Retro Rockets fires off with "A Chaste Kiss Good-Bye". Cassidy is living her best life on her last day. But, what will happen to her husband Paris when he goes back to the Reclamation Centre?
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This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Forget the frustration of picking commerce platforms when you switch your business to Shopify. The global commerce platform that supercharges your selling, wherever you sell. With Shopify, you'll harness the same intuitive features, trusted apps, and powerful analytics used by the world's leading brands. Sign up today for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/tech, all lowercase. That's Shopify.com/tech. Next up on The Mutual Audio Network, fiction from our future. The following audio drama is rated PG for parental guidance recommended. Paris, are you out there? Yes, love? Could you bring me a sweater? The wind is getting cooler. Of course, love. Do you want to come back inside? I don't want you to get cold. No, I'm fine here. I like to watch the leaves fall. And no one picks the apples anymore. I wonder how long they will stay on the branches when the wind's blue. I finish the blueberry muffins. Do you want me to leave them to cool on the windowsill? You love the smell of them. Or should I just bring one out to you? Bring one out, could you? Of course, my darling. And Paris. Yes, Cassidy? A little pad of butter with the muffin would be nice, too. The doctor bot said you shouldn't. You wouldn't deny me a little butter with your blueberry muffins, now would you? How can I deny you anything, love? You never have. You never have. From the golden age of science fiction, to the undiscovered worlds of the future, through time and space, the mutual audio network brings you the original stories of parallel planets and alien inventions. Fire retro rockets. Dying alone is one of the few great fears singular to human beings. While other animals thrive in groups and packs, they don't consider the future prospect of loneliness. There are too many other things to do. When the human birth rate plummeted, science asked the great artificial robot mind to find a solution. And with the computing power of many times the smartest minds humanity could provide, it did. The answers came in small punch cards, shuffled and delivered to the manufacturing plants, and each unit was specifically created to solve the problem. Each unit that was quietly decommissioned was each problem resolved. Cassidy Meriwether is well past the autumn of her life, looking from her back porch to the apple orchard of her youth. The garden is well picked, and the cellar is stocked with apple cider, pickled beets, jarred pears and peaches and syrup, and a collection of potatoes, corn, squash and peas. The longtime love of her life, Paris, sits with her, looking out to the marmalade sky as the sun sets on her final day. Is it happening yet? No, not yet. Try not to worry. But it will be soon? Yes, love. Soon. I know it would be soon. You did. I remember I told you a long time ago I wanted Beethoven playing. You did. You never forget. I love you for that. I won't forget anything. I promise. I'm only 72. I know. You're younger than that. I know. But you wouldn't ever let me celebrate your birthday, not in 50 years. It feels like yesterday. Does it really? I don't know. This time feel like anything to you. Some days it feels like forever. Other days it feels like last week. You just say it feels like yesterday. I think it's appropriate, don't you? Only if you mean it. I remember every moment we spent together. Instantly. So it's not even like yesterday. Do you remember when Tom and his wife saw us last? Helen. Yes, it was two years ago. It's so weird they're the only other people I know in the town. Town. How can it be a town without people? Are you lonely? No. I can connect with the Robocenter and have them send somebody, anyone you like. Men, women, even children. I wanted to give you a baby. I know you did. I know it's not possible. You, you're not made that way, but I wanted to. I love you. My eggs are still in the cryo chamber in the basement. Yes, of course. Why did I put them there anyway? Remember, in case there was a way. There never was. No love, there never was. It's so weird, the big robot brain that runs everything since the fall can do so much and yet it can't do that. No, it can't. You can't make life. No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that was cruel of me. Of course you're alive. I mean, you're perfect. It's like you were made strictly for me when I met you. It's fine. I'm not hurt. And you're right. We belong together. We always have. I'm so grateful to have been with you. Got to know you. I love you so much. And I love you. They... they can't do anything. No love. But I'm only... 72. It's like you're 20 to me. Flatterer. You always flattered me. No. Never. I swear. You almost blushed there. It could be the light. Maybe I can make you blush more. You flatter me, and you made love to me all my life. Like you knew how to touch me. How to touch my very soul. I just wanted... wanted to make you happy. You have. You do. But something's bothering you. Of course. You're going. You're going to leave me. But you're a robot. You look sound. You even taste like a man when I kiss you, but you're a robot. You won't age and die like me. I know. Would you like me too? No. Sorry. I just... The thought of you being gone is too hard to imagine. Is that what's going through your head? Something. Do you believe in a God? Oh. No. No, I... I never have before. I certainly don't want to now. Why not? Well, if there was a God, that would mean there was an afterlife. Wouldn't that be a better alternative than to just... stop all processing? Give me your hand. Well, if there was an afterlife, it wouldn't have you, would it? No. I don't think robots have souls. I would agree. All the books and video plays that come from the wall screens throughout the years never talked about God or souls. It was decided that discussions were wasted time. I am, however, considering things now as time grows short. If we're going to oblivion, there's some comfort that will meet there together, I think. Yes. I see the poetic nature of such a thought. Thank you, love. Yes. I think so. They replaced my lungs years ago because of the cancer. Yes. Eleven years, four months, and seven days. Do they hurt? No. No, I... just wondered why they wouldn't replace more. It was decided. Some things should never continue beyond their... time. There's that sadness again, that...ensive look. It's nothing. Please don't worry. Of course I worry. I worry about what you will do when I'm gone. I don't want you to worry. Well, I won't be here to see what happens. I can tell you. Outside, Helen is waiting. Tom's Helen? Yes, Tom's Helen. Why is she waiting? Why didn't she come inside? She wanted to give us this time together... alone. Where's Tom? Gone now. Ten months and fourteen days. Oh, that poor girl. They were together as long as we've been. Forty-five years. Tom's just three years older than you. Well, let's invite her in. No, love. No. No. You've never said no to me about anything, even when I was spouting nonsense. You've never spouted nonsense. I've loved all of your ideas as I love you. It's getting darker, Paris. I know. Time is late. I'll stay with you. Well, will you go with Helen? Is that why she's waiting? Yes. She's waiting for me. Well, she's alone. You're alone. That makes sense. No. We're going together. That's good. To the Reclamation Center. The Reclamation Center. To be modified. No love. To be disassembled. Disassembled. You can't. My purpose is over when you are gone. I have no other reason. Can't you talk to them? No. There's no persuasion involved with robots. This was the plan all along. The plan? Yes, love. My existence will end when yours does. Helen is simply waiting to come with me. She's been waiting now for three days. We were made at the same time, and they require robots to return to the Reclamation Center in at least pairs. What have I taught you? That we always have peanuts. You silly. You remembered. You told me that there were possibilities to make the life we wanted. I called it peanuts. You still have options. Peanuts. Peanuts. Kiss me. Of course. Yes, no. Just one more time. One. Just say. [sigh] [clicking] [crunching] [water splashing] [water splashing] [crunching] One last kiss to say goodbye, love. [phone ringing] Is she gone now? Yes, you can come in. We should leave for the Reclamation Center. Paris, the dozerbots will come shortly and bury this entire property out of sight. Everything inside will wear away in about a hundred years. There won't be anything left, and we will be gone even before that. We will. Helen, did you love Tom? Of course I did. I loved him all my existence. Every year I got to know him more. He was passionate. He was funny. He taught me more about being human than anything installed in our creation. I loved growing with him. Do you miss him? I never considered that. I don't know what that means. Neither do I. It's just something Cassidy said a lot about her family and the neighbors. And the town is it slowly wore away to nothing. It was the best way to remove them. Yes, I know. A war would have been a waste of resources. Yes. It would have damaged the ecosystem even more than they have. I know. And making us their stewards, it made sure they wouldn't replicate. And they would die off within a generation. Children, I know. Cassidy always wanted children. So did Tom. He was so sad that I couldn't give him any. Why? Children are a kind of way of staying immortal. What's that? Something Cassidy told me once. She told me about her childhood. She wanted me to know how she was raised. Raised? Taught. Educated. Grown into adulthood. I understand. We should leave now. I wonder. Did Tom leave any of his DNA? DNA? You mean biological markers? Well, yes. He was rather addicted to sexual activity. When servicing myself, I collected much of his material and kept it for analysis and central. In case he needed to change his diet or was demonstrating some health issues. Do you still have some in your cryo chamber? Yes. But the dozer bots will bury our house next door as well, now that Cassidy is gone. Go get a sample. A sample? Hurry Helen. I've headed to our cellar to get a small refrigeration box. You know the ones you would have used for trips with Tom? Yes. A thermos he called it. That's right. Make sure you have healthy samples and kept properly contained. Quickly. Paris? Why are we doing this? I am not sure. We are required to be disassembled at the Reclamation Center at the death of our spouses. Something Cassidy told me before she died. Helen? Yes. If you could make Tom happy, even now, would you? Tom is gone. But if you could. He was the love of my life. Of course I would. But what does that matter? Hurry and come back with a thermos quickly. Why? Because we will always have peanuts. Just go. I'll explain later. With the advent of the modern age, electric toasters, televisions, automated food machines, machines to wash and take care of us all became common. Is there any wonder that eventually they may be our caretakers into oblivion? What if the future robots that will finish human existence, perhaps for our own good, are able to remove all vestiges of humanity from the memory of time? Or will there remain that last, maybe trivial emotion? Something beyond just loyalty or commitment? Genuine love. To see out a future even if we're not there to meet it. Perhaps there is always something left. Always peanuts to plant in a garden. Retro Rockets is an anthology series based on the explorations of science fiction from the Golden Age for a new audience. A chaste kiss goodbye was written by Jack J Ward and produced by Austin Beach. Starring Jessica Kinney as Cassidy, Pete Sauber as Paris, and Theresa Ireland as Helen. I am your host, Lothar Teppen. Good night. This has been a Sonic cinema production. (upbeat music) (clapping)
