Chapter 20

Alex carried the last piece of luggage out to the Mustang. The car was packed to the fabric roof with all of the items that Otterly thought necessary for college. He looked around for a place to shove the suitcase, but gave up. There just wasn’t room for it.

Otterly said, “Put it in Ted’s car. He’s got room.”

Ted, Otterly’s current boyfriend, was over at Bertha wrestling to get the second mini-refrigerator in the backseat. While it was true that his car had much more room than Otterly’s Mustang, it was just as packed. Some of it was his stuff, but most of it was Otterly’s larger items, such as her mini-refrigerator. Alex carried her luggage over to Bertha.

“Here’s Otterly’s luggage.”

“Just put it in the front seat,” Ted said hoping there would be enough room in the car for him to sit in it.

“Do you think you have enough stuff?” Alex asked looking at all of the junk crammed into the car.

“I don’t know. We’re probably forgetting something.”

“The kitchen sink?” Alex asked.

“Don’t be silly. We don’t need one of those,” Ted said.

Sherry stood next to the Mustang, watching Otterly fuss around with the stuff in it. There just wasn’t any room for anything else to go in it, no matter what Otterly did. Mustangs weren’t built with hauling stuff around in mind. Everyone, with the exception of Alex, reacted negatively when Sherry suggested that they put a trailer behind the Mustang. The guy at the auto-parts place refused to sell them a trailer hitch when he learned that they were going to put it on a Mustang. The salesman kept muttering something about the criminality of having a thoroughbred race horse pull a plow.

She asked, “Did you pack the watch birds?”

“Yes,” Otterly answered with a roll of her eyes.

“All of them?”

“Yes. All six of them are in Ted’s car.”

“We spent a fortune getting charging stations set up around the school,” Sherry said.

Not only had they installed charging stations all over the campus, they had also donated fifty watch birds to the school. They had never considered the college and university market for the watch birds, but the schools had embraced them with enthusiasm. The watch birds made great advertising to parents who were concerned about the safety of their children on campus.

“I know,” Otterly said. “The school already has watch birds. I don’t know why you want me to take more.”

“They have generic watch birds, that will alert the campus police to a situation. Your watch birds are programmed to defend you,” Sherry said.

“I get it. You don’t trust me to look out for myself,” Otterly said.

“No, that’s not it. We don’t trust other people with your safety,” Sherry said.

“If you say so,” Otterly said. She couldn’t wait to get away from home.

Sherry asked, “Are you sure you don’t want your own apartment?”

“I’m positive.”

“It’s just that there are so many distractions in a dorm room.”

“Grandmother said that living in a dorm is all part of the college experience,” Otterly said.

Alex said, “Your grandmother never went to college. What does she know?”

“She has read all about sororities. I just have to get into a sorority. I won’t be able to do that unless I’m living on campus,” Otterly said.

Sherry couldn’t argue that point. She hadn’t been interested enough in sororities to even bother with learning what was involved in being a member of one. She didn’t understand Otterly’s interest in joining one.

“It’s not too late to change your major. I mean, who majors in theater?”

“Mother! I want to be an actress.”

“At least you could minor in something useful like computer programming, physics, or engineering.”

“No.”

“Just think about it.”

“No.”

Knowing that it was a lost cause, Sherry said, “Your father and I would be happy to take you to school.”

“As Grandma says, there comes a time when it’s necessary to cut the power cord.”

“Don’t you mean umbilical cord?”

“With you and Dad, power cord ... umbilical cord ... they’re one and the same.”

“Maybe,” Sherry said.

“There’s no maybe about it.”

“What will we do without you here?” Sherry asked pouting a little.

“I figure you and Dad will sit around the table talking about how lonely it is without a daughter. One of you will suggest making a mechanical daughter and you’ll have a nice ‘Ramona the Robot’ running around the house by Christmas,” Otterly said.

“Why would we do that?”

“I’ve always wanted a little sister.”

Alex and Sherry exchanged one of those looks that suggested they were seriously considering the idea. They both looked over at their lab.

“It might be a little tough getting one built by Christmas.”

“We could have one by Spring break.”

“It would be a bit of work.”

“We don’t have a mechanical frame on which to hang the hardware.”

“That could be a problem.”

“What about the software?”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. We can reuse the vision system from Digit and the AI from Secretary.”

“What about the software for movement?”

“That could be a little tricky. Bipedal movement is a bit more difficult than that for a quadruped.”

“There’s the work from Japan.”

“That’s true.”

While Sherry and Alex discussed the issues associated with building a human looking robot, Otterly and Ted finished cramming the last bit of stuff into his car. Many of the items, like pillows, blankets, clothes, and stuffed animals, were not heavy, just bulky. Ted stared at his car wondering how long it would take them to unpack it. Satisfied that they were ready to leave, Ted crammed himself into the driver’s seat and shut the door.

Otterly went over to her parents, and listened as they debated whether Ramona should have active facial features or not in the first generation. She stood there listening to the for a minute and then said, “Hello! I’m here.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“We’re ready to leave, now.”

“So soon?”

“I can’t wait to move into my dorm room and start decorating it.”

“Are you sure you don’t want your own apartment?”

“Positive.”

“Oh, well ... We tried.”

Sherry grabbed Otterly and hugged her tightly. There were tears in her eyes at the thought of seeing her baby girl leave the nest. Otterly hugged her mother back.

“Goodbye.”

Alex and Sherry stood in the driveway, arms around each other, watching Otterly drive off. They stood out there long after Otterly was out of view. They would both look at the end of the street and then sigh.

“She’s gone.”

“She didn’t say goodbye to Digit. His feelings are going to be hurt,” Sherry said reaching down to pet Digit.

“I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Alex said.

Sally walked over and said, “Hello, Dr. and Dr. Cage.”

“Hello, Sally. Are you getting ready to leave for the university?”

“Yes. We just finished packing Amos,” Sally answered glancing back at her car with pride.

“Good luck at school.”

“I’d like to thank you for your recommendation. I’m sure that it helped me get into the engineering program.”

“We were only too happy to help,” Sherry said.

Alex said, “I think you’ll enjoy the program there. It’s one of the best in the country.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Sally said. “I hope that I’m smart enough.”

“You’ll do fine,” Sherry said.

“I guess I better go,” Sally said looking over at where her parents waited for her.

“Have fun.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Sally said.

“Bye Digit.”

“Woof.”

Sherry and Alex stayed outside watching Sally bid farewell to her parents. Her parents looked just as sad to see her go as they felt about Otterly leaving. Michael, Sally’s brother, ran past giving them a quick wave of the hand.

“What is his name?” Alex asked.

“Michael.”

“That’s right.”

Chuck and Leann walked over. They had witnessed Otterly’s leaving and wondered how Sherry and Alex were going to deal with an empty nest. At least they still had Michael at home. They weren’t looking forward to him leaving.

Leann said, “I guess you’re sad to see Otterly leave.”

“Yes,” Sherry said with a sigh.

“It’s not going to be the same without her around,” Alex said.

Chuck asked, “What are you going to do now?”

Sherry answered, “Otterly said that she wanted a little sister.”

“Are you going to do it the old fashioned way or are you going to build one?” Chuck asked earning an elbow from Leann.

“We’re going to build one. She wanted it by Christmas. The old fashioned way takes too long,” Alex answered.

“That makes sense,” Chuck said with a grin.

Leann shook her head.

“Maybe you could build one for us. We’re going to be lonely when Michael leaves for college in two years,” Chuck said earning another elbow in his side. The last thing Leann wanted was a robot running around the house.