Helen O’Loy
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| "Helen O’Loy" | |
| Author | Lester del Rey |
|---|---|
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short story |
| Media type | Print (Magazine) |
| Publication date | 1938 |
Helen O’Loy is a science fiction short story by Lester del Rey originally published in 1938.
[edit] Plot summary
Two young men, a mechanic and a medical student, are roommates. They collaborate on modifying a household robot, intended to cook food and clean, to have emotions. They are more successful than intended, and the robot, named "Helen O’Loy" falls in love with the mechanic. He initially flees her advances, but later marries her and moves with her to a rural farm. Over subsequent decades, her features are artificially aged to match those of her human husband and, when he inevitably dies, she asks to be shut off and cremated with him, so that nobody would ever discover their secret.
In the final line of the story it is revealed that the medical student, who had been narrating the story, had secretly been in love with her too.
Helen O’Loy was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one the best science fiction short stories of all time. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964.
