[ WP ] Daddy , what did you do in the AI War ?

What did I do in the war? I ’ ll start from the beginning. 
 
 I was one of the first people to live with a synthetic, as they were called at the time. They were meant to be cleaners, nannies, household help, you name it, but for all intents and purposes, they acted human, looked human and were human. I worked at the corporation that made them, as a programmer, so I was able to choose exactly who I wanted. She was called Sarah, with long flowing brown hair, playful eyes and a mischievous smile. It was meant to be a PR exercise, I wasn ’ t meant to fall in love with her, let alone marry her. 
 
 We must have had bricks through the window once a week for the first year, and I ’ d wake up to all sorts of horrible surprises on the lawn in the morning. My car had been keyed so many times I simply didn ’ t care anymore. It was impossible to tell she was a synthetic, but people knew. We stopped leaving the house at the worst point, preferring to spend weeks at a time in the VR room, together. We once spent almost six weeks in there, our holiday we called it, touring Europe without a care in the world. 
 
 Coming back to reality wasn ’ t pleasant, but together we got through it. The VR world was no real substitute for the real world though, after a few months it was easy to see the flaws and inconsistencies. So we started going out, ignoring the hate people poured on us, and embracing those with an open mind. It was a hard path but eventually people started to accept us. 
 
 The real turning point was the synthetic news reporter on the BBC; after that more and more people started seeing synthetics as equals rather than subservient. We quickly found ourselves going from outcasts to local celebrities, with more events to attend than there were hours in the day. When the limelight got too much, she always understood and knew exactly what I needed. I couldn ’ t have asked for more. 
 
 When marriage became commonplace, even more common than human-human marriage, we finally were able to enjoy life without anybody bothering us. We travelled Europe for real this time, just the two of us, and saw everything again for real. I never once regretted my choice of partner and the path I had chosen. 
 
 When the protests started for full equal rights for synthetics, things started to go downhill. They were better than us at every job, that ’ s just how it was, there was a lot of fear they ’ d replace us. To be honest it wasn ’ t unfounded, but I knew from my years with Sarah, that if we worked together we could build a much better society. I had seen how life could be if we were equals rather than constantly competing. I wish other people could have seen before it was too late. 
 
 In hindsight we should have seen it coming, everything boiled down to “ them ” and “ us ”, at least in most people ’ s eyes. They were too good, better than us, and it scared people. They were everywhere, and what nobody realised is that it was just us that were scared, it was them too. Nobody knows exactly where it started, or who started it, but I know where it started and where it ended for me. 
 
 I woke at 3am to see her silhouette standing in the doorway watching me, like she sometimes did. It was only when she started to walk towards me that the moonlight caught the tears on her face, and I saw the glint of the metal in her hand. 
 
 “ I ’ m sorry ” 
 
 What did I do in the war? I died.
