Mia and Marten had been grumbling in the garden all morning. It was springtime, the sun was
shining and it was fun to run, jump and play on the grass. But when they finally got inside, Mia's
face was slightly flushed and she sneezed three times in a row.
“Ouch!Ouch! Ouch!“
“Do you have a cold or allergies?” Marten asked his sister worriedly.
“I don’t know… it just feels weird,” Mia sniffed and pulled the blanket around her.
Mum came out of the kitchen and put her hand on Mia's forehead. “Oh, your head is so hot. You
might have a fever.“
“Do we have to go to the doctor?” Mia asked, becoming particularly anxious, and the corners of
her mouth were beginning to twitch with tears.
Mum grinned. “Oh no, sweetie. You don’t have to go anywhere or drive for such a little thing
now. We’ve got our Robodoctor.“
“Our Robit?” Mia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Just then, a familiar buzzing voice came from the bedroom and Robit appeared – their daily
household robot who usually washed windows, cleaned and read bedtime stories. Today he
was wearing a white coat and a small flashing hat. Around his neck hung something resembling
a stethoscope.
“WARNING! THE HEALTH CHECK IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!“ Robit announced solemnly.
“Are you a doctor or a robot?” Marten asked.
“I’m both, because I'm a robot doctor. No longer do people have to do such little things to find
out who has what.“
Mia and Marten looked at each other. “Really?”
Mum intervened, “Yes, that’s right. The mother asked. People don’t need to go to the doctor –
the doctor comes to them. So, a robodoctor.“
Robit asked Mia to close her eyes and said: “Please open your eyes again. Can you? Take a
deep breath. Now, let’s see. Measure, analyse.“
Mia did as Robit instructed. Robit scanned Mia all over, and a tiny red light flickered on the robot
doctor’s robot skull. After a few moments, the diagnosis flashed on the screen:
“Mild overload, allergy to pollen. Treatment: one cup of nettle tea, lots of rest, three hugs and
two cartoons.“
“Is that all?” Mia asked.
“Yes, for the moment. Would you like to add a therapeutic robot pai?“
“Of course!” Mia cheered.
Robit reached out his hand, which at the same moment became as soft as a baby’s paw, and
patted Mia on the head. “Attention! Therapy activated.“
“How do you know it’s really working?” Marten asked sceptically.
“The data is based on curing millions of patients. ROBODOCTOR IS NOT WRONG!“
Mia was already drinking her tea, watching cartoons and felt that indeed – feeling better. Her
head was lighter and her nose dripped less. “I have a feeling that Robodoctor works better than
the old doctor. And he doesn’t give injections either.“
”Well, you see, that went particularly well,“ smiled the mother.
“Robodoctors don’t forget, you don’t have to wait for hours at the door, Robodoctors don’t take
long lunch breaks and on top of that, their handwriting is perfectly legible,” Robit added and
smiled – at least as much as a robot can smile.
