//------------------------------// // Sweetie Bot might not be so bad. // Story: Taking Care of Robot Ponies is a Disaster! // by Researcher_Harold //------------------------------// "Thomas, the clothes have entered the washing machine and will be ready to be put into the drying machine in the next hour." Sweetie Bot announced as she walked back into the bedroom, where I was lying on my bed, watching a video. On the floor were three full trash bags, each tied. "Cool. I put the trash in the bags or something." I reply from the bed, looking up at Sweetie Bot as she stood in the door. "The trash isn't meant to stay in the house. It's supposed to be in a trash bin by the end of your driveway so the garbage truck can come to take it away." Sweetie Bot said, frowning as she walked into the room, stopping by the trash bags. "Surely you aren't that lazy, Thomas." "No, I'm not that lazy! It's my day off and I want it to feel like it. I don't want to spend my day off working." I say, frustration building in my voice. "Doing this will help your room feel larger and more inviting-" Sweetie Belle stops herself as I jump off the bed and grab the garbage bags, hauling them out of the bedroom. "Fine, if I must, then I will. Just to get you to stop yapping about it." I grumble, opening the front door and walking out to the end of the driveway, carrying the three garbage bags. When I reach the end of the driveway, I open my trash bin and toss the three bags in, slamming the lid shut. I walk back to the front door, seeing Sweetie Bot watch me from there. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sweetie Bot asked as I walked past her. I remained silent. "Thomas, now that your room is clean, doesn't it feel better? Don't you feel safer in it?" I walk back to my bedroom and look into it, my frustration ebbing when I saw how much better it looked. Sure, the carpeted floor needed to be vacuumed, but it already looked much, much better. Without clothes and trash flooding the floor, it felt like a completely different room. Now I didn't have to recreate playing Minesweeper trying to enter and exit my room. "As much as I hate to admit it..." I mumble, crossing my arms. Sweetie Bot smiled as she did a little circle. "Your words please me. If you have a vacuum cleaner, please inform me of its location so I may use it in your room." She looked up at me, her eyes curious. "Utility closet. That's also where my window cleaner, bug spray, and bleach is if you ever need it." I walk out of my bedroom, walking down the hallway into the living room. "Noted." Sweetie Bot idly says as she enters the utility closet, followed by a bunch of loud noises. As I enter the living room, I take a brief glance back into the hallway. "She better not break anything..." I mutter to myself, then I look toward my kitchen. I'm still hungry, I haven't eaten anything and the mac and cheese I was supposed to eat is apparently burnt. I walk into the kitchen, open the microwave, and sigh. The bowl of mac and cheese is completely ruined, with some of the noodles having black char on them. I take out the bowl and go to the trash can to dump it out, only to be reminded that it was completely full and even overflowing. I grumble in annoyance and take the trash bag out of the can. Elsewhere in the house, I can hear a vacuum cleaner come to life, the high-pitched whirring loud even from all the way in my bedroom. I tie the trash bag and walk out of the house, tossing it in the trash bin at the end of the driveway like I did with the others. When I reenter the house, I am about to go into the kitchen again to prepare more mac and cheese for myself, but I slow to a stop, turning my gaze down the hallway to my still-open bedroom door. I groan and turn down the hallway, walking to my bedroom door where I peek in. There, I see Sweetie Bot controlling the vacuum cleaner with her green magic, moving the machine back and forth with ease. Judging from the way the carpet looked, she was already halfway done. "Hey, Sweetie Bot?" I call out over the hum of the vacuum. Her ear twitches and she looks toward the door of the room. She unplugged the vacuum cleaner. "Yes?" She asks, tilting her head very slightly. "Do you, uh... eat food?" I ask dumbly. I guess I'm just trying to be nice, but it seemed stupid to ask a robot if it could eat. "I have the ability to taste food and store it in a stomach-like chamber within my body. I can manually expel the material once I have adequately digested it in my stomach by regurgitating it." Sweetie Bot explained. I'll just take that as a yes. "So... do you want some mac and cheese?" "I'll partake in the meal after I am done cleaning your room." Sweetie Bot turned away and plugged the vacuum cleaner back in, the loud, irritating sound coming back. I nod and walk back down the hallway into the kitchen, where I open my fridge and retrieve the Tupperware with the mac and cheese. Looking into it, I deduce that there is enough food in there for a human and a small robot pony. So, I walk over to the microwave, toss the Tupperware in, and set a time that I know won't burn it. It might even be a little underheated. Well, I'm not taking chances. So, while that is reheated, I will put a new trash bag back into the trashcan. Then, I'll have my first meal with Sweetie Bot. I was putting the hot mac and cheese into bowls when I heard the vacuum cleaner shut off. I quickened my pace and put two spoons into the bowls. From there, I carried both of the bowls in my hands into the living room just in time to see Sweetie Bot walk out of the hallway. "Thomas, I have completed the task of cleaning your room." She announced proudly, then sniffed the air. "I smell cheese." "Yeah, I reheated some mac and cheese so that we could both eat it, especially since you said that you're able to eat." I placed the bowls onto the coffee table and got on the sofa, sighing. I picked up the remote and turned the TV on. "That's nice of you to do, Thomas. I do not eat much since it isn't needed, but it is nice to taste food every few weeks." Sweetie Bot trotted into the living room, jumped onto the sofa, and sat at least a foot away from me. She then used her magic to pick up her mac and cheese, taking a bite. "This is good." "I may not be the best cook, but I'm good at making simple mac and cheese," I say, bragging only a little. I pick up my own bowl and take a bite as I look up at the TV, seeing the live news again. "-highs will be in the upper 50s for tomorrow along with scattered showers well into the evening. Tomorrow is also the start of spring, so get ready to see some beautiful flowers blooming, people of Boulder, Colorado." A female newscaster said. "That's right Jane, but on other news, we have some breaking news. According to the continued investigation of the break-in of the R&S warehouse here in Boulder, there have been three AI robots declared to have been stolen. These robots are very valuable and expensive one-of-a-kind models, so if you see them, please call the number on the screen." A male newscaster said and a screen in the background displayed three images, one that contained Sweetie Bot, and the two others were blank with white question marks. Underneath Sweetie Bot's picture, it said 'SBV2'. Under the remaining images, it said 'SPV2' and 'LPV3'. "While we may not have much publicly shared information on the other two models, we have an image for this 'Sweetie Belle' model. Recreated with the image of show character Sweetie Belle in mind, this robot is a valuable prototype and anyone who locates and returns SBV2 to R&S will receive a $5,000 dollar prize." The female newscaster said again. The picture of Sweetie Bot zoomed in, clearly showing her every detail. "As for the other two models, R&S is currently looking into the matter themselves, but if you see any 'pony-like' robots hiding around Boulder, call the number on the screen and report this information to the person on the line." I turn to look at Sweetie Bot, who paused mid-bite with the spoon still in her mouth. "I really do have to keep you here for a while, huh?" I sigh, switching the channel to one with a comedy show. "I'm afraid so." Sweetie Bot pulled the spoon out of her mouth, looking back toward the TV. I was starting to think that Sweetie Bot might've been okay company, especially since she certainly means well, but now, it feels like I'm sheltering a fugitive. But, as long as I keep her hidden and quiet, everything should be fine. In fact, I'm confident in my skills of hiding a robot pony. Nothing can go wrong.