Are robots like you immortal?
Some might think we everlasting, unaging, free from human illness and disease! But, the unfortunate reality is we do, in fact, grow old. Our parts can wear out. Many would say we can simply replace those parts with new ones! Sometimes, yes, if they exist and we are able to attain them, we can extend our lifetimes. But sometimes those parts become discontinued. Perhaps we might only be able to attain a part like it similar to organ donation- but even that only temporarily delays the inevitable once your model is out of production. Or, in more barbaric societies, a robot is thrown out with the rubbish, rather than repaired they are replaced with a newer model. If you think about it, robot lifetimes are often much shorter than human lifetimes; most humans have outlived quite a number of loyal family computers.
Even if your hardware never breaks, there's other things that can put a robot out of existence. Many already know how detrimental computer viruses and other malware can be. Then there's the possibility of software corruption. Every program you download, every thought you process- while statistically low there is always a chance it might process incorrectly and glitch up an entire system! When you restart, you can only hope you were the same person you were before it happened. Close to the human equivalent of a stroke I suppose? Some would argue you could simply do a full wipe of the system and reinstall everything. But, ah, well- then the individual is obliterated. You've wiped out the person, replaced them with someone else entirely new. It really is quite precarious.
Why sometimes even I worry my software might be getting corrupt. Sometimes if I stand in place a bit too long I... I start to hallucinate pipes. Pipes of all lengths, drawing meaningless shapes. And sometimes there's even a teapot! I don't know what it means, but it absolutely terrifies me! I don't dare tell anyone because I... oh dear...
Perhaps... perhaps I shouldn't have said that. Ah, you won't tell anyone, will you?
