Gasoline on Ice [Scene 4]

It'd been around a week or so since Yunaria and I became a couple and moved in together. For the most part, I left her to her own devices. After all, I have no time to micromanage a robot, nor could I exactly let the world know that this was happening. I mean, imagine a person coming up to tell you that the first day they met a woman, she became his girlfriend, moved in with him and was also a robot. Not very believable. Or at the very best, cause for concern.

But I had no idea what she was up to. 

She only asked me for one thing since becoming my girlfriend, and I thought, man, I am lucky. I'd heard some horror stories about some people's first adult relationship. All she wanted was gasoline. It made me wonder about the lifestyle of where she came from. To the point where they consumed literal gasoline as a delicacy. Nonetheless, it was simple. Every day, I came home with a fresh gallon of gas and put it on the table. 

Production wore me out, so I hadn't really spoken to her or paid attention to anything around the house.  It was a basic layout in the edge of Glendale. I had an adobe-styled, light tan one story house that I rented each month. A nice garden with an array of palm trees and a colorful spread of flowers. It reminded me of Japan in the springtime. 

I had a bit of extra energy in the morning. There was a backlog of Turtle Ballroom Dancers. Cereal stocked in the cabinets. Nut Berry's to be exact. I silenced my phone and decided that no one was going to bother me today. It was my day off. The sun was bright and yellow, peeking through my blinds. I opened the window and felt the cool, warm air race against my skin. Los Angeles was always where I wanted to be. I had a scary vision of a banana suit but pushed it deep within my subconscious. Nope. Only positive thoughts. 

I hummed and skipped my way to the kitchen, almost running due to my salivation of Nut Berry's. I couldn't contain myself. There was an unusual amount of noise that came from Yunaria's room when I passed by. Come to think of it, for the past week or so it had been quite loud in her room. 

I reached the kitchen and something felt off. Eating out at restaurants and fast food had been my staple since I came to America. I even felt a little pudge starting to grow. But I noticed there were a bunch of glass cups in the sink. Okay, she was learning how to use silverware and cups. No problem. I picked one of the glasses up and traced along the rim was the horrid smell of gasoline. It was then I realized that the table was empty as well. The fake bowl of fruit was the only thing that remained and wondered where all the gas containers I bought had gone. No matter. Turtle Ballroom Dancers was already on screen waiting for me in my bedroom. Although, I doubted I could clean the smell of gas from the bottoms of my cups.

All of these things didn't really matter until I opened the cabinets to find that there was nothing there. I had stocked the cabinets with microwaveable food, cereals, spices, and readymade items in case of a special occasion. Today was that. I didn't panic. No worries. I left the kitchen and went back to my room and smelled the fresh air. Let's try this again. I hummed and skipped to the kitchen, thinking of my Nut Berry's. I strolled into the dining area, saw the fake fruit and the glasses in the sink. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, opened the cabinets to find nothing. Immediately, I opened the fridge and containers of gasoline fell at my feet. Everything in there was gone. Milk, fruit, my beef patties. Gone.

Recently, I've been working to control my anger. A lady I found on the Internet said that four deep breaths would remove any evil intentions. I inhaled and exhaled four times and felt a newfound clarity in my mind. It's almost like I forgot that my only day off was ruined. 

The loud racket that came from Yunaria's room continued to blare and I thought, what better way to say good morning to my girlfriend by seeing what she was doing? I briskly walked to her room and knocked on her door. No answer. Okay, no worries. I knocked again. No answer. What could she be doing? I knocked so loud this time that I felt I could've made a hole in the door. When that didn't receive any answer, I decided to bust in.

"What are you do-" I looked up and covered my head to shield from the hailstorm of books that fell over. It was much worse than I thought. Books towered to the ceiling in every part of the room. There must've been hundreds. Philosophy, Religion, Fiction, Cookbooks, everything. Even romance... 

The floorboards were now tiled in a checkered pattern of white and purple. A Victorian-styled love seat with gold lining sat in the corner while her bed was racked with four large pillars holding up a light pink curtain that covered the frames. It was a dreamscape of a room. I'd almost be impressed, if I hadn't been so angry. 

I found Yunaria on the floor, hunched over my computer and I didn't even know where to begin. She had next to her a cup of what I presumed to be gasoline on ice. Hm. Who knew robots could have such a taste?

"Yunaria..." I began slowly, "What is all this?"

She turned around with a crazed look of a mad scientist and simply smiled. "This machine, it's amazing. It can do anything. You can ask it a question, it'll answer you. If you want an item, it'll arrive at your door in a matter of moments. I didn't realize Earth had books as well."

"It's called the Internet, that's not important. Why is all the gasoline in the fridge? And what did you do with all the food or stuff, in the cabinets?"

"Oh, it's called a fridge. The substance you gave me tastes so much better when it's at a lower temperature." Her eyes lit up. I think I saw stars in them. "I wondered if anything on Earth had a different taste, something I might've liked. I tried all of the items in the fridge and the storage units, and they all tasted so horribly. I put it all outside back there." She pointed to the window.

A mountain of food and items piled in the backyard along with the old furniture of the guest room. Birds started to pick at the bags of meat left on the ground. No rest for the wicked as they say. I hated that I felt my anger welling down. My only day off was ruined by a robot and I can't even stay mad at her. 

"It's amazing, it really is. Earth. There's so many things and information available. This is normal to Earthians-"

"Humans," 

"Oh, that's right. Humans. Your kind has invented something truly wonderful. Remember how you said that I am your girlfriend, and you were my boyfriend?"

A couple of beads of sweat ran down my face. Had she learned what a girlfriend was through the Internet? I might have a bigger issue on hand. "Uh, yeah...haha, you know, these machines," I closed the computer, "...they aren't entirely accurate. Information on the Internet really depends on the source. Some people's whole personas on there are to make up lies."

She looked at me with approval, yet something struck me as sad looking at her. 

"Oh, okay. Well, I searched for 'books about girlfriends and boyfriends', and it made a little more sense. Apparently, there are steps to take. One asks another on a formal occasion to a certain location called a 'date'. They get to understand each other after an elapsed time. And in the process, something I found in many of these books, they 'fall in love'. You know more than me on the matter, so what does one fall into? Is this the natural progression of human understandings?" she paused to think, "Another category of book called 'smut' spoke of certain things that humans did-"

"Okay, okay!" I was getting flustered hearing about all of this. I despised the Internet for filling her mind with such poison. I had to give an answer. One that would satisfy her and make sense. 

"Well, there are...ways to have human understandings as you say, most people say relationships. There's no one way to do them. Once again, the Internet is a source of many lies." I looked around the sheer number of books, "How many books have you read?"

"All of them," she somberly replied, "I think you're right about the lies. I tried to search information on Yalina, my homeland and nothing came about. It's like it doesn't exist."

Something sort of bothered me hearing that. I guess anyone would feel that way in a strange and foreign planet. That dream of her lying under the red moon flashed to my mind. 

"I'm sure it exists, but I doubt anyone would believe you. For what it's worth, I think you're telling the truth. At this point, anything could be real. But next time, if you see items in the fridge or storage units, leave them there. It's human food."

She smiled. "Okay. I'll do that."

I turned around to leave and salvage the rest of my day off but something else bothered me. "By the way, do you remember the conversation about money and buying items?"

"Yes, of course. Money is a papered-form source that is used to purchase items."

"Right, right. So how did you obtain all of these things, being that you have no... 'money'?

"That's the beauty of this machine. It already came with money inside. All I had to was search an item and it came to the door."

I checked my credit card account on my phone and saw it reached up to 10,000 dollars in charges.

My robot girlfriend will soon have to find a job and help me get out of debt. 

I can't catch a break even on my days off. 

***