"That was when the icecaps had melted because of the greenhouse gases and the oceans had drowned cities along all the shorelines of the world." "Amsterdam, Venice, New York forever lost." "Millions of people were displaced." "Climate became chaotic." "Hundreds of millions of people starved in poorer countries." "A high degree of prosperity survived when the developed world introduced sanctions to license pregnancies which was why robots, who did not consume resources beyond those of their first manufacture were so essential an economic link in the chain mail of society." "To create an artificial being has been man's dream since the birth of science." "Not merely from the modern age when our forebears created the first thinking machines, primitive ones that played chess." "How far we have come!" "The artificial being is a reality, a perfect simulacrum articulated in limb, articulate in speech and not lacking in human response." "And even pain-memory response." "How did that make you feel?" "Angry?" "Shocked?" " I don't understand." " What did I do to your feelings?" "You did it to my hand." "All right." "There's the rub." "Undress." "At Cybertronics, the artificial being has reached its highest form." "The universally adapted Mecha the basis for hundreds of models serving humans in all the multiplicity of daily life." "That's far enough." "But we have no reason to congratulate ourselves." "We are rightly proud of it." "But what does it amount to?" "Sheila, open." "A sensory toy with intelligent behavioral circuits using neurone-sequencing technology as old as I am." "I believe that my work on mapping the impulse pathways in a neurone can enable us to construct a Mecha of a qualitatively different order." "I propose that we build a robot who can love." "Love?" "But we ship thousands of lover-models every month." "Of course." "You're your own best customer, Syatyoo-Sama." "Quality control is very important." "Tell me, what is love?" "Love is first widening my eyes quickening my breathing, warming my skin and" "And so on, exactly so." "Thank you, Sheila." "I wasn't referring to sensuality simulators." "The word that I used was "love."" "Like the love of a child for its parents." "I propose that we build a robot-child who can love." "A robot-child who will genuinely love the parent it imprints on with a love that never ends." "A child-substitute Mecha?" "But a Mecha with a mind, with neuronal feedback." "I'm suggesting that love will be the key by which they acquire a subconscious never before achieved." "An inner world of metaphor, of intuition of self-motivated reasoning, of dreams." "A robot that dreams?" "How exactly do we pull this off?" "It occurs to me with all this animus existing against Mechas today it isn't just creating a robot who can love." "But isn't the real conundrum, can a human love them back?" "Ours will be a perfect child, always loving, never ill, never changing." "With all the childless couples yearning for a license our Mecha will open up a new market and fill a great human need." "But you haven't answered my question." "If a robot could genuinely love a person what responsibility does that person hold toward that Mecha in return?" " It's a moral question, isn't it?" " The oldest one of all." "But in the beginning, didn't God create Adam to love him?" ""The baby was born as the first leaves of autumn fell." "A baby boy." "And Marian's wish came true." "The boy had white hair." "He was baptized Martin, after his grandfather."" "Dr. Frazier, good to see you." "There was an article in the Journal of Chinese Medicine." "Hello, Monica." "They talked about virus locators." "Did you read it?" "I can still hear you." " I'm worried about her." " I know." "She feels that she should mourn the death of your son." "After five years, you feel you should mourn too." "But medicine says mourning is inappropriate." "Martin is pending." "Pending." "So all her grief goes undigested." "Henry, your son may be beyond our science." "But it's your wife who can still be reached." "The screening process was tougher than building the prototype." "Of our 2000 employees, only a few met your requirements." "Initiate." "Employment record, quality of lifestyle." "Query." "Internal data." "Loyalty to the firm, and in this individual's case a family tragedy that may qualify him above the rest." "I'll see him." "Henry!" " Don't kill me." " What are you doing?" "I love you." "Don't kill me." "The door's closed." "I like your floor." "I can't accept this!" "There is no substitute for your own child!" " It's not too late to take him back." " What were you thinking?" " I'll do whatever you want." " Do you think I can just...?" " I'll do whatever you want!" " I don't know what to do." "I'll return him to Cybertronics in the morning." "It's gone." "Good." "I mean, Henry, did you see his face?" "He's so real." " But he's not." " No, he's not." " Inside, he's like the rest, isn't he?" " 100 miles of fiber, yeah." "But outside, he just looks so real like he is a child." "A Mecha-child." "A child." "The faith my company has placed on me, on us, is extraordinary." "There are a few procedures to follow if you decide to keep David." "If you keep him, an imprinting protocol consisting of seven words needs to be spoken to David in this order here." "For our own protection, this imprinting is irreversible." "His love would be sealed and we'd be part of him forever." "Because of this, after imprinting, no Mecha-child can be resold." "If a parent decides not to keep it they must return it to Cybertronics for destruction." "I had to sign an agreement or they wouldn't let you see David." "You have to sign it too." "Right here." "Monica don't imprint until you're entirely sure." "Silly man." "Of course I'm not sure." "Would you like me to sleep now?" "Good idea." "Good idea." "Monica?" "Well, it's late, you know." "It's after 9." "How late do they let you stay up?" "I can never go to sleep." "But I can lay quietly and not make a peep." "Those pajamas will fit." "We'll check on you in the morning." "Dress me?" "I'm gonna say good night while you boys be boys." "Raise your arms." " Is it a game?" " Yes." "Hide-and-seek." "I found you." "That's your room." "Just go and play." "I found you." "Out!" "Out!" "Get out of here!" "And close the goddamn door!" "Is it a game?" "Now, I'm gonna read some words." "They won't make any sense, but I want you to listen to them anyway." "And look at me all the time." "Can you do that?" "Yes, Monica." "Can you feel my hand on the back of your neck?" "Yes." " Does any of this hurt?" " No." "Okay, now look at me." "Ready?" "Cirrus." "Socrates." "Particle." "Decibel." "Hurricane." "Dolphin." "Tulip." "Monica." "David." "Monica." "All right." "I wonder if I did that right." "What were those words for, Mommy?" "What did you call me?" "Mommy." "Who am I, David?" "You are my mommy." "You smell lovely." "I love it when you wear this stuff." " Will you love me when it's all gone?" " No." "Stop it!" "We can marry again and begin with a scent that's not in short supply." "Come on, we're late." " Hello, David." " Hello, Henry." "Walk us out, sweetheart." "Come on!" "My shoe!" " Your tie!" "You're hopeless!" " I'm helpless." "He made our bed." "He's just trying so hard!" "He's trying to please me." "He has a way with my coffee!" "It's creepy." "You never hear him coming." " He is only a child." " He's a toy." "He's a gift." "From you." "David, when we leave, the doors will go smart so you can't leave your room, but if you'd like...." " I put too much on." " Do I smell lovely?" "Oh, God, no!" "Mommy?" "Will you die?" "Well, one day, David, yes, I will." "I'll be alone." "Don't worry yourself so." "How long will you live?" "For ages." "For 50 years." "I love you, Mommy." "I hope you never die." "Never." "Yes." "Darling!" "We're becoming unfashionably, unreasonably late." "Hello?" "This belonged to Martin, my son." "His name is Teddy." "Teddy, this is David." " Hello, Teddy." " Hello, David." "Teddy is a supertoy." "I know you'll take good care of each other." "I am not a toy." "Henry!" " Sorry!" " What were you doing?" "I'll tell you in the car." "Come on!" "Is 50 years a long time?" "I don't think so." "David, I'll get it!" " Hand it to me." " Look what I can do." "Hello." "Yes?" "Mrs. Swinton, could you hold?" "I have an urgent call." "Yes, I will." "David, I need the phone now." "Monica?" "Can you hear me?" " Let the phone talk now." " Pick up the phone, Monica!" " Run along, play with Teddy." " Oh, my God, Moni" "Hello, Henry, what is it?" "What?" "When?" "Oh, God!" "David." "The most wonderful thing in the whole world has happened." "This is Martin." "This is my son." "Martin, no!" "We'll have a contest to see who he comes to first." "Come here, Teddy!" "Come here!" "Teddy!" "Come here!" " You call him too." " Come here, Teddy." " Come on." "Teddy!" " Come here, boy." " Come here!" "Come on, Teddy." " Come here, Teddy." " Teddy, come." " Come here, Teddy." " Come here, Teddy." " Come, Teddy!" "Come." "Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Are they torturing you, Teddy?" "He used to be a supertoy, but now he's old and stupid." "You want him?" "Yes, please." "Now you're the new supertoy." "What stuff can you do?" "Can you do power stuff, like walk on the ceiling or the walls?" "Anti-gravity, like float or fly?" "Can you?" "No, because I'm real." "Can you break this?" "I better not." "These things, they do look better in pieces." "They do." "I can't." "Stand up." " Look, they made you bigger than me." " Who did?" "They did." "The dollmakers." "They made you taller." "Why don't you look like one?" "Like one?" "You're not cute like a doll." "You just look like someone's ordinary kid." "When's your birthday?" "I never had a birthday." "When were you first built?" "When's your "build-day"?" "I don't remember." "Okay, what's the first thing you can remember?" "A bird." "What sort of bird?" "A bird with big wings and feathers sticking up from the bottom." "Can you draw it?" "Yes." "That looks like a peacock." "Can you say peacock?" "Peacock." " Can you say pee?" " Pee." "Now say that two times fast." "Okay." "Then you gotta put the green ones" "Read to us?" "Let's see." "Oh, yeah." "David's going to love it." ""The Showman went into the kitchen where the sheep for supper was roasting on the spit in the furnace." "When he saw there was not enough wood he called Harlequin and Punchinello and said:" "'Bring me Pinocchio!" "He is hanging on a nail." "He is made of dry wood and will make a nice fire for my roast.'"" ""Pinocchio worked until midnight." "And instead of making eight baskets, he made 16." "Then he went to bed and fell asleep." "As he slept, he dreamt he saw the fairy, lovely and smiling who gave him a kiss, saying:" "'Brave Pinocchio in return for your good heart, I forgive all your past misdeeds." "Be good in future, and you will be happy.'" "Then the dream ended and Pinocchio awoke, full of amazement." "You can imagine how astonished he was when he saw that he was no longer a puppet but a real boy, just like other boys."" "Josephine has taken a leave of absence." "Oh, my God." "Well, I saw that coming." " How?" "They were fabulous together." " Come on!" "She was miserable." " He never said they were miserable." " That's because...." " Is that because of the cutbacks?" " No idea." "They don't tell me." " Do they have a weight problem?" " So do I." "You do not!" "That is ridiculous." "I don't know." "There's something about inner beauty that...." "You will break." " That is ridiculous!" " Exactly." " Work has become so silly." " I know what you're talking about." " Does he eat?" " I'm not sure." " You're not supposed to do that." " What are you doing?" " Martin, put the fork down!" " Stop, David." "Will you stop?" "Martin, you're provoking him." "Stop it." " Stop it!" " The two of you, stop!" "Stop it now!" "Stop it!" "David, stop it!" " There's sputum in the code lockers." " Smell that garlic." "We should throw in a chest mint." " Can you locate the surface?" " Don't touch the merchandise." " It's all swamp in here." " You made a mess of yourself." "Spinach is for rabbits, people and Popeye." "Not robo-boys." "Try to insert yourself." "Through the pantry, the lower shelves." "It's okay, Mommy." "It doesn't hurt." "Deactivators are all shut down on the left side." " Monica." " No!" "I have to...." "That's not all of it." "That's not all of it." "If you do something really, really, really special for me a special mission then I'll go tell Mommy I love you." "And then she'll love you too." "What shall I do?" "You have to promise, and then I'll tell you." "You have to tell me, and then I'll promise." "I want a lock of Mommy's hair." "I'll share it with you." "And if you had it and wore it she might love you even more." "Like the princess in the movie we saw." "When she had the prince's hair in her necklace thing he loved her." "We can ask her." "No, it has to be a secret mission." "Sneak into Mommy's bedroom in the middle of the night and chop it off." "I can't, Martin." "I'm not allowed." "You promised." "You said, "Tell me, and then I'll promise."" "Didn't you?" "David!" "Why did you do that?" "Why did you do that?" "!" "Talk to me!" "Goddamn it, talk to me!" "Why did you do that?" "You're hurting him!" "You'll break him!" "Henry I wanted Mommy to love me more." " Oh, my God!" " What?" "I think I cut my eye." "I think it's bleeding." "Come on, watch it." "It's normal for boys to feel jealous and competitive." "Martin's been home a month." "Brothers normally challenge each other." "He was playing a game, he made a mistake." "He's practically human." " Not holding the knife." " Scissors." "It was a weapon." " Why do you think he'd harm me?" " We don't know the answer." "How is he worth the risk to you, to Martin, to our family?" " I won't let you take him back." " Think about this." "If he was created to love, then we can assume he can hate." "And if pushed to those extremes, what is he capable of?" "Happy birthday, Martin." "I made this for you." " Is this your little brother?" " Technically, no." " He's Mecha." " What's Mecha?" "We're "org-anic"  you're "mecha-anical."" "Orga, Mecha." "Orga, Mecha." "Todd, stop!" "I didn't know they even made kids." "Can you pee?" " I cannot." " Let's see what you can't pee with." "Guys, come on." "Touch it." "It feels so real!" "That's creepy." " It feels so real!" " That is too real." "Mecha-real." "Does he have DAS?" " DAS what?" " Das ist gut!" "Damage Avoidance System." "DAS." "It's a pain-alert system." "Our serving man has it." "It's so they don't go picking up fire with their hands." "Watch." "Watch this." "I'm not gonna cut you." "This won't hurt." "I'm not gonna cut your skin." "Tell me when you feel it." " Keep me safe, Martin." " Let me go!" " Keep me safe, Martin." " Let me go!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Henry!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God, he's not breathing!" "Take a breath." "Cough it up." "That's a great boy!" " Thank God!" " Call Frazier." "Get him out of the sun." " Hey, David?" " Mommy!" "I need to speak to you for a minute, okay?" "Okay." "These are beautiful." "Thank you." "I was thinking that we could go for a drive tomorrow in the country." "You and me." "What do you say?" " And Teddy?" " Yeah, and Teddy." "Thank you, Mommy." "Thank you so much." "Tomorrow's gonna be just for us, okay?" "Where are we going?" "Someplace nice?" "Are those happy tears?" "What's for dinner tonight?" " You know you don't eat." " Yes." "But I like sitting at the table." "David?" "David, I want-- David, listen." "Listen to me!" "David, listen." "You won't understand the reasons but I have to leave you here." "Is it a game?" "No." "When will you come back for me?" "I'm not." "You'll have to be here by yourself." "Alone?" "With Teddy." "No." "No, no, no!" "No, Mommy, please!" " No, no." "Please, Mommy." " They would destroy you, David!" "I'm sorry I broke myself, I'm sorry I cut your hair and I'm sorry I hurt Martin" "I have to go!" "I have to go!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" " I have to go now." " Mommy, don't!" "Mommy!" "If Pinocchio became real and I become real, can I come home?" " That's a story." " But a story tells what happens." "Stories are not real!" "You're not real!" "Now, look." "Take this, all right?" "Take this." "Don't let anyone see how much it is." "Look!" "Don't go that way." "Go anywhere but that way or they'll catch you." "Don't ever let them catch you!" "Stay away from Flesh Fairs, away from where there are lots of people." "Stay away from all people." "Only others like you, only Mecha are safe!" "Why do you want to leave me?" "Why?" "I'm sorry I'm not real." "If you let me, I'll be so real for you!" "Let go." "Let go, David." "Let go!" "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the world." "I'm afraid." " Of me?" " Yes." "That I will hurt you?" "Yes." "I think you're afraid of letting go." "I think you're afraid of happiness." "And this is starting to excite me." "Are you afraid of seeing the stars Patricia?" "I can show you how to reach them." "I'm afraid of what you've got under there." "May I see what it looks like first?" "Is this your first time with something like me?" "I've never been with Mecha." "That makes two of us." "I'm afraid it will hurt." "Patricia once you've had a lover-robot you'll never want a real man again." "Are these the wounds of passion?" "Do you hear that music?" "You are a goddess Patricia." "You wind me up inside." "But you deserve much better in your life." "You deserve me." " Hey, Joe, what do you know?" " Jane, how's the game?" " Hey, Joe, what do you know?" " Hello." "Place a DND on room 102." "Sure thing." "There you are." "Oh, Joe." "When you're done, crack your collar, show off your operating license." "The Flesh Fair is in Barn Creek and the hounds are out hunting for strays." " Good thing I ran into you." "Thanks." " Sure thing." "Mustn't keep a lady waiting." "Miss Bevins." "It's Joe." "At your service." "I've been counting the seconds since last we met." "Have you been crying, Samantha?" "I found a tear." "Hey, Joe, what do you know?" "How many seconds has it been the last time you two were together?" "255,133." "Goodbye, Sam." "And never forget:" "You killed me first." "I'm in bad trouble." "If I am a real boy then I can go back." "And she will love me then." "How?" "The Blue Fairy made Pinocchio into a real boy." "She can make me into a real boy." "I must find her." "I must become real." "There must be someone in the whole world who knows where she lives." "Moon on the rise!" "It's the Flesh Fair." "They destroy us on-stage." "I've been there." "What do we do?" "We run now." "Any old iron." "Any old iron." "Any old iron." "Any old iron." "Expel your Mecha!" "Purge yourselves of artificiality." "Let some Mecha loose to run." "Any old unlicensed iron down there?" "Hey, you see that?" "Could be a human thing." "No, he's scanning cold." "No expiration date, no I.D." " What's a new model doing loose?" " It's a late-generation lover-Mecha." "That's a relief from all this antique iron." "Sure he's not a man?" "I don't want another Trenton incident." "He's a free-range Mecha running hot." "Reel him in!" "Sic the hounds on the rest." "Shake down shantytown!" "What's your name?" "My name is David." "Hello, David." "How old are you?" "I don't know." "You need someone to take care of you?" "Would you like a nanny?" "I have many good references." "Do you know where the Blue Fairy lives?" "Let out the line." "Steady your drift." "Open the lower hold." "Don't be afraid, David." "I'll break, David." "Hello!" "Anybody lose this?" "Hello!" "This your dog?" "Take it to lost and found." "Lost and found!" " Do you know David?" " Where's the "off" switch?" "Where's David?" "Can you help me find David?" "I have to find David." "Are you taking me to David?" "Could you shoot me over the propeller?" "I don't need to go through it." "I changed my mind." "Gentlemen, start your engines!" "Ten!" "Nine!" "Eight!" "Seven!" "Six!" "Five!" "Four!" "Three!" "Two!" "One!" "What about us?" "What about us?" "We are alive and this is a celebration of life!" "And this is commitment to a truly human future!" " What's your name?" " Hello, Teddy." "Hello, David." "Take it!" "Take it." " Biker hounds rolling." " Cue biker hound." " Papa!" " Amanda, go outside." "It's smoky here." "There's a boy in the cage." " What did you say?" " There's a boy in the cage." " A boy?" " A real boy." "He's stuck in the cage." " In the pen, honey?" " In the jail place." " Crowd reaction...." " We got a remote near the pigpen?" "Bring it up." "Let me see what she's talking about." " What are you looking for?" " She says she saw a boy in there." " How do you know about this?" " The bear told me." "I told her." "Would you be so kind and shut down my pain receivers?" "Why is this happening?" "History repeats itself." "It's the rite of blood and electricity." "When the opportunities avail themselves, they pick away at us cutting back our numbers so they can maintain numerical superiority." "My time, is it up already?" "Goodbye, everyone." " Keep me safe, keep me safe!" " Not yet." "They just want him." "Keep me safe, keep me safe, keep me safe." "Security." "Do you have any reports of any missing kids, any missing children?" "All right, thanks." "How'd you get in there?" "Boy!" "You, boy!" "What's your name?" "I won't bite you." "Come over where I can see you." "I won't hurt you." "I just need to see." " You're a machine." " I'm a boy." "Is he a toy boy?" "My name is David." "Impossible." "I still work, don't I?" "I can work in the dark, but my lamp is broken." "My lamplight will not work." "I hit my lamp on a girder overhead." "Goodbye, David." "No one builds children." "No one ever has." "What would be the point?" "It could be a custom job." "Some rich guy's pretend child." "I'm a custom job." "75 years ago, I was Time magazine's Mecha of the Year!" "No, this work is first-rate." "A lot of love went into him." "David?" "You are one of a kind, you know that?" " Who made you?" " My mommy made me." "One of those built to aspire to the human condition." "Who is your maker?" "Serve U.S., E.Z. Living, Robiville?" " Simulit City Center, Cybertronics?" " Monica is my mommy." "Can I speak with you for a moment?" "You're thinking about not showing him?" "Something this original you don't toss out!" "Originality without purpose is useless." "If money is your purpose, here's your refund." "My compliments." " What'll you do with him?" " Put him where he belongs." "In show business." "It was certainly my good fortune, running into you!" " Let go of him." "Let go!" " I'm trying." " Don't let go!" "Keep me safe!" " Suit yourselves." "Johnson-Johnson!" "Johnson-Johnson!" "Johnson-Johnson!" "Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls and children of all ages." "What will they think of next?" "See here!" "A bitty-bot, a Tinkertoy, a living doll." "We all know why they made him." "To steal your hearts, to replace your children." "This is the latest of their insults to human dignity." "And in their grand scheme to phase out God's children meet the next generation of child designed to do just that." "Do not be fooled by the artistry of this creation." "No doubt there was talent in its crafting." "Yet, with the very first strike, you will see the big lie..." "Don't burn me!" "Don't burn me!" "I'm not Pinocchio!" "Don't make me die!" "I'm David!" "I'm David!" "Mecha don't plead for their lives!" "Who is that?" "He looks like a boy!" "Built like a boy to disarm us." "See how they try to imitate our emotions now!" "Whatever performance this Sim puts on, remember we are only demolishing artificiality!" "Let he who is without Sim cast the first stone." "He's just a boy!" "Johnson, you're a monster!" "Get him out before they tear this place apart!" " We found him." " Where?" " A Flesh Fair outside Haddonfield." " Is he alive?" "Yes." "He's in one piece." "I see the moon." " Is it real?" " I don't know, David." "Is it coming?" "I can't tell yet." "Let's not walk this way." " Where are we going?" " This way now." "Are you in trouble?" "Have you run away?" " My mommy told me to run away." " Why?" " I guess because Henry didn't like me." " Why was that?" " Martin came home." " And who is he?" "Martin is Mommy and Henry's real son." "After I find the Blue Fairy, then I can go home." "Mommy will love a real boy." "The Blue Fairy will make me into one." "Is Blue Fairy Mecha, Orga, man or woman?" "Woman." "Woman?" "I know women!" "They sometimes ask for me by name." "I know all about women." "About as much as there is to know." "No two are ever alike." "And after they've met me, no two are ever the same." "And I know where they can be found." " Where?" " Rouge City." "Across the Delaware." "Too far for our feet." "We'll need help to get there." "And it is not without peril." "We will have to journey towards the moon." "Are there many women in Rouge City?" " As there are stars at night." " How do we find just one?" "We will ask Dr. Know." "There is nothing he doesn't." "Exactly what name do you give this woman?" "She is just Blue Fairy." "Blue Fairy." "In the world of Orga, blue is the color of melancholy." "Yet the services I provide will put a blush back on anyone's cheek." "I will change the color of your fairy for you." "She will scream out:" ""Oh, yes." "Oh, God." "Oh, yes." "Oh, God." "Oh, God!"" "She'll make you a real boy, I'll make her a real woman and all will be right because you held my hand and saved my brain so that once again my customers may ask for me by name:" ""Gigolo Joe, what do you know?"" "Why do you do that?" "That's just what I do." "Now follow me and don't fall behind." "All roads lead to Rouge!" "Don't they say that, hey?" "Don't they just?" "There are girls just like me." "We are the guiltless pleasures of the lonely human." "You won't get us pregnant or have us to supper." "We work under you, we work on you and we work for you." "Man made us better at what we do than was ever humanly possible." "If you could manage us a lift to Rouge City, all this and much, much more can be yours." "Get in." "Say "ah."" "Over there is Here Kitty Kitty where the agency held my tryouts when I was made new." "That's Tails." "Very hoity-toity." "I've yet to be asked to perform there." "Only sunrise gents and sunset ladies." "Sierra Class robots." "Can't even speak English." "All made in Sweden." "Couldn't tell a joke from a poke." "There's Mildred." "I have to show you inside Mildred." "Are you her?" "That's Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart." "Those who made us look for those who made them." "They go in, fold their hands, sing songs and when they come out, it's me they find." "I've picked up a lot of business on this spot." "But, Joe, where's Blue Fairy?" "That's what we'll find out when we ask Dr. Know." "That's where everyone goes who needs to know." "Meet the good doctor." "Starving minds, welcome to Dr. Know where fast food for thought is served all day in 40,000 locations nationwide." "Ask Dr. Know." "There's nothing I don't." "Tell me where I can find the Blue Fairy." "Question me, you pay the fee." "Two for five, you get one free." "Two questions cost five Newbucks with a third question on the house." "In this day and age, nothing costs more than information." " That's it." " Ten Newbucks and a 10 copper..." "That should be enough." "He's a smooth operator." "He'll press our limits, but try we must." "Greetings!" "On offer, fact or fiction." "Literacy range from primal to postdoctoral." "From fairy tale to religious." "Who's who or where's where." "Or flat fact." " Flat fact?" " Thank you for question one." "A term demanding an equal answer...." "That shouldn't count!" "That wasn't my question." "You must not raise your voice up at the end of the sentence." " Flat fact." " You have six more questions." "Where is Blue Fairy?" "In the garden." "Vascostylis Blue Fairy." "Blooms twice annually with bright, blue flowers." "A hybrid between Ascola meda Arnold." "Five more questions!" "Who is Blue Fairy?" "Are you sad, lonely, looking for a friend?" "Blue Fairy Escort Service will find a mate for you." "You have four more questions." "Joe!" "Try "fairy tale."" "New category." "A fairy's tale." "No!" "Fairy tale." "No." "Fairy tale." "What is Blue Fairy?" "Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi." ""There was a rustling as a flapping of wings and a falcon flew to the windowsill." "'What are your orders, beautiful fairy?" "'"" "That's her!" ""You know that the child with blue hair was the good-hearted fairy who had lived in that wood for more than a thousand--"" "That's her!" "It was an example of her." "But we're getting closer." "But if a fairy tale is real, then wouldn't it be fact?" "A flat fact?" "Say no more." "New category, please." "Combine fact with fairy tale." "Now ask him again." "How can the Blue Fairy make a robot into a real, live boy?" "Come away O human child To the waters and the wild" "With a fairy hand in hand" "For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand" "Your quest will be perilous, yet the reward is beyond price." "In his book, How Can a Robot Become Human?" "... ...Professor Allen Hobby writes of that which transforms Mecha into Orga." "How do I find her?" "Discovery is quite possible." "Our Blue Fairy does exist in one place and in one place only." "At the end of the world where the lions weep." "Here is the place dreams are born." "Many a Mecha has gone to the end of the world, never to come back." "That is why they call the end of the world "Man-hattan."" "And that's why we must go there." "Wait!" "What if the Blue Fairy isn't real at all?" "What if she's magic?" "The supernatural unites the universe." "Only Orga believe what cannot be seen." "It's what separates our species." "What if she's an electronic parasite that haunts artificial intelligence?" "They hate us, you know." "The humans." "They'll stop at nothing." "My mommy doesn't hate me." "Because I'm special and unique!" "Because there's never been anyone like me before, ever." "When I am real Mommy will read to me and tuck me in my bed and listen to me and cuddle with me and tell me every day 100 times that she loves me!" "She loves what you do for her as my customers love what it is I do for them." "But she does not love you, David." "She cannot love you." "You are neither flesh nor blood." "You are not a dog or a cat or a canary." "You were designed and built specific like the rest of us." "You are alone now because they tired of you or replaced you or were displeased with something you said or broke." "They made us too smart, too quick and too many." "We suffer for their mistakes because when the end comes all that will be left is us!" "That's why they hate us." "And that's why you must stay here." "With me." "Goodbye, Joe." "Stay back." "Stay back." "Let's clear this doorway, please." "You're in bad trouble." "Go about your business now." "Let's go." "Move it." "Be careful, David." "This is not a toy." " Destination?" " Man-hattan." "Mecha-restricted area." " Man-hattan." " Destination achieved." "The lost city in the sea at the end of the world." ""Where the lions weep."" "Turn around, Joe." "We're not gonna give up yet." "Turn around." "Turn all the way around." "Professor Hobby?" "Professor Hobby?" "Come away O human child To the waters and the wild" "With a fairy hand in hand" "For the world's more full of weeping Than you can understand" "Professor Hobby?" "Professor Hobby?" "Hello?" "Hello!" "Is this the place they make you real?" "This is the place they make you read." "Are you real?" "I guess." "Are you me?" " I'm David." " You're not!" "Yes, I am." "I'm David." "So am I." "Hello, David." "Can you read?" "Can you sit down and we can read together?" "Let's be friends." "You can't have her." "I can't hear you." "She's mine." "And I'm the only one." "I'm David!" "I'm David!" "I'm David!" "I'm special!" "I'm unique!" "I'm David!" "You can't have her!" "Yes, you are David." "Professor Hobby?" "Yes, David." "I've been waiting for you." "Dr. Know told me you'd be here." "Is Blue Fairy here too?" "I first heard of your Blue Fairy from Monica." " What could the Blue Fairy do for you?" " Make me a real boy." "But you are a real boy." "As real as I've ever made, which would make me your Blue Fairy." "You're not her." "Dr. Know said she'd be at the lost city in the sea" "That's what Dr. Know needed to know to get you to come home to us." "And it's the only time we intervened." "The only help that we gave him to give to you so you could find your way home to us." "Until you, robots didn't dream robots didn't desire unless we told them what to want." "Do you have any idea what a success story you've become?" "You found a fairy tale, and inspired by love, fueled by desire you set out to make her real." "Most remarkable of all, no one taught you how!" "We lost you for a while." "When you were found, we had a simple test." "Where would your self-motivated reasoning take you?" "To conclude that Blue Fairy is a human flaw, to wish for things that don't exist or to the greatest human gift the ability to chase down our dreams?" "And that is something no machine has ever done until you." "I thought I was one of a kind." "My son was one of a kind." "You are the first of a kind." "My brain is falling out." "Would you like to meet your real mothers and fathers?" "The team is anxious to talk to you." "I want you to wait here." "I'll gather them up." "We want to hear everything about your adventures." "We want to thank you and tell you what's in store for you next." "Mommy." "I saw it, Joe." "I saw it." "The place where she lives." "She's down there." " She is?" " She's waiting for me." "We have to go!" "When you become a real boy, remember me to the ladies when you grow up." " Goodbye, Joe." " Goodbye, David." "I am." "I was!" "David, please be careful." " The Blue Fairy's all right." " What happened?" " I don't know." " We are in a cage." "Blue Fairy?" "Please." "Please, please, make me into a real, live boy." "Please." "Blue Fairy?" "Please. ...make me real." "Blue Fairy, please." "Please make me real." "Please make me a real boy." "Please, Blue Fairy." "Make me into a real boy." "Please...." "And David continued to pray to the Blue Fairy she who smiled softly forever." "She who welcomed forever." "Eventually, the floodlights died but David could still see her, palely, by day." "And he still addressed her, in hope." "He prayed until all the sea anemones had shriveled and died as the ocean froze and the ice encased the amphibicopter and the Blue Fairy locking them together where he could see her a blue ghost in ice." "Always there." "Always smiling." "Always awaiting him." "Eventually, he never moved at all but his eyes always stayed open staring ahead forever all through the darkness of each night and the next day..." "Thus, 2000 years passed by." "Teddy, we're home." "Mommy?" "Mommy!" "We're home!" "Where are you?" "David!" "David!" "You have been searching for me, haven't you?" "For my whole life." "And what, after all this time, have you come to ask me?" " I have a wish to make." " And what is your wish?" "Please make me a real boy so my mommy will love me and let me stay with her." "David, I will do anything that is possible but I cannot make you a real boy." "Where am I?" "This looks like my house, but it is different." "Yes, it is different." "But it's also your home." "We read your mind and it's all here." "There's nothing too small that you didn't store for us to remember." "We so want you to be happy." "You are so important to us, David." "You are unique in all the world." "Will Mommy be coming home soon?" "Is she out shopping with Martin now?" "David, she can never come home because 2000 years have passed and she is no longer living." "Dearest David, when you are lonely we can bring back other people from your time in the past." "If you can bring back other people why can't you bring back her?" "!" "We can only bring back people whose bodies we dig up from the ice." "We need some physical sample of the person like a bone or a fingernail." "David." "Yes, Teddy?" "Do you remember when you cut some of Mommy's hair?" "Henry shook me." "And you dropped her hair?" "I know." "Now you can bring her back can't you?" "Give him what he wants." "Dearest David, your wish is my command." "Hey, Joe, what do you know?" "I often felt a sort of envy of humans of that thing they called spirit." "Humans created a million explanations of the meaning of life in art, poetry, mathematical formulas." "Certainly they must be the key to the meaning of existence." "But human beings no longer existed." "So we began a project that would make it possible to re-create a person, long dead from the DNA in a fragment of bone or mummified skin." "We also wondered, would it be possible to retrieve a memory trace in resonance with a re-created body?" "And you know what we found?" "We found the very fabric of space-time itself stored information about every event which had ever occurred in the past." "But the experiment was a failure." "Those who were resurrected only lived through one day of renewed life." "When they fell asleep on the night of their first new day they died again." "When they became unconscious, their very existence faded away into darkness." "So you see, the equations had shown that once an individual space-time pathway had been used it could not be reused." "If we bring your mother back now it will only be for one day and then you will never see her again." "Maybe...." "Maybe she will be special." "Maybe she will stay." "I thought this would be hard for you to understand." "You were created to be so young." "Maybe the one day will be like that day inside the amphibicopter." "Maybe it will last forever." "David, you are the enduring memory of the human race." "The most lasting proof of their genius." "We only want for your happiness." "David you've had so little of that." "If you want for my happiness then you know what you have to do." "Listen." "Can you hear that?" "The new morning has come." "Go to her, David." "She's just waking up this instant." "I found you." "I must have dozed off." " How long?" " Would you like some coffee?" "Just the way you like it?" "Yeah, I'd love a coffee." "It'll wake me up." "You never forget how, do you?" "No." "I never forget." "I must be a little confused." "What day is it?" "It is... today." "As the day wore on, David thought it was the happiest day of his life." "All the problems seemed to have disappeared from his mommy's mind." "There was no Henry, there was no Martin." "There was no grief." "There was only David." "David was told not to explain anything or she'd be frightened and everything would be spoiled." "But David's journey home belonged to him." "So he didn't see the harm of painting things she'd have no memory of." "David had never had a birthday because he'd never been born." "So they baked a cake and lit candles." " Now make a wish." " It came true already." "By now, the windows were beginning to dim." "David drew the shades without even needing to be asked." "I really ought to be tucking you in." "How strange." "How fascinating." "I can hardly keep my eyes open." "I don't know what's come over me." "Such a beautiful day." "I love you, David." "I do love you." "I have always loved you." "That was the everlasting moment he had been waiting for." "And the moment had passed, for Monica was sound asleep." "More than merely asleep." "Should he shake her, she would never rouse." "So David went to sleep too." "And for the first time in his life he went to that place where dreams are born."