As safe as he may have felt, he couldn’t help but wonder about the world out there. Professor Brooke was standing inside his science lab, looking out of the window. He could see people walking in the streets, with the sun shining above them. Seeing how easy it was for these people to do whatever they wanted, he remembered that he wasn’t like any of them. Even though he looked like a human being, Professor Brooke wasn’t a real person. He was a newly designed artificial intelligence robot.

Why can’t I be as free as they are? Professor Brooke wondered, as he closed the window and did what he had to. His mission was to bring back dead husbands into the arms of their widows.

Professor Brooke created husbands for widows and fathers for sons. His job was to design an artificially intelligent robot to replace Thandeka Ngobeni’s late husband, who died four years ago. Thandeka Ngobeni was a middle-aged, wealthy woman, living with her eight-year-old son. Mrs Ngobeni had millions in her bank account, inherited from her late husband. The Robot Factory cashed in on her money by presenting her with an opportunity of a lifetime: they sold her an artificial intelligent robot, resembling her late husband, Themba Ngobeni, for a price of one million rand.

Themba was already settling into the home of the Ngobeni family nicely. He was learning human behaviour in his room: learning to put himself to bed when it was nighttime. He took off his shirt, pulled out his belt from his pants and put on his pyjamas. He took a deep breath, climbed onto the bed and went to sleep. Mrs Ngobeni went into the bedroom and joined him.

“Oh, I have missed you so much, Themba, my husband,” Mrs Ngobeni said.

It was ten years ago when an industrial site known as Robot Factory Industries was established: a factory created by a group of mechanical engineers who specialised in robotics. The Factory was led David Sithole. He was a genius scientist who oversaw the implementation of the entire project.

“As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, this is our latest machine model,” David said, showcasing a new artificial intelligence robot in a science lab to his many investors. “Say hello to android Professor Brooke. I can assure you, ladies and gentlemen, this is a one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art, machine cyborg,” David said.

All the investors in the lab gave him a standing ovation.

“Not only can it demonstrate human-computer interaction, it can also redesign artificial intelligence robots of its kind,” David said.

Robot Factory Industries had only one goal: to design and create intelligent machines capable of replicating human behaviour and assisting the daily lives of human beings.

Ten years later, the machines designed by Robot Factory Industries were ready to be sold in the market. The price was high and these robots proved to be far too expensive for their customers. That’s when David and his team came up with a spooky idea: an idea so spooky that it would bring back dead husbands to their widows and increase the sales of Robot Factory Industries.

The company began re-establishing its objectives. The robots were no longer being sold to everyone. There was finally a gap in the market. The focus was now specific. The robots were being sold to widows missing their late husbands, on the condition that the buyers could afford them. Therefore, Robot Factory Industries was looking for customers with deep pockets. These were millionaire widows desperate to rekindle their love with their late husbands.

Tell us: What do you think of the idea of having a robot once someone dies?