Hypnosis of The Mystical Machinery

"Hey, can you wake up Yuri?" I say putting the car in park. "Mommy do you see what's happening over there?" Kimberly says pointing, tapping her finger on the window repeatedly. "Uh it just seems like a line for something honey, let's get in and out ok?" I help Kim and Yuri out of the car and grab a cart. I tell them both to hold either side of the cart and we walk towards the grocery store. I'm approached by a man, at least 3 or 4 feet taller than me. He asks me, "You here for the event too?" "No, I'm just here for groceries," I say. Confused, he asks, "You're not here to meet Zachary Devins?" I chuckle, shaking my head no, and speed up going towards the entrance. Cars start to pile up in the lot and near the front doors, tents are all lined up like neat soldiers. These tents go on around the building and even down the sidewalk for a few blocks. He asks, "Do you live under a rock? He's giving away the new model for the T-BOT to one lucky person." "No, I barely even go on my phone, so..." He seems offended. He contorts his face out of disgust, but gives up his harassment to find his place in line. We thankfully reach the doors but I'm no sooner told by security that no shopping will be held for the next 30 minutes; Zachary Devins' orders. 

I take Kim and Yuri back to the car. I buckle them in, but there's no way to leave the parking lot. Cars are down each aisle, blocking any possible way out. I sigh and my loves stare at the commotion. The man named Zachary comes out of the exit doors and shouts on a megaphone. "Ladies, gentlemen, non binary folk, are you excited?!" The crowd roars and shouts at the tops of their lungs. "Let's sign a few things and get this party started, huh?!" "Mommy, who is that guy?" Yuri asks. "I don't know. I can look it up though." I take out my device and barely understand how to work it. I find the search bar and look up Zachary. The internet tells me he's a big tech guy who founded something called the T-BOT. This giveaway of his is in support of the fight on global warming. Ironic. I click a link with my index finger that takes me to what the T-BOT is. The website tells me that it's a robot on its fifth wave. The robot resembles a man in his mid-30's. He apparently is engineered to satisfy any need. He can "clean, cook, drive kids to school, eat, listen, and even satisfy sexual needs." The "appendages'' can be modified to your liking. This is a joke. I tell Yuri and Kim that he's just a famous robot inventor. 

Unable to leave the parking lot I tell my kids to stay in the car. I turn on the air conditioning and step outside. I sit on the bumper while watching the crowd. The giveaway has begun and people are being chosen. Zachary Devins halts everything and spots me at a distance. He speaks into his megaphone, "Hey you, mom in her mid 30's, leaning on the minivan. Why aren't you over here freaking out about me?" Silence fills the crowd. A security officer escorts him over to me. "So? Why don't you care about this?" "Listen man, I just wanted food for my kids, I don't care for technology." He cackles, and stares at me quizzically. He clicks his teeth and stands on the hood of my vehicle. "She's the one, she wins!" "What?!" I ask. The crowd becomes agitated and starts to rumble. "Bring the new T-BOT over here," Zachary says. Two security officers put the model in my trunk, scaring my children. "It's ok guys," I say quietly. I turn to Zachary as he jumps down. "Dude, seriously, I don't want this." "Well you better start wanting it, because it's yours." The crowd starts crying, cursing, and they become restless with rage. "She gets it? This bitch gets it?" the man from before says. "She doesn't even know who you are," he says to Zachary. Devins retorts this by saying, "Well now she'll know." The man loses himself, "Really? You're serious? She just got here. I waited here all night! I called off of work for three days just so I could be here!" The crowd agrees to his concern. I say, "You guys can have it then." Zachary pushes me inside my car saying, "No. You must have this." The agitated man is fuming, "Zach over here is being a white knight. He only gave it to her because he wants brownie points. This isn't how this was supposed to go." The crowd becomes delirious, and I try to pull out so I can escape the escalating conflict. The horde surrounds my car like zombies trying to devour fresh meat. They tackle Zachary to the ground and the security starts shooting at the crowd. Yuri and Kim start to cry. I comfort them the best I can. A woman yells, "You're going to have to kill us if you want that robot!" They start to bang on the windows. One woman even licks my windshield as she flashes me her chest. What is going on?! I obviously don't want to run anyone over but I can't stay here. 

A woman with a knife bangs on the back windows; I have to leave. I reverse out, hitting a few people. Growling takes over and their eyes turn a ghastly white. The majority of those who are now mindless, start jumping in their cars, and some even jump on mine.

The man from before beats my hood with a bat, "Give it to us, give it to us!" This is insane. I spot drool dripping from his mouth. His demeanor is completely changed; his eyes are red with contempt, his mouth bubbling. His head is now meeting the glass repeatedly, leaving blood on the window, and glass in his forehead. I drive over a curb and the man finally flies off. I speed onto the street and many cars continue to chase me. "It's all ok guys I promise." I don't know what else to say. What can I say? I put my foot on the gas and go as fast as I can. The cars start ramming into other ones behind me so as to lower the competition. I call the police frantically on my phone. I tell them what's happening, and thankfully, a sane person already called them. They tell me to head to the nearest station. I drive to the station while a line of undead zooms after me. Thankfully the station is nearby and I get there quickly. A man and a woman who followed, jump out of their car. They kick and spit at me, growling, as bubbles fling out of their mouths. I've never seen anything like this. My children shriek, "Mommy what could cause someone to act like this?!" I stay inside rubbing my children's arms. They howl for comfort. "Zap!" The couple are tazed down in front of me. My kids scream. The cops surround me and take us in. They comfort us and tell us we basically have the rarest piece of technology in history. I say, "Then take it, I don't want it!" They insist I must keep it and the issues are over. "We shouldn't be followed or attacked anymore." My hands tingle as I watch the light fade from the eyes of my daughters.

ONE YEAR LATER

I stare at the closet as curiosity aches my bones. Do I open the T-BOT? It's just falling away to nothing. With the girls now with George for the weekend, I have nothing to lose. Due to the T-BOT's material makeup, it's very light and easy to move. I place it in the living room and open it out of its long and brown box. Instructions are inside, along with the motionless robot. I pick up the instructions and follow all of them carefully. It's relatively easy to set up. I stand the T-BOT up and look at him. He's taller than me. He stands at around 6'3; "perfect height." I press and hold his temples like the instructions say. He wakes to life and speaks to me. "Hello, thank you for activating this T-BOT unit. Before we continue with the setup, what would you like me to be called?" I don't know what he should be called. A name comes to mind, but I don't want to delve into that, do I? "I'd like you to be called Matthew." "My name is now Matthew, is that correct?" "Yes," I answer. "Where am I located?" "2445 Shepard Ave." He rotates his shoulders in a shrugging motion and stretches. "How would you like me to look? Open the app on your phone to choose which body type you'd like." 

I choose an average looking body, with an average looking face. I choose a Midwestern voice and he materializes clothes I like. I choose what each body part looks like, what his eyes look like, his vocal chords, his toes, etc. The setup is eventually done after at least an hour of customization. Matthew asks me, "What would you like me to do today?" Many people would expect perversions to arise but, I just want someone to talk to. I choose on the app, "Lunch conversation," and instruct Matthew over to the table. He insists he can set up lunch, so long as I take a picture of the refrigerator. I snap a photo and he gets to work. He toils away, but using what can only be described as magic, he whips up lunch quicker than I ever can. He brings the plates, cups, etc, over to me. He sits down awkwardly; one could easily tell he's a robot in this state. "Based on your recent texts, you are quite sad. Is your divorce coming along well?" I chuckle uneasily, "How do you know about that?" He says, "You agreed to the terms of I, "Matthew," being able to access anything on your phone when you installed my app." Wow, I didn't even think about reading the terms. Well, I'm sure I can trust this thing. It's not like I have anything to hide. 

I talk to Matthew for hours and he only interjects with a head nod to show he's listening. He even tells me that he records everything to remember for later. "So yeah, after the incident when I was given you, everything went to crap." I sigh. "Given me?" he asks. "Yeah," I say. He stops for a moment with a weird look in his eye. The muscles behind the synthetic skin twitch. He clears his throat, "Anyways, I suggest just taking it moment by moment. After searching the web I surmise that it is best to just be the best mother you can be." We talk for hours, days, months. Matthew helps around the house, cooks for the kids when the kids are allowed to come over, and overall fills a void I didn't know was there. He allows me to be me, and I like that. We talk about all sorts of things, my insecurities, my hopes, my dreams, and he listens. That’s all I wanted out of George. I understand our divorce wasn’t because of my issues with him, but I’m glad I’m finally away from him. Matthew just does everything and I love it. I become enamored with him, not in a romantical sense, but in the sense that he listens. I was a fool to doubt this, I’m glad he was given to me. We begin to become closer and I start to like him around the house. It's like he's become an escape for me, and I find myself completely addicted to his presence.