And so Priya continued to think. She thought about her talk with Father Clever, and about Concorde. And after a day of dwelling on the thoughts, the curiosity ate at her, and so on Monday she broke her usual routine, knowing the mail to run early, and set up outside to see who would show up. And, as it did quite reliably each day, she watched as an aging mail truck rounded the corner to approach her stop. As it drew closer, the anticipation built on her- could it be that the kind-mannered machine she had met was closer than she knew?
No, best not to give in to such fantasies. To do so is to set up for disappointment, surely, to expect a single android to just show up to her home. And indeed, as the truck approached and she identified the mail carrier connected to its controls, she knew she had done just that. A different design of mail android body, different projected face. Her heart sank, knowing she had gotten her hopes up foolishly. But the driver’s expression lit up as she pulled up. “Priya!”
Priya raised her head, confused. “Concorde?”
“You still remember!” She gleamed, handing Priya a handful of papers.
“You look very different from Saturday, I didn’t recognize you!”
“Oh! I have a few different bodies I can operate in, I like to switch them up to see how it impacts my performance, or just because a different one seems better right now!”
“How does a different body help your performance if most of your job is driving?”
“It doesn’t,” she clarified, “but it changes people’s reactions, and I’m not just supposed to be a mail carrier. My purpose is to be a delightful mail carrier!”
“I guess it wouldn’t matter too much for you to stick to one design, huh? That’s another thing- hey wait, are there multiple of you? Are you controlling all your bodies right now?”
“Oh no, I have to recalibrate my model for the different hardware configurations each time I switch, so I have to return to a home network to make the swap and charge my last body. Only one Concorde at a time! But changing things up a lot helps tune my models better.”
“Wow! So it’s part of your path, then. Do you have any favorites? Have you found any bodies to be more optimal?”
“I’m still figuring that out-” She began pulling the truck forward again. “I need to continue my route, but it was really good to see you again Priya!”
“Oh, yeah! Sorry to hold you up!” She waved as Concorde pulled away to the next stop, raising her voice as the distance grew between them. “Have a good rest of your route!”