Andropriation

Alex awoke with a notification from Long Boi. When was the last time he had talked to Long Boi? At least a dozen Sols.

Yo this Seelix thing? I don’t know robo

Seelix the pop singer? Long Boi better not have texted out of the blue to talk celebrity gossip. Before Alex could get mad, more messages started pouring in.

OMG I’m so sorry they did that to your song
Hey, did you hear Seelix covered Fly By Night?
YOU KNOW SEELIX CAN YOU INTRODUCE ME!!!
Just heard. Did you approve?
Hello Alex. This is G. Who would have guessed your beloved song would make a comeback after all this time? It’s all over the news! I suppose you must be busy, but please write back as soon as you can. G
OMG your gonna be famous again lmao

Was this real? Too many disparate indies were chiming in for it to be a prank. Alex reluctantly searched “seelix fly by night” on YouBoot, afraid of what he would find. This was not how he liked to start his day. Sure enough, the first result was of the human pop singer Seelix performing “Fly By Night”. The harmony had been slightly simplified from what Alex had composed, and the melody in the chorus had been altered to work as an upbeat pop song, but it definitely was the song. The Anteres auto-tune was an oddly old-fashioned decision, but it was a decent performance.
Hearing the reinterpretation of his old song was a surreal experience, and Alex didn’t know how to take it. His music had almost completely fallen out of public consciousness over 100 Sols ago, and even then it was really only popular among android and cyborg communities. And now there was a human - a young human - performing one of his biggest songs out of the blue?
Unsure of what to think, Alex decided not to make anything of it. Just start up his receptors and start the day. He turned on his eyes, ears and nose and stood up from his sleeping pad. He chuckled. Just like the song, he thought, remembering the first verse of “Fly By Night”:

As I wake, rise from my bed

I light my eyes and look ahead

The time is right, over ground I tread

And fly by night from a sky of red

His chuckle turned to a wince as he took a step and felt a creaking stiffness in his hip. He was in good condition for his age, but treading over ground was still not as easy as it was 350 Sols ago. He took a sip of lubricating oil from the bottle floating by his head and walked through the airlock outside for his morning solar meal.
Every day, Alex enjoyed taking in direct, unfiltered sunlight from the exerior of the orbit colony he lived in, even if his apartment was otherwise quite humble for a retired music star. Plus, he loved the sensation of having his ears on and hearing absolutely nothing but the hum of the colony he was magnetized to. Or he would be hearing nothing, except for the near-constant pinging in his internal system of messages about Seelix. He turned off all messages with a grumble.
He sat on the hull of the colony, trying to relax… but his thoughts kept drifting to the song. He had long since written off making any more money from his music, and he didn’t really need it. He had retired 78 Sols ago due in no small part to the success of that song. If some new teen idol did a rendition, it could only bring some attention back to Alex’ catalog of music. So why didn’t it sit well with him? At this point he should just be happy for the recognition.
He pulled up Seelix’ page on GADB and looked through the official credits of his version of “Fly By Night.” Vocals by… all instruments except drums… drums by… engineered and mixed by… mastered… no writing credits at all.
For real? No writing credits? How could that be? No one working with Seelix was claiming they wrote the song, but they also weren’t giving Alex any of the recognition he deserved! He couldn’t believe it.
He thought about it for a moment… he could let it go. He didn’t need the money, and even if it’s not in the official credits, all it would take was one quick Boogle search for a curious indie to find the original. He was retired anyway, he had nothing to lose in this situation. “Any news is good news,” just as his agent used to say. Alex sat back and tried to relax in the sun.
His agent. Keys was her name. She was the most aggressive person Alex worked with in his career, always chasing any opportunity to increase her clients’ spotlight. He probably wouldn't be absorbing all this direct sunlight without her. Surely she would have something to say about what Seelix did. And Alex was glad to not hear it. As much as he appreciated Keys’ work, she sure could be a headache.
So it was decided. Alex would ignore the whole situation with Seelix lifting his song. Just continue his daily routine and reap whatever rewards may or may not come. He sprawled out nice and big, ready to take in all the sunlight he could and called Keys.

“Alex? What a surprise, I haven’t talked to you in ages! How’ve you been?” she said. Alex was surprised she was surprised. Surely she knows about Seelix.

“Hey Keys, I’m good, um… just chilling, you know.”

“Enjoying that orbit colony life, huh? I know you were always a fan, but I didn’t appreciate just how ideal they are for androids until I helped my parent move into one recently. You get near-constant sunlight, right?”

“Yeah it’s great, but uh… so there’s this thing with Seelix. The pop singer?”

Keys paused. “Yyyeah, Seelix. Listen, don’t worry about it. Any news is good news, right?”

“Wha - ‘don’t worry about it?’ They didn’t even give me credit on GADB!” He stood up and started pacing on the outside of the colony, frustrated. “I wrote the damn song, Keys!”

“I know.”

“If they turn it into a hit, I deserve something for that!”

“I agree.”

“You agree? Can’t we sue them or something for not giving proper credit?”

“You want to sue them? Alex, I’ve never known you to be litigious. Are you feeling okay? Are you having money troubles?”

“I- my money’s fine. I just… I don’t like it. It doesn’t feel right to me.”

Keys sighed. “Tell you what, I’m actually on Earth now, that’s your orbit, right?”

“Yeah, what are you doing on Earth?” said Alex, incredulous.

“Great, so as a special favor for you, why don’t you hop on down and we’ll see if there’s any action for us to take.” she said, ignoring the question.

“Sure, fine.” Alex hated going to Earth.

As soon as Alex opened the door of his starcar in New Elleigh, he was overcome by the stink of CO2. He turned off his nose and sent an entrance request to Keys’ WV. It was cumbersome, but she never traveled without it so she was always ready to meet clients of all species. She slept in it too, most of the time. It was home to her more than her actual home. Which was why Alex was so surprised to be greeted by a crustacean assistant after his request was received. She let him into the primary meeting room where Keys was waiting at her desk.

“Ah, thank you Penelopii.” she said.

“Krrek. Kkrrkiak?” said Penelopii, which translates to: Of course. Can I get you anything?

“Yes, if you could grab one of those waters? Alex, for you?”

“Just oil, thanks. Black.”

“Krreierk.” You got it. And she left.

Keys smiled at Alex. “Look at you, it’s been a while. Take a seat. I’m glad you called.”

She was trying to ice his mood before getting into business, but Alex wasn’t having it, but he did sit down.

“You have an assistant now. And drinking water?”

“I know it’s not the healthiest choice, but these ones taste really good. Premium stuff. Picked up a bunch on Eroo recently.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Mm. Drinking fancy water, business on Eroo. You working with humans a lot?”

“Come on Alex, it’s not like that.”

“You don’t want me going after Seelix because you don’t want to alienate your new clientele, is that it?”

“No.” She hesitated for just a moment as she considered how to proceed. “You know I’ll take any client with potential. That practice has been treating me well.” Referring to her new assistant. “Yes, some of them are human, but that doesn’t mean I’m not for android empowerment anymore. In fact I feel quite empowered, personally.”

Alex tutted his tongue as Penelopii returned with the drinks. He wasn’t satisfied, but he had no comeback.

“Thank you.” said Keys as she took a sip of her bottled water. “As a matter of fact, this new kid I scouted on Eroo is a cyborg. You’d like them. Terrible writer, but gives a hell of a performance. If you want to get back in the game I could set you up to work together.”

“Rrkrkheia…” said Penelopii. If there’s anything else you need…

“Thanks Penelopii, I’ve got it.” Keys smiled at Penelopii. She loved watching that crab leave.

“No Keys,” Alex started, “I don’t want to get back in the game. I’ve said my piece as an artist, and I’ve had enough of the… business and the bullshit.”

“Fine, then what’s your beef with Seelix? You say you’ve had enough bullshit, but you come to me asking about a lawsuit.”

“I don’t have beef with them. They just took my song without giving credit.” He stands up and starts pacing again.

Keys ran her fingers along her forehead. “You wrote and registered the song here on Earth, right? I know we’ve discussed Earth copyright before. Only works created between 1928 and 3269 keep their copyright, as long as they’re in active use thanks to the Disney Corporation. Everything else enters the public domain after 100 Sols. You haven’t even performed the song at least since you retired, and it’s at least 300 Sols old.”

“350.”

“Exactly. So while it’s definitely outside of professional courtesy, anyone can do what they want with your song without credit. You know that.”

Alex grunted. He did know that, but he didn’t like hearing it.

“So what’s really on your mind?” said Keys. “Lay it out for me.”

“It’s-” He struggled to find the words. “... I wrote that song for androids. So they would be seen as people. I tried to sound as human as possible on the record so humans would hear it and think ‘Oh that’s an android? I guess they can do whatever we can.’ And it worked. Humans, crustaceans, I even had a politician tell me that song - and the rest of the album - helped change their minds about androids in the arts.”

Keys nodded along. “So then this human comes along and plays it -”

“And they sound droid! They’ve got this old, old auto-tune and an ancient drum sample and it sounds like they’re trying to be an android from before we were able to pass as human! Not only are they misrepresenting the song, it’s like they went out of they’re way to destroy it and turn it back against us!”

He stalled, half expecting Keys to interrupt him, but she waited patiently for him to finish his thoughts.

“And, and - I don’t even care about credits or money or rights or anything, I just don’t want this to be my legacy. I don’t want my song to be used as a tool of the human establishment to say ‘This is what androids sound like. All android music is like this.’ I can do what I want - we can sound however we want!”

There was a silence as Alex let that sit. Keys held long enough to confirm that was the end of the rant.

“Alex, have you listened to pop music lately? Do you know what the kids are in to?” she said calmly.

“Eh… not really. Just what people send me.” He was taken aback.

“Let me play you something.”

She turned on a Top 400 radio stream in her office speakers. It was a pop song in the same vein as Seelix’ cover of “Fly By Night.” Similar sounds of old android music.

“This is a human artist.” Keys provided.

Alex stood, unreacting. Keys switched to another steam. Different song, same sound. And another.

“Oh, this one actually is by a full crustacean band. Very sexy.” She turned off the radio. “Old android music is really popular right now. Everyone’s doing it. Even that cyborg kid from Eroo sounds like a droid elder when they sing.”

“But that’s what I’m talking about.” protested Alex. “It’s a step backward.”

“It’s a fad, Alex. It’ll pass. And you actually helped kick it off in a small way.”

“What?”

“Remember that docu-drama you were interviewed for around 30 Sols ago? About Doris’ impact and the 3rd Wave of the Droid Music Movement? Well that had a resurgence recently and it inspired a whole collective of kids to bring that style back in a new way.”

“But that’s not even the same era they’re imitating.”

Keys shrugged. “So they’re not totally historically accurate. The point is young indies are interested in android music from generations past. That includes yours.”

“But - they–” Alex sputtered.

“Listen, Seelix - they should have credited you, yes, and I don’t know why they didn’t. But attacking them isn’t going to make anyone more enthused about digging into android culture. Some gentle swaying in the court of public opinion should set them straight. I bet you’ve got some new followers you haven’t even noticed yet. That should get you all the starting momentum you need.”

Alex was stunned. He felt so overwhelmed. Young indies were interested in his music again? Of all species? Old droid music was popular?

Penelopii poked her head in the door. “Rhki Kkkheir? Khreikri rehkkr.” Miss Keys? Your next appointment is on the way.

“Oh right. Alex, it’s been great catching up but I’m meeting a client here soon.”

“A human client?” he said limply.

“If you must know, yes. He says he wants to visit Earth to get more in touch with the homeland of androids. Can you believe that? Anyway, I’ve got to go. But I’m serious about setting you up if you want back in.”

Alex knew that. Keys wasn’t the joking type.

“Alright, I’ll uh, see you later.” he said.

“I hope so.”