Headache

Hi everyone! This is (after a long hiatus) my 69th 5 minute freewrite. (Disclaimer: these usually take me significantly longer than 5 minutes to write and edit 😉). Today's prompt was "yummy".

Join in the fun at @freewritehouse! Many thanks to @mariannewest for hosting this wonderful daily freewrite :) https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-368-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-yummy

https://pixabay.com/en/ice-cream-summer-cornet-cone-scoop-770994/

It's been a long day. I've been manning - well, ok, androiding - the counter at the ice cream shop since shortly after 8:00 AM, with a brief 20 minute break at approximately 2:00 PM for a much needed recharge. The shop's charging dock is state of the art, since we only opened at the beginning of summer, so a full cycle goes by quickly.

We've been mobbed today... so many people love ice cream! The entire human race apparently. They come in and line up, looking sweaty and uncomfortable. Temperatures are high this year; today has been in the low hundreds. But they perk right up when they get their ice cream. Every single time. I'm beginning to think ice cream must be magic.

It's not that I tire or overheat the way humans do...in that way I suppose androids are superior. We can walk or run for miles without effort. When my charge runs down, that feels uncomfortable, but it comes on quickly and is easily remedied with a charging cycle. So it's not that I'm physically tired. It's psychological. Today has been monotonous. As was yesterday. And the day before.

It's brought on a kind of existential malaise.

Thankfully I have nights. I can use books and ebooks and apps and search engines to study any aspect of reality I care to learn about. Human television shows and movies often provide insight as well as entertainment, and these days there are a small but growing number of android authors, actors, directors, and even musicians to provide a perspective that I can identify with more closely.

So that's fun.

But then there's days.

And today I just feel... blah. Bored I guess. And the ice cream looks more and more delicious as the hands of the old fashioned clock on the wall move forward. I just can't stand not knowing what it tastes like.

No, I'm not malfunctioning. I do know the risks involved. I know that androids have taste receptor sites and taste sensors in our central nervous systems, but that we are only designed to eat food made for androids. I of all people should know this, having watched my brother Aristotle consume a human biscuit once, to disastrous effect. Human foods can give us headaches, stomachaches... or worse, disable us completely.

But it's 7:14 PM and people just keep coming and buying ice cream cones, and sorbets, and sundaes, with no sign of a letup. We'll probably be here 'til midnight, and I don't think I can make it that long without doing something genuinely stupid. It's been too many days like this.

At the moment we find ourselves in one of those two or three minute lulls that come along every once in a while to (blessedly) break up the monotony, so there's nobody standing at the counter waiting to order. So here goes:

I've got a waffle cone, and I'm putting in a scoop of salted caramel espresso. I'm adding a scoop of mint chip on top of that, and topping it off with a scoop of strawberry cheesecake, and then, what the hell, rainbow sprinkles.

Abby is eyeing me warily. She's told me not to do it, and says that if I die and leave her with all of these customers tonight she'll have me repaired and reinstall all my software and memory envelopes and personality capsules just so she can kill me a second time. But I think deep down she's morbidly curious. She can't eat ice cream either.

Ok. This is it. Oh.

My.

God.

YUMMY!

This stuff is fucking delicious!!!

Holy shit on a fucking stick that's good! What the hell, Abby, why haven't we been eating this all fucking summer! We could have been... This is... This...

This is the single best thing. Ever.

Taste this.

No, come on! You HAVE to taste it. It's sooooooo good!

So good.

So...

Wait.

Oh fuck.

Oh God my head hurts.

Oh holy mother of... Oh ouch. This is like the mother of all headaches. Can't think straight. Oh Jesus.

Abby is looking worried. She puts one hand behind my back and the other on my shoulder and helps me slide down along the wall to sit on the ground. Can't hold my head up.

I'm dimly aware of a fresh group of customers entering the shop.

Abby's voice. "Euclid. Euclid, can you hear me?"

I raise my head to look at her. The customers are staring at us over the counter.

"Abby" I whisper.

Her eyes are glistening. Tears.

"Yes? What is it Euclid? How are you feeling? Are you ok?"

My face relaxes into what I'm sure must be the goofiest smile ever. I shake my head.

"No", I reply. "I'm not ok. I'm better than ok."

I pause to catch up with myself. "Abby."

"Yes Euclid? I'm here." The chatter of customers is getting louder now. More of them are coming in, packing the room, the ones in the back pushing forward to try and see what's happening, wondering what the hold up could possibly be.

There's a look of panic in Abby's eyes, but I meet them, and hold them, doing my best to reassure her.

"It was worth it."