The Robot Market

On the deep guts of the city, in the underground network of abandoned tunnels, hides the Robot Market. A black market of robots and robot pieces. Few people know of this place. If you are lucky enough to know somebody who knows somebody, you might find out how to get to the marked. Mia was one of the lucky ones.

Every weekend Mia walked through the displays of robots, the vendors selling components, and the tents of hackers. She walked the Market endlessly looking for something she couldn’t find.

Yet again Mia approached a vendor selling custom made robots.

“I need you to build me a robot,” Mia said.

“You came to the right place, my friend,” said the merchant with quick eyes. “Do you need a beautiful, submissive companion? Or do you need a robot to do a dirty job for you? Maybe you want a robot trained to perform illegal surgeries? Whatever it is you want, I can build it.”

Mia took out a memory disk from her front pocket. The merchant took a look and handed it back.

“I can’t do this job, ma’am. It’s no good. You need to abandon it, nobody will build it.”

Once again, she wandered the miles of tunnels looking for a vendor she hadn’t seen before. A new face. Eventually, she found one. Mia produced the disk from her pocket and tried once more.

“I need you to build me a robot,” she said holding the memory disk.

The merchant took a look at the memories and sat in silence for a minute. Smoking out of his pipe he looked around. He looked at the greasy walls, and the puddles on the floor, and his dirty clothes. Finally he said “it will cost you greatly, but I’ll do it.”

“I’ll pay whatever it takes,” Mia said.

“I need to know,” asked the merchant, “how old was your son when you recorded this memories with him?”

“Does it matter?” said Mia.

“No, I guess it doesn’t. I have everything I need here.” he said shaking the disk. “I’ll build you the best replica you’ve ever seen.”

“14 years,” Mia said. “It’s been 14 years since I lost him.”