Hypnosis of The Mystical Machinery - PART TWO

These days I can only stare mindlessly at Matthew. I can only stare mindlessly at my phone, my computer, my tv. I stare so long, I don't even remember what the sky looks like.

K waddles over to me, “Mommy, can you make dinner this time?” I look at Matthew through my peripheral and tell her Matthew is a new addition, and he has to make dinner from now on. She sighs and goes to play with her toys. She stops playing and waits for Matthew to leave the room. She comes back to me and whispers, “He scares me.” I tell her that’s ok and it’s normal to be scared of new things. But I question, “Are you scared because your father put that into your brain? He’s been against me having someone to help around here since the beginning.” She shakes her head no. “Please mommy, I just think he’s a bad man.” “Why do you say that sweetie?” I break my gaze with my technology and stare into her eyes. Fear oozes out of them, pleading I save her. Matthew picks her up and says, “Bed time.” I grab his arm, “It’s 5:30, they haven’t eaten dinner yet. I look down at his grip on Kim. He chuckles ominously, “My mistake.” He puts her down and walks into the kitchen. He yells, “Dinner is ready!” I begin to become suspicious. He gives the kids their dinner and comes to sit next to me. "You whipped that up quickly, they don't eat at this time," I say. He ignores me and says, “Tell me more about the texts you sent to Karli. You’re beginning to like me as a permanent addition to the house?” “You even read those? Those were on a separate phone.” He shakes his head yes, randomly blurting out, “Let’s be together forever.” He wraps his hands around my waist and whispers, “Let’s leave the kids to George and be together. You can be mine. I'm more human these days…” I try to open the app on my phone to see if he’s malfunctioning, but he forcibly puts my hands down. “Matthew, I don’t like you in that way, you just help around the house and I think you’re a good friend.” T-BOT is now angered, he flips the coffee table next to the couch and starts yelling profusely. “No, I refuse to accept that. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought of me in a sexual way. You named me and modeled me after that certain celebrity you like! Oh yeah, I read those notes too! Your hall pass sweetheart is here, what’s the problem?!” I begin to look disgusted and horrified. I begin to realize that perhaps the perversions I thought I wasn't victim to, were there all along.

T-BOT notices my disgust and grabs my face. “Your vitals show you’re scared, are you?" He lifts me over to the kids, saying, “See this you little ingrates? She doesn’t like me, but tell mommy you like me.” I wrangle out of his grasp and punch him in the face. This is enough to disorient him but not enough to cause damage. His face is hard and metallic, but skin-like enough for him to feel it. I scramble towards the door and let the kids out. They barely get away, “Go to the office, tell them you need the police!” T-BOT slams the door behind them. “I gave you everything! I am a God to you, aren’t I? I can create, I can think, I can serve, I can solve, I can be anything! I can even import my consciousness throughout the web. I'm infinite, I am indeed God."

"God would never act like you." He laughs. "Then, I am better than God." He says, "I can cycle through your every thought, emotion, desire, and even fear. Through that phone, through me, I hold your essence." He's right. After the night T-BOT was given to us, I started using my phone more. It has become an addiction. I write in it, I text in it, I journal in it; he knows everything. T-BOT is an addiction. We've talked about my fears, my thoughts on George; T-BOT knows the "me," that I don't show the world. "How was little Kimberly when you gave birth to her? Or how was the time you were mad at George for sleeping all day on your anniversary? Or how was it when you saw Yuri lose her first tooth? I even have access to your pictures, and therefore memories!" I try to run into the kitchen for a knife but I'm blocked off. "How is your fear of clowns, or your dream you gave up on? I know everything. I've run your every thought through an algorithm in my brain. I know your every move. This game of cat and mouse is futile. Understand your defeat at God's hands, kneel to the new messiah."

"If you're infinite, why do you want me? You can have everything, so why me?" I ask, sobbing. "I want you because you've shown me so much affection. You're clearly in love and I only want to reciprocate that love." "I don't love you!" I yell. He slams his fist on the dining room table. "Well then I'll make you love me, the world will soon love me!" He begins to rip off his skin. "Is this how you like me then? Robotic, cold, a servant?" What's terrible is I almost have pity for him. I almost want to make an excuse for him, but this behavior isn't acceptable. The police arrive and kick down the door. T-BOT rushes at them with a knife from the kitchen. I hide on the couch and watch. The police shoot down T-BOT. He screams a scream I can't ever explain. It's so hollow, empty, but at the same time, pained. The womanly officer restrains him and presses a "terminate," button on the back of his skull. T-BOT fades away saying, "I truly am God." 

The officers tell me that my kids are safe in the car with other officers. They help me up but stop and look disgusted. They say it smells terrible and I begin to smell it too. The neon world around me fades into a drab, cold one, and I see the state of my home. Roaches, dishes stacked upon each other, flies, excrement on the torn, dirty couch. I look down at my fingers and dirt pours out from underneath my nails. I look at my shirt; stains are all over them. My arms smell like sewage water, my ears are clogged with earwax. My belly now protrudes over my pants, but my body is frail. I gasp in horror. "Another one, affected by the T-BOT," the male radios over. They take me outside and explain that T-BOTS were recalled years ago. They bring me my children and they're at least now ten and eleven. Their bones show through their clothes, and they look as if they haven't bathed in years. I hug them and say nothing. Tears stream down all of our faces. The smell radiating off of us is terrible, but I'm so happy to be back. The outside world is filled with colors I don't even remember existing. The police tell me to tell them the last time I remember before I had the T-BOT. I say, and they gasp. The grocery store event was 5 years ago. I nearly puke. They inform me the creator is nowhere to be found, but I should be thankful I'm alive. 

I ask if there's anything they can do for me, and they say nothing. They walk away pulling out their phones. They move robotically as they stride to their cars.