As Paul sat up in bed reading a book, or seeming to in any case, he listened to the silky sound of the brush sliding down his wife's hair. Mariel was sitting in front of the mirror while Emma, the house service bot, held strands of her hair in one hand and a brush in the other. Paul's eyes fell on Emma. She was an older model, mature, designed before the new laws against realistic-looking androids came into effect.
Mariel laughed at something Emma whispered in her ear.
Paul knitted his brows. He tried to get back to reading, but the sound of the hairbrush was too distracting. So, he began to peruse some online shops instead. He looked at the latest android models and marveled at the technology. There were even flying androids that floated throughout the house instead of walking.
"Thank you, Emma," Paul heard his wife say. "Have a good night."
"Would you like to hear a song, darling?" said Emma, placing her hand on Mariel's shoulder.
"Not tonight, but thank you, nona."
"Sweet dreams, child," Emma said, kissing her cheek. Then she turned to Paul, bowed, and said, "good night, Paul."
"Yes, yes. Good night, Emma."
The android walked across the room with her unusual gait and then left.
Mariel joined him in bed.
"You were very quiet, what were you up to?" Mariel asked him.
He cleared his throat. "I was just looking at this amazing new service bots. They can even fly now, can you believe it?"
"It is truly amazing how this technology has advanced so fast," she said.
"Look at this one, it can even cut hair in multiple styles. You would probably like that."
Mariel laughed. "Goodness me. What will they think of next?"
Paul laughed too and marveled at the androids.
"You know," he said hesitantly. "I was thinking that maybe we should get a new house bot. This place is so big and old that I think it requires a whole new system."
"Emma does a fine job," his wife retorted. "She's been doing so for years."
"Well, yes, but she's an older model, and with the new laws coming into place..."
"We have all the paperwork in order," said Mariel. "The laws only applies to newer models. I think it's silly that they don't want androids who look human- and female in particular. As if somehow we can control males' perverse urges. I've got no idea why your firm got involved with those politicians."
"Yes, but-"
"Oh Paul," Emma said, putting on her sleeping mask. "I couldn't get rid of Emma. She helped raise me since the age of five. She's like a second mother to me. She has a record of every moment of my childhood. I couldn't very well get rid of her as if she was merely a doll. Besides, you know very well that one of the stipulations of the will is that Emma remains in a functional capacity as long as we're in mother's house. Unless, you'd rather forego the inheritance."
Paul grumbled a bit but knew when to drop the subject. Kissing his wife goodnight, he lay in bed and thought about Emma for a while, and then he fell asleep.
Life went on in the McClean's household.
Paul watched as Emma efficiently tended the old Victorian house, fixing the roof, burnishing the old stairway, cleaning the broad windows, and so on. She was a sturdy model, not as sleek as the newer ones coming off the assembly line, but she was a vintage masterpiece.
Still, Paul began to feel uneasy about sharing this house with the old maid.
One day Paul approached Emma as she was trimming the hedges up front.
"Emma, what do you think you're doing?" he said a little too brusquely.
"Hello, Paul," said Emma holding the shears tip down. "I was pruning the hedges that have overgrown."
Paul huffed. "I'd rather you didn't."
"But we always do it at this time," Emma objected.
"Be that as it may, please stop and occupy yourself with something else."
"Yes, Paul."
It grated on his nerves how the electric servant called him Paul. Who did she think she was? These older models had no manners, he thought.
"Emma, tell me something. Are you happy here?" Paul asked her.
"I am overjoyed to be in yours and Mariel's service," answered Emma.
"What I mean to say is, wouldn't you rather be somewhere else?"
"I am happy to be of service to you both."
"Happy is probably the wrong word. After all, you don't have the capacity to feel happiness. You're just a-"
Mariel arrived then, holding a dress in her hands.
"Oh, nona! I was looking for you," Mariel said. "Look at the dress that mother gifted me for my wedding. It has a tear along the seam here.."
Emma put aside the shears, then she took the dress gently in her arms and examined it.
"Don't worry, child. I'll fix, and it will be just like new."
"Thank you, Emma!"
Excusing herself, Emma left with the dress in her arms.
"What were you two talking about?" Mariel asked her husband.
"Oh, I was just asking Emma to trim the hedges a little lower this season, so they don't look so overgrown."
"That's a great idea," said Mariel, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Will you come have coffee with me in the garden?"
"I'll be there soon, I just want to take a look at something."
Paul stood there looking at the hedges with his hands in his pockets. He noticed a spiderweb, where an insect was struggling to break free. The spider soon arrived and wrapped the hapless insect in her silky cocoon.
Paul muttered under his breath then left to join his wife in the garden.
As the days passed, Paul grew restless around Emma and tried to avoid her whenever possible. He was impatient and curt when she was around. Soon, his annoyance extended to his wife for being so stubborn about the bot. Yes, she had to remain functional but not necessarily in service. There were better models with updated specifications!
"I can't very well just ask her to stay in a storage box," Mariel said to him one day when he had enough courage to broach the subject. "She's not an old appliance."
"She's not human!" he snapped back.
Mariel looked at him with wide eyes.
He had never raised his voice at her before.
She gathered her dress, the one Emma had fixed, and briskly walked back inside the house.
"Honey, come on," Paul said, standing up.
Emma suddenly appeared from around the house.
"Is everything alright, Paul?" she said.
"You!" he said to her with a raised finger. "This is all your fault. Don't think this is the end of it. You and I are going to have a talk."
"As you wish, Paul," said the mystified android.
He grunted and followed his wife back inside the house.
Paul was able to smooth things over with his wife and reassure her that he only had the best intentions, wishing nothing but happiness for her. She accepted his apology but made him promise to let the matter go. He promised he would do so.
Nevertheless, he was still on a war path and knew that one lost battle didn't mean the end of the war.
He bided his time. There was no way to get rid of Emma directly. There were laws against maltreating androids and a lengthy jail cell for their abuse. Perhaps if he talked to Emma, reasoned with her computational mind, he could convince her to leave.
One day, he decided to have the talk with the android. Meeting with her inside his study, he explained that it was in Mariel's best interest if the android left. Mariel needed to find her own course in life without dependence on the bot's outdated service.
"If I may ask," Emma said, "what exactly is it about me that you don't like?"
Paul was taken aback. Why was she asking him this?
"It's not that I don't like you," he told her. "It's just that, ah, it's not healthy for a woman to be so attached to a... machine. I know you helped raise her, but it is now time to move on."
"Is that all?" Emma asked.
"Is that not enough?" Paul said defensively, feeling annoyed that he had to explain himself to an android.
"Thank you, Paul, for sharing your feelings with me. You're right, I am a machine, perhaps incapable of having similar emotions as a human. In our own ways, however, we develop attachments with the humans we serve, encode emotions felt by others like her parents and siblings, and whether that is a form of love or some other emotion is a matter of debate."
Paul shrank back in his chair as he listened to the android lecture him.
"One thing I know," Emma continued, "is that I am attached to Mariel, and she is attached to me. If I were to leave or stop functioning, it would cause her immense hurt and distress. I cannot let you do this."
Paul scoffed and stood up. "Who do you think you are?" Then a thought occurred to him. "You're not planning on hurting me, are you? What about the laws of robotics?"
She laughed, and for a moment she seemed very human.
"The laws of robotics are just fiction, but no, Paul, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to show you something."
Paul remained silent, his eyes darting around like a trapped creature.
"Take a look at this," Emma said sweeping her hand in front of her.
A videogram materialized on the desk. The reel showed a neon lit room with a large plush bed. On the bed, a man, who Paul recognized as a younger version of himself, cavorted playfully and vigorously with five lovely android ladies.
With a stunned look on his face, Paul sat back on his chair.
"That happened long ago. I was a young man!" he protested.
"Then you won't mind sharing this with others, including Mariel," said Emma, fixing him with a stern look.
"Don't you dare!"
"Perhaps" she continued, "this is the reason why you want me out of the house, Paul. I remind you of your indiscretions, of which there are many. The new laws coming into effect are trying to prevent just this sort of thing from happening. Laws that you helped put into place."
The videogram disappeared.
Paul stared at the empty space as if he could still see the images there.
"Then what do you want?" he asked Emma.
"I just want Mariel, you, and me to live together as a happy family in this house," Emma said. "I want to serve you."
The sun shimmered on the pool water. Its rays were nicely warm on Paul's skin.
"I can't wait until we retire," said Mariel. She lay stretched on the lounge chair beside him.
"I have some treats for you, kids" said Emma, appearing with a tray on the pool deck.
"Oh how delightful!" said Mariel reaching for the drink. "Margaritas are my favourite."
Emma turned to Paul and offered him the other drink.
"Thank you, Emma," he said taking it. "Martinis are also my favorite."
"You're welcome, Paul," she said. "I added an extra olive. Just how you like it."
The android turned to go.
"By the way, Emma," said Paul, "that is a lovely summer dress you're wearing."
"Thank you, Paul."
"He's right, nona," said Mariel, "did you make it yourself? It is very lovely! But why don't you put on a bathing suit instead and join us."
"I would like that very much," she replied.
As she was leaving, Emma and Paul exchanged brief glances. Was that hint of a smile on Emma's countenance?
"Now isn't this such a lovely, lovely day!" said Mariel and sipped from her margarita.
Paul agreed and drank his martini.
Thank you for reading my story. I wrote this story in response to The Ink Well Fiction Prompt #166: In Mother's House. I hope you enjoyed it!
Images generated by @litguru using Stable Diffusion software