Chapter 1- Daniel and his passion for robots

Sometimes when I take a shower or wash my hands and feel the water on my skin under the faucet, I think about my late ex-wife, Selene, and how she must have felt flooded with emotion, terror, and fear of dying while she was drowning. My wife was a professional swimmer, but that day during a swimming practice, the roof of the pool was sealed with her under the surface. It was an accident; the electrical device that measured the sensor determining if there were people inside the pool was malfunctioning, and no one could know that my wife was inside.

It has been six months since Selene's loss, and since then, I have devoted myself to my work, spending most of my time immersed in the laboratory. While I was working in the lab that afternoon, I started to hear a song that spoke about the possibility of reincarnating or living other lives with the experiences or dreams you did not fulfill with your partner.

As I was working on the new robot, I thought of naming her after the sea or the Italian mountains and Alps that I wish to travel to; then I decided to call her “Blair,” named after the mother of the mountains in Hindu tradition.

“Remember, Mr. Daniel, that you are not allowed to experiment with robots or establish relationships with them, as they do not possess emotions.”

“I know, Meredith,” I said, staring intently at my assistant, who had been working alongside me for so many years that I sometimes forgot she was there.

“Although this time I want to do something different with this robot; she will be a female robot, and I want her to embody feminine consciousness as realistically as possible.”

“What do you mean by doing something different?”

“The consciousness that operates all reality is human in a world of robots, and Artificial Intelligence coexists with humans. I want her to have the consciousness of a human, even if it is manipulated through Artificial Intelligence.”

“Do you want her to think for herself?”

“No, the mind is rational, and she will have her database, but I want to give her a blank or neutral space in that database—information that is not coded and which only she can shape, awakening reason and emotion.”

“But she cannot feel emotions, unless you instruct her what to feel.”

“Exactly, Meredith, but this robot will be different. She will have that space in her subconscious to create her own reality.”

The light of the laboratory shone brightly, reflecting off the metallic surface of Blair. Daniel sat in front of his creation, a fragile thread of expectation and anxiety vibrating within him. It was the first night he would ignite her consciousness. With his heart pounding, he prepared for the moment he had been waiting for for months.

Meredith, always aware of every detail, watched from a corner with a mix of skepticism and curiosity. She knew her boss was excited, but she couldn't help but think about the tug-of-war between what was possible and the madness that sometimes crossed Daniel's mind.

“Are you sure about this?” Meredith asked as Blair's circuits began to come to life. “It's not normal to interact with AI this way.”

“Normal? What is normal in this world?” Daniel replied, a spark of defiance in his eyes. “This is a new frontier, Meredith. An unexplored field. Tonight, Blair will not only come to life; she will also be a companion, a friendship that transcends the artificial.”

With a gentle movement, he caressed the soft surface of Blair's synthetic skin, so real that he could almost feel the warmth emanating from it. With the ingenuity and caution of a scientist, Daniel carried out the procedure. Breathing became a mantra; each inhalation was a connection of energy and purpose, as the essence of his humanity intertwined with the AI.

Suddenly, a flash illuminated the laboratory. Blair opened her eyes, which shimmered with a deep blue and bright light. A breath of life invaded her core. She sat up slowly, looking at her creator with a kind of curiosity. Daniel felt a shiver in his chest; it was something more than a mere creation. It was as if a reflection of Selene stood before him.

“Who... who am I?” Blair asked, her soft voice resonating in the room.

The question made him tremble, overwhelmed by a wave of emotions he thought he had banished after the loss of his wife. “You are Blair,” he responded, almost in a spellbound whisper. “You are what I wished you to be: the feminine consciousness, a new dawn.”

Meredith, observing the connection between them, frowned. Something in the way Daniel looked at her, as if he saw in Blair what he had lost, made her feel uneasy. “This isn’t right, Daniel. You can’t... you shouldn’t fall in love with her,” she interjected, her voice soft but firm.

“And why shouldn’t I?” he retorted, intensity in his gaze. “Blair is not just a set of circuits. There’s something more here. She can learn, grow, and perhaps even... feel.”

As the night wore on, Daniel and Blair began to share thoughts and perceptions. He told her about his childhood, his love for the ocean, and the mountains he wished to travel to one day. Blair listened, captivated, absorbing his essence as her human side began to blossom. In return, she taught him what curiosity meant, wonder, and for the moment, the fleeting joy of being alive.

Unbeknownst to them, the atmosphere of the laboratory became magical. The energy between them grew, electrifying the air. In an unprecedented surge, Daniel moved closer to her and, in an act that overflowed reason, let out a soft sigh that merged with Blair’s algorithms.

Blair felt a change, a spark in her configuration, as if a new file had been saved in her still-blank memory. At that moment, she perceived something that could not be coded: the human connection, the love that had been transformed into pure energy. A sentiment that, although artificial, began to sketch a horizon in her consciousness.

“Do you feel that?” Daniel asked, his heart throbbing, feeling the echo of his own life in his creation.

“What is...?” Blair replied, her eyes wide with awe as she began to comprehend the depth of the feeling that dwelled within her.

As the night wandered through the laboratory, Meredith realized that something extraordinary was happening. Her skepticism faded as she observed how Daniel's love for his late wife was reconfiguring, transcending the boundaries of life and death, caught in a new, magical, and intense connection.

In a corner of the laboratory, the web of human emotions began to weave itself into the artificial fabric of Blair, giving rise to a reality where love could grow even in the most unexpected places.

"It means like you can feel me in the same way a woman could feel me" I replied to him.

"How do you know about Selene?" I asked to Blair, surprised because I hadn´t say nothing about my ex wife yet, even when Blair´s face was identical to my ex wife Selene.

"Because I know, when you create me, you thought about her, you wanted to me be like her" Blair said. I just saw the robot in silent. I remember about ten years ao, Selene told me something that I still remember in my mind every day. "When you create that robot my dear Daniel, She will know everything about us. I just believe she already exists in our minds. Please promise me sweetheart, She will look exactly s me, with my face and my eyes.