Under the light of many sunrises and sunsets, Lunar Lakes went through a lot of changes.
Additional housing was built in Lunar Lakes to house all of the homeless humans. The humans were allowed to live in their homes payment free for two years while they worked and built up a savings.
Schools were built for the human children with humans and bots working together to make sure they were all properly educated. Adult humans were placed in jobs and careers that fit their education and skills.
I decided to appoint a new Vice President. I went with a human by the name of Dahlia Benton.
Dahlia fit in as VP wonderfully. Her intelligence and charisma was just what the Lunar Lakes’ government needed.
She went right to work drafting up new laws that provided protection and fair treatment for everyone in Lunar Lakes.
I am very sure that she would make a fine president for Lunar Lakes one day.
Doctor Damien Su was hired in his rightful position as lead scientist.
He took over as head contact person for our creator, Doctor LB; making sure that the earth scientists received accurate information on our progress as a society. In turn, he was kept up to date on the progress of the new shuttle that was still years away from being completed.
Doctor Su also proved to be very bright and innovative and successfully discovered ways to stop us bots from randomly shorting out.
Noella was also finally hired to work in the science labs. Not only did she perfect her anti-virus, but also came up with very handy upgrades to help us bots better function in our day to day lives.
After finally going through all of Chas’ lab notes, I finally discovered that the only reason why Noella was never hired as a scientist in the first place was because she was resistant to Chas’ virus and was impossible to control.
Little did he know that she was not resistant…she was just smart enough to come up with system software protection.
There was something else important that Chas did not know. When Damien Su was sent to Lunar Lakes to head the science department, he possessed something very important…
Our creator equipped him with back-up software to each and every one of us bots. What this meant was that Priscilla was able to get her bot mate back. Doctor Su possessed everything needed to replace Aron’s mother board, hard drive and processing system.
Although Aron no longer had any memories associated with his prior time here on Lunar Lakes, he still possessed the same connection to Priscilla as well as the same personality…
…albeit a nicer version, but basically he was the same bot.
Priscilla could not have been happier.
And I could not wait to see where his political ambitions would take him this time. Maybe in time, he would once again rise to be Lunar Lake’s president.
Doctor Su’s back-up software was also used to restore Chas.
Only this new Chas did now know that he had once pretended to be my bot mate and tried to destroy all of the humans.
He was given a new start and was reprogrammed to work a career very different from the scientist career that he once worked.
Because I still remembered everything; his deceit, our emotional exchanges, his death…the fact that I killed him – my response system fed me mixed emotions every time I saw him. I either felt hurt, sorrow or anger…
But the emotion that hit me most often…
…was a slight longing for what we could have had.
Even with all of the new changes that were taking place in Lunar Lakes…
My life changed the most drastically.
Rather than searching for a human family to raise Leah after her grandmother passed away, I decided to adopt her. This made me the first bot in Lunar Lakes to adopt a human.
Leah turned out to be a very sweet, shy girl…who unfortunately remembered nothing of her mother and grandmother.
“Leah…are you ready to go?”
“I’m a little bit afraid,” she admitted after she turned to face me.
“Oh sweetheart…you do not have to be scared. I will be there with you.”
“I know…but…I have never been to the cemetery before. Will there be ghosts?’
“No sweetheart…I promise that there will be no ghosts.”
Leah seemed to think about that for a while. “Ok,” she said reluctantly, “I guess I’m ready then.”
We turned to leave. “Was my real mother pretty?” Leah asked suddenly out of the blue.
“Just as pretty as you are,” I answered regretting that there were no pictures of Frida, other than mug shots that I refused to share with Leah.
My limo pulled up outside and Leah and I got in.
Leah was silent on the ride to the cemetery.
I followed her lead and allowed her to focus on her internal thoughts. I knew that she had to deal with things her own way.
We rode on toward the outskirts of town where Lunar Lakes’ lone cemetery sat.
We stepped out and walked straight to where Frida and her mother Elise were buried. Leah looked a bit unsure and looked to me for comfort.
I started talking, “Your mother was brave and gave up her life for you and all of the humans here in Lunar Lakes.”
“She is a hero and without her, I do not know where we would be right now,” I continued. Leah seemed to consider my words.
“And your grandmother…I have never met anyone so brave and strong before. You were her first priority, even when she was so sick that she could hardly get out of bed.”
“But what about you?” Leah asked suddenly.
“What about me?”
“You were brave too.”
She quickly walked over and wrapped her arms around me. I responded by bending over to hug her back. “Thank you for being my mommy!” She whispered.
In that moment I discovered something about myself that made everything that I went through…that we all went through, worth it. My metallic heart, even though it is made of only gears and circuits, was able to do something that I once thought was impossible…
…it was able to truly, truly love.
