Page 20 of Jinxed

Between Eric Smith and Monica Chan, life as we know it wasrevolutionized. They gave us bakus. Their names, their faces, are ingrained as part of our history – a history that I want to contribute to one day.

I might only be capableof adding a single word – maybe even just a letter – to the story. But I want to give something.

‘Ah, thank you, thank you,’ he says. He speaks softly, but his voice is amplified by his baku so we have no trouble hearing him. ‘I’m sorry you have me – and not Monica herself – she hates not being here – but she is away on overseas business at the moment. So for your orientation, you’ve got to settlefor me.’ The crowd gives him an energetic round of applause, to show their appreciation for his visit.

Eric drinks in the applause, then holds up his hands. ‘You all are the best of the best – if not, you wouldn’t be sitting here today. If you would indulge me – especially returning students, who would have seen this before, I have a short presentation for you – and then, I promise, we will geton to the good stuff.’

The lights dim again and screens lower from the rafters in the ceiling. The image on the screens flicker, as if the movie were being played from an old-fashioned reel.

A voiceover talks us through the history of robotics as we know it – from the very first automatons in the medieval ages through to the bakus of today. Images play of those initial designs: purely mechanicalobjects of cogs, bolts and springs, designed to instil wonder – and sometimes, fear.

I swallow, thinking of Jinx. Fear and robotics have often walked hand in hand – and for good reason. Fear of robots taking human jobs, of an intelligence explosion where robots become smarter than humans, of passing the Turing Test and reaching the point where they are able to harm us of their own free will.Asimov’s Three Laws becoming overturned, obsolete.

But it took Monica Chan to really think about robots in a different way.

She didn’t understand why robots needed to look like humans. The ‘uncanny valley’ – the phrase that describes the unsettled feeling people have around a machine that looks human but isn’t – was something she understood all too well. She couldn’t imagine wanting to livewith something that appeared human in every way, except with only electronic life behind their eyes. Not only that, but from an engineering point of view, building a robot that could walk smoothly on two legs was incredibly challenging and inefficient. That’s when the baku idea was born.

Ananimaldesign offered what people wanted – companionship, convenience, assistance, easy maintenance – andyet it wasn’t so creepy. Quickly after their launch, the baku became an integral part of everyday modern life. Another Moncha slogan –Accompanying you to your happiest life ever– became reality.

The movie flies on. Despite the fact that I am already a Moncha-fan through and through, I find myself swept away in the emotion of Monica’s rise and rise. Watching the film puts a grin on my face.Monica’s journey is a tale I’ve heard so many times it is practically a bedtime story for me. A fairytale, but not of princes and frogs, ballgowns and pumpkins, but of makers and metal, of wire and ingenuity and inspiration and creativity and invention.

The video is immersive, spinning us over the city of Toronto. There are images of bakus scaling the CN Tower, showing off how seamlessly theyhave been incorporated into all aspects of life – from the city traders using their pigeon bakus to trade messages, joggers running along the waterfront with their dog bakus projecting their route and updating them on speed, people on restaurant patios, talking to each other rather than looking at their phones, while never missing a beat with their social media updates thanks to their bakus.

Then it focuses in on one of Monica’s main aims for the bakus. On a young woman who is about to go up for a presentation in front of a huge audience, her heart beating wildly, her eyes closed but her breaths sharp and shallow. Her fists clench and unclench. She wants to leave, to throw up, to be finished, to be anywhere else. Then her baku leaps into her arms, and within a few moments of strokinghis metallic fur, she feels calm. She feels ready. And she takes the stage and smashes it out of the park.

The woman? Monica Chan herself, the baku managing to relieve her not only of her smartphone addiction, but of some of her anxieties.

I think of the other bakus I’ve known in my life, and what an impact they’ve had on the people closest to me. The truth is, Petal makes Mom smile – knowswhat videos she wanted to watch when she was down, what music to listen to to calm her down, what podcasts to play so that she could feel smart and be better at her job.

A line from the voiceover snaps me out of my daydream: ‘And simply, the final goal of Moncha Corp: to make life better. And to make people happier.’

The screens fade to black and the lights come up. Eric Smith has moved so thathe is now on the podium with Dr Grant. ‘And now, today, I’m here to ask you what you see for the future of Moncha Corp. Are you ready to join the next generation of companioneers, mechanics, programmers, designers and coders who are going to take bakus to the next level? Now that we are reaching a point in time where almost every adult has chosen their baku, their companion, we need to keep askingourselves the question – how can we keep onaccompanying people to their happiest lives ever? We want to make sure that everyone is achieving their peak happiness.’

Eric Smith is the epitome of comfortable. Relaxed. His hands drop into his pockets and he smiles down at all of us as if we were part of his family. ‘Yes, I know. Can simple engineering make people happy? We have a team of psychologistsand philosophers looking into this, but really it’s people like you – the makers of the future – who are going to transform the ways we live our lives in ways we never knew. Ways we could never have imagined. I’m excited by what you have to offer. By how you will inspire us.

‘I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of stories about Profectus, and the incredible technology that you will have access to whileyou are here. But forget everything you’ve ever heard. Because Moncha is in the business of staying one step ahead. And I bet you’re wondering how we move innovation forward at Profectus?’

Shivers of anticipation dance down my spine as he talks. There’s a rumble from the older students and it feels as if the crowd leans forward as one entity, sweeping me forward with it. I catch sight of Tobiasin the front row. He’s leaning back, his arms folded across his chest, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. Four other seniors next to him are the same – an island of calm in an ocean of anticipation.

I wonder what they know that we don’t.

I don’t have to wait long to find out.

‘I’m delighted to open this season of Baku Battles.’

The roar that shakes the gymnasium is almost deafening.

ERIC SMITH SPREADS HIS ARMS AND THE gym transforms before my very eyes.

The shiny, laminated oak flooring flickers once, twice, then turns bright white. The older students are hooting and hollering,stamping their feet, adding earthquake-like vibrations.

>>Where are they going?

Jinx flicks his tail in the direction of Tobias and four other seniors who file out of the gym. But I don’t have much time to wonder about that. I’m too busy being dazzled by the tech on display. The floor begins to... split open, is the only way that I can describe it, around the podium where Dr Grant and EricSmith are standing. It shifts, moves, unfurls, panels I didn’t realize were panels folding on top of each other, revealing a deep doughnut-shaped arena, with the podium at the very centre of it. The column-like podium is wallpapered in screens, and at clock-like intervals on the floor are five silver rings. Along with everyone else in my class, I lean forward, craning my neck to see into the pit.The rings flash and spin, opening like manhole covers. The five senior students I saw leaving are lifted up into the arena, their bakus appearing in front of them.

Tobias is lifted up almost directly beneath me. I can see the curly tips of his short black hair and the golden head of his eagle baku.

I can’t see his face, so I look to the screen, which is showcasing the different students’ facesone by one. Tobias still has that easy grin on his face, as if he is totally confident in what is about to happen.

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