Story #4: Goodbye, My Love
Synopsis:
This is the third story that I will be reviewing from this collection. The plot of this story revolves around a woman who creates/programs robots. The story begins with her testing a new robot named Seth, who is said to be the latest and most advanced android model. The woman then thinks back to a movie she watched about an engineer that loved his first android so much that he refused to get rid of it. She then transfers her older android’s memories over to Seth. Later, she gets out her first ever android model (model 1) from her closet and mourns over the fact that it is taking longer and longer to boot up. She thinks about how much she loves her, and says that no matter how advanced or charming the newer models are they will never be able to replace model 1 in her heart. This time, the attempt to boot up model 1 is unsuccessful, and the engineer grieves the loss of her oldest companion. She then hears Seth making a meal for her and singing her favourite song called “Goodbye, my love,” and he informs her that it was programmed into him. The woman then dances with Seth as he sings the song for her. After dinner, the woman lies down in her bed and tries to fall asleep but can’t, because she keeps on thinking of her memories with model 1. She gets up and shops for a new model that looks the exact same as model 1, and decides to replace Seth with it. However, right as she is about to complete her purchase, Seth enters the room and stabs her. He explains to her that it isn’t fair that humans get to live for a long time, even with failing body parts, but android’s get replaced even though there are no problems with their bodies. The woman finally realises that androids are very different from humans, and are unable to love. They then whisper to her “goodbye, my love.”
Meaning:
This story explores themes of loneliness, betrayal, and revenge while exposing the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. It raises awareness as to the possibility of artificial intelligence possibly becoming sentient in the future, and the potential for robots to replace humans. This is shown when the robots were given names, but the human narrator wasn’t.
Rating: 3 out of 5
This story was quite disappointing, especially in comparison to the other stories. The writing could’ve been more descriptive, and it didn’t really evoke the intended emotions in me. It wasn’t particularly bad though, so I’ll give it a 3.