CHAPTER 133: ONE EMOTIONAL TOASTER.

Sunshine managed to nap for an hour and when she woke up, she ate a coconut bean fruit and decided to work. Work was the best way to take her mind off disturbing thoughts and turbulent emotions.

She was about to scroll through a list of pending jobs when the phone rung loudly--clearly and urgently like it had been waiting for her all along.

[Emotional repair requested. Host, will you take the call or reject it.]

"I will take it." She answered. She answered the phone immediately. "Repairman at your service, how can I help you?"

A man’s impatient voice came from the other end. "Greetings, I am a repairman too with an emergency house bot experiencing a meltdown. I don’t fix meltdowns, I will give you three hundred gold bars and owe you a favor if you take the job?"

Sunshine was impressed by the amount being offered and having a co-worker owe her a favor was not a bad idea. "Send it over."

He ended the call and a second later, a circular shaped, red colored device appeared before her. It had two images of bread slices on the side and a smiley face which appeared to have tears falling from the eyes.

She had seen a few smart devices from other worlds but none like this. When the repairman said meltdown, he did not explain that it was emotional and not something actually melting!!

Sunshine lifted the device, tilting her head curiously.

"Are you the repairman?" asked the bot in a voice that sounded like Alexa after a breakup. It started crying in a loud voice that stunned Sunshine. "I have burned the toast three times, I have lost all sense of purpose. Just leave me in the corner to die. Better yet, rip me open and harvest my parts."

Sunshine raised her eyebrows. "Well, that is a tad bit too dramatic."

The bot cried even more dramatically. The sound agitated Sunshine’s eardrums because the bot cried like a monkey in despair.

The front part of the bot opened like a little door and burned toast fell out...about ten charred slices that were in different shapes.

"Oh...I can’t look at it." The bot cried and closed its eyes.

Sunshine rolled her eyes. "Again, you are a little...."

The bot made a shrill cry and she winced. Her reflexes reacted quickly and she threw the bot on the table. Its cries turned into infant like wails.

"I knew it. Even you can’t stand me. The other repairmen rejected me...oooh,...my life is over."

Sunshine sighed. "Calm...."

It shrieked.

"Seriously, calm...."

It shrieked again.

Thirty minutes passed like that, with shrieking and crying without allowing her to get a single word in. Sunshine finally figured out why the other repairmen had rejected the job. Not everyone had the patience for a smart device experiencing an existential crisis.

"System what is the problem with the bot."

[Error 606: Exposure to too much dramatic television.

Subroutine ’Joy in toasting perfect bread.exe’ corrupted

Suggested Fix: Existential patch z1.1 or a life time of reassuring hugs.]

Sunshine looked at the bot that was still wailing and she shook her head. In this case, the simplest solution which was hugging was not the easiest. If it had been, the owner would not have searched for someone to help them fix the bot.

She got a megaphone and shared through it, "Stop watching too much dramatic television. Now you just remind me of my husband and his love for romantic comedies. Why are you watching television anyway?"

The bot had been startled by the megaphone and it was clam enough to listen to Sunshine.

To her question, it replied, "Mrs. Wonmai said drama is the spice of life."

Sunshine sighed. "You are a machine, you don’t need spice. You just need to toast bread like you were meant to do."

"But..but what about destiny?" It asked.

Sunshine groaned. "What does it have to do with bread?" She asked. "I believe in good food. Are you need on an AI counselor?"

The bot snorted. "I am having trouble producing good toast, not emotionally fried. What kind of repairman does not know the difference between the two? Oh great....they sent me to an amateur. My life has become more than worthless."

The crying started again.

Sunshine gasped. Was a toaster that watched too much television looking down on her!!!!!

She opened her toolbox, ordered for t patch and got to work. Without any tenderness, she turned the bot over and started opening it up, ignoring all resistance it was putting out.

When the sound got to be too much, she blocked it out placing noise cancelling earmuffs over her ears. It took her three minutes to place the patch in place and restart the bot while keeping an eye on the emotional progress bar until it stabilized.

She removed the ear muffs and smiled. "There, done."

The bot blinked.

"How do you feel?" Sunshine asked it.

"I feel lighter. Do you have some bread to test my abilities?" It asked.

She got the bread and placed it inside. Options were provided for other ingredients to be placed inside. She added a tomato and an egg. A menu appeared, allowing her to choose between plain bread or a sandwich. She chose sandwich.

The bot got to work, singing as it churned and produced smoke like a train. In a minute, it produced a perfect fried egg sandwich.

It cleaned up from the inside and the crumbs, eggshells and tomato skin fell to the floor outside.

"Oh come on!" Sunshine mumbled.

"You are welcome." The toaster laughed meanly and vanished.

[Congratulations host on achieving another perfect fix. You made an easy 1000 points.]

Sunshine scoffed. "You better not send that toaster back to me or else I will dismantle it next time." She could not fathom how the emotional bot was an asshole.

****

At around this time on the Rainhounds base, there was a crisis. Pastor Salem was dying!! Word of the poisoning had long spread and panic had infected the masses. The devoted were fasting and praying.

Those who lacked faith were gathering regularly and holding meetings on who should be the next leader of the base. The rich were already demanding for the keys to supply depots.

Half of Pastor Salem’s bodyguards were already seeking new employment among the rich. There was more unruliness at the base and crime had gone up rapidly. People were losing their minds faster than the rain was falling.

Zadok had been observing the madness and he was at the breaking point as he stood over Pastor Salem who was coughing blood into a bucket.

He was shivering despite being wrapped in a heavy jacket and four blankets. His skin was pale, his lips were cracked. It was as if the effects of the poison had multiplied overnight.

Pastor Salem sat up, heaving ruggedly like he had run a mile. "I should have killed that bitch when I had the chance." He coughed.

Zadok’s lips tightened. He had warned the pastor about Moon many times and he never listened. Now, the base was falling to ruins. A new leader was needed. He would not mind picking up where Salem had left.

He moved his hands from behind. In the right hand was a gun which he pointed at Pastor Salem’s head and fired without warning.