in his motion, dumbfounded and surprised.
What did she mean? Was she mocking him? Was that a joke? He studied her face and she looked provocative at him.

"Aren't you?"