Thanks for joining me for this Sunday’s short story selection. “Robot” by Helena Bell is one of the stories nominated for this year’s Nebula Award. The story was featured in the September 2012 issue of Clarkesworld and along with “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard is one of my favorite picks for the award. When I first reviewed the story for SF Signal I wrote:

“Bell’s story is constructed as a conversation in which the reader sees only one side, that of an older woman as she instructs the alien robot purchased to process the diseased flesh of her feet and legs. Or perhaps it is not a “conversation” at all but instead a running commentary that may be occurring aloud or simply within the mind of the protagonist. The story is brilliantly conceived and executed in that it conveys a sense of the passage of time, reveals much about the protagonist’s past and present, paints a picture for the reader of what the world looks like in the future that Helena Bell has created and offers layers of meaning all while maintaining this deceptively simple structure. The horrifying nature of the procedure this woman is undergoing is ever present while her litany of instructions as to how this being must act shows a wide range of emotions that she is undergoing, the stages of grief on display as well as evidence of the first signs of dementia. The one-sided structure of the story lends an air of suspicion that makes the reader question what is real and what is imagination with Bell leaving bread crumbs to lead one down either path.”

And that is about all I want to share with those who have not read the story. This morning’s reading, in preparation for the discussion to follow, is my third and I was startled with the things that caught my eye with this reading as opposed to the previous two. It speaks to the strengths of the story that it reveals so much outside of the very narrow focus of the protagonist and what is occurring in her life.

Take a few minutes to give “Robot” a read and then come and share your thoughts.

Bell’s opening paragraph does so many things well, revealing to the reader the robot suggested in the title, setting up the style of one-sided dialogue that will occur throughout the rest of the story, and then it jars the reader with the statement about eating flesh which seems so shocking amidst the other statements the protagonist has made.

My first, and even second, read-through of “Robot” found me focusing almost entirely on the woman herself and the variety of emotions displayed in her conversation with this robot, if a conversation it is. It becomes more apparent as the story progresses that this is not just one long monologue with this being but is instead a series of statements issued over a period of time. What isn’t apparent to me is whether or not the robot is talking back to her. She makes a statement about the robot not correcting her in front of her Bridge club which leads me to believe it can talk, and there are other references to communication with her children–taking their phone calls for instance–which also point to this possibility. But what I am most curious about is whether or not the protagonist is issuing these commands and making these statements in a vacuum of conversation or if the robot ever talks back to her about these things. It may seem silly but I find that such a fascinating aspect of the story.

The emotion of the story is what stood out strongly in that first reading. I could picture this quaint older lady rattling off instructions to this shining, stoic metal creation, her tone commanding, at other times accusing, on occasion patient and even friendly. This woman is obviously going through a horrific and most-likely painful procedure and displays very real emotions about what is happening to her. As the story unfolds the protagonist makes statements in which she feels that the robot is becoming more like her, if not becoming her, as it ingests more and more of her flesh. It is as if the robot is becoming something more as the woman physically becomes something less whole.

It is easy to pass over the story and see the woman as almost tyrannical and certainly not accepting of this robot in her life, and yet there are moments like:

if you hold my hands so they are steady I will allow you to terrorize my Bridge club

that give the reader the impression that there is not always animosity towards the robot.

One of the things that stood out more strongly to me on this latest reading is the off-world, alien aspects of the story. The protagonist is making a statement about herself and says:

you are back in your space ship, you are finding a new planet, a new species, forging new treaties and living the life you always knew you would live without consequence or regret

and this comes after earlier statements about this alien robot being from another planet, sent by yet other aliens.

It was the focus on these aspects of the story this time through that got me wondering more about the robots and the beings that sent them. First off is this statement:

this is your serial number, here, scraped in an alien script on the underside of your knee; the pamphlets say you may be of the mind to touch it occasionally, like a name-tag, but if I command you, you will stop

which this time around made me think of the Jews and the Holocaust and the numbers tattooed into their skin. That line coupled with “I have seen you stare out across the fields as if there is something there, calling you” made me wonder if this is some subjugated race. It know it is a HUGE stretch and is reading a lot into the story, but I believe skillfully written short stories, as this one is, rely on an economy of words, with each word and each sentence having a degree of importance within the whole and I find it easy to wonder about this alien script scraped (interesting choice of words) into the underside of the robot’s knee and wonder why the robot would feel the need to touch it. Is it not a “name-tag” but instead a “brand”. Why does she catch the robot looking longingly out the window? What is it thinking?

Furthermore, I picked up an alien-invasion vibe this time around, most particularly because of the statements the protagonists makes about the robot becoming more like her and the way the story ends with the Pizarro comparison.

Let’s tackle the first idea–that of the protagonist’s statements about the robot becoming more like her. It was suggested in the comments on the Clarkesworld site that perhaps all of this is delusion/dementia brought about by some incredibly invasive and radical treatment the woman is undergoing and the way in which her health declines over time. That is certainly a possibility, especially in regards to any references the woman makes about the robot changing and becoming more like her and the protagonist’s accusations about this thing replacing her. She calls the robot a “usurper”, a “slut”, a “spy”. It would be an interesting story if everything was just this internal decline into madness created by pain and loss and age. But it wouldn’t be, for me, the story that intrigues me as much as the idea that everything that is happening, or at least most of it, is perhaps real. I would like to think the robot itself, if it has any emotions or sentience at all, does care about the woman and is trying to help her. That perhaps it really looks no different now than when it arrived and that the woman in her grief and loss and pain is projecting her fears that this “thing” is more alive than she is.

However, I also like to believe there is something more going on outside the insular world of treatment in which the protagonist is living. If taken as truth, this woman had a career in space at one time. She and a crew set out on a mission to discover other life and despite their fears of failure they actually succeeded in doing so. As a part of that success she, and presumably others, have been given these robots to help them and heal them. But what is it about that alien script scraped in their legs? And what about the Pizarro reference?

Unlike some explorers who set out to find new lands or discover quicker passages from one place to another in order to increase trade, Pizarro knew of the Incas and set out to conquer them and take possession of their fabled riches. It is chilling to have the protagonist reference this at the end of the story, written in such a beautifully sinister way by Bell:

…when Pizarro sailed across the Atlantic, his ships appeared as great white birds on the horizon and not until he strode onto the beach, his armor shining like a burnished oyster shell, did the Incas realize he was a person at all.

Is it, as the protagonist states “your only desire is to assimilate into our culture” or are these robots sent to lull us into a false sense of security before the aliens that sent them attack? Or will the robots, as everyone fears in the many robot stories that exist in science fiction, rise up suddenly and subvert their ‘masters’?

That is such an interesting closing line, giving the idea that the Incas did not realize their doom until it was too late.

I’ve enjoyed “Robot” more each time I’ve read it, making me think it has a real chance of giving my other favorite story from the Nebula nominees, “Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard, a run for its money. I would love to hear what you got out of robot, what you noticed, your thoughts on my various interpretations. Feel free to agree, disagree, and to share whatever you will.
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I chose the female robot image for today’s post, found here, because of its amber eyes and also, despite her initially naming it “Fred”, she later references the robot changing and becoming more like her. So a female representation seemed more appropriate.
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For next Sunday I am going to do something a little different: I am assigning us a story that I myself have not yet read. I was on author Rachel Swirsky’s site reading about her short story predictions and recommendations prior to this year’s Hugo announcements and her description of Andy Duncan’s story “On 20468 Petercook” as having dialogue which made her think of P.G. Wodehouse has me excited to read it.

So next week rather than a story which I have mulled over for weeks we will be entering this journey together, not knowing exactly what to expect. I look forward to seeing how it goes. I hope you will take some time to read the story this week and join us next week for the discussion.