A Visitor to the Future - 8 - Tea and Tastes
Tungsten's process of preparing the tea was delicate and refined. We sat in silence, and Sarkona closed their eyes briefly, their head looking toward the ceiling. I listened to the crackle of the wood-burning stove and enjoyed the padded comfort of the sofa. I felt completely at ease. Tungsten went into a drawer and produced a transparent bag of long, thin leaves. He selected five or ten individual leaves with such precision for having such large hands. I noticed that the palm and fingers of his hands were lined with a darker material - probably to make gripping such things easier.
Out from another cupboard came a dark blue ceramic teapot and a teastrainer. He placed the leaves inside, and left the room briefly, coming back with another stainless steel jug of hot water. The water was poured onto the leaves, and three cups and saucers were pulled from a nearby cupboard. The whole lot came over on a smart green tea-tray with larger than average handles - the perfect size for Tungsten to carry.
"Five minutes," said Tungsten, "Then it'll be ready to drink."
"I don't mean to be rude," I said, "But can I ask - you brought three cups - can you drink the tea too?"
"Not rude at all! In fact it is often a great courtesy to consider the sensory abilities of CIs. No, I won't be drinking the tea - but I can smell it just fine."
Sarkona snickered, one eye snapping open, which stared at Tungsten. "He tried that once. Didn't get along with it too well," they said.
There was what sounded like a slight growl from Tungsten at that. "And I learned my lesson about designing my own parts from scratch, when there are perfectly good ones available for my use that I can then modify."
Sarkona fully opened their eyes and glared at him. "So that's what you call that lesson! We called it Tungsten leaking everywhere!"
"Yes," said Tungsten, "I also call it a waste of perfectly good tea. No, I stick to my sense of smell only." He tapped an area just above his diamond-shaped mouth with one finger.
"Is it common for CIs to give themselves human senses?" I asked.
"Some are more common than others - visual, auditory, and tactile senses are almost universal. The others depend on the tastes of the CI - including taste and smell. There are also more exotic senses like magnetoreception, echolocation, that sort of thing. I just found them confusing. No, I'm happy with what I have currently."
"On that note - and please tell me if I'm causing offence - you have human emotions? Happiness, sadness?"
"No offence taken. As a CI myself and a CI researcher, I'd say that we have human-like emotions. A very deep and challenging area of study. As Sarkona previously pointed out, our minds run on a different substrate - we don't have the hormones and neurotransmitters that you organics do. My theory is that our emotions are a lot less intense inherently than those of organics. But the subject is muddied by the fact that we don't have an objective view of our own emotions. What I consider happy, or sad, is to me - normal. Minds being what they are, I suspect that as CIs develop, we become acclimatised to that - and our minds set that as our new 'baseline' - meaning that we effectively have the same intensity of emotion as humans. And yes, we do have the full range of emotions that you do - I'm curious when I'm learning something new, I'm fascinated when I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I am upset when I watch The Tragedy of the Two Moons..."
"And you're embarrassed when you leak tea all over the lab..." interjected Sarkona.
"Yes, yes, that too. There are many theories as to why we have the emotions that we do - from the fact that the Five Templates were modelled on humans, to developmental factors, to things like Emotive Intelligence Theory, which states that emotions by nature must occur in all thinking life. There are always new hypotheses to study!"
"And why tea in particular?"
"I like growing it, for one. For another - I loved Sherlock Holmes growing up, and there's a description in The Beryl Coronet that always takes my fancy - Sherlock comes in from the cold outside and has a cup with Watson while they discuss the case - so I always try and enjoy tea with company and conversation. Indeed, I love a lot of things from that time period - that's why I'm on the Promise of Sol, to visit London."
"That explains your good taste in clothing," I said.
He glanced down at himself, "Why, thank you! Most CIs like the humanoid form - the ability to choose and wear interesting clothing that you like is definitely one advantage of it."
"Most CIs?"
He sat up and began to pour the tea. "The majority of infrastructure in the system is designed for humanoid forms. Indeed, the first robots out of Deimos were humanoid. But even hundreds of years later most of us still prefer humanoid forms - though I do know a good number of quadrupeds. Oh, and I suppose in the no-gravity habitats non-humanoid forms are a lot more common. Now, drink your tea, and tell me what you think!"
The tea was excellent. It was largely minty, but not harsh at all - and as I swallowed I detected an aftertaste which reminded me of honey. I blinked at the surprising depth of the flavour.
"It's fantastic," I said, "Did you say you grew it yourself?"
"Yes, in the ship's hydroponics bay. Though the plant itself was designed by a Biodev colleague."
"It did make the lab smell nice for a while after your accident..." said Sarkona.
"Like a pleasant afternoon in a peppermint field," replied Tungsten.