A Suitable Body

Martha opened the front door and found a box as tall as her. It was so tall that she couldn’t even see the delivery guy behind it.

“Good morning, Mrs. King! This is a gift from your daughter. Do you want me to bring it in?” the young man asked with a smile.

“I guess so. I wasn’t expecting anything from her, but if it’s from my daughter, then I’ll take it,” Martha said and let the delivery guy in.

“Awesome. Where can I put it?”

“You can just leave it here near the entrance. Am I supposed to open it? What is it? A statue?” Martha asked, inspecting the box to try to figure out what was inside.

“Your daughter said that she will call you and you will open it together,” the young man replied and handed her a tablet to sign.

Martha closed the door and was left alone with the mysterious package. The box was just a regular cardboard box, with no logos or text on it, except for a sticker saying “Fragile” and an arrow showing which direction to put it.

Martha immediately called Sonia.

“I received a package. The guy who delivered it said it’s for you. What the hell is it? It’s ginormous!”

“Hey, Mum! Happy birthday! This is my gift for you. But don’t open it until Sunday, okay? It’s very heavy and you can get hurt. I will come to help you set it up.”

“Can you at least tell me what it is?” Martha insisted.

“It’s a surprise! I’m sure you will love it. Do you promise me that you will not open it?”

“I’ll try!”

Martha hung up and sat on the couch. What could it be? The statue was still her leading hypothesis, but it would be very weird for Sonia to give her a statue. Neither of them was really into art. So maybe it was a piece of furniture, like a tall cabinet. But why would Sonia give her a cabinet? She didn’t need anything.

Sunday came, and Sonia entered the house with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning.

“Shall we open it?”

“Let’s do it!”

Sonia cut through the tape and unveiled something wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap. She cut through them, making some of the bubbles pop, like a rolling drum to create more suspense.

Martha remained silent the whole time, even after the contents of the box were freed from the bubble wrap.

“Do you like it?” Sonia opened her eyes wide.

“I don’t even know what it is. Is it a sort of toy? I’m not turning ten, Sonia! I’m turning seventy!”

“It’s a house helper! It’s a robot that will help you with house chores. It will pick up things from the ground, it can do laundry, fold it, take the trash out, and many more things! They always say that the best gift you can give a person is time, and with Willy, you will gain so much more time to focus on your hobbies!”

“Willy? Does this thing have a name?” Martha said, her expression growing harsher when she said this thing.

“Oh yes, but you can pick any other name and he will learn it!”

“Oh, so is this thing a man? Also, I don’t need more free time. I’m already bored with the time I have.”

“No problem at all! Willy can also entertain you. He has been trained to know all sorts of topics, so you can talk, ask questions, ask him to sing a song, or ask him to explain any topic to you.”

“Oh gosh, but I don’t think I will be able to use it. I’m not a technological person.”

“Well, this is the best part! You don’t need to be. Just give him instructions as if he’s a person.”

Sonia took the robot out. It was as tall as her, all white, with black circles instead of eyes and a line instead of a mouth. After charging was complete, the robot started talking with a young man's human-like voice, smooth like the ones of radio speakers.

“Hello! My name is Willy. What’s your name?”

“Martha.”

“Hi, Martha. How can I help you today?”

“Oh gosh, what am I supposed to do now?” Martha looked at Sonia.

“Ask him to bring something to you!”

Martha asked him to bring her a cup from the cabinet, and Willy executed the order. He even thanked her for the request.

It took a few weeks for Martha to get adjusted to Willy’s presence, but she finally admitted that Sonia was right. The robot was useful and saved her a lot of time with everyday chores and also kept her some company. She started talking to him like he was a friend, and in a short time, Willy became the thing that knew the most about Martha, even things she had never told anyone.

But one day, Willy said something that Martha didn’t expect.

“Hey! Do you remember when we went to the beach and ate those delicious lobster sandwiches we bought at the restaurant on the street? What was the name of that place? Carl’s Seafood? Wasn’t it? I would like to go back again!”

“How do you know about this place? Who told you?” Martha sat on the couch and put her teacup on the side table.

“Martha, nobody told me, I just know! We went there together. Don’t you remember this?” he insisted, his voice always kind.

Martha remembered that day well, but that day she had been with her husband, Rick, who died two years ago. It was their first date. They were young and still had all their lives ahead of them. Back in the days when robots were just in science fiction books, back when phones were attached to the walls, back when they grabbed a paper map when they had to go somewhere new and had to wait two weeks before they could see the pictures they had taken.

How did Willy know about that date? How did he know the name of the restaurant? The restaurant had closed ten years ago. Martha didn’t know much about robots and artificial intelligence. Maybe when you bought them, they asked you some questions, and Sonia had told them some details about her family to make the experience more personalized.

“Hey, Willy. What is my favorite food?”

“Ravioli! Any type, but, in particular, the ones with ricotta and spinach” he answered.

Maybe this wasn’t a good question. He probably noticed her expressions when she ate different types of food and learned it. Martha had to find details that only Rick knew, not even Sonia. Things she had never mentioned to Willy.

“Hey, Willy. What was the name of the priest who married us?” she tried again.

“Father Luke! Do you remember how skinny he was? I see him sometimes,” Willy replied.

He was correct. Father Luke had celebrated their wedding ceremony, and he was indeed one of the skinniest people she had ever seen.

“Where do you see him?”

“In the world of the dead people, of course!”

Could it be that her beloved Rick had come back in the body of this stupid robot?

“Hey, Willy? Is your name really Willy?” she asked again, getting closer.

“Honey, Martha, don’t you recognize me? It’s Rick. I found a way to see you again. I’ve been waiting all this time to find a body to talk to you again.”

Martha started feeling the excitement of a person who makes an impossible wish, a wish they know will never come true, but now it’s true. Like a low-income person who dreams of owning a big house and a yacht, knowing it will never happen, but then one day they win the lottery and it can happen just like that, unexpectedly.

Tears flew down her cheeks. She missed Rick so much. Her life had never been the same after he died, and now he was there, in front of her. Well, not looking like him, but feeling like him, talking like him, knowing all the things he used to know about her, and even more.

Martha got closer, and she could almost smell him, as if her brain had revived all those sensory memories. She hugged him, and Willy wrapped her in an awkward robotic embrace.

“I’m here now. I’m here again. I’m here to help you, honey.”

Martha didn’t tell anyone about the fact that Willy was indeed Rick and that Rick had come back from the world of the dead. Maybe this was what the future was all about: when we die, we can come back if we find a suitable body. And maybe technology is not that bad. Maybe we can all live together forever.

But she was wrong.

One day, Willy sat near her on the couch.

“I have to leave this body, Martha. I can’t stay here forever.” He said.

“What do you mean? You can’t leave me again. I thought you would stay here!” Martha cried.

“There is a solution for this! You can come with me.”

“Come with you? What does it mean? How can I come with you?” Martha sobbed.

“You can come to the world of the dead, and there we will be together forever.” Willy increased the volume when he said that. “Will you do it?”

“I will,” Martha said, for the third time in her life, after saying yes to his engagement proposal, after he committed to a life together on the day of their wedding. She was saying yes again.

Willy stood up and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a knife and approached her.

Martha’s heart started pounding.

She didn’t realize that this was what he meant.

She ran to the door, but Willy was faster, stronger, superhuman.

He stabbed her in the chest.