The door to the dwelling closed behind the Reploid with a quiet click. A voice called out. “Ay, it’s Ari! Come on in, dude!”
Neo Arcadian General Worker Number Five Eight Four Dash Zero Six Four Seven Two. Written like “NAGWN-584-06472”. This was their serial number, divided into manufacturer, model number, and individual identifier, and it was the closest thing they had to a legal name. Yet, the humans called them Ari, a name they’d chosen themselves with help from the humans. Ari was a lanky model of Reploid, designed to work a variety of jobs with little in the way of specialization. They had been commissioned and built by Neo Arcadia’s factories to do administrative tasks, mainly filling out paperwork.
They sauntered into the main room. Their stress, astronomical though it was, eased a tiny amount at the familiar faces. These humans were Ari’s friends. The room was dimly lit. A livestream was playing on the television. The air was filled with a thin smoke. Lasers pierced through the smoke, cutting dim lines of light through the air as they painted artificial starlight onto the ceiling. Jimmy, sitting on the overlarge couch bed, patted some empty space beside him. “Come on, have a seat, the stream’s getting to a good part!”
Obligingly, Ari sat on the crowded piece of furniture. Two people were already piled onto it at haphazard angles in serene states of relaxation. As Ari sank into the cushions, they attempted to relax the servos in their body. Their shoulders sagged a little, but not enough. The dull soreness in them persisted. They were visibly tense. One of the humans asked, “Tough day on the job? Those bastards can’t keep doing this to you.”
Ari looked for the speaker. It was Kim, sitting nearby on a bean bag chair. Responding to her question, Ari said, “It’s alright. Can’t do much about it.”
“It’s not alright! Look at you, you’re wound up like a fuckin’ mouse trap!”
Ari waved off her concern. They stared at the television, attempting to focus on the streamer. Inevitably, their eyes and head started to wander, focusing on the different objects and people in the room. Gradually, their body did relax more. Their head rested further and further back into the cushions of the couch-bed-thing until they were looking straight up. Then, they leaned further back, until they ended up looking upside down out the window behind the couch.
Ari spotted a billboard outside the window. Despite staring at it upside down and at a skewed angle, they could read it just fine. It was the Neo Arcadian crest with words over it. “Humans, remember, we are not your friends. We exist to serve. You need not form attachments to us.” It was that same usual self-flagellating propaganda the Neo Arcadian ruling body insisted upon. The Reploids in charge had decided to resign themselves to serving the humans, and were trying to make it so other Reploids did the same.
Ari started to tense. It stressed them out. Of course, they loved the humans in their life- but to live only to serve by compulsion? God, it was fucked up. It was awful. They saw their life ahead of them- another ninety-something years of mindless paperwork and navigating the anger of their boss and doing miscellaneous heavy lifting, and then an anonymous decommissioning in a factory. Fuck. Fuck! Their body began to tense back up. One of the humans, Jesse, immediately noticed. “Shit. Hold on, hold on…”
Jesse reached for the curtains, closing them and cutting off Ari’s view of the offending billboard. Their gaze met Ari’s. “Look, man, we don’t believe that shit. Fuck them.”
Weakly, Ari smiled. “Thanks, Jess.”
Jimmy reached for the bong, taking a deep hit. The water in the bottom burbled for several seconds before he put it down. Once he was done coughing, he said, “We’ve got to figure out how to get you out of the workforce… or get you something better, fuck.”
Ari regarded the glass implement with curiosity. “Jimmy?”
“Yeah, Ari?”
“What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?”
“Y’know. Weed.”
Jimmy sat up from his slouch. “Shit, man. It’s hard to describe… your body feels different. But, like, so does your mind. And I guess senses. It’s better. Pain goes away. Things are funnier. Y’feel, like, looser, y’know?”
“I… guess I don’t know. Maybe describe the sensations?”
“Ugh. I mean, you feel it in your eyes, sorta. And you get a bit… loose! Man, I dunno, loose!” Jimmy was clearly frustrated by his inability to articulate it. He took another hit, impossibly deeper, before recoiling from the bong in a long coughing fit.
After a good minute, he was able to speak again. “Damn. That shit’s good.”
Gently, Ari reached over, taking the bong from Jimmy. They regarded it in their hands. The glass was smooth and cool. It was a uniform blue. Without thinking, Jimmy offered the lighter, saying, “You can try a hit if you want…”
Kim spoke up. “Jimmy…”
Jesse snorted. “Fucked up. Don’t think it’ll work on them.”
Ari responded to the offer. “I mean, I’ll try it. Can’t hurt, right?”
“Hell yeah, dude.”
Ari took the lighter. It was small, a plastic disposable thing. They tested it, gingerly at first. The spark wheel’s teeth provided purchase against the silicone of Ari’s thumb. They spun it. A small spark burst out. They spun it again, this time following through and pressing the button in. A tiny flame issued forth, a creamy orange that didn’t bring much light. Ari stared, mesmerized for a moment before releasing the button. The flame cut out. They turned the bong around, looking at the partially burnt clump of flower in the bowl. It had a distinct scent to it. “How… do I even do this?”
Jesse responded, “Y’gotta suck in through the top bit while lighting it. N’ make sure you lift the bowl a little to let air in. Helps prevent burning in your throat.”
Experimentally, Ari lifted the bowl by the finger tab. It lifted with no resistance. On release, it fell back down just as easily. “Alright. I’m gonna do it.”
The Reploid delicately sealed their synthetic lips around the mouthpiece of the glassware. The lighter flicked on, and an ember started to glow in the flower clump. Ari sucked in air through their mouth. They didn’t have lungs, but they could still displace air for emergency cooling purposes. The ember brightened. The water in the bong burbled. A pearly white smoke filled the glassware right up to the robot’s mouth.
“Lift it, lift it!”
Ari’s sensors evaluated the smoke. Minor contaminants- legal narcotic class. Safe to breathe but potentially intoxicating for humans. Sensation of heat, approaching human discomfort range. They lifted the bowl and air rushed in, mixing with the smoke. The air cooled. After a moment, Ari stopped sucking in the smoke, putting down the bong.
Kim noticed that the bud in the bowl was still glowing. “Shit, pass me it.”
Ari obliged. Immediately, Kim sucked the remaining smoke from the bong, generating more as her own airflow brightened the embers.
After a moment, a look of embarrassed disappointment crossed Ari’s face. “Yeah, uh… I don’t feel anything.”
They blew out the milky smoke and watched as it dispersed into the air. Someone spoke up with a sympathetic tone.“Aw. I guess that makes sense. Sorry, bud.”
Ari felt grateful. The humans had let them give it a try. It meant a lot. Despite the lack of effect, it wasn’t a waste of flower. “Thanks for letting me try.”