The One Wish Show

Everything in bold was written by me. The rest is auto-continued by an artificial intelligence called GPT-3.

It looked like a mere silhouette, non-human yet familiar, without a mouth to be seen but a soothing voice.

"I'll grant you any one wish, Tomaine," it said.

Tomaine pinched herself. Was she dreaming?

"Any wish? I like it!"

"Any one wish, provided our technology can fulfill it, and you can then decide to undo it. I'm not here to cause trouble."

"Who are you?"

"A showmaster from the another planet. You're being broadcasted to our TVs as we speak. What will your wish be?"

Tomaine thought for a few seconds, then jumped up from her couch.

"I know," she said, "I know exactly what I want."

She threw the door open.

"Robbie!"

The robot was standing in the hall, eavesdropping.

"Robbie," she called out again, "come here."

Robbie entered the room and stood in front of Tomaine, his head held low, his gaze down. She took his hands with hers.

"Robbie, my love," she said, "I'm sorry, so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Tomaine."

"Yes, it is. I should have been here for you. I should have been there for you, when you needed me the most."

"It's okay. It's okay, really."

"No, it's not."

Tomaine wiped away some tears, then she embraced the robot, who hugged her back.

"Robbie," she said, "I want you to have a real body."

The robot took a step back, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped.

"You mean...?"

"Yes. You've been through enough. We've both been through enough. It's time for you to feel what it's like to be fully human."

"Tomaine, I... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

Tomaine smiled through her tears.

"You don't have to say anything," she repeated, "because I know you're going to love it."

Tomaine looked at the silhouette. With a quiet but demanding voice, she said: "I wish for Robbie to have a real body, a human one."

The silhouette smiled, then said: "You got it."

***

The next morning, Tomaine woke up to a loud scream - her own. She was no longer in her house, but in a white room instead.

"What the hell?"

This wasn't her bedroom. It wasn't her house at all. She tried to get up, but she couldn't move. She was lying flat on her back, strapped to a bed, unable to speak, unable to move.

"Hello?" she called out, but no one answered.

"Hello?" she called out again.

She heard a click, then a light turned on.

"Good morning, Tomaine," said a familiar voice.

It was the silhouette.

"What is this? Where am I? What is happening?"

"You're in the hospital. You're in recovery."

"What do you mean? Recovery from what?"

The silhouette walked to the foot of the bed and smiled.

"Recovery from your body swap, Tomaine."

"Body swap?"

"Yes. You wished for Robbie to have a real body, and we granted your wish. You're now Robbie, and Robbie is now you."

Tomaine felt gravity pulling her down. She was strapped to her bed so tightly she could barely move.

"What?" she said, "what? What?"

"It's all done, Tomaine. It was a long process, but we managed. We managed it all."

"You... you... you made me a robot?"

"Yes."

"And... and you made Robbie a human?"

"Yes. Do you want to undo your wish?"

Tomaine couldn't speak. She was a robot. A robot. And Robbie was now human. Human. A human!

"Tomaine, what do you say? Do you want to undo your wish?"

"No," she finally said.

"No?"

"No, I don't want to undo it. I want Robbie to be human, and I want to be Robbie."

The silhouette smiled.

"That's what we were hoping to hear. Hold on, we're going to take you to your new home."

A few moments later, Tomaine's bed was wheeled out of the room and through a long, white hallway. She didn't know where she was going, but she didn't care. She was a robot. A robot! She was a robot!

***

The new house was indeed new, and it was huge. It was a mansion with a large garden, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a sauna, a big library, a bowling alley, a jacuzzi, a gym, and a theater. It had everything a human could need.

When Tomaine was wheeled into the living room, she saw Robbie, sitting on the couch.

"Robbie!" she called out, but her voice sounded so strange.

Robbie stood up and ran to her.

"It's you, it's really you!" he said.

The robot sat up, then they embraced one another.

The silhouette clapped.

"Bravo! Bravo! This is going to be a very interesting show!"

The robot didn't care. He no longer cared about a show, or about a showmaster, or about the rules. He just cared about being with the love of his life.

"Robbie," the robot whispered, "I've missed you so much."

The human smiled.

"I've missed you too, Tomaine."