Short Story: Marisa Isn't Going Anywhere

#Quimbypunk gets a little existential.

After last week’s post, I decided it’d be a good idea to go ahead and post my third Alice and Marisa story, and also finally illustrate it. I originally put it on Amazon around a year ago, and it’ll be part of the collection Ultimate Word Associations whenever that’s out.

My quest to popularize the term “Quimbypunk” continues!

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Marisa Isn’t Going Anywhere

"You're sure other kids are gonna be there?" Marisa said.

Alice was tying her shoes. "Positive. It's a family party, that's the point. We go every year, and there's always plenty of kids. And you're gonna be a hit there."

"As long as I'm not the center of attention. How do I look?"

Marisa had put on a pink button down with puffed shoulders and a pair of blue jeans with butterflies embroidered on the legs. With her pale synthetic skin and her glowing green eyes and her silver hair, the outfit gave her an almost ghostly look. Alice had long since accepted her adopted sister, but some of her more obviously robotic features still took some getting used to. "You look good," Alice said. "How about me?" She showed off her denim vest and black skirt and boots.

"I guess it's all right," Marisa said. "You look kinda like a cowgirl."

"There are worse things." Alice turned Marisa toward the door. "Come on, it's time to go."

Dad's buddy Craig held a barbeque every Memorial Day, and it was Marisa's first time going since she'd been adopted into the family. Alice had brought her to a few birthday parties before, and Marisa had gotten along pretty well with everybody, but this was different. Craig's parties were more for parents, with the kids along for the ride, but given plenty to do. And Alice liked her parents' friends, many of whom Marisa hadn't had a chance to meet yet.

Mom was sick, so it was just Alice, Marisa and their dad this time.

Alice could smell the grill as soon as she stepped out of the car. She ran ahead, leading Marisa down the long gravel driveway beside Craig's house.

Already Alice spotted a lot of people she recognized, like Luann from Mom's work, Dmitri from down the road, Eric and Bea who came over to watch old movies with Mom and Dad, and of course, Craig at the grill heating up some burgers and hot dogs.

Alice grabbed Marisa's hand. "Let me introduce you."

Eric and Bea had already met Marisa, so Alice skipped ahead to Luann. Luann looked down from her straight back and long neck. "Oh, you're the robot they adopted. Aren't you just so precious?" She gave Marisa a very auntly pinch on the cheek, and took a sip of wine.

When they met Dmitri, he knelt down for a better look. "Ah, a very advanced model. I have a friend downtown who adopted a K-170 just like you. If you're in need of a mechanic, just let me know, I'll see who he recommends."

"We've already got one," Marisa said, "but thank you."

While strolling through the backyard, Alice said, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess not. They seemed really nice. But I haven't seen any kids yet. Except that one." She pointed at a toddler clinging to his mother.

"You sure? There's like three following us right now."

Marisa whirled her head around and spotted the three smaller girls stalking behind her. They all froze like they'd been dropped in the Arctic.

"Minerva," Alice said, addressing the girl in the middle, "may we help you?"

That girl stammered, saying, "Um, hi, Alice. We were, um, just wondering if maybe we could play with your new robot. Just for a little bit."

"Excuse me, she's not just my robot, she's my sister." Alice hung her arm over Marisa's shoulder. "And you can ask her yourself. Marisa, this is Craig's daughter Minerva. Would you like to play with her and her friends?"

"Um… Well…"

"You did say you wanted there to be kids here."

"All right." Marisa stepped forward. "What did you want to play?"

The girls started chittering to one another. "She's got the buzzy voice!" "Just like on TV!"

Finally Minerva answered, "Hide and Seek."

"Sure thing," Marisa said. "Guess I'll see you in a little bit, Alice."

And just as Marisa got led off deeper into the backyard to start the game, a taller girl approached Alice. "Minnie isn't giving you too much trouble, is she?"

"Nah, not too much, but— Wait a minute, Danae? Is that you?" Alice hadn't seen Craig's older daughter since last year's barbeque. The opportunity just hadn't come up. "I didn't even recognize you."

"Well, I am almost a teenager," Danae said. "Sorry I couldn't make it to your birthday."

"Nah, it's fine. All my friends from school showed up, and we had a great time. Although I almost let myself get upstaged a little."

"Let me guess…" Danae gestured toward Marisa, who was covering her eyes and counting while the smaller girls hid.

"Yeah, well, it's not every kid who has one, I guess. On the other hand, after a while everybody kinda forgets she's a robot and treats her like normal anyway. I kinda hope she remembers not to use her thermal vision."

"Minnie could use an extra challenge," Danae said. "C'mon, let's go inside."

She took Alice through the sliding door into the den, where Alice's classmate Tor was sitting at a table drawing with a marker. "Oh, hey, Alice," he said. "Where's Marisa?"

"Outside, with Minnie. What're you working on?"

Tor flipped the page over. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Another one of your monsters?"

"No."

"Oh, something secret, huh? Then is it a picture of someone you like? Your one true love, maybe?"

He folded the paper up and stuffed it into his pocket. "I was done with that one anyway."

Alice chuckled and sat down across from him. "I guess I feel like drawing, too." So she grabbed some paper and a marker and started doodling. "So how'd you do on that math test? I thought I bombed it, but I managed to squeak by."

And after a while, someone came in to announce that the food was ready. Not only that, but kids got to go first. The three of them rushed outside, grabbed some plates and buns, and got in line behind the littler kids. Marisa came up right behind Alice. "Having fun?" Alice said.

"Heh, yeah. These kids have a ton of energy. Even if I spot them with my thermal vision, they're still pretty fast."

Craig himself was the one serving, plucking dogs and patties from the grill and setting them on the kids' plates. "One burger, please," Alice said.

"Good evening, Alice," Craig said as he gripped the tongs on a slab of meat. "Man, look at you." He held his palm over her head. "I keep forgetting how much you've grown. How old are you now?"

"Just turned eleven last month. Lemme show you what I brought." Alice grabbed Marisa and pulled her closer. "Look! It's my new sister!"

"Hi," Marisa said.

"Ah." Craig nodded, almost but not quite smiling. "So you're the robot." He kept his eyes on her, as if watching for any sudden moves. "Your father's told me a lot about you. Is it true you have an arm cannon?"

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to show it off. May I have a hot dog?"

"Of course. Here you go." He plucked a dog off the grill and placed it in the bun on Marisa's plate. "Fixins are over at that table with the drinks."

Alice and Marisa rushed to that table and put on their toppings. Alice added some lettuce, tomato, and hot sauce to her burger. Marisa scooped on some chili, then got a cup to pour herself a drink. She searched the table. "I don't see any E-Drink."

"There's got to be some," Alice said. "Dad said Craig would get a bottle just for you."

"But it's not here," Marisa said.

They went back to the grill. By then their Dad had come up in line. "Hey there, back for seconds already?" he said. "Craig, what do you think of my girls?"

"You've certainly put together an interesting family," Craig said. "You having plenty of fun?"

"I am, thank you," Marisa said. "I was just wondering where I could find some E-Drink."

Craig sucked a breath through gritted teeth and began to shake his head. "I knew I forgot something."

Marisa let out a simple "Oh." Mechanical bodies couldn't handle carbonated drinks, plus E-Drink provided extra fuel and lubrication. She could still drink water or juice, but it wouldn't be the same.

An uncharacteristic flare appeared around Dad's eyes. "I told you, Craig. I reminded you. You promised you would."

"I swear it just slipped my mind," Craig said. "I didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

"You took the time to accommodate Eric and Bea with some veggie burgers, I don't see how E-Drink was any trouble."

"Come on, you know a few things are going to slip through the cracks."

Alice and Marisa backed away as Dad kept pressing the issue. "Uh oh," Marisa said. "I didn't mean to start anything."

"It'll be okay," Alice said as they paced out of earshot. "Let's just go sit down. And anyway, we've got plenty of E-Drink at home."

"I know," Marisa said. "I just would have really liked an E-Drink right now. It goes so great with chili dogs."

She poured herself some lemonade instead, and then she and Alice joined Tor and Danae and Minerva at one of the tables.

"Nice to meet you, Marisa," Danae said. "Why the long face?"

"Mostly the drink selection, I guess," Alice said. "Say, Danae, random question: your dad doesn't have anything against robots, does he?"

"Whoa, what?" Danae shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't think so. Why? Did he say something?"

"No, it's just… I dunno, maybe a certain vibe I got."

"You mean like the uncannies?" Tor said. "Like when you first met Marisa?"

Alice's face flushed, and she took a big bite out of her hamburger as much to keep herself from snapping back at him as anything else.

"Say what?" Danae said.

Tor explained, "Yeah, you know how some people get creeped out around robots, because they're so lifelike and yet not quite lifelike enough? That's how Alice was when Marisa arrived."

Marisa swallowed her first bite of hot dog, glaring at Alice. "Oh yeah. I remember now, Big Sister." She took another bite.

"What?" Alice said. "Yeah, for like a minute. It just took some adjusting, is all. Don't tell me you've been holding onto that all this time." She shot a dirty look at Tor. "And you… Ugh, why did I have to tell everybody at school about that?"

"'Cause it was a funny story." Tor's face turned so red he nearly looked like one of the plastic plates. "At least I thought so."

"The point is, glass houses, Alice," Danae said. "I mean, it's not like I've ever heard Dad say anything. He's the one who got Minnie all revved up about a robot coming over. That's about it. I don't think you've got anything to worry about."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Alice said. Maybe she was just reacting because it was so familiar. Sometimes she did still feel bad about how she'd treated Marisa that first day, even now that it had become a distant memory. Tonight just happened to dredge that old feeling back for whatever reason.

Marisa nudged Alice in the side, leaned in, and whispered, "You're not thinking he 'forgot' the E-Drink on purpose, are you?"

"I don't know," Alice said. "Probably just an honest mistake." Still, there was the way he'd stared at Marisa…

You couldn't always ignore the fact that Marisa wasn't human. Yet if Craig was anything like Alice, then surely he'd get over it soon.

After dinner, Alice and her friends joined Marisa and the smaller kids in taking turns on the trampoline. For a while, they were able to forget about any issues regarding Craig and any feelings towards robots he might have.

Until Dad came up just as Marisa stopped bouncing and climbed down for Alice to take her turn. He was holding a bottle of E-Drink.

"Oh my gosh!" Marisa snatched it out of his hand, unscrewed the lid, and took a big gulp. "Where'd you get it?"

"From that convenience store we passed on the way here," Dad said.

"But that was a whole—" Marisa paused, apparently to look up the directions and distance in her head. "Five minutes away. You didn't have to do that."

"Well, you're still my little girl, and you deserve better. Sorry about Craig."

"Why?" Alice said. "Is something going on? You looked pretty mad earlier."

Dad wagged his head to and fro. "The thing is," he said, with that tone that said he was trying to put it delicately, "Craig didn't always necessarily approve of us adopting Marisa."

Both girls suddenly stood rigid. "What?" they said.

"Well, when your mother and I were going through the process, I of course talked about it with Craig, because I value his opinion. And he had certain issues with the whole idea of adopting robot children."

"Well what does he expect you to do," Alice said, "give her back?"

"No, I wouldn't say that," Dad said. "But really, I thought he and I had settled this already. He'd told me months ago he had no more objections. I was sure he wouldn't treat Marisa any differently from anyone else. But he also didn't do something as simple as get any E-Drink."

"That's it, isn't it?" Alice said. "He does have a problem with robots! That's why he was giving you that funny look, Marisa. I can't believe this! Can you?"

"Absolutely not!" Marisa said.

"I think we should give him a piece of our mind, don't you?"

"Yeah!"

They gave each other a high five and began to storm off toward Craig.

"Now, girls," Dad said. "Hang on."

"We'll only be a minute."

"Hey!" Danae ran up behind them. "I heard the whole thing. You know my dad. You know he doesn't hate anybody."

"Danae," Alice said, "if we didn't adopt Marisa, they would have had to shut her off and put her in storage, maybe for years, until they could send her to another grandma or grandpa. Yeah, maybe I wasn't comfortable with her at first, but she's family now, and I wouldn't take the last five months back for anything."

"Okay, I get that, but maybe this is just a misunderstanding. I told you, he's the one who got us hyped to see her."

"Well, then there's one way to settle this."

Craig was sitting at one of the patio tables, chatting with Bea and Luann. Alice jabbed her finger at him. "You!"

Marisa held up her bottle. "Lookie here at what my dad brought me."

"Oh, so he did," Craig said. "I really am sorry. I just completely overlooked it."

"Yeah, I'll bet you did," Alice said. "Because you're just that much against us adopting a robot."

"Dad just now told us," Marisa said.

Craig's eyebrows jumped up. "He told you that?"

Luann and Bea gave him a look of suspicion.

Alice's fists shook by her sides. "Look, maybe a robot like Marisa isn't real to you, but she's real to me and Mom and Dad."

"And maybe you've got a case of the uncannies," Marisa said. "That's fine. Alice was the same way at first."

"Hey!"

"But you're a grown-up, and if you can't handle it, that's your problem."

"I don't know what to tell them, Dad," Danae said.

"Okay, okay, hang on." Craig stood up, towering over the girls. "Your dad told you I'm against him adopting Marisa?"

"Basically," Alice said.

"Ugh, I thought I made this clear to him… I'm not against it. If there's anything your father has made clear, it's that he adores you, Marisa, like his own flesh and blood. He's gotten much brighter and more cheerful since you came along. Your mother, too. I can't be against that."

"But he said you had issues with adopting robots altogether," Marisa said.

Craig made a great big nod of recognition. "I see where this is coming from. Let me explain. There's nothing wrong with adopting robots. It's just, when he told me he was planning on doing it, I wasn't sure how much he'd thought it through."

"Thought it through? The whole process took months!"

"I could hardly get him to shut up about it," Luann said.

An irksome twitch clenched in Alice's gut. Her parents had decided it would be fun to spring the adoption on her all at once on Christmas, when they brought Marisa home. Did everybody know before then except her?

"Of course," Craig said. "I know they planned it and filled out all the paperwork and went through all the interviews. But robot adoption itself is still so new. When you get right down to it, so are robot children themselves. I don't know that anybody's considered the long term."

"Oh, that's right," Bea said. "You and Eric talked about this at the Labor Day cookout."

"I don't understand," Alice said. "Craig, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh." Marisa's fingers crinkled the plastic of her bottle. "I think I know what he's getting at."

"Getting at what? What's so important about the long term?"

"Alice, he means I'm never going to grow up."

"But you…" Alice wanted to disagree, but she knew it was an objective fact. Marisa couldn't grow. She was a machine. "Does it matter that much?"

"Well, aren't you going to grow up?"

"Well, um… Of course."

"Right, so you're going to grow up into adulthood," Craig said, "while she stays the same age forever. And your parents aren't going to get any younger, either. So what happens to her when they get older? Are they supposed to keep taking care of the same child into their seventies and eighties? Or are they going to pass her off to you? And then what are you going to do?"

"I… I mean…" Alice didn't want to admit it, but she'd had similar questions flit through her mind as well. Her relationship with Marisa was fine right now since they were so close in size and age, but what would it become when Alice was eighteen? Or twenty-eight? Or fifty-eight? Marisa would always be a child, with a child's mind, a child's feelings, a child's interests. If Alice ever had her own kids, Marisa would be more of a sister to them than to Alice.

What if Alice simply got too old to have any fun with Marisa? Or worse, what if…

"I wouldn't mind staying with Mom and Dad that long," Marisa said. "I was originally built to take care of senior citizens, after all."

"And what happens to you when…" Alice's throat clamped up for a moment. "When they die?" Just uttering the question sent a flash of panic through her whole body. "What happens when I die?" She began to wring her fingers together. Was it simply Marisa's destiny to be passed along like some kind of heirloom? She was was more than that, wasn't she?

"Oh, great, Dad," Danae said, "Look what you've done now."

"Yeah, time to hit the brakes," Bea said. "They don't need to be bothered with this now. Let them have fun while it lasts."

Craig slumped and sighed and sat back down. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about who I was talking to. Listen, girls. Your mother and father won me over on the adoption a while ago, and they've made it clear they're not worried about any of what I just said. It's not important now. I can tell they know what they're doing. It's their opinion that matters, not mine."

Alice wrapped her arms around herself, even with the late Spring air as warm as it was. "And it's not the uncannies?"

"Who knows? If it is, I can work on that. I just know I've been seeing how well Marisa gets along with Minnie tonight, and I couldn't be happier."

"That's good," Marisa said, "because I like Minnie. And you really only forgot the E-Drink?"

"Honest to God."

Marisa told Alice, "I can see his pulse with my thermal vision. He means it. Apology accepted. For what it's worth, sir," she added, "these aren't necessarily bad questions. It's just now's the wrong time."

"I understand. Danae? Anything you'd like to add?"

"Nah, I guess not. If Marisa's okay, then I'm okay. C'mon, Alice. They're starting up a fire, and I wanna make some s'mores."

"Ooh, s'mores!" Marisa darted out toward the building flame in the backyard.

Alice followed, lagging behind. She felt as if her chest had been run through with a hot poker. The thought of losing Mom and Dad… of Marisa being left all alone… It was all too much.

Marisa stopped and went back. "Alice? You all right?"

"Marisa, I swear, if anything does happen and Mom and Dad aren't there to take care of you, I'll be happy to take you in. I'll take care of you as long as I have to, until I'm old and gray, too."

"Alice, didn't you hear what I told Craig? Now's the wrong time."

"But what do you mean? This is important. We need to figure this out. Mom and Dad really are gonna die someday. I'm gonna die someday. If there's none of us left, they'll have to put you back in storage."

"Okay. What do you plan to do when you retire?"

"Retire? Marisa, I'm a kid. I don't even have a job yet."

"And there you go. You're trying to see too far into the future. And right now, it's not our job to worry about it. It's Mom and Dad's. And Craig said they're not too worried about this stuff, either. Yeah, things aren't always gonna stay the same between us, but maybe that's not such a bad thing, either. Maybe it's just part of the fun we have to look forward to, is finding out what that's like."

Alice rubbed her eyes. "You know, it's always weird to hear you talk like that. It makes you sound older than me."

"Yeah, well, it's how I'm programmed, you know that."

"There's just so much I still don't understand." Alice started off, albeit slowly, toward the fire. "Couldn't they, like, put your brain in an adult body someday?"

"Maybe someday," Marisa said. "But right now, they'd have to reprogram me to have an adult personality, and make sure my braindrive works with the new body. I don't know what would change and what would be the same."

"Well, of course you'd be different. That's what growing up is, isn't it?"

"But they'd also have to format me. That means…"

A shadow crossed over Alice's heart. "You'd lose all your memories."

"I'd almost literally have to become a new person. I wouldn't even know who you or Mom and Dad are. And… and the thought of that's even worse than the idea of losing you."

Alice thought she noticed a small quiver in Marisa's lips. "Are you… crying?" She'd never seen anything like it before. Marisa couldn't even shed tears.

"Humans are afraid of dying," Marisa said. "I'm afraid of forgetting. And Alice, I never, ever, ever want to forget you."

Marisa jumped in for a hug, and Alice felt her mechanical sister simulate sobbing. For a long time, at least since her grandmother passed away, Alice had been aware of the fact that she herself wouldn't be around forever, and neither would her parents. Usually she tried not to think about it. Tonight, though, had brought it right back, and it was so heavy it hurt. It had never occurred to her to think of Marisa bearing a similar burden. "Oh Marisa… I wouldn't want to forget you, either."

"I would like to grow up someday. It's just the technology isn't there yet."

"Until then," Alice said, "I guess just remember to save a backup every once in a while."

Marisa chuckled. That chuckle soon grew into a full guffaw. "Alice," she said, "never change."

"You either." Alice clapped a hand on Marisa's shoulder, crushing her puffy sleeve. "You're fine the way you are."

Marisa's breathing settled, and she backed gently out of Alice's arms. "Well, anyway, we have the whole rest of our lives to think about this stuff. Let's go get some s'mores."

They crossed the yard, but just before they reached the fire pit, Alice stopped. "Hang on a sec. I'll be right there."

She found her father next to the oak tree, chatting with Dmitri. "Hey, Alice," Dad said. "I saw you having a word with Craig. You weren't too hard on him, were you? I may have overstated things a little."

"I think we got it worked out," Alice said. "I just… I just…"

She tossed her arms around him, and gave him the tightest squeeze she possibly could, tighter than the one Marisa had given her. She knew she and Marisa would more than likely have him around for a very long time. But not forever. And that just made every moment they still had with him all the more precious.

"Did something he said get to you?" Dad said.

"I'm just glad you're here," Alice said. "And I'm glad Marisa's here. And I want it to stay this way for a long time."

He knelt down and embraced her right back. "Nobody's going anywhere," he said. "Especially Marisa."