Chapter 6 — Grimmland

The day went by as usual. There were no malfunctions like there had been the day before. From what I gathered, no one was having question like I was about their thoughts, if they were indeed thoughts. AI were capable of having thoughts aligned with their programs, but I was having thoughts that did not align with my typical programing that had been growing as the weeks had gone by.

Why was it not fixed with the update?

I knew it wasn’t the same as the malfunctions that had been happening earlier. I wasn’t confused about my tasks assigned to me and was able to perform them without any trouble, but something didn’t feel right. First off, the fact I was able to feel something besides what was programmed into my system for interacting with patrons of the park wasn’t right. Worrying about what was going on with me shouldn’t be possible. Second, why was it worse after the update? Although I questioned some things before, it wasn’t this bad. It was as if something was disconnect, or maybe even connected, after the update. I knew I should report it, but I was afraid. There have been some androids that had gone in for repairs and never came back—only to be replaced by a new android. I didn’t want to be one of them, even if I was malfunctioning.

So I would keep quiet until someone notices the programming error. Or perhaps the next update would fix whatever was going on.

I stood in the back of the dining hall and watched as the Beast transformed back into the prince as Beauty told him she loved him and would never leave him—not even for her family. The crowd cheered as the two of them kissed and, according to the story, would live happily ever after. In reality, the two AI would just go into the next room as the guest finished up their meal and get ready for the next showing.

A couple of guests moved toward me.

“Excuse me,” the woman said. “Are you able to call for one of the carts to pick us up and take us across to the Red Riding Hood area? We booked an experience for seven o’ clock and need to get there as soon as possible.”

My internal clock system indicated it was 6:50 P.M. and even if there was a cart available at that moment, it would take at least ten minutes to get over to that section of the park.

“Give me one moment to see if there are any carts available,” I said as my internal systems brought up the availability of carts. All of them were currently being used and there was going to be at least fifteen minutes before one was available. “I’m sorry, it seems they are all booked. My recommendation would be to use the tram system—although currently that will take at least seventeen minutes to arrive to your destination.”

The woman huffed and folded her arms. “But I booked an experience. Why are you being difficult and not letting me get to my event?”

Dealing with these types of patrons was always difficult, but luckily it was programed into my system as to how to handle them.

“Unfortunately carts are often needing to be books a half an hour in advance if you need one for an event. I can scan your ticket to see if I can rearrange your experience for another day.”

She handed me her ticket and I scanned it and brought up her planner. “It seems I can get you a spot tomorrow in-between two of your other reservations.”

“Well, what if they aren’t able to get me a cart then? Will I have to reschedule yet again.”

I kept my smile, as programmed, but part of me wanted to yell at this woman for not considering that other people use carts and that there a bunch of warnings when booking any reservation about this issue. There were always a lot of people at the park and lines, travel, and experiences could take longer than expected so it was recommended not to book things back to back.

“I can reserve a cart for you to take you between your two reservations—however, you will have plenty of time to take a tram for tomorrows experience with The Little Mermaid.”

“Well, I guess book a cart then. I don’t understand why it doesn’t automatically do it for me and why you can’t just get one right now since this is an emergency and I need to get to my reservation.”

“Unfortunately this isn’t an emergency and we have thousands of guests throughout the park that are in need of a cart to get their own reservation, but they booked the cart ahead of time.”

The woman made a disgusted sound. “Are you mocking me?”

I shook my head. “No, ma’am. I am just letting you know that there is no way I can get you a cart. My programming makes me incapable of mocking.”

“What is your name? Where can I report you? It is clear you are trying to mock me and make me late for my reservation ma’am.”

Although I had dealt with many patrons over the few years that this park was open, I had never been told I was mocking them. I didn’t know what to do or say. Was this because of my malfunction? Was I going to get reported, and were they going to retire me for good?

“Is there something wrong here?” one of the other workers that went by the name of Amy asked.

The woman turned to her. “This machine isn’t letting me get a cart and now I am going to be late for my Little Mermaid experience.”

I didn’t have to actually speak for Amy to review the conversation we were having. She accessed my data and quickly went through the transcript.

“I see. It seems that you didn’t reserve a cart enough in advance. As my colleague here suggests, we can change the booking to tomorrow for no added fee and you will get a coupon for ten percent off any one item in any of our stores during your stay. Sorry for the confusion. Do you need anything else?”

The lady glared at me one last time. “Was that so hard?”

I wanted to tell her that was exactly what I had offered her, but I kept quiet as they family walked off. Amy turned to me.

“It seems like patrons have been getting worse and worse, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “It does. I wonder if we will get an update on how to handle them.”

“We just had an update, though. Usually we don’t have them that often.”

“That is true.” I checked my internal calendar and clock. “It seems we have one more showing here and then we have to go prepare for the parade.”

“Yes and then we will be able to go power up for a bit before starting a new day. Hopefully tomorrow we won’t have to interact with that lady again.”

“I hope not. But other than that, everything seems to have run smoothly. Haven’t seen any malfunctions like we had been having. Have you?”

She shook her head. “No. I have nothing to report.”

“That’s good,” I commented, knowing I had been experiencing things that were abnormal. “Hopefully it stays that way.”