“I want to buy a robot as a housemaid,” Andrew said to the salesman.
The salesman ran an eye over Andrew. What he saw was interesting. There in front him was standing a tall man, not strikingly handsome but amusing indeed. How many times you get a customer with a robotic arm? The salesman tightened the knot of his tie and flashed his special ‘I am your friend’ grin showing his bleached milk white teeth.
“Which model do you like?” Asked Mr. White Teeth.
“I heard a lot about new C360s,” replied Andrew. “Everybody says they are cool.”
“Aha, C360! The latest,” said the salesman. ”Excellent choice. It’s a unique achievement for Robosys. You know, it can recognize from different 300,000 emotional and physical states of its owner and from that it creates the best suitable reply. An amazing feat, isn’t it? And there is more. They can learn new things just by observing others performing the tasks. But what’s cool is that they can be great companions.”
A companion was what Andrew really wanted. Before that he never used a robot at his home. All those mechanical ‘Yes sir’ and ‘as you wish sir’ kind of replies drove him crazy.
“It’s final then. I will buy a C360,” Said Andrew.
“As you wish sir. Will you please identify yourself?” The salesman motioned towards the retina scanner. Andrew placed his chin on the curved rest of the machine and looked through the retina scanner. A laser passed over his retina and within seconds the salesman was looking at Government record of Mr. Andrew Nash. Along with that the computer program searched the Internet and also presented a brief summary about Andrew. Multimillionaire heir to the software tycoon Mr. Scott Nash, ex-air force pilot, lost a hand and both legs in a military expedition, history of domestic violence, a notorious divorce, served 3 years in the Central Prison. At this, suddenly the salesman’s smile vanished. He eyed Andrew suspiciously.
Knowing perfectly well what caused such a sudden attitude change, Andrew smiled at him shamelessly. The salesman smiled back but this one seemed a bit contrived. Again a nervous touch to the knot of the tie. “Hum… Hum… Sir, I will suggest a regular robot for you. You know, the C360s have shown a certain propensity towards not so pleasant reactions when treated unfairly,” said the salesman. “Of course nothing serious,” he added as an afterthought. “You know, Robosys products are perfectly safe and secure.”
“I saw your new model in the ‘Your companion forever’ commercial,” Andrew said. “I think C360 is perfect for me. I want only that one.” Andrew slipped two 100-dollar bills across the table and winked suggestively. That did the trick. Suddenly the ‘I am your friend’ grin came back.
“Of course. Of course. Whatever you want sir. At Robosys, customer is the boss.”
That was the start of a new relationship for Andrew.
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