A Sunset On the Horizon

He looked in awe. Her voice changed from monotone and robotic to warm and feminine in the blink of an eye. It was a bit jarring. Not only that, but it was oozing with emotion. He could hardly differentiate it from a human voice. Anon shook his head. Androids do not have emotions. They simulate them. And seeing it otherwise was dangerous. Some people can't understand this and end up falling in love with their androids, similar to people who fall in love with cartoon characters or sex dolls. It was recognized as a disorder by multiple organizations. It was important to keep a separation. It was a robot and robots do not have feelings.

"What did you say your name was again?"

" Select High Independence Multitask Machine or Sunset Shimmer."

"What were you designed for?"

"I was designed for a wide array of tasks from basic household chores, to teaching, to combat and much more. I am designed to be the first all use human-like android."

Anon couldn't believe it. Most androids were specialized to a singular task. As far as he was aware, no technology had been advanced enough to make an android do more than two tasks well. Any more and it would simply not have the RAM and processing power to do it effectively. Nothing a little test wouldn't prove.

"What other tasks can you do?"

She did a cute little twirl

"Well just about anything you can think of. I can cook, preform basic first aid and I even specialize in companionship, platonic or romantic."

Anon's heart began to race a bit. She's an an android, he reassured himself. She cannot actually feel love. Sunset's head tilted to the side.

"Anon, your heart beat just had a spike. Are you alright?"

He slapped himself lightly to break out of the trance

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Why were you monitoring my heart rate?"

"You should refrain from harming yourself, Anon. The reason I was monitoring it was because I designed to to monitor my owners vitals at all points in time from your breathing to your base temperature. Currently I am gathering base data."

Anon couldn't help but feel a bit freaked out by it. Almost as if it were an invasion of privacy.

"Can you cook something for me?"

"I can. Anything you'd prefer me to cook? I have recipes from over 22,000 different cultures across 200,000 years."

That was nothing short of impressive. But what to get?

"Cook me a popular dish from the American 1950s"

"Right away."

She walked to the personal kitchen and began cooking something, by hand no less. Normally you'd use than atomizer to literally poof food into existence from atoms put into a tight canister. But she was going to do it the old fashioned way. He watched as her arms moved in an intense flurry, so fast they were nothing but a blur.

"What are you making?" he asked

"A three meat pie. That should meet parameters set by owner."

"Owner?"

"I'm programmed to refer to you by either your name or Owner. Is this acceptable?"

It had a nice ring to it. But it felt weird, almost as though it were a fetish thing.

"I'd prefer Anon instead."

"Then that's how I'll address you from now own."

Out of nowhere, she lurched toward him and grabbed his arm. He winced in pain

"O-ow! What are you doing!? That hurts!"

"I'm measuring your pulse rate. In order to obtain accurate data I must measure it every 15 minutes."

"Can you give me a bit of a warning next time? Nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Negative, according to my data, your heart rate shows no indication of cardiac arrest. However, I will provide warning next time."

"It's a figure of speech. And thank you."

"Figure of speech?"

"Yeah. Essentially it's like a metaphor."

Sunset's eyes went vacant for a moment

"Understood. I will be sure to remember that in the future."

She stands a bit stiff, as if thinking

"My data indicates pain in your arm."

He knew that pain well. When he was young he got his arm nearly crushed in two beneath a hanger bay door. Ever since they put the rods in so it'd heal right and took them out again, he always had this slight, gnawing pain.

"As per my medical programming, I can remedy this. Do you wish for me too?"

"How would you do something like that?"

"A simple procedure. According to the scans I've taken of your body, a part of your arm bone has grown slightly outward, causing pain and limited mobility. All I'd have to do is remove that part and your arm will be as good as new."

"That sounds extraordinarily painful"

"Don't worry, I will administer anesthesia so as to prevent any pain"

He thought about it for a moment. It would be nice not to have that pain anymore.

"Alright. I'll do it."

One of her fingers retracted into itself and a needle replaced it

"Now hold still. This won't hurt a bit."

She held his wrist and punctured the skin. Within seconds, all feeling in his arm had vanished. In a single fluid motion, she broke a the section of bone off with a resounding crack. He couldn't feel a thing, but the sound made him sick to his stomach. But it was about to get worse. Her fingers turned into surgical scissors and ripped open a section of his arm. She pulled the broken piece of bone out and stitched it back up. Anon's legs turned to jelly.

Sunset gave a light push and he fell straight into her arms. She picked him up and set him down on the bed, putting his arm in a makeshift sling.

"It seems that you sickness brought on by the sight of the surgery. I'd advise some rest until dinner is ready."

"Thanks, I guess."

Just then, a knock was heard on the door. Anon cursed to himself. If his dad found out he stole an android, an android that just broke his arm no less, he'd put his head on a spike. He didn't even have time to tell Sunset to hide before the person barged into the room. It was Twilight. She was, understandably, quite confused by the scene

"Who the hell is this?" she asked

Of course, Sunset had to speak first

"My name is Sunset Shimmer, I'm a multi-use android."

He slapped his head. Cat was out of the bag now.

"You got an android?" Twi said in disbelief "You do realize if dad finds out you got one without permission he'll mount your hide in his study right?"

"Yes. That's why you can't tell. I want to explain it to him."

Twilight got a devious smile on her face

"Well Anon," she began with a highly exaggerated tone "you must understand that I'm a good daughter and just can't keep things from father. Unless of course I was to... Oh I don't know... happen to receive a collection of new books I've been wanting."

Damn it. He'd spent nearly all his allowance on fixing up Sunset. But he couldn't risk Twilight spilling the beans.

"Alright. What books?"

"Oh nothing major. Just the History of the Andromeda box set."

"That's over 150 dollars!"

"Well, if you don't have the money then I suppose I might just have to let it slip that-"

"Ok, ok! I'll send you the shipping information when it's ordered."

"Perhaps I can offer a solution." Sunset interrupted

"What's that?"

"Do you have an electronic reading device by chance?"

Twilight nodded and held out the thing tablet

"I take it with me wherever I go."

Shimmer took the reading device and her eyes went dim

"Finished. The complete box set has been inscribed into the machine."

Both he and Twilight looked shocked

"How did you do that?"

"I have access to a massive library of over 48 million various fiction and non-fiction books via my links to public access. The only books I don't have or can't have access too are those of top secret government material or books prohibited under law."

"Isn't that stealing though?"

"I have clearance to access these books via my teaching licences. As such, most books I can get for free or for a fraction of the price."

Twilight looked as if she were being romanced by a guy. This was all music to the book nerd's ears.

"I've changed my mind. This android can stay for as long as she wants. Consider my lips sealed."

Twilight walked out of the room, happily whistling a tune.

"Thanks for that, Sunset."

"Anything I can do to help."

She walked over to the oven and removed the pie, setting it down on the table. It smelled absolutely heavenly.

"Do you need assistance getting up?" she asked

"No it's alright, I can manage."

He walked over the table and sat down. He'd never been to eager to eat a pie before. With his free hand he went to grab the fork when he noticed something odd. There was a look in Sunset's eyes, almost like that of anticipation. He took a bite and it tasted even more amazing than it smelled.

"How was it?" she asked

"It's amazing. How in the world did you make it so good?"

She got a huge smile on her face, one of genuine joy.

"I'm glad! You see, I analyzed your taste buds, making it to be perfectly inline with your individual taste."

"That's incredible."

She got all giggly, doing a jump in the air. She was like a giddy school girl. For an android, she was oddly charming.

"Well I have to do some homework now."

"Would you like help?" she asked

Anon thought for a moment. Technically it was cheating if he didn't do it himself. But then again, it wasn't cheating if you never got caught. He'd probably have to be clever to get her to do most of the legwork though.

"Sure. That would be great."

Anon walked up to the wooden antique desk by the balcony. Up first was math homework, on paper no less. All these years into the future and some things never change. He pointed to the first problem.

"So what do you think of this problem?"

Sunset glanced at the page, her pupils dilating and contracting

"A simple algebraic equation." she said matter of factly "What do you need clarification on?"

"Well the entire thing really. I'm no good at math." he lied

Truth be told, he was actually pretty decent at math. It was just such a hassle. Sunset tilted her head, her pupils expanding and contracting again.

"Judging from your temperature and auditory measurements of your pulse, I can say with 90% accuracy that you're lying in an attempt to get me to do the work for you."

Damn. She was good.

"T-that's not necessarily true."

"Your stuttering is not helping your case."

"Ah fine you caught me."

"I am here to assist you with your homework, not do it for you." she scolded "Doing so will inhibit you from learning crucial information."

"Ok, ok I get it."

Anon worked his way through all the homework, Sunset helping along the way. It sped up the process by quite a bit. College was tough. And the only good way to deal with that was some liquor.

"Well Sunset, I'm going to go the bar and get some booze. Want to come? The barkeep is a close friend of mine, he's worked on this ship since I was 12."

Sunset's eyes sparkled

"I'd be absolutely delighted too!"

In a flash of golden light, Sunset's entire appearance changed. She was now wearing a cute black dress that shimmered and sparkled in the light with her hair done up in a bun. Even had makeup on.

"Wow. You look absolutely incredible."

Sunset's face was beginning to redden somewhat. She was blushing. Was she actually feeling embarrassment over that statement? He shook his head. No. It was all pre-programmed. All scripted. No matter how realistic she seemed, she is not human.

It was all a simulation. All a simulation.

"You ready to go?" Anon asked

"Ready when you are."

They both walked out the door, Sunset admiring the decor. The walls were all a shinny bronze and the carpet red. Lights that hung from the ceiling cast a warm glow on the ground. They both stepped into the elevator and went five floors down. This was where all the adult activities took place such as gambling, drinking, even prostitution. Much like the cruise ships of old that sailed earth's waters, these space ships were treated by an interplanetary set of laws.

Not far from the elevator was his favorite bar, owned by a woman named Rarity. Much like her, the bar had an air of high class and elegance. the bar was made of genuine silver with a beautiful array of lights showcasing the many different drinks on the wall. Rarity, herself, looked just as good. She wore an elegant white dress, high heels, and long opera gloves that stretched nearly too her shoulders. Beneath one of the gloves lie a prosthetic arm that was stylized just as beautifully. It was hard to believe it were even a uniform. They both took a seat.

"My, my. Have a lady friend do we?" Rarity said "Never thought I'd see the day."

Anon laughed a bit

"Nah she's just a friend. Rarity, this is Sunset. Sunset, Rarity."

Rarity gave a generous smile and extended her hand

"The pleasure is mine."

They both shook hands

"It's nice to meet you as well," Sunset said "I'm Anon's personal android assistant."

Rarity looked puzzled, inspecting Sunset closely

"Are you serious? You're much more life like than any android I've ever seen. How did you afford something like that?"

"He found me aban-"

Anon quickly put his hand over her mouth

"It was a gift from a friend." he said quickly

Rarity looked skeptical, but decided not to dig any further

"What can I get you? Can your android drink alcohol?"

Sunset shook her head

"I cannot."

"Alright. For you then, Anon?"

"I'll have a white Russian."

"On the double."

As Rarity began to mix the drink, Sunset's eyes wondered about the bar. Androids in maid outfits were serving the other guests in their usual stoic, simple manner. One guest had bumped into an android, causing her to spill a drink all over him. In the man's drunken state, he began to hurl abuse towards it. The android kept apologizing with the same vacant, soulless expression. Sunset seemed unable to pry her eyes from the scene.

"You alright, Sunset?"

Sunset's pupils contracted and dilated with a little whirling sound

"Yes. I'm fine."

Anon looked down to see her fists tightly clenched. She clearly was not fine.

"Let's go back to the room ok?"

Sunset's fists clenched slightly tighter

"Alright."

There was something radiating off her, but he couldn't quite place it. Almost like the feeling you get when you can feel someone's anger. But that wasn't possible. Right?

Once the drink arrived, he payed the bill and lead Sunset back up to the room. The entire time up until the elevator Sunset kept her eyes firmly focused on the android. He sat on the bed, taking a sip from his drink. Now was as good at time as any to address the elephant in the room.

"Why were you sitting at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge out of power and missing a leg?"

"Due to system protection locks, I can only share 15% of the total past information."

System protection locks? Now that was odd. Those were used to prevent theft of floor model androids in stores. If someone were to take them beyond a certain distance, the android would completely shut down until someone with a code reactivated them again. It must mean that if more than 15% of the information was shared, she'd completely shut off.

"Alright." he said "Just tell me what you're able too."

"I was designed to be the first hyper realistic human android. Instead of simulating emotions, I can feel them. Instead of simulating pain, I can feel it. I even breathe as if I have lungs. I've been in development for over 30 years and was the first semi-successful model created."

"Semi-successful?"

"Details relating my partial success are classified."

"Alright. Keep going."

"Upon learning of a critical flaw within my OS, I was deemed unfit for purpose and discarded. Due to my production being technically illegal, I was dumped under the bridge."

"Further details are classified"

Anon sighed. He'd definitely have to take her back to a mechanic to figure out what the flaw was. It had to have been extremely subtle if the last guy couldn't figure it out. Meaning only a high end mechanic would do. However, he was down so much money he'd have to wait for the next paycheck to come in to afford it. He just hopped she'd hold out till then.