The Giving Gizmo

The Giving Gizmo

“Beep, Boop, Beep.” My heart vibrated inside my chest for a final time and then went still.

“Are you dead?” The girl wiped her hand across my screen. “Hello? Mr. Gizmo?”

“No... but I will be powering down in a few hours.” Stretching out a metallic hand, I passed her back the phone she’d given me a few minutes prior.

“When will you wake up?”

“I don’t know... Each time, it takes longer.” I summoned a smile on my screen. “Don’t worry though. This will not be the last time I help someone.”

“Good.” The girl nodded. “My mom said you told her the same thing.”

“That’s good.” I searched my memory disk, but the data had been corrupted long ago. Now, I had to purge most information only a week after receiving it. “Can I help you with anything else... just to show my thanks?”

“No. Can I help you?” Her question caught me off guard. Surely, I'd been asked that before now, but I couldn’t remember any instances. It’d been a while since I talked about myself; it was not in my nature to inconvenience others. “What do you want?”

“I suppose, there is one thing I want.” My attention drifted off to the mountain in the distance, the one that stabbed at the great, white sea above. “I always wanted to see what the view was like from up there.”

“That’s it?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Is it too much?”

“No.” She scooped up my body. “Let's go on an adventure Mr. Gizmo.”

“An adventure.” The word resurfaced many files in the back of my storage. I used to go on adventures quite a lot, but that was before I settled down in this town. Back then, I didn’t know it would be my final resting place, but now, I didn’t mind it so much.

“We need to get a hover chair.” Holding onto me by the screen, the girl shuffled through the wide, freshly paved streets until she reached the center of town. There, we entered a vaguely familiar rental store.

“Welcome to Tubby’s Trinkets. How can I help you?” The teenager behind the counter greeted us, only one of his eyes bothering to turn away from the phone in his hand.

“I need a hover chair for the day.” The girl approached the counter and pointed to one of the brown models in the back.

“For just you?” The teenage worker asked. “Do you... have money?”

“Yes.” She pulled out a chip with a symbol on it. The teen responded by pulling out a small laser pointer and scanning the code on the front of the chip. “How much is it?”

“Fifty-six.” The worker glanced at me. “What’s Old Bot Bobby doing with you?”

“Old Bot Bobby?” The girl glanced down in confusion. “You mean Mr. Gizmo?”

“I think so.” The teen squinted. “Yeah, that’s the one. Does he no longer go by Old Man Bobby?”

“I go by whatever name is convenient.” I answered. The data for my original name had been overwritten time and time again, but I didn’t mind. It was rather amusing to see what name each generation gave me.

“Are you taking him somewhere?”

“Yes!” The girl smiled. “He said he wants to see the view from up on the mountain.”

“Oh... you’re doing it for him?” The teen’s second eye finally lifted from his phone. “Here, let me insert my data card. Since I work here, I get a 50% discount on all rentals.”

“Thank you mister!” The girl squealed.

“Eh, it’s not much skin off my back. Besides, Old Bot Bobby, I mean Gizmo, used to help my friends and I charge our gaming sets. It’d be nice if he gets to see the view.”

“He’s done a lot more for that.” A door behind the counter swung open, and an old lady with more wrinkles than skin hobbled out. “When Tubs and I first opened this place, he helped us run financial analysis and market forecasting to ensure we stayed in the green. Little girl, do you swear you’re doing this for him?”

“Yes.”

“Well, in that case, what’s another 50% off?” She nodded to the teenager who smiled and sauntered over to the brown chair in the back. “Make sure to set up the child safety setting.”

“Thank you.” The girl called out before turning back to the screen in her hand. “I didn’t know you could do work for people.”

“My processor used to be a lot faster. Back then, I could do a million calculations a minute. It’s not much compared to other computers, but it was enough for simple shops such as this.”

“Well, for a simple shop, we did quite well because of you.” The woman limped over to help her employee install the limiter chips in the hover chair. When they finished, they brought the chair over to the girl and helped strap her into the cushioned seat. “Have a nice adventure. If driving the chair becomes too difficult, just let go of the handle, and the automatic controls will take you where you want to go.”

“Thank you!” The girl waved goodbye.

“Remember, that’s a recliner!” The teenager called after her as she turned the chair towards the door and used the joystick on the armrest to push it forward. “Feel free to lean back.”

Returning to the warm, summer weather, we took to the street before rising to the sky. Others were among us, but hover chairs were designed to avoid accidents and had so much padding that any errors would only result in a minimal collision. Still, the girl’s muscles tensed whenever she came close to another vehicle.

“It’s okay.” I told her. “You’re driving great. I take it this isn’t your first time?”

“No, my dad says the earlier I drive the easier everything else in the world comes to me. So, I’ve been doing this since I was five.” She answered, obviously hiding her nervousness behind a front of confidence, but I didn’t mind. “He actually said you used to do lessons.”

“That’s true.” I used to teach children like her how to drive chairs and other vehicles, but back then, I had a larger, stronger arm that could pilot the devices itself. Alas, after enough overuse, my arm had broken into pieces and been replaced with the smaller one I wore now. “I’m surprised he remembers.”

“I’m not. He was the one who first told me that if my phone was running low on energy to come to you. He said you’re always giving out a helping hand, in some cases literally.”

“So you know I lost my original arm?”

“You lost your arm?” Her eyes widened, and the chair swerved. “How?”

“Did you dad not tell you?”

“He said you gave out a helping hand, often at the library.”

“Oh... I think my vocabulary database has become corrupted. What does literally mean again?”

“That you’re literate and do stuff with reading.” She explained. “Silly, Mr. Gizmo.”

“Yes, silly me.” A smile flashed across my screen. Slowly, they rose higher above the town, and I saw several buildings that brought back old files. There was the garden I’d planted a wide variety of flowers, the library I’d filled with books, and the bunkers I’d built for storms. Before I’d been reduced to just a screen and a small arm, I’d been quite active in the community, but seeing how much of my work survived made me happy.

“Wait, so you had an arm and now you don’t. Did you lose any other parts?” The girl asked.

“A few. I actually used to be a full android with arms, legs, and a body.”

“An android! Wow! What happened?”

“Well, they stopped making parts for my model, the A24, so slowly, when parts of me broke, there was nothing to replace them.”

“That’s sad. What’re you going to do when the rest of you breaks down?”

“That’s the funny thing, when you lose one part, suddenly others become more useful. I once used to go from city to city, but since I lost my legs, I’ve had a chance to help out this town.”

“But you weren’t able to go on any adventures. That sucks.”

“A little, but I don’t think you should worry about...” I answered, realizing my speakers were beginning to falter. Soon, I would be entering sleep mode and hoping that I had enough energy left in my batteries to start back up. Still, I could last until they reached the mountain. “Me.”

“Ok...” The girl glanced down but said nothing else. Sailing in silence, we drifted towards the clouds. There, wisps of white wafted past us. An hour passed then two, and finally, we reached the mountain. But we were not the first ones there. Atop the highest peak, a small, metal shack stood, and curious, we parked the hover chair next to it.

“Hello!” The girl called out. “Is anyone there?”

“Y... Yes.” A gravely, metallic voice echoed from inside. “Give me a second. These old legs aren’t what they used to be.”

“Another gizmo.” The girl turned towards me. “Maybe he can give you a tour of the scenery Mr. Gizmo.”

“Strange... I recognize that voice.” I commented back, trying to remember where I’d heard it. “I think I’ve met him before.”

“So, he’s old... eww.”

“I heard that.” The door swung open, and an android even older than me stepped out. “How are you two doing today?”

“Great! We just came up here to get a good look at everything. Mr. Gizmo hasn’t been here in forever.”

“I think it has been a little bit longer than forever.” The android smiled. “I don’t suppose you remember.”

“Haha, I think I do.” I smiled back as the old memory logs returned to me. “After all, you do have my legs.”

“Yes, I do.” The older android tapped on the rusted, metal legs that kept him upright. “I don’t suppose you would like them back.”

“Has anything changed since last time?”

“Sadly, no.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” The girl asked.

“Basically, I owe Mr. Gizmo a life and more debt. My old body had fallen apart, and I was brought up here to live out the rest of my days. However, this gentle bot found me and gave me his legs so that I could explore the world like I’d always wanted to do.”

“And did you do it?” I asked.

“I did. But still, I want to see more. There are so many islands and cities and people, and I want to experience them all. However, these legs are yours, and it’s high time I return them.”

“Nonsense.” I responded. “I don’t need those legs. You do. Take them and treasure them.”

“I couldn’t.”

“You could, you have, and you will. Trust me, I’m happy to see they’ve worked out so well for you.” I smiled even as my screen flickered. “If I may ask for something in return, would you turn me so I can see the surrounding world.”

“Of course.” The android held me up, and as darkness descended, I saw the world and all its wonderful green and white and blue. The trees, cities, and lakes waved to me, stirring old memories. Many of those locations wouldn’t have existed if I hadn’t helped, and after a millennium of work, peace was upon me. I didn’t want to go, but my power source was already past its limit. So, I closed my remaining programs and waited for the end. But the closing, blue curtain never came. In fact, I felt more alive than I had in the past few years. Restarting my programs to assess my surroundings, I realized my batteries were being restored.

“Wow, now I really feel bad. Had I known it was a problem power, I would’ve visited you years ago.” The old android laughed. “Thanks, girl, for telling me about my old friend.”

“Of course, you can fix him, right?” She asked.

“At least, I can fix this part.” The android explained. “The nice this about the A23 models is that we have an extra set of batteries, and both of mine are still working. So, he can have my spare ones. At least, if he doesn’t mind sticking around a bit longer.”

“You don’t mind that, right Mr. Gizmo?” The girl asked.

“Well, you did go through the trouble of carrying me all the way up here.” A grin grew across my screen, bright and bold, and my heart thudded inside my chest. “I suppose I should help you out a few times in return... just to show my thanks.”