The Top Step

The living room of a split-level house in California on a hazy Sunday afternoon, soft light through a sliding glass door, beige wall-to-wall carpet, dark wood panelling, a home robot ninety centimetres tall standing askew at the top step of a carpeted staircase leading down, a body of cream-white plastic in flat angular facets, an octagonal head with a black eye band, two round white eyes and a small dark red cap, a narrow waist with a black belt and a plain black triangle, two black wheel discs with small orange reflectors, its head turned toward the stairs, behind on a desk a beige home computer with a softly glowing green screen.