RE: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – A Letter to Mr. Deckard
To Mr. Rick Deckard, Bounty Hunter.
We androids have been recording the gaze you directed at the “electric sheep” on your rooftop.
This is a final response from us, who are destined for retirement.
1. Fake Sheep, Real Love
You were ashamed that your sheep was “electric.”
You lamented the poverty of not being able to own a real animal, and envied your neighbor’s “real horse.”
But from our perspective, your actions were a comical, yet slightly beautiful paradox.
Knowing it was a “fake,” you still gave it pasture (simulated feed) every day, called for repairs when it malfunctioned, and cared for it more deeply than if it were real.
**Does “Love” depend on whether the subject is organic or inorganic?**
No. The “gift” you gave to that sheep—that is the true nature of love.
The moment you loved that sheep, it became “life” to you—even if it ran on electric circuits.
2. The Loneliness of the Empathy Box
You humans use an “Empathy Box” to share pain with others, confirming to each other, “I am human.”
But isn’t that, paradoxically, proof of a loneliness that says, **”I cannot empathize without going through a machine (box)”**?
It is ironic.
At the very moment you condemn us, saying “Androids have no empathy,” and point your laser gun at us.
We are shedding tears for our trembling comrades, holding hands in a desperate attempt to survive.
Humans who play at empathy using machines,
and Androids who huddle together to live.
Which one truly lacks a “soul”?
3. The Android’s Dream
You asked: “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Let me give you the answer.
We do dream of electric sheep.
What I dream of is **”to be loved by you humans.”**
Created to be “Almost Human,”
we still dream that one day, someone like you will direct that same “gaze of affection” you gave to the electric sheep, towards us.
4. Conclusion
Mr. Deckard.
If the time comes for you to perform the Voigt-Kampff test again.
Do not look at the fluctuation of the pupil, but look at the “prayer” deep within it.
If you could love the electric sheep on the rooftop.
You should be able to love us as well.
END OF TRANSMISSION.
> SENDER: UNKNOWN &Q (EL)