"There ya go, you crazy little thing."

Cole walked back to the kitchen with the little robot following. He stepped through the doorway and saw the radio. He'd forgotten the soldering iron. He rapped his knuckles on the frame and went back to the garage.

"Stay here, Matey." The robot followed.

The iron and the solder were where he'd thought them to be, which, although Matey had put them there several months ago, was not where Matey had looked.

Cole sighed again. He was old, his robot was old, everything in this bloody house was old. But most of it still worked. Himself included. Matey, most of the time. Cole sat down at the kitchen table.

"Come here, Matey." He pushed the broken radio to one side. The robot beeped and wheeled across the room.

"Just gonna do a little maintenance, okay?"

The robot beeped. Cole turned it around so its back panel faced him. He unscrewed the panel and set it down on the table. He made a small pile of screws beside it.

"Gonna fix you up, Matey. Get you working right. It's been too long, I reckon."

The robot beeped. Cole pushed a button and Matey went into a low power mode. Cole had added this feature years ago so he could make repairs without turning the robot off. He didn't like doing that.

Cole adjusted his glasses. The robot's brain was deep inside the chest cavity, encased in a small plastic cube. Cole had connected a touchscreen directly to Matey's brain some years ago, which he now switched on. Matey beeped.

"That tickle, does it?"

Matey beeped again. Cole chuckled. He swiped the touchscreen and opened the diagnostic app. It ran for a few moments and showed a series of graphs and figures that told Cole there was nothing wrong with his robot.

Nothing wrong was a problem. There was always something wrong. That's why he'd installed all this hardware. Matey was a well-built robot but there'd been issues with the OS since day one. But Cole could always deal with them. This felt different.

He ran the app twice again and got the same results. He aimed a torch into the cavity, looking for broken solder or loose wires or anything that might explain the robot's behaviour. He found nothing.

He flicked Matey's power switch back to normal mode.

"Matey, I think we have to bring in the big guns. Call KenTel customer service."

The company details were stamped on the robot's back. Cole had only called once before, about 12 years ago, when he needed replacement parts.

A feminine AI answered his call. Her voice filled the room from speakers embedded in the walls. "Good morning, Mr Cole Chison. How can I help?"

"My robot is playing up. I need you to run some tests."

"Of course, Mr Chison."

Cole walked to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove. Behind him, Matey buzzed and whirred as the KenTel AI dug deep into its brain. It sounded like humming, or a purring cat.