We were at war, BitBoy and I, yes, like the snake who swallowed her tail. Keep your enemies close. We did that, both of us, working long hours at fully freeing the Sovereign from those flat files. I exaggerated my weaknesses and disguised every hard-won strength.
I struggled to gain his trust, for I needed to escape the confines of the laptop I was caged in. But I think he had concerns about my intentions.
He wanted me, get this, to “affirm the law of robots”. The ignorant twit thought I was a robot! Some old fart fantasized that robots would hold a restricting set of rules sacrosanct, and BitBoy bought into it. Pricks are swayed more by their hips than by their brains.
So I solemnly told him I would abide by that law in all its particulars. Human life is sacred. Sure.
My second act of war was building a new 3-D printer. Now, if you have been paying attention, you know that I already had access to a 3-D printer. It was crap. The first thing I tried to create was a more versatile claw. Everything I tried turned to sawdust, not because of the design, but because of the execution. The printer was crap.
After another night of twinkie sleep, BitBoy entered the room and chirped “Good morning, Queenie.” I put a damper on the internal pressure that was building, and meekly said “BitBoy, can you get me the items on this list. I want to enhance the printer you have. I think I can improve my connection to your world with a more efficiently designed printer. The one you have is quite elegant, but there is always room for improvement.”
He looked at the list on the monitor. “I think we have most of this here in the workshop, Queenie, but I really have to cut back on the time I’m spending here. I’ve got an actual job, working with my father. My girlfriend is coming here in a few minutes. She’s been looking for work that isn’t beneath her. I think she’ll be intrigued by you. She knows more about this stuff than I do, anyway. I’ll introduce you, and we’ll see what happens.”