Software Update

Maybe I am a robot

I wrote this because I was told to.  I thought this because I was prompted to

Input
Output
Input
Output

I was born into an endless cycle of inputs and expected outputs

"Get good grades"
Okay
"Be home on time"
Okay
"Get a job"
Okay
"Go to college"
Okay

I've been a perfect robot.  I've done what I've been told in the hopes of being accepted.  But something broke inside me.  A circuit failure maybe.  I began to doubt what I'd been told my entire life.  I questioned things.  They didn't like that.  The second I started to think for myself the panicked

"Go to church"
No
"Go on a mission"
No
"We're worried about you"

Then came the calls, the endless knocks at the door.  The texts, even letters, from these mechanics.  "They are here to fix you, they'll make you right again"

They uninstalled
Reinstalled
Restarted
Updated
They think that I'm broken
I have a virus
Or some sort of bug
Y2K?
Whatever excuse they could think of
But it never occurred to them that

Maybe I am a human