This is a sequel to my short story "A Unicorn Surprise", following Kelsey the robotic unicorn and her adoptive human family a few years after Kelsey first came into the family; at this point, the Anti Artificial Intelligence Movement (AAIM) is stirring up trouble, getting laws and opinions changed, and Kelsey has to make a hard choice about what to do next.

This story was an exercise at a writing retreat; we went out to a place, and wrote something inspired by that place (I went out in the woods near the lodge, although this is completely unrelated to that). We were supposed to focus on point of view, and making it unique--it had to be a story that would be best told in whatever perspective we chose. I had talked about incorporating unique elements of the viewpoint perspective (either the character or narrator)--why did you want them as the viewpoint? How did they perceive the world in a different way that could be interesting? So, here we have a first-person narrative, but the character is telepathic so she hears the thoughts of those around her as well as her own.

This ended up flowing really well; it's also an attempt at a prologue or new beginning for Robot Rebellion, and I rather like it. Not sure how to incorporate it into the main story, but it's still a fun experiment.

I hope you enjoy! Please comment, let me know what you think, and if you're feeling really adventurous, maybe tackle the full novel-sized Robot Rebellion !

Preview made by DeviantArt's one and only Rainewhisper as a birthday present for me. Go marvel at the original Here!

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Our conversation snagged a little, as the newscast, background noise playing from a holoscreen, said something important for a change. Uncle Ivan felt it almost the same time as me, accounting for the difference in his reflexes. Mom took a moment longer, continuing to talk lightly, casually, for an extra second and three-quarters as she realized that her brother and I were no longer with her. The newscast had caught our attention, and in another few sentences, she realized why.
“Kelsey, perhaps you should, ah…” She just wanted to protect me. Hard as it was for her, she had finally started to accept me as her daughter, and to her, in this moment, that meant making sure that I would be able to sleep soundly, untroubled by what that newsfeed was saying.
“I think this relates to me,” I interrupted her gently. “I’d rather listen than continue in blissful ignorance. Besides—I don’t need to recharge or integrate my day memory for another few hours.” I chose my words to nudge her, remind her that I was adopted and she didn’t have to worry about me as much as she would her own flesh and blood daughter. It worked; she was still chewing on the thoughts herself, so it didn’t take much to alter the blueprints, change the way her thoughts congealed into actions.
Uncle Ivan knew what I had done, but didn’t comment on it. The newsfeed went on, painting a progressively darker picture. Nobody was talking, Uncle Ivan’s last joke was left hanging with no punchline and nobody to ask for one. I could hear, or sense, thoughts churning in the room, things too big, too alien and disturbing, to say aloud, Mom and Uncle Ivan’s thoughts crowding in with my own.
Things had changed. This city was no longer safe for me, or at the very least, it wouldn’t be for long. More than my own safety, I had to consider the safety of my family. My presence would mark them, ever so slightly. It would disrupt their work and Karen’s school, and time would make that disruption grow. Things would change. They would be pressured, scrutinized, because of me. And they would try to protect me, with everything they had, and only draw more trouble to themselves in the process.
I loved them, as much as I could love anyone. The newscast said that it wasn’t possible for my kind to feel real emotion, that we weren’t…predictable. That we couldn’t be controlled or understood by humans. That such uncertainty was a problem. True or not, it would stir paranoia. Humans did not handle their paranoia well, and my family would be caught up in it. Even if my direct enemies did not harm my family, neighbors or associates might be incited to out of irrational fear.
My thoughts connected together, simple logical chains coalescing out of scattered points of data and understanding. I could still feel Uncle Ivan considering things, weighing options, but reaching the same conclusions that I had.
Just by being here, I would put my family in the crossfire of a potentially dangerous social upheaval. I could not make myself any more human. My family would not be able to protect or conceal me. The only variable I had control over was me. I would have to leave.
I stood up, not glancing at either of my—at Irene or Ivan. I sensed them watching me, Irene with her thoughts still in chaos, Ivan understanding. “I think I’ve seen enough. I’m going to go turn in for the night—and you should too, it’s getting late and coffee only gets you so far,” I said, and laughed like it was a normal night in my adoptive home.
“Goodnight, Kelsey,” Ivan nodded. “Be sure and give your sister a hug before you…go to sleep.”
“I will, though I’ll have to be careful not to wake her,” I said, and twitched one ear at the faintest sound of a muffled footstep retreating up the stairs. Karen had been listening, I could sense the turmoil in her own thoughts even with her on the edge of what I could pick up without putting more effort into my telepathy. Like her uncle, she knew, or was at least guessing at my intentions.
“Goodnight, Kelsey,” Irene said, standing up from the couch and coming over to me. “We…we love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, bending down to hug her. “Always.” I straightened up and made my way upstairs on quiet hooves, feeling flickers of anxiety from Karen’s room. Worry that I would abandon her, worry that there would be a second Kelsey incident. She even worried that she shouldn’t have named me Kelsey, that maybe it was the name that was jinxed.
Karen was in her bed when I silently opened the door. A quick glance in infrared showed that her covers were just starting to warm up, and I could hear her thoughts spinning a mile a second, hear how she was trying to regulate her breathing. It probably would have sounded decently like she was sleeping, to human ears. I acted like I thought she was asleep, coming over to gently hug her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, little sis,” I whispered in her ear. I felt her tense up rather than smile softly—the difference of my words reaching her turbulent, conscious thoughts rather than peaceful dreams.
Having lied to her, I stepped back, turning down my emotive centers so that my heartbreak wouldn’t hurt as much.
I went to my room and hooked into my charge cradle to recharge my batteries and start to process all of the loose thoughts from the day. I reorganized some of my existing thoughts and memory associations, recategorizing Irene, Ivan, and Karen Tillvera as friends rather than family. Much as I liked my friends, as good as they had been to me, I would have to leave the shelter of their generous hospitality and set out on my own while they slept. I looked about the room, mentally taking stock of what I would need and where it was. I keep my room clean and organized, not perfectly so but well enough that I can find things while still feeling like the room is lived in. The man on the newscast had argued that I, and those like me, weren’t alive. That we were machines. That we were defective. That we would have to be taken in for…he had called it “repairs”. To make sure we, to make sure I, to make sure my kind were “human safe”. No human would consider it “repairs” to rewire another living being’s brain so completely. None of them would let their memories be unraveled, picked apart, put back in a different way. But they could justify doing it to machines. Just simple repairs.
Irene and Ivan were still talking, quietly, downstairs. It took almost 46 minutes for them to decide they had talked enough and then go to bed. Ivan came in to check on me, and found me resting in my charge cradle. If he knew that I was faking sleep mode the way Karen had faked sleep, he said nothing about it.

Two hours later, I was confident that Irene and Ivan were asleep, their thoughts smoothing out into the steady rhythm of dreams. I got up, gathered my things—spare power cells, charge cradle, a few simple supplies. As I left my room, I realized that there was one person whose dreams I couldn’t sense. Where was Karen? A few silent steps later, I had my answer. I sensed her thoughts, tired but very much awake, near the hoverboard storage rack. She was waiting for me. I loaded my self-defense programs, calculating the best way to knock her out. I knew I could. I was fast enough that she wouldn’t even have time to cry out before…
…No. Whatever the news had said, I was notdefective. I would not attack my friend. My Karen. Taking a breath to cool down my internals, I stepped around the corner to speak with her. I even pretended to be surprised. “Karen? What are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
She was wrapped in a blanket, sitting backwards in a chair with her legs wrapped around the back of it. I could hear music playing over the headphones she wore, an upbeat track interspersed with voices to keep her awake. “I could ask you the same question, Kelsey—what are youdoing down here?” She managed to put a barb in her voice, despite being tired enough to drop.
“I heard something on the news, needed to process it,” I replied. “And I find that sometimes, moving about helps me think and settle things more clearly.”
“You were thinking of leaving!” Karen accused, forcing back a yawn so she could look at me. I could feel the anger and pain seething behind her eyes. “You were going to abandon me, abandon your family, just like the firstKelsey!”
“I couldn’t possibly come back pregnant and on the run from an abusive boyfriend,” I pointed out. “And no, I wasn’t going to leave. You should get back to bed and rest, Karen, you…”
“Don’t lieto me!” Karen almost screeched. If she got much louder, she would wake up her mother and uncle.
“Karen,” I sighed, dropping down to one knee and looking her in the eye. “I know you were listening to that newsfeed, I know that you looked up more related news on your pad. And I understand that your biological sister hurt and betrayed you, and that it would hurt you if I left like she did. Can you understand that…There are people that want to take me away, that want to ‘fix’ me…and I don’t want to put you or the others in danger because of that. I want to keep you, and your mom, and Uncle Ivan, safe, and this is the only way I know how. I don’t want to—and I would be glad to stay in contact by email and even vidcalls, if I can find a way to do it without being traced…”
“You’re running away, you’re planning to abandon your familyand me, and now you’re trying to justify it! Fine, I understand that you need to get away so the folks from AAIM don’t rip your brains out and reprogram you—but you are NOT leaving me behind! If you’re going, I’m going with you!”
I shook my head. “Your family would be worried sick about you.”
“They’re your family too, and you don’t think they’ll worry having anotherKelsey run away from home?!”
“They’ll understand. If you come with me, AAIM will use that as propaganda to show that I’m malfunctioning and need to be shut down, permanently. If you stay here, I’m just another malfunctioning robot that needs to be taken in and maybe fixed.”
Karen started to protest, but then her immediate comeback didn’t quite work out. Her exhausted brain considered for a moment. I tried to get past her to the waiting hoverboards, but she was still paying enough attention to get in my way again. “Wait, what if we left a note, or a holovid, with me saying that I wanted to come, that you didn’t kidnap me? Then my parents would know I’m okay, and AAIM couldn’t make the claim that you’d kidnapped me or whatever.”
I let out another sigh, blowing air over my internal heat sinks. “I can’t dissuade you from coming with me?”
“I could scream right now, if you prefer, wake up the whole neighborhood,” Karen said, drawing in a deep breath in preparation to do so.
“Alright. I suppose, since I can’t talk you out of it…pack your things, like for a family camping trip.”
“Really?” Karen asked, her tired and upset expression turning to one of cautious hope. Her thoughts did likewise. She wanted to jump on the chance to stay with me, wanted to trust, dared to hope that she wouldn’t have to watch her older sister run away again. She was also scared of leaving home and heading off into the unknown—and I had to admit, somewhere in my emotional centers, I was afraid too.
I smiled at Karen, not showing any of my worry or concern in my face. She responded in kind, her worries easing when she saw that I wasn’t worried. “Welcome aboard, little sister,” I said.