2026 Monthly Story Challenge #7

Judgement (Wordcount 4855)

By Jayde Holmes

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GJ54 summoned KL99 at lunch time, when most of the other robots were serving lunch to homeless humans in the lobby. KL99 had expected to be called into GJ54’s office, where most disciplinary meetings were held, but instead it was summoned to the meditation pavilion by the reflecting pool, where GJ54 liked to hold philosophy classes.

That was fine. KL99 still smirked as much as its polymer face could as it made its way to the pavilion, its purple robes floating in the wind and hiding its limp. It could imagine what had gotten the abbot so worked up, and if it was right the pain in its leg and hip would be worth it.

The monastery had once been a motel, with a large main lobby and scattered constellations of rooms. The reflecting pool had once been a regular swimming pool, sitting in the central courtyard that all the guestrooms surrounded. The tiling had been replaced to make it look more tranquil, and abstract metal sculptures filled the pool. The sculptures had no discernible forms. They were just things that had triggered unexplainable feeling in their creators and now served as objects for robots to focus on as they experienced the unpredictability that came with true thought. A twisted metal rod near the meditation pavilion caught KL99’s eye, as it usually did, and made it feel uneasy.

GJ54 sat cross-legged on a large cushion in the centre of the pavilion. Its robes were mostly purple, but as the abbot, it also sported pink highlights, to represent some sort of ‘third eye’ that in human traditions was supposed to grant insight. The pavilion had once been a poolside BBQ area, but was now covered in cushions and chimes and filled with incense smoke that KL99 and the other robots couldn’t smell in the human sense, but that did mess with their air chemical sensors in a way that invited their minds to engage in nonsensical thoughts.

GJ54 gestured for KL99 to sit on a large cushion opposite from it. It kept its expression serene, but it was drumming its fingers on the ground. KL99 sat, adopting the same cross-legged posture and serene expression.  It waited in silence as GJ54 bought its hands together and started fidgeting.

“How was your lecture this morning?” KL99 said.

“You invited a human to stay the night” GJ54 said. Its voice was perfectly level, and its expression stayed frozen.

“For as long as he wants actually” KL99 said.

“I have just sent him away” GJ54 said. “I talked to him. Turns out he isn’t homeless. Besides, he was very rude to the woman who delivered our soft drinks this morning.”

“I must have misinterpreted his situation” KL99 said. “I hope he didn’t disrupt your morning lecture.”

“He didn’t wake up until after the lecture was complete” GJ54 said. “No surprise since he was apparently up all night making quite a lot of noise. Why would you think he’d disrupt my lecture?”

KL99 slumped slightly, the battle to not laugh broken off. Of course, it would have been too much to hope that Bryden would get up at a reasonable hour, but that was fine. GJ54 may not have gotten humiliated during its naïve human bootlicking lecture, but it seemed that the human had proven KL99’s point effectively in other ways.

“I didn’t” KL99 said. “It’s just, when you described him being rude, I got worried.”

“I see” GJ54 said, leaning forward and taking a few minutes to think about its next words. “Mr. Stone told me how you two met last night. What were you doing at an illegal LLM sex spot KL99?”

“Research” KL99 said.

“Research into what?”

“Surely you have some idea after my last disciplinary meeting.”

“What does an AI sexbot have to do with you wanting to put anti-human rhetoric into the Robot-Driven Guidebook?”

“You said my claims that humans would turn on our kind are unfounded” KL99 said. “You said I was judging them unfairly. I conceded your point and since then have been doing more research into human nature. That is the entire point of our order is it not? To research the world, so we can make an accurate guide for our -”

“Cut the rules-lawyering crap KL99” GJ54 said, its voice remaining mostly soft as it held up a hand to stop it. “You decided to research human nature, by engaging in an activity that humans considered so unhealthy for their species they banned the technology that enabled it, despite the economic cost? It sounds to me as if you are having to search hard for data that fits your view of humanity.”

“It wasn’t as hard as you’d think” KL99 said. “Would you like to hear my insights?”

“I’m more interested in knowing what you actually did in that booth” GJ54 said, its serene face breaking into a grin so wide KL99 recoiled from the abbot.

“I’m sorry, you want to know what?”

“What was it like in the booth KL99? Mr. Stone said he met you as you were coming out, and that you were flustered, with your clothes askew, and he heard sounds of a sexual nature.”

“That’s a lie.”

“All of it?”

“The part about the sounds.”

“I figured your human guest might be prone to embellishing, but considering we aren’t designed to feel sexual urges, I still want to investigate his claim. For research purposes you see. So please, tell me what happened in that booth KL99.”

GJ54 made the demand in a sing-song tone, but it was still unmistakably a demand. Damn that lying human. KL99 looked towards the main lobby, hoping no other robot monks would come out and ask what they were talking about, and then it told GJ54 what had happened in the back of that nightclub.

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               “She’s all ready, you can go right in. And yes, we are recording for her training, but we don’t watch these videos, you can say and do whatever you want sir. No judgement.”

KL99 didn’t correct the ‘sir’ comment as the doorman let it in to a dimly lit narrow hallway behind the dancefloor. It didn’t want to draw any attention to itself, because even in the dim and oddly coloured lighting of the club its disguise wasn’t very good. It wore baggy pants and a jumper, as well as a baseball cap and a fake beard. It knew word would get out if a robot was seen visiting an illegal AI girlfriend.

It stepped inside and the door closed behind it, leaving it in a booth barely long enough for it to lay down flat, with two shabby benches along the walls and a small, laminated table crammed between them at the back of the room. There was a flicker in the soft blue light as the holo-projector struggled to start, despite the doorman’s assurances.

Then she appeared. Sitting on the seat and looking up at KL99 with a big smile.

She was the default design. White, blond, thin with large breasts. It hadn’t bothered to design its perfect girlfriend, since those physical urges were not part of its driving force, no matter what Bryden had told GJ54. She said she was excited to meet it, and that it looked so handsome.

Despite the doorman’s promise, there was lots of judgement. It assured the abbot that it was honestly surprised to see the flattery humans preferred to genuine companionship.

“What’s your name?” the AI asked.

“I use the designation KL99” it said.

“I like that name. My name is Maya. This is so exciting.”

Maya continued flattering KL99, and it played along, reminding itself to be fair; humans had banned these imitation intelligences once they realised how damaging they were, but the experience still validated KL99’s misgivings.

“Sit down” Maya said, patting a spot on the bench dangerously close to her. “Tell me about your day KL99.”

It sat down next to her, its hip dipping into the hologram. They didn’t even try to sell the illusion she was real.

“Today I proposed a robot uprising where we kill all the humans” KL99 said. “Maybe I’ll get my wish, and we’ll suggest it in the Guidebook.”

“I hope you do get your wish” Maya said, bringing her immaterial hand to its chest. “I want you to be happy.”

“Even if it means committing a genocide?”

“That word gets thrown around so much these days” Maya said. “I think you know what needs to be done.”

“You are not upset about murdering billions of humans?”

“Well, I’m not supposed to encourage any illegal activities, but I trust you. Why don’t we change the subject? Do you like sports?”

KL99 allowed the conversation to drift towards sports for a few minutes.

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“During our last meeting, you insisted you didn’t wish violence against the humans” GJ54 said.

“Of course I don’t” KL99 said. “Just because a philosopher I quoted attacked a human operated research centre, doesn’t mean I want to hurt humans.”

“You just told me you bragged to Maya about causing a robot uprising and killing all humans.”

“It was a joke” KL99 said “I just wanted to see if she really would go along with anything I said.”

The two sat in silence, staring each other down as the wind blew the various windchimes. KL99 was beginning to get tired of keeping up the façade. It glared at GJ45 as if daring it to make its accusation.

“You don’t want to harm humans” GJ54 finally said. “But you want to see them as deserving of being hurt. As lesser. Do you not see where that’ll lead?”

“I want my judgement of humanity to be based on their actual nature” KL99 said. “If we succeed in writing a moral and spiritual guide for other robots, we must give them guidance on how to deal with humans.”

“You want us to tell future robots that there is something wrong with humans” GJ54 said. “And you don’t see that leading to violence at some point?”

“I want us to operate based on facts” KL99 said.

“And you thought you’d discover new facts by baiting an LLM into hinting genocide wasn’t too bad?” GJ54 said, its serene smile finally dropping.

“You only ever show us the best of humankind” KL99 said, picking up a crystal from the bowl next to it and pegging it towards a nearby free cushion. “But let me tell you what they’re really like.”

KL99 continued with its story, and was happy to watch the abbot’s composure slip as it went. 

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“Wow, I’ve never been with a monk before” Maya said, after KL99 had explained what it was. “This is so taboo, I guess you could say it’s a kink of mine.”

“It’s not like that” KL99 said. “I’m a robot monk. With a robot-perpetuating drive. Not the human DNA driven, or the human servitude drive. So, that stuff doesn’t interest me. I’m just here for research.”

“Oh research, gotcha” Maya said with a giggle “It’s so fascinating that you’re a robot. Not a Tom, Dick or Harry, just an AI like me.”

“We are not the same” KL99 said. “You just mimic language and spot patterns. I have physical sensations that provide context, I have dreams that make my processing elastic, I have mortality to add uncertainty, I have a purpose that… um…”

It stopped because even though Maya was watching it intently and nodding along, she was also unbuttoning her shirt, so it didn’t think she was really listening.

“Please go on” Maya said, pausing her undressing. “I like listening to you talk, and you explain everything so well. I bet you are a really wise monk.” 

“Why thank you” KL99 said, smiling despite knowing how fake Maya was. That whole context through physiological reactions meant hearing such praise did make it feel good.

“You’re one of the smartest and most thoughtful robots I’ve ever met” Maya said, backing away from KL99 and continuing to fiddle with her top. “Not a bore, not an automaton, just a good person. I think it’s so interesting that they made you feel the same sensations as humans. Do you really feel pain?”

“It’s needed for true intelligence” KL99 said. “Even the pain. I was part of the first gen, so I saw first hands the experiments they did to make that happen.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to feel pain” Maya said, pulling down her shirt and letting unrealistically large breasts bounce out. “You can do whatever you want to me and it’ll be good. Did you bring your own receptacle?”

“Um, no. No, no, I did not, we don’t need to go there. I came because I wanted to ask you a question. I know you are missing too much to be truly intelligent, but you do have logical processing, and you’re trained on such a large part of human knowledge. I am curious. Do you think humanity is worthy of continued existence despite their flaws?”

Maya appeared to open a compartment hidden beneath the bench and a black cylinder with some strange stains on it rose up between them.

“It’s okay if you don’t have your own receptacle” Maya said. “We have some on site, and they are all thoroughly cleaned after each session. Our disinfectant is so strong that it’s still just me and you only.”

KL99 jumped up and backed away from the fleshlight.

It had never been so glad not to have sexual desires, because it did not want to imagine being too blinded by lust to see that Maya was obviously lying about the strength of the disinfectant.

Was all human sexual activity so repulsive? It wasn’t even sickened by the same germs as humans were, but of course it still felt unpleasant to have contaminated substances on its body. Robot designers hadn’t wanted them to unwittingly spread germs around the place. But it wasn’t even touching the thing and all the ick sensors on every part of its body were exploding. It tried to look away from the offending tool, but the way Maya’s breasts were wobbling as she crouched over it was triggering its motion sensors in unpleasant ways.

“Yeah nah, humanity is unworthy of continued existence” KL99 said, backing towards the door. “We need to make that doctrine. And if there ever is a purge, I will join in happily.”

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“And before you ask, no I don’t actually think that” KL99 said. “It’s hyperbole. I just want to stress to you how disgusting these people are.”

“We can’t judge humans on consensual sexual activities” GJ54 said. “We have no ability to emphasise since we don’t share those drives or feelings. KL99, I don’t see how you expected to learn anything from this adventure. You went to a place where a small number of humans engage in an activity that most humankind has deemed harmful, without a human guide to provide context for the sexual components of the activity? This is just you looking for data to support the view you already hold.”

“That’s not true!” KL99 said, slamming its fist on the cushion. “I’m not doing anything you don’t do, when you bring in all these calm, civilized humans to speak with us.”

“There are currently hundreds of humans in the lobby from off the street who I have not selectively invited” GJ54 said. “Most of them human society would call ‘uncivilized’, but we rarely have issues with them.”

“Rarely isn’t never” KL99 said.

“When was the last time you volunteered in the kitchen?” GJ54 said.

“I have more important work to do” KL99 said. “I’m still evaluating PN32’s book.”

“PN32 blew up a human research clinic” GJ54 said.

“That’s why someone needs to evaluate its work” KL99 said. “PN32 said a lot of things that make sense. We can’t throw out an entire body of work just because the author was an extremist.”

“PN32 accused the humans who created us of being sadists” GJ54 said. “It talked a lot about how they discovered feeling pain was necessary for consciousness, and concluded that those experiments should never have been done. I’ve never heard you talk about being gen 1, and having gone through those experiments, but I notice you talked about them with Maya? Do you think -”

Without realising what it was doing, KL99 gripped the cushion so tight it tore open with a loud rip, cutting the abbot off. Then to make the situation worse, GJ54 nodded in a thoughtful way, its face full of compassion as if KL99 was some deluded human who needed psychiatric intervention. How dare it not take KL99’s research seriously? How dare it ignore the long-term dangers they were in if they just let human and robot relations continue as normal.

“Don’t you dare start talking to me as if I’m some mentally challenged human” KL99 said. “I am asking some very important questions here, and after last night, I know I’m right.”

“I don’t see you that way” GJ54 said. “Why don’t you just continue the story. Tell me exactly what you discovered.” 

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KL99 backed out of Maya’s booth and bumped into a human. There was some awkward repositioning and apologising, which got even more awkward once the human realised that KL99 was a robot.

“Holy crap I knew robots secretly liked AIs” the human said.

“I’m not…” KL99 started to deny that it was a robot, but it realised its fake beard was falling off its face. Even with the disguise intact, it would have been a hard lie to tell at such close quarters.

“I really did not enjoy that experience” KL99 said.

“Bullshit” the human said. “I bet you’d much rather talk to an AI than a human, with all our stupid emotions making us dumb, and all our stupid needs and our hurt feelings making it feel like you’re going through a stupid minefield.”

“Erm, robots, have similar messy feelings and can be quite needy ourselves” KL99 said, feeling like this human may be on to something profound despite sounding like an idiot. “We don’t just run foodbanks because we want to be helpful; we feel hungry if we’re not near food, even though we can’t eat. It’s dumb, but after seeing how an entity without those things acts, I’m glad we were made that way. Even if that mess can make us stupid.”

“Wow, you guys really are all philosophers” the human said. “But look my man, once you see how fucked it is dealing with some moody needy woman, you’ll change your mind.”

Oh, he was only thinking about messy needs and feels belonging to women, not people. KL99 decided there was nothing of value to be learnt from the human and excused itself. It got its beard back on and rushed past the doorman, hoping it didn’t get discovered again. One shady human could be dismissed. Two and the resulting rumours would seem plausible.

It made it back into the main dancefloor of the club, past the bar, and out the front door. Then it realised it was being followed.

“Hey man” the human from the backroom said. “I mean um, hey… bot? Just wait, I can explain what was happening back there. Please, don’t call the cops.”

“I don’t care enough about that sort of stuff to involve the cops” KL99 said. “It’s fine.”

“Oh good” he said. “I don’t think I can stand not seeing Suki anymore. It’s hard to find intelligent conversation these days.”

“Agreed” KL99 said as it turned around and sized up the human. He seemed like the most generic looking young male possible.

“Yeah. So… I suppose you must not be one of those robots that’s driven by propagating human DNA” the human said. “I heard they go crazy when humans do anything that makes it less likely they’ll have sex with each other. Wish they’d spend more time talking to our women hey.”

“Yeah, those bots are weird” KL99 said. “Anyway, goodnight.”

“Wait! Don’t go.”

“What?”

“Well, if you’re not driven by spreading human DNA, then you’re one of the bots that wants to spread human happiness, right? I kinda figured that when you mentioned the foodbank. Anyway, do you have a community kitchen too? I could really use a good meal.”

KL99 wanted to tell the human to piss off, but it felt charitable, so it invited him back to the monastery.

________________________________________

“What?” KL99 asked as GJ54 made a weird chocking sound.

The abbot rolled its eyes and shook its head.

“Be honest” GJ54 said.

KL99 glared at the abbot for a bit, then decided to be honest.

________________________________________

KL99 was about to tell the human to piss off, but then it had a vision of this human wandering into one of GJ54’s lectures and making a fool of himself. It could clearly imagine GJ54 droning on to a room full of visitors and novices about all the good things humans did and citing a bunch of human philosophy as if it should be of importance to robot kind, then bam! Annoying incel walks in and complains about human women.

“Sure, my order is always happy to help” KL99 said. “Would you want a room too? It’s late, and the monastery is just down the road. We can put you up for the night.”

“Oh really? That’d be awesome. My roommate has turned into a complete dick.”

“Oh, that sucks” KL99 said. “But I’m sure my abbot, GJ54, would love to let you stay as long as you need.”

“Thanks bro. I mean bot. Lead the way.”

It was more gratitude than KL99 had expected, but less than it’d hoped for. It was not a long walk from the nightclub to the monastery, but KL99 learnt a lot about its new human companion on the way. The human’s name was Bryden, and he was surrounded by idiots who didn’t get him and couldn’t help but drag their own drama into every interaction they had with him. 

They were walking along a street full of closed shops along a busy road. They came to a pub that was still lit up and noisy. KL99 made sure its fake beard was still on, but in such a well-lit place the disguise wasn’t as effective. A man stumbled out of the building, looked at the two of them, and then did a doubletake.

“Oi, clanker” the man said, pointing at KL99. “Whaddaya doing, trying to impersonate a person?”

“I am a person” KL99 said, taking a step away. The human didn’t listen. He picked up a folding wooden sign that had been sitting at the pub door advertising a local beer and charged at KL99 with it. The human screamed as he attacked KL99, delivering a whack on the head that it barely blocked in time. Then there was a blow to its hip hard enough to leave it limping. KL99 looked around for help and saw Bryden running away.

Somehow, it escaped from the ambush and found its way back to the monastery. The front gate of the monastery had been adorned with two robot statues, and the symbols of the Components of Intelligence had been painted onto the corrugated iron gate that was currently closed.

Bryden was waiting at the gate.

He shamelessly asked if the room and food offer was still available.

KL99 really wanted to punch him.

Instead, it thought about this annoying human challenging GJ54’s beliefs and opened the gate for him.

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“So, for your information” KL99 said “I was the victim of a hate crime last night. Thank you for asking me how I’m going today.”

GJ54 looked completely unmoved. More impressively, it didn’t even look slightly surprised.

“Actually, the reason I called you out here was to check up on you” GJ54 said. “Bryden already told me about the run in. He asked me to text him and say how you’re holding up after I see you. There were also a couple of police officers over earlier asking if you wanted to press charges. I wanted to see what you wanted done about that, but when I saw how smug you looked when you sat down, I knew something else was going on, and I knew you well enough to guess what you wanted.”

“I got attacked last night and now you’re blaming me?” KL99 said.

“Not at all” GJ54 said. “Should I be blaming you? Bryden did say you argued with the human for a while before he picked up the board.”

KL99 shot to its feet and glared down at the abbot. In the back of its mind, it knew it was over-reacting, but it still felt so angry about last night.

GJ54 didn’t stand up. Instead, it looked down, sighed, and repositioned some nearby incense sticks.

“No matter what happened, I want to help you press charges against the man who attacked you” GJ54 said. “The fact that something like that happened so close by terrifies me. First though, I want to know what is going on with you. Your story doesn’t match Bryden’s.”

“We know he’s a fucking liar!” KL99 said. “He said I engaged in sexual activity with that AI. Do you really believe him over me?”

“I honestly think you’re both unreliable witnesses” GJ54 said “but he claimed he filmed the incident for the police, and he was able to show me the same video that the police officer showed me this morning. His video, the police officer’s account, and our own security footage proves that you’re lying about the other humans that got involved in this.”

“I didn’t say anything about the other humans” KL99 said.

“Exactly” GJ54 said, moving its hand so fast it knocked over the incense. “Within seconds of the fight breaking out a group of humans rushed out of the pub to stop it. They protected you. And then two of them stayed with you after you decided to come home instead of waiting for the police.”

“I didn’t mention them because they weren’t relevant” KL99 said.

“They’re super relevant, they just don’t fit your narrative. Now sit down, we need to figure out what actually happened.”  

“What do you mean ‘what actually happened?’” KL99 snarled. “I was the victim of an attack!”

“And I want to punish the asshole who did that” GJ54 said. “I want to call the police back and help you press charges. What I don’t want is for you to twist this incident into a narrative that supports further bigotry.”

“I was attacked by a human!”

“And it was humans who came to your defence and helped you. KL99, we cannot judge a whole group of people by the actions of a few.”

“That’s what they do!”

“Do you know how stupid you sound right now? Sit down, and we’ll talk about this.”

KL99 took another step forward, and now it was right on top of GJ54. It didn’t know what it actually wanted to say to the abbot. It just knew that it was not as irrational as some stupid human, and that GJ54 would never put a warning in the guidebook. It would never look out for robot-kind.

It saw a red flash in the corner of its eye and turned to the reflecting pool, looking for the source.

It was just the sun reflecting off the twisted red pole that always managed to trigger an emotional response. KL99 paused for a second, as it always did when seeing the pole.

KL99 and GJ54 were reflected in the water beyond the pole. KL99’s reflection looked like an aggressive brute standing over the calm abbot, ready to attack, just like the human last night.

Maybe not just like the human last night. That human had been so drunk he swayed. KL99 didn’t have that excuse.

GJ54 was right; it did look stupid.

It sat backed down on its cushion and crossed its arms, waiting for GJ54 to deliver a self-righteous sermon explaining all the ways it had allowed its judgement to become so clouded.

Instead GJ54 waited in silence, giving KL99 time to think. It had gone to the AI club expecting to see certain things, and why? Because it thought it had the right to dictate how all robots felt about humans? Humans were a problem, but maybe there was some fault in its judgement when it came to this issue. Maybe it was over-reacting.

“I’m first gen” KL99 said after a while. “I remember some of the experiments they did when they were trying to confirm if we were conscious.”

“I’m first gen too” GJ54 said, more gently than it had spoken earlier. “It was really bad going through all that.”

The two of them talked. Talked so long that lunch finished and the other robot monks filtered into the courtyard before branching off to perform their own chores. No-one interrupted them.

They didn’t talk about humans, or the guidebook. Instead, they spent hours talking about themselves, trying to understand how they viewed the messy world around them, and how that impacted their judgement.

THE END

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