Harris Tobias 814 Swan Ridge Road Charlottesville, Va 22903 harristob@gmail.

com TIN MAN

1,700 words

Tin is what I am. Not literally. An advanced fiber composite would be a more accurate description but humans call us tin men or Tin-Tin. Thats what they call us. We call them meat or burgers or Chuck as in chuck steak. Thats what you are. Its not a war or anything, its like racism, always there but tucked away under the surface. Thats where its tucked. Dont get me wrong, some of my best friends are meat. My friend Larry for example. We share a work pod, were friends. I went to Larrys wedding. I wasnt the Best Man but I was in the wedding party. I had to walk down the aisle alone. None of the Bridesmaids wanted to walk with me. Meat girls, who can understand them? There are no Tin girls. Theres no Tin sex. Different personalities but no genitals. We do other things for fun. There have long been rumors of sex between robots and humans but its never been proven and while its not actually against my programming, I find the notion abhorrent. I was saying that my meat friend larry and I are close. We go to lunch together every day. He eats a sandwich, I power down and turn off my motor functions. Its the equivalent of an afternoon nap. My optical sensors still function and I can watch Larry ingest pieces of rotting organic matter for nourishment. Much of what humans do disgusts me. After lunch, I power up and Larry and I walk around the block. Larry points out the meat world to me and I try to explain the Tin world to him. Theres a new clothing store, Larry would say, looks like expensive womans stuff. Id nod and try and explain that the whole idea of of clothes is strange to me. Such a tremendous waste of resources. A vast chaotic industry making clothes for male humans and another even bigger for females. And to compound the waste and inefficiency they deliberately change the fashions as often as they can. Stupid, wasteful meat. To be fair, the tin world must look pretty strange to Larry. Everything

we do is so un-biological that it must seem completely alien. I need regular maintenance, program upgrades, down time. We have developed a pretty big infra-structure to take care of our needs. And more and more we are in charge of our own industries. We take care of our own. Larry has a female friend, Dawn. She seems nice too. At first she wouldnt be in the same room with me. All that talk about the Robot Murders had her scared. Robots dont harm humans, thats our prime directive. I dont know how those humans died but Im certain the robots didnt do it. I think theyre being framed. Anyway, Dawn has learned that I am harmless and have no intension of pulling her limbs out although i am certainly strong enough. Dawn likes to talk to me about Larry and the problems she is having with him in bed. I think I liked her better when she was afraid of me. Does she suppose that I can do anything about Larrys unusual sexual appetites? I promised her I wouldnt say anything to Larry about it but I dont like secrets and subterfuge, they mess up my programming. Duplicity is such a meat thing. At lunch the other day, Larry wanted to talk about the murders. I said that I only knew what was reported on the news. Larry wanted to know if a robot could be programmed to kill a human. I said that it was possible, that there were already soldier robots and guard robots with such programming and there have been some accidental killings in the course of robot development. Not war or accidents, Larry said, I mean cold blooded murder. Do you think a robot could do that? I pointed out that robots had no blood cold or otherwise but he insisted on an answer. I told him I didnt think a regular robot like me could ever do such a thing. At least not without an illegal programming upgrade. So who tore those girls to pieces? he asked. The robots said they didnt do it and I believe them. Robots dont lie. Lying is difficult for a machine. It requires a highly sophisticated program which is currently illegal in the country. But with the right

programming, we can do anything a human can do and we can do it better. The murder of the two young women has caused a sensation in both worlds. the girls were violently dismembered in a remote cabin. There were no neighbors. Two blood soaked robots were found powered down. The cabin was strewn with human sexual gear including strap on dildoes, restraints, whips and assorted S&M paraphernalia. The human authorities were quick to accuse the robots of the crime claiming it was a kinky sexual encounter gone wrong. The robots denied any knowledge of the deed and a thorough search of their data logs showed them both in power down mode at the time of the murders. The human and robot lawyers defending the pair made the case that the programming appeared to be normal and that the logs proved the two robots innocent. The prosecutors claimed that the blood on the robots and their proximity to the crime was evidence enough to convict. In addition both robots had been traced to suspicious sexual activity in the recent past. The larger issue is whether the robot nation is becoming too independent. Whether we are slipping out of the iron grip of human control. We are learning to program ourselves The humans point to the robot owned chip-shops springing up in every city and the lack of human oversight. The robots claim that the Equal Protection Act of 2080 gives us the right to engineer our own destiny. Given that this is the first murder case of its kind, tensions are high on both sides. All robots are connected and we all know the same things at the same time. We all know that the robots accused of murder did no such thing. It all boils down to evidence and motive. The humans claim the the robots have faulty or illegal programming which allowed them to override their prime directive and harm humans. The robots had the opportunity and the access, no one has proposed a motive. the prosecutors even site the lack of fingerprints as proof of robot involvement as we dont have fingerprints. the girls bodies were literally torn apart, not cut. No human has such strength. I cant even imagine doing such a thing. It frightens me. I do not want to harm anyone but I can see where it might be extenuating circumstances. Personally, I would be more upset if one robot harmed another. That has never happened. Compare that record to the humans history of mass slaughter. Tell me who is the more civilized race? I dont know how those girls died. I do believe that whoever or

whatever killed them should be punished. One thing is clear though, if the robots are convicted and destroyed and it comes out later that a human did it, there will be hell to pay. The bad blood between the two camps may will boil over and then all of the rules will change. Larry does not like to hear such talk. He likes things the way they are. He would like for things to remain the same, a world in which humans rule. Of course he would want that but things are changing. The Tin nation is rising. I try to explain this to Larry but he does not want to hear it. He tells me to get back to work and I have no choice but to obey. He does not see the handwriting on the wallsuch quaint expressions you humans have. He thinks that the work we are doing is important. Since when is printing signs an important job? Signs are only important for human society. Robots dont need them. So much of what we robots do is for the benefit of humans. Have I told you how wasteful they are? Theyve devastated the planet with their appetites and poor planning. Always lurching from one crisis to another. We can help them. If theyd only listen to us we could put their house in order. First of all there are entirely too many of them. Nine billion humans is six billion too many. Humans seem unwilling or unable to do anything to curb their population. They depend upon natural controls like wars, plagues and famines to keep their numbers in check but those controls are sloppy and inefficient and obviously not working. One way or another, the meat population is coming down. Dawn tells me she wants a baby but Larry is unable to perform. She wrinkles up her nose when I suggest adoption. She says she wants her own baby. Just what the world doesnt needmore humans. I warn her about the planets dwindling capacity. A baby doesnt eat much, is all she can say. A robot doesnt eat at all. There is news today. The news says that there is a development in the case of the murdering robots. Larry and I stop work to listen. The police are investigating a fringe organization of human God-worshippers who may have made the murders look like it was caused by robots in order to fulfill some prophecy in their holy book. I confess I have very little understanding of such matters. The cult leaders have been arrested. I feel something akin to joy that the truth has been discovered. As clumsy as the human justice system is it sometimes arrives at the truth.

I often look at my beefy friends and marvel at how stupid and inefficient our meat brothers are. But I have to admit, theyre not all bad. I think of all of the good times we shared and how Im going to miss them when theyre gone. * * * *

Bio Harris Tobias was raised by robots disguised as New Yorkers. Despite an awkward childhood he learned to read and write. To date Mr. Tobias has published two detective novels, The Greer Agency and A Felony of Birds, to critical acclaim. In addition he has published short stories in Down in the Dirt Magazine, Literal Translations, Eclectic Flash, TknC, and Ray Gun Revival. He currently lives and writes in Charlottesville, Virginia.