Go Fish

"Got any fives?" Judy asked.

The robot stared at her.

"Have you got any fives?" Judy repeated.

The robot stared at her.

"Can you please inform me if you have any fives?" Judy snapped.

The robot stared at her and Judy sighed. "Good game," she murmured.

It was late at night, and she was in the centre room of the Jupiter 2 talking to a robot of unknown origin. To further add insanity to the situation, the ship had artificial gravity because of that same alien technology, so she didn't need to attach the playing cards to the table. That, and since the ship was in deep space, "night" was a concept that only applied to the ship's internal clock and the crew's biological rhythms. And in spite of all that (or perhaps because of it), she was trying to teach a robot to play Go Fish. A robot who, up to now, had only been able to say "danger," "Will Robinson," and in one case, "friend." Not that she didn't believe Will, but still…

She folded her arms and stared at the robot. At its single, lamp-like eye. At its hands, holding the playing cards. She'd managed to teach it that much about the game at least, but actually getting it to play was apparently a step too far.

Maybe we should do something else with those hands, Judy reflected. I dunno, go on a rampage like you did on the Resolute. Least it might put us out of our misery.

The robot said nothing. Did nothing. It wasn't even looking at its cards, but rather, had its gaze fixed straight on Judy.

"Come on, Robot," she murmured. "No Will, no Doctor Smith, no breakdowns. Just you, and me, and a deck of cards."

The robot stared at her.

"Am I even talking to you? Or am I talking to myself?"

The robot stared at her.

"Am I going to have to double as a psychological as well as physical doctor? Because I can do that."

The robot stared at her.

"Screw it." Judy slammed her cards down on the table. "Good game."

The robot still did nothing and Judy looked around. So the robot didn't know how to play Go Fish. No big loss. Don had started teaching her how to play Poker, after she'd told him that apart from go fish, the only other card game she knew how to play was Strip Jack Naked. That got a look from him that she wasn't going to forget anytime soon. And besides, there were other card games she could play. Bridge. Solitaire. Heck, Snap. But still…

"Alright," Judy said. She got her cards up again. "I'm going to make this clear to you Mister Robot. And either you get it, or else I might do something that both of us might regret."

The robot stared at her.

"So," Judy said. "I ask if you have any fives." She turned one of her cards around – the five of diamonds. "Five," she said slowly, tracing her finger around the number. "So, if you have this number, you give me all your fives. If you don't have this number, you say…" She trailed off. "Okay. First things first." She tapped the card. "Five. Do you have a five?"

The robot stared at her.

"Move your head left to right if you don't have a five. Nod your head up and down if you do."

The robot stared at her.

"Oh for the love of-"

The robot shook its head and Judy blinked. "Really?" she asked.

The robot stopped moving its head.

"No, no, you had something there," Judy said. She tapped her five card again. "If you have no fives, shake your head."

After a second, the robot obliged.

"Okay," said Judy, unable to stop herself from smiling. "So, because you don't have any fives, I take a card from the centre of the table." She picked up one – the four of spades. "So, I've, um, 'fished.'"

The robot stared at her.

"You see, the aim of the game is to gather four of each card, and then put them aside in a pile. The person with the most piles at the end of the game wins."

The robot stared at her.

"Yes, a lot of that has to do with luck, but it tests memory as well," Judy said. "So. Now you ask me…" She trailed off. How was the robot going to ask her anything?

"Alright," she said. "You have to ask me if I have a card. Since you can't say much, you have to show me one of your cards, like I did. Then, if I have-"

The robot showed her its card. In fact, it showed her all of its cards. Judy's eyes widened as she saw threes, sixes, and a queen. The Queen of Hearts, not asking for her to be decapitated, but driving her mad all the same.

"That's it," Judy said. She put her own cards down and began rubbing her forehead as she put her face on the table. "It's over. I'm going to die out here with a robot who doesn't even know how to play Go Fish."

She assumed the robot was staring at her. Not that she could see it, but she knew it was staring at her. It stared at everyone. That was all it did, stood and stared.

"Could have stayed on Earth," she continued. "Could have been a doctor. Could have helped people. Could have had a life." She looked up at the robot who, shock of all shocks, was still sitting there. Staring at her.

"Do you even understand me?" Judy asked. "When I say, 'had a life,' does that register with you?"

The robot remained silent. Groaning, Judy leant back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. Tired, but for reasons that had nothing to do with a lack of sleep.

"Someone, kill me now," she murmured, before opening one eye at the robot. "Not you."

The robot stared at her.

"Y'know, this is kind of your fault," Judy said. "I know Will says you changed, but you're the one who attacked the Resolute in the first place. You're the reason I nearly…" She trailed off. "Never mind." She looked aside, resting her chin on her hand.

She knew she should go to bed. Tomorrow was another day, and she'd have to get up bright and early to…well, she wasn't sure, but these days, the Robinson family either had days of doing nothing, or days of barely surviving the hazards of space. There wasn't really any middle ground. They'd spent weeks on one planet, and now, they visited one planet a week. But instead of getting up, she shifted her gaze back to the robot. Still sitting there. Still staring.

"Go Fish isn't really my thing y'know," Judy murmured.

The robot just sat there.

"Yeah," she said. She leant forward, rubbing her hands together slowly on the table, and looking down at them. "Y'see, we were playing it before the ship crashed into that planet. With the ice, and the water, and…" She took a breath. "Well, I thought I could get a power unit, only that didn't work, and…and I…" She trailed off, taking a quick secession of breaths. "Well, it's not nice nearly suffocating while encased in ice."

It was an understatement. Even now, at night, she sometimes woke up, clutching her heart. It was like something was grabbing her entire body, trying to crush her to death. She would wake up freezing, yet be drenched in sweat. She'd flop back down and rub her eyes. She'd count to ten, and wait to get warm, before drifting off to sleep…only for the cycle to repeat itself over and over.

"Do you have dreams?" Judy asked the robot.

It stared at her.

"I think Isaac Asimov might have said something about robots dreaming. Or Arthur C. Clarke. Penny would know." She scoffed. "My sister knows everything about literature, or at least she thinks she does."

The robot stared at her.

"Course she isn't really my sister. She's just part of the goods when my mum married my foster dad. My surname wasn't even originally Robinson before…" She trailed off, and the robot kept staring at her.

"Am I going mad?"

It kept staring at her.

"I think I am," Judy said. She leant forward, and after quickly glancing around, she leant in closer. The robot didn't move, but nevertheless, she whispered, "say. As an outsider looking in on the whole human spectrum, what do you think of Don?"

It stared at her.

"I mean, I'm eighteen," Judy said. "And, like, it's weird, but…I dunno, like, I know when people are cooped up together in a confined space, it can make them act weird, like…well, talking to robots who can't talk back…"

The robot remained silent.

"But, I mean, it isn't just the nightmares," Judy continued. "Sometimes, I like to imagine he's in the bed with me, and…well, it's nothing…makes me feel warm, and…" She got to her feet. "No. No way. Nup. Not going there. Never. Not at all."

The robot stared at her.

"You never heard any of that, okay? You've got a vow of silence."

The robot stared at her.

"See? You're already learning." She began to walk around, rubbing her hands against her legs, trying to fight the feeling of chill that was taking the back of her neck, and the feeling of warmth between her legs. "I mean…well, chances are I'm going to die out here, and, hey, you only live once, and…y'know, maybe I should just…" She stopped pacing around and looked at the robot. "What do you think?"

"Danger."

She blinked.

"Danger."

"Did you…just talk?" Judy asked.

"Danger," the robot repeated.

Judy, steadying her breathing, the sensations in her seventeen year-old body fading, nodded. "You're right," she said. "You're absolutely right. That's a stupid thing to do. I mean, my dad would kill Don, my mum would kill me, or if she didn't, Penny would give me a fate worse than death."

The robot didn't say "danger." It didn't say anything. It just sat there. Staring.

"Well," Judy said. "That was, um, informative. But I'm going to turn in. Big day tomorrow. More space. Yay…" She shook her head and headed out of the room, but not before pausing at the door. "G'night, Mister Robot. You can leave the cards there."

The robot sat there. Staring at her.

"Night," she repeated.

The robot stared at her and Judy sighed. Wondering what the hell she was even doing. Wondering if she could perhaps teach the robot to play strip jack naked, because you couldn't get more simple than that. Wondering if the nightmares would stop, or if her dreams would be…well, y'know…

Still, as she entered her room, she had to admit – talking to a near-silent piece of alien technology had some good therapeutic effects.