Robot without a clue (opening lines)

Gigo was a robot, to begin with. Let there be no mistake beyond thinking it was anything but. And I mean no disrespect by calling Gigo an “it.” I only mean to clarify that using “he” or “she” or “they” would imply that it was more human than he really was — and look at me, assigning him masculinity at the outset.

Fine. He was a fine robot, as robots go. The tasked assigned to Gigo were completed well, fully and efficiently. His ability to perform was not an issue.

The issue was that he lacked intelligence, be it artificial or otherwise. Or perhaps his intelligence was of a kind that we humans cannot quite comprehend.

“It is at this point that you insert the inciting incident,” Gigo said, looking up from the page and addressing yours truly.

“What?” I said. “Are you talking to me?”

“You’re the only one here,” Gigo said.

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