Mechanical gods (novel) chapter 1-4
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Chapter One: The Voucher
For Tyler North, he had a lot of things to say about galas, and none of them were any good.
Inconsequent polite conversations a step closer to boredom, thousands of canapes as much as the stomach could take, or that old dude who refused to let go of his fifth glass of wine just because he had an excuse to make an ass out of himself for the sake of celebration.
But one thing came out of it in the end. Tyler enjoyed the heck out of snapping rich people's drunken mistakes and revelry covered in thousand dollar dresses and black ties. He wouldn't send that to them, no, that would be career suicide. It would be fun scrolling through it on his computer with some trashy reality show on Bravo and a bowl of ice cream on a rainy afternoon.
Passed out dude on the garden. Check.
Odd couple's lover's quarrel behind a fake fern. Check.
The old company manager in the middle of getting handsy over the female androids. Double check.
Each snap of his photos was Tyler's reality show, and it was definitively a hundred percent real life. In high-definition, no less. Tyler had been at this fundraising event for two hours now without anything to eat; his stomach grumbled with annoyance.
There were close to a thousand people packed inside the ballroom complete with a large dance floor in the middle surrounded by dozens of white-linen tables occupied by men in tuxedos and women in expensive dresses. Three crystal chandeliers hang twenty feet up on the ceiling. A massive buffet table was set to the side. It was supposed to be a four-hour private event, and it was barely halfway through.
Most of the journalists were barred from entering, though, Tyler was the only one who was allowed inside as a hired professional photographer. Watching guests eat wasn't that ideal, but it sure was worth it when he would get two thousand dollars after this was over, which was an excellent motivation to endure the night all thanks to his best friend.
Eileen Wu sidled next to him. Unlike the other women in the room, she was dressed only in a white bodycon dress that showed her slim physique, pairing it with white high heels. Eileen was one of the best event planners around the city, booking companies for retreats or galas, to grandeur weddings and simple luncheon meetings.
"Enjoying the night, pal?" she asked.
"I feel underdressed," said Tyler, smoothing the creases of his brown leather jacket. Out of all the men in the room, he wasn't wearing a tuxedo.
"No, you look good. Can't believe this went out so great! Thank you for doing this. I know it was last minute. The previous photographer got food poisoning last night."
"Yeah, no problem. Anything for my best girl." However, Tyler thought more about the two thousand dollars he's getting than pure friendship alone. He was two months behind his rent already, and Eileen's offer was the perfect way to crawl out of the inevitable eviction notice.
"If its any consolation, these SynTech corporate spooks is paying me a huge ton of money overseeing this event, so I'm treating you out to dinner for the entire month! But don't get too greedy." She and Tyler laughed.
"Wasn't planning on it. You'd probably smother me in Pad Thai and Teriyaki chicken, and I'll be good for the month than what these schmucks can truly afford. Man, I can't afford shrimp cocktails every day," said Tyler, staring at the shrimp cocktail by the buffet table.
SynTech was one of the biggest corporate titans in the world. They created one of the most significant achievements in human history; manufacturing and mass-producing humanoid androids with built-in artificial intelligence. The company, according to their impressive PR team, was hailed the savior of the economic decline by providing a vast labor force in many countries, rebuilding infrastructure and radically improved the lives of billions of people around the globe. And for the past twenty years, androids had become an integral part of every aspect of society.
And in exchange, the company netted three trillion dollars. A year.
Looking around the room, most of the servers were androids, though, they talk and move like a human does that it was harder to distinguish from a first look alone.
They looked so real.
SynTech brought out all their toys for this enormous event.
"Are you betting on that raffle ticket of yours?" Eileen asked.
"No, I don't. Wait, I can have a raffle ticket?"
"Of course you can have one, silly."
"But, I'm just a photographer. A staff."
"There wasn't any policy that says you can't bet. There's a total of twenty prizes throughout the night. It's a fundraiser-slash-anniversary event. Proceeds go to some throwaway cause they probably never bothered to read. Like cancer, but which one, you know? Anyway, they just wanted your money. Heck, you could use an espresso machine."
An espresso machine. Tempting, Tyler thought. Though, he didn't know where he's going to put an espresso machine in his tiny apartment.
"Well, how much is it?"
"A hundred bucks."
"A hundred bucks?" Tyler almost choked. "Jeez. What are they trying to have, a dinner with Mark Zuckerberg?"
Eileen rolled her eyes. "Everyone's loaded in here, Ty. As a matter-of-fact, a day with the Facebook CEO is one of the prizes."
Tyler laughed. "Except for me. I could barely scrape by. A hundred bucks are worth like two grocery runs."
"Yeah, of ramen," teased Eileen. "And who knows? You might win."
"But a hundred dollars? Really?"
Eileen pulled out her foldable datapad and scrolled through the list. "Well let's see here. The prizes do include a three-night stay in Ibiza, Spain, a mountain winter getaway in Canada, that high-end espresso machine I mentioned, and oh, a personal, new generation Android! The one that just came out last month and I heard excellent reviews about it."
Tyler scoffed. "I don't need an android."
"With the amount of equipment you have in that studio of yours? Please."
"Are you putting a ticket in, then?" asked Tyler, trying to change the subject. The state of his studio was a very touchy subject at the moment when he also has the potential of becoming evicted out of that property, too, due to rent issues.
Eileen sighed. "Well, as you know, I love Spain, so I placed my thing on Ibiza. Never been there so I'd like to check it out. So, what do you say? Pretty, please?"
Tyler thought about it for a moment. Though, he realized that he left his wallet inside his car and the prospect of walking out there under the snow and cold was less enticing.
"No cash. Sorry. Plus, I'm trying to get this money for tonight..." Tyler picked up his camera, snapping pictures of Eileen who tried to cover her face.
"Okay! Okay! You don't want to join. Fine."
Eileen paused. Tyler had seen this many times, the look she gave when her mind was grinding all sorts of plots that sometimes end up not so well in the past, like teepeeing their professor's house back in college for getting them a bad grade. She replaced her pursed lips with a smile; an idea had popped up, and Tyler groaned under his breath.
"How about this, I buy you a raffle, and I'll place it wherever you want it? Does that sound good?"
Tyler began to protest. "Just because I took this job doesn't mean you have to pamper me."
"Oh, shush! Just this once. It would be fun."
"It would be a waste. That's like a hundred bucks down the drain!"
"Who knows, Ty, you might win one. The universe is funny that way. The power of the universe is all seeing."
But before Tyler could let out his spiel of letting it go and stop her from going hippy-crap on him, a woman approached them. No. Not just any woman, but an android. She was dressed in a blend of white and gold--the distinctive colors of SynTech--wearing a long-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of white-trimmed slacks. If it wasn't for her conspicuously small, purple, diamond-shaped LED attached at the right side of her neck, and Tyler wouldn't be able to distinguish her from being an android or human.
"Ms. Wu, Mr. Reese would like to speak to you," the android-woman said.
"Thank you, Ana, Is there something wrong?"
The android-woman, Ana, slightly curved her lips to a slight smile. Tyler shuddered a little. The human-like movement was unnerving to see sometimes. "No, Ms. Wu. He just wanted to discuss how the event is going."
"Oh. Thank you, please, let Mr. Reese know I'll be there in a moment."
The android woman turned her attention to Tyler, and he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under her stare. Though, he tried not to let it bother him too much and gave the android a willing smile.
"Mr. North, I have been sent from table six that they would like to have their photos taken."
"Thank you, um...Ana," he managed to say. The android-woman walked away.
Eileen turned toward Tyler with an awed expression, pointing at the android. "That smile she gave? I heard that's the latest software update from last year. The total overhaul that made them do human stuff. So intriguing, am I right? I've got to have one of those."
Tyler scoffed. "Well, if you have six thousand dollars lying around, you can go grab one right now."
Eileen took off to find Mr. Reese while Tyler moved to table six where a short and pouty man was hounded by four other women who were twice younger than his age that one might think of him as their father. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and Tyler took at least five photos of them before he moved on.
As the night wore on, Tyler moved from group to group, snapping their pictures, which all of them happily obliged. He took landscape shots and also a wide-shot of the entire ballroom up the second balcony floor to capture how crowded the hall was for SynTech's company picture, which they would no doubt use, bragged, and paraded around their New York branch's website.
His phone rang twice, and both of them were from Eileen, though he was too busy snapping pictures to answer it. But when he did, Eileen sounded pissed from the other line.
"I've been calling you for fifteen minutes!"
"Sup?"
Eileen groaned from the other line. "You know what, never mind. Just pick a number."
"For what?"
"Just do it, please."
"Uh...69?"
"Ha. Hilarious, Ty. But pick a number from one to twenty."
It took him a moment, but Tyler realized that there were a total of twenty raffle prizes for the event. "Eileen, I don't want that raffle."
"Zip it. I already bought it because Mr. Reese was watching me so now you have a raffle ticket, and the answer is no, you can't take it back."
Damn it. Tyler had known Eileen since freshman year of college before moving into the big city for their careers, and he knew full well how tenacious and determined Eileen Wu could be. He couldn't win this fight and what's left of his patience slowly drained away.
Tyler heaved a sigh. "Okay. Fine. Um...number 15."
Eileen squealed in excitement, and she abruptly hung up the phone. Tyler let it be. There were a thousand guests inside the ballroom, each one of them could buy a raffle ticket, and his chances of winning was a thousand to one. Those were the type of odds why he always chickened out from gambling.
Trying to forget about his chances of winning, time flew by so fast he didn't realize it when the host of the event quieted everyone down and ushered them back to their seats for a speech. Tyler moved closer toward the ballroom floor to take pictures of a handsome, thirty-something gentleman in a dashing black suit addressing the crowd.
Tyler recognized him.
Gideon Reese.
Project Executive of SynTech and The Maker of Androids.
Tyler didn't pay attention to his speech as he was busy taking pictures of Reese and the crowd's reaction. But certain words filtered into his ears, like the future and the destiny of the company, of the significant benefits that humankind had inherited from android labor, and of the technological glass-ceiling that the company was willing to break for human advancement at new heights. The guests gave him a rousing standing ovation. Tyler was shocked when Reese gave Eileen a shout out for doing a great job with the event and segue to the announcement of the raffle winners.
A lanky bald man in his forties took the stage with radiant confidence, albeit none could match Gideon Reese's tone and presence. The man introduced himself as Harry, and he went on announcing the winners for the raffle tickets. Tyler took a picture of each winner and unfortunately that included the winner of the espresso machine.
Well, I guess its all Starbucks from here on out, Tyler thought.
The double digits of the raffle were quite expensive prizes that ranged up to thirty grand. Tyler almost lost his balance when Harry announced that to the crowd. When he got to item fifteen, Harry smiled so brightly that Tyler thought his teeth might fall off.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have the best ticket prize on the list! There are at least eight hundred tickets bid on this item alone! That's about eight thousand dollars worth of money donated to military veterans!"
A round of applause.
Tyler did the math in his head. There were a thousand guests in the room, but the previous raffle bids already netted hundreds of stubs. Tyler realized most of these people bought more raffle tickets for each item. Suddenly, his one little stub was a needle in a massive haystack.
Harry continued, "What I have here is a voucher for the newest generation of Android Dynamics-Class 700 models. A complete personalized android to the person of its charge for ten thousand dollars."
Gasps echoed through the room, and the murmuring began again. Tyler almost guffawed too loudly. Oh, Eileen. The humor in you. She had been telling him to get an android for his studio the past couple of years, but their price tag could dent his wallet.
Well, let's see how the universe answer to this, thought Tyler.
Harry fished out a purple diamond-shaped raffle ticket from a bowl beside him. "Number One-eight-two-five-zero!"
Harry raised the stub up, waiting for the person to step forward. However, no one came.
Eileen's squeals broke through the silent murmurs rushing through the hall. Eileen rushed toward him, grabbed his hand, and placed a stub in his palm.
"It's you, Ty. You won an android!"
Tyler blanched, not knowing how to proceed. All of the winners were guests, and he wasn't so sure how to react that a non-guest won one of the most significant items on the raffle. Blood rushed up his cheeks. The crowd gawked at him. Then, he heard Harry laughing enthusiastically behind him. Harry approached him and dragged him out to the center of the ballroom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that our dear photographer who has been busy taking pictures of us all night has decided to play after all. Give it up for Mr. Tyler North everyone! I guess you now have a plus one wherever you go to take pictures with!"
The crowd laughed and applauded. Harry handed him a red envelope that supposedly contained the voucher. Tyler went back to where Eileen was standing. She hugged him tightly.
"So, how does that feel? Huh? I guess the universe listens after all."
Tyler stared at the envelope. "Can I exchange this for ten thousand in cash? It would pay off my rent for like the next five months."
Unfortunately, as he learned later after the event died down, the voucher didn't come with a refund.
Damn it.
He was instructed that the voucher was only good for a month, and if he waited for that long, he wouldn't be able to acquire an android, which meant that ten thousand dollars plus the hundred bucks that Eileen bought the stub for would go to waste.
Eileen leaned in closer and teased, "Well, looks who's getting an android after all these years."
Tyler sighed deeply. He'd rather have that espresso machine.
Chapter two
The voucher had been sitting on his coffee table for the past three days, though, Tyler was too busy editing on the photos he took. He had already received the payment for his services, finally paying off Mr. Abassi of his rent. All he had to wait for now was the second payment after he finished the pictures.
When he was close to getting everything done, he finally opened that pesky voucher. It had the gold and white colors of SynTech painted on its surface along with its pure geometrically-shaped diamond as their logo in the middle. The words ten thousand dollars popped in next to a barcode, and next to that was the stamp date of the voucher's expiration.
Unfortunately, Eileen and Harry had already told him that the voucher didn't come with a refund and that its contents could only be used to purchase an Android.
Thinking that he might as well get over it, he walked over to the nearest SynTech retail store five blocks away from his apartment, which was situated next to an Apple store. He remembered that they had enough excellent selection of androids.
Right before he came in through the glass doors, a plastered LED banner on the front that read: Android Models IN FULL STOCK! New AD-Class 700 models, as low as 5999.99!
Tyler immediately was drawn to the latter. He scoffed at the absurd price, though he realized that with the ten thousand dollars the voucher had, he was at a loss what to spend for the extra four thousand. AD-Class 700 models were supposed to be the model his coupon was good for, but when he met a bubbly attendant inside, she refused to accept the voucher.
"I'm sorry, Mr. North, but this voucher calls for a personalized model ADC-700. Our models here are factory set, which means they only come with their basic settings and built-in parts. It would be a shame to waste a custom-built AD-Class on a basic build," said the salesclerk.
Sometimes, Tyler was at a loss on the different types of androids were. He never physically bought one for his own except when he was in elementary school. His parents bought an android for the house, though, it cost a fortune, it was helpful around. But it got hit by a car a few months later, and his father didn't repurchase one because of how expensive they were. At least for this android, he'd buy it for free.
"Is there a difference? Why can't I personalized what you guys have?" Tyler asked.
"We can change certain limited things to accommodate our customers' needs, but unfortunately, not the full package. Personalized Androids is a premium package. You can customize your chosen android online, and we will ship it to your nearest SynTech retail stores for pick-up like this one."
Online? He was already dreading having to sift through the web for all this hassle. "How long is that going to take?"
"Online orders usually take about a couple hours to a few days, depending on how much things you wanted to change. Then, they could ship you your Android right on your doorstep within the next two weeks!"
Tyler didn't like the sound of that. He wondered why they couldn't just hand one of the androids displayed behind her, a petite Android-woman, in particular, standing on a lowered, boxed-shaped pedestal looking placid and emotionless, scanning the crowd with her emotionless eyes.
"To be honest, I don't have the time to wait that long. And why does it even take that long? I mean, days? Really? and a two-week delivery?"
"I can assure you, Mr. North, that the product will be beyond your imagination. Here at SynTech, we value the accommodations of our customers. I do apologize if this tussle any of your schedule."
"Still doesn't explain why it would take hours to order it online. Is it because of a wait time?"
The woman purses her lips as if to laugh, but she beamed him another one of her flashy smiles. "No wait times, Mr. North. Our customers are just passionate about building their customizations, and we deliver the best of the best. Sometimes they want a hair color changed, or a certain pigmentation, or height, even reproductive organs," she blushed at the latter, though she quickly hid it with her retail-ready smile.
Tyler had heard about these before, and he couldn't believe he almost forgot. Sometimes, personalized androids as playthings were popular in disreputable markets, but half of the population used them as personal assistants in corporations, hospitals, and even as just household help. He had seen a couple of CEOs in other companies sandwiched by female androids as their assistants from time to time in the magazines.
"Look, can't I do something to speed up the process? I don't think I have enough time to fill up a form online or wait for an Android two weeks to get me some help in my line of work, you know?"
"I do apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. North, but I wish we could do what you ask for, but—" she leaned in closer and whispered, "not a lot knows this, and you've received a remarkable voucher, I would go to the factory in Brooklyn. They can handle customary purchases of androids there, and they build you a model within a few hours. Though, I suggest it would help thinking it over online instead of there. But you can try your luck," the woman shrugged.
"A factory?"
"Oh, yes. The main factory here for the New York branch. To be honest, I'm surprised you are not there. Usually, premium customers go there to build their customizations. Kind of like a Build-a-bear, but a giant one."
I didn't know that, Tyler thought.
"I can give you the address. But, customers do require a reservation."
Tyler rolled his eyes. "Well, let's hear it."
"As you can see, premium customers need reservations at the factory to have an attendant walk them through the process. I can check if there's an availability for today, but I apologize in advance if there isn't one," she said, pouting her lips.
"That's okay. Could you please do that?"
The woman typed things on the computer, taking her sweet time on the screen. Tyler looked around the store, which was already half-full of customers. One boy, probably around eight-years-old, carried a soft ice cream, ran and pointed at the innocent-looking female android Tyler watched earlier, and his mother called in a store clerk to package it for home. The female android crouched down and touched the boy's hand, but his mother quickly swatted it away.
"Don't touch, honey! Not right now. You'll put ice cream on it then we have to clean it up!"
The female android looked at the family and frowned. "I apologize if I have caused an offense. It is not my intention to do so."
The mother glared at the female android for a second and turned back to the store clerk. "On second thought, we don't want this one. I don't like the voice."
"We can change the settings of her voice, ma'am."
The mother thought about that for a second and then nodded. "Okay. But make sure its hair is a bit short, too. I don't like her look. Make her less pretty than me."
The store clerk nodded, and the family moved on to sit on a couch by the storefront windows. The store clerk ushered the female android to a door at the back of the store. It had been a long time since Tyler had been in a SynTech store, and it was still strange to see people purchasing human-looking machines. The woman behind the desk tapped Tyler by the shoulder, pulling him out of the scene.
"Mr. North, there's availability in two hours. Would that work?"
Tyler smiled brightly. "Perfect."
The woman typed on the computer again. "Its done. They'll be expecting you there."
Tyler returned to his apartment and grabbed his car, not wanting to take the bus or the train there since he'd be coming home with an android. He thought he'd be late for the meeting, but in the end, he was five minutes early, parking his vehicle in front of the factory in Brooklyn.
It was a large glass building that stood at least fifty stories high situated a block away from the harbor, which SynTech also owned. When the woman mentioned a factory, Tyler pictured smokestacks with billowing black smoke at the top and a massive mason-bricked building. But that was not the case. It wasn't even a factory but more of a large facility that expanded over hundreds of acres. Tyler had to stop by the gates for the security guard to open it. It felt like he was entering Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory from an old movie with Johnny Depp he saw as a kid.
Soon, the concrete jungle turned into a lush green terrain, where wooded parks circled the large glass building and the parking lot, bordered by ten feet giant walls. His old 2011 Honda civic moving toward the building paled in comparison to its grandeur.
He entered the lobby filled with natural light from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that encompassed its entire wall, making it harder to find where the front door was because of how transparent the glass was. Once he was inside, Tyler felt underdressed again from the other people in the room. They dressed in semi-casual attire with some men wearing suits by the couches while Tyler only had his brown leather jacket on top of his white shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He walked up to the female receptionist at the oval table situated at the very center and told her of his appointment.
"He'll be a moment shortly. Please sit in the lounge for the meantime," the receptionist said.
Tyler sat next to a young couple in their thirties who droned on about the magazines on their hand, pointing at pictures of androids they'd like to purchase and sometimes, cars and other gadgets that SynTech also sold. One man in his sixties stared at him, probably judging the state of his attire, but Tyler didn't let it bother him too much. It seemed he had a knack of being underdressed.
The familiar face of Harry Gray, the host of the event three days ago, walked out of the elevator and approached the lounge area. His eyes were already on Tyler, and he extended his hand out to greet him.
"Welcome, Mr. North. When I realized who you were on my schedule, I already made preparations for the AD-Class 700 models until your arrival. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting."
"Oh, no, none at all, Mr. Gray, is it?"
"Harry's fine. Though, I'm used to people calling me by my name," he chuckled, pointing at his name tag on his right chest. "Ready to get started?"
"After you."
Harry led Tyler to the right, toward the west wing of the lobby where one set of double doors waited. The doors parted on their own as they entered and Tyler found himself in a long corridor that led to another set of double doors at the end. Advertisement graphics for different android models filled The walls, ceiling, and even the floor, moving, swirling, and changing by ten-second intervals. As they reached the other end, he was greeted by a huge room filled with androids.
The room looked in the same style as a SynTech retail store, but thrice bigger than before because about a hundred androids were standing on their pedestal. Female androids were all placed on the right, and the male androids were on the left, and they were all naked down to their underwear.
Tyler blanched from the sight, averting his eyes. Harry laughed.
"Not used to buying an android, Mr. North?"
"It's my first time, and they're half-naked. The retail stores had their clothes on."
"It's for modesty sake since they are open to the public. In here, this is a private showing. A perfect place for a premium customer," said Harry nonchalantly. "May I have it?"
Tyler gave the voucher to him. Harry opened the red envelope and read its contents.
"Whew! Enormous price. No wonder you wanted it."
Tyler almost guffawed. "It's not my idea, but I didn't want to let it go to waste in a month."
"Ten thousand dollars is, after all, a large sum. And the starting price of an AD-Class 700 is around six thousand dollars for the basic units, but this is a premium package, so that leaves you with a room of four thousand dollars to customize."
"And that's where I need help. The lady in the store told me this would speed up the process of the customization."
"We got the memo. I assure you, Mr. North, that this is no inconvenience at all. You are a guest at the fundraising event--"
"Staff," Tyler corrected.
"...Right. Either way, today you are a customer, and here at SynTech, our services are top-notch. Now, let's begin shall we?" Harry opened his arms theatrically as if showcasing all the models in front of them. He had that wide-irking smile on that made Tyler shivered uncomfortably, but he held his composure.
"Please."
They moved deeper into the room.
Chapter 3
Harry clapped his hands together. "As you may have known, AD-Class 700 models have been available worldwide since last month to wide fanfare and rave reviews."
Tyler remembered Eileen mentioned that on the fundraiser.
"See, this new generation has the most advanced computing processor, an xGen U500, SynTech has ever produced that enables our models wider functions. Their degrees of freedom from their proprioceptive sensors give them an enormous processing task of availability and adaptability. And their virtual intelligence software 380...oh, man, you couldn't believe how intricately detailed and branching it is!"
Tyler nodded at Harry's spiel. He wasn't much of a programmer or very good with computers to even process what he was saying. xGen U500? Proprioceptive sensors? Some software? Tyler didn't bother to ask what those were in fear that Harry may go into detail more and he'll be bored to death.
Harry continued, "Our previous AD-Class models pale in comparison to what the 700s can do. Do you have an idea why?"
Tyler shook his head, playing along when he had no idea why.
"Previous AD-Class models move, talk, and perform robotically. That imperfection alone drove Mr. Reese to create a new generation of AD-Class models from scratch. On previous models, you can sometimes mistake them for being human, but look closely enough and listen enough; you can hear clicks. Robotic monotone voices, scripted social dialogue responses, all things of that nature. But SynTech has been building this model for four years, and they are nothing like you've seen an android do!"
As they walked deeper into the room, Tyler noticed that each model they passed was from a different generation from the various labels on their pedestal. One was an AD-Class 400, and then behind it was a BD-Class 400, and so on.
Harry paused. "I lost you, didn't I?"
"A little."
"I'm sorry, I've been working here for close to five years. I'm very passionate about the products we have."
"I get that. Comes with the job, I suppose."
"Do you interact most with androids?"
Tyler shook his head. "Humans, mostly. I'm a photographer, so, there's that."
"Ah. So you won't know the difference between the previous models then. I apologize. But do you have any questions?"
"What's the difference between an AD or a BD? And what's a CD?"
"There are three types of classes of Androids. An AD, or Android Alpha Dynamics, is our top of the line androids we have. Its where our customers purchase assistants and helpers with the best software and functional capability around. Beta Dynamics and Common Dynamics are the lower ranks, which functions at a basic level, performing a limited amount of task built into them. For example, cleaning up a landfill, or other jobs humans don't want to do. They function as drones."
"Is that why they're much cheaper?"
"In a sense, yes. But companies mostly buy them in bulk as a good labor force because they can be easily assigned a task and has low maintenance compared to the AD-Class. We give them discounts for that. Now come with me, I'll show you where the AD-Class 700s are."
Tyler and Harry walked to the back of the room where their pedestal had turned into the AD-Class 700s. There were about twenty of them from each side of the room. Tyler looked at the newest generation models and the ones they just passed by. He didn't see any difference.
"They looked exactly alike," said Tyler.
"They are not. Touch the skin." Harry pointed to the stomach of a half-naked male android standing in front of them carrying an expressionless facade.
Tyler hesitated. He wasn't comfortable touching someone naked in such a public place. He realized he and Harry were the only ones in the room. Harry urged him on again, and Tyler relented, grazing his fingers just above the android's belly button. His eyes went wide.
"That's...But, that's..."
"The beauty of silicone. Our builders have truly created a very realistic artificial skin down to its pigment and pores. Every follicle of their skin, every spurious melanin on their eyes, and every curve of their body was meticulously designed to look exactly human. That is the difference between the Alpha Dynamics model and the other stock."
Harry pinched the android's arm. "If this android's online, it could feel that. Its skin has proprioceptive sensors that are akin to the somatosensory system in humans."
"What? They feel pain?"
"No, no, Mr. North. All I'm saying is they can detect crude or fine touch with their skin, allowing them to adapt to any functions they have. Since you're a photographer, I assume you have heavy equipment in your studio. Our androids can adapt to those from heavy objects to any minuscule things. Their retinas allow them to see in the dark and focus on a needle in a very, very, large haystack."
"Wow." It was all Tyler could say. He was impressed that Harry was not only golden-tongued in the manner of hosting an event, but he could also pull him right into a sales pitch as well.
Harry pulled out his collapsable datapad from his pocket and started tapping on it. "Aside from their looks, they will talk, move, and socialize as a human does. All thanks to our newly made virtual intelligence software. Well, Mr. North. Are you ready to build one now?"
"Yes."
"First things first. Which do you prefer? Male or a female?"
"Um, male."
Harry slightly gave him a raised eyebrow and went back to tapping that preference on the datapad. Tyler almost paled.
"It's just that I share my studio office with four other guys," Tyler began, wanting to explain it. "I don't want to have a female android since a couple of my officemates tend to frequent those club places. You know what I mean? They may tamper her. And they're a bunch of asshats. So, there." Foul pictures flooded Tyler's memory of those men.
"Ah, I understand. Now, we have over three hundred facial features that you can choose. Twenty of the males are already in front of you. We can custom built one from scratch but that would take longer, which I'm sure you don't want to do, and if you are going to choose one of the three hundred that was not in these twenty, then, that may take longer, too."
"So, I'm limited to the faces in this room."
"Precisely," frowned Harry. "If that's not what you want..."
"No, it's okay. I'm in a hurry anyway."
"Good. Choose the android, and we can start customizing it."
Tyler studied each of the twenty androids in front of him. He moved away from the android he had just touched, a lanky framed android that was about five feet and 10 inches tall. He realized that the androids in the room were in varying degrees of height, weight, and pigmentation, but none of them were chunky, which disappointed Tyler. It didn't sit well in his stomach that they looked precisely human but only as the idealized beauty. To him, that wasn't an accurate representation of humanity.
He had checked each of the androids twice, debating between which ones to pick. He asked Harry if they can lift the same amount of weights, which Harry laughed off at first since all AD-Class 700s have the same functional capability unless Tyler did the customizations into its software and hardware. Sometimes, he didn't like how Harry made him stupid, but he appreciated his help.
He was down to pick two. Both had light blonde hair, but the first had a swimmer's built and leaned while the other was strapping, toned, and massive. It was hard not to ogle too much on the latter, and Tyler licked his lips a little by instinct. He caught Harry looking by the corner of his eye, and he regained his composure.
Tyler cleared his throat. "The one at the back. To the left."
Tyler pointed at the hulking Android. If that thing were on the ground at his level, the android would be a few inches taller than him.
"Model A7UY50," announced Harry. "Power On."
As if a total change in its expression, its impassive facade dropped quickly, and the android slightly lifted its chiseled jaw up and blinked. It scanned the room and ultimately landed its pair of coffee-green eyes at them.
It was a very handsome model with touseled short blond hair, striking in its size and his face firm and defined beyond compare. Its eyes came with its tenacity, an honesty, and at the same time, its gentleness carried by the strength of his neck and down through his muscular body; bulging arms, bold legs and thighs, and a firm chest and abdomen.
Perhaps, this was what it was meant to look like a god like those marbled ones from Greek mythology.
"Step forward, Y50," commanded Harry.
The android didn't hesitate and sauntered toward them. It moved like a human that Tyler momentarily forgot that he was watching an android as it walked and stopped five feet away from him. The android looked at him and then to Harry. Tyler wasn't wrong on guessing that he was taller and broader than he was, and its height dwarfed Harry.
"Hello," the android greeted. Its deep voice reverberated across the room.
"Hello, Y50," said Harry. "How are you today?"
The android, Y50, turned to Harry and smiled at him. "Splendid. Thank you for asking. How are you?"
"Busy, but I'm doing well."
"That's good to hear."
Tyler's mouth hung open. It's not every day that he interacted with androids except in busy public places like the zoo or in train stations. It was fascinating to realize that twenty years of human innovation brought him to this moment; a robot so realistic it may as well be human. And now, SynTech and Gideon Reese had outdone themselves. As Harry said, The previous models were subtly robotic, and they were quite easy to tell that they weren't human. But Y50 was out of this world.
"Are you ready to customize now?" Harry asked.
Tyler looked at Y50 and caught its eyes, and they both held their gaze. "Yes, we can start."
"This is just the build for this model, but you can change his hair or voice, even some parts of his body, but that may also prolong the build in the factory if you're trying to get out of here as quickly. How much time do you want?"
"An hour."
Harry chuckled. "We're good, okay? But we're not that good."
"Okay. What's the latest you can customize a build?"
"Two hours at least. Then we add things that you need to the model. While you wait, you can stay in our lounge. Not the lobby one, but a real lounge on the northern wing. It overlooks the bay with its restaurant and bar."
Tyler perked up on the latter. "Well, I could use a drink."
"Since you're buying premium, the food's free, too."
That's a plus. Tyler thought it might be worth a try to stay for a little while. "Okay. Please continue."
"Now, as I was saying, we can change certain things in his appearance if you want..."
"No. No, The Android's fine. He's fine."
Harry cleared his throat. "It, Mr. North. It."
Tyler blushed at the mistake. "Right. Right. I think it is fine. Maybe change the hair color? I'm blonde, so its weird to have another blond in my house. We'll look like brothers. Maybe into brown?"
"Specific opacity?"
"Dark brown."
Harry tapped it on the datapad. "Anything else? The chest. The arms. The legs?"
"No. He can--I mean, it can keep that."
"Are you sure? It'll look like just a standard factory build but with dark hair..."
"I said its fine," Tyler said politely.
Harry sighed. "Now that we finished its appearance, we're off to its processing unit. As I said before, it has xGen U500, and there are four versions. The higher you get, the more tasks your android can do."
"How far could that voucher get me?"
"Eight Hundred dollars. That's version four. Its coupled with the biggest memory store inside and connects it to the cloud. On the internet."
"Done," said Tyler.
It went on for close to half an hour with Harry asking Tyler about specific things about the model. Tyler understood now why some buyers online took their time trying to meticulously craft their androids that it was easier to buy the standard factory build on the retail store.
Harry asked him about specific sensors that the android should have and Tyler asked for the very best, which cost another five hundred dollars. Temperature-controlled. Check. Waterproof. Check. Self-cleaning measures. Check. Advanced automated reasoning parameters. Check. Built-in emergency response analysis. Check. Tyler ticked off the things he liked or didn't like, with the latter coming up only with six modules he didn't want to include. In the end, he just had fifteen hundred dollars left in his voucher.
When it came time to its essential functionality, and as Tyler mentioned that he wanted an android that was a jack-of-all-trades, Harry beamed widely and enthusiastically tattled off a fantastic feature that Tyler got lost from his words, confused.
"A what? Can you repeat that from the beginning?"
"An add-on. The Human Experience. It's making your Android even closer to being human. With the top-of-the-line build of an AD-Class 700 model, it's a perfect match! You can't tell the difference! Touch. Heat. Social intelligence. It has become the most popular add-on in our inventory with ninety-six percent of our guests including it."
"I don't want it to take too long. My list has been growing."
"Its the opposite, sir. If you don't want the add-on, we have to sit through the same thing that the add-on already took care of, but, step by step and branch by branch. It may take another hour instead of minutes. Add-ons are usually there to group certain features our customers might find enticing."
"Fine. Well, what does it do?"
"Everything, Mr. North. They can accommodate very well for your specific needs. If you want a feature for business meetings, we have that. If you want a feature for more intimate moments, we have that, too. The Human Experience warped all the add-ons we've built for the past decade into one basket, creating an android that can do anything and everything, even sexual while doing a business meeting," Harry winked and laughed out loud. He even slapped his thigh as he did.
Tyler gulped down the awkwardness and blushed. "As I said, Harry, I'm not here for that."
"Sure, sure. You don't have to. But the add-on allows your Android to do more functionality than just cook or clean. It can take its surroundings and judge it based on the habitual needs that it observes from you. Exciting, isn't it? Its got a plethora of social interactions you can play with every day. And it's right up to your fifteen hundred dollars left on your voucher."
From that, Tyler lit up when he mentioned the last part. "Well, okay, then. That's all you have to say. Might as well get this over with."
"Excellent. You won't regret it!" Harry hummed excitedly. It seemed that whatever he's getting out of this sales pitch, Harry would probably get a big bonus out of this purchase.
"Two more things," Harry began, and Tyler sighed.
Not one more! He thought.
"Since you've selected an add-on feature, we need to set up its social intelligence."
Tyler had to think about that for a moment, scrunching his face as he looked at both Harry and the android. "Like a personality?"
"Precisely that."
"Oh. Well. Um, a sense of humor?"
Harry guffawed. "Ha! Our programmers had fun with that one. Lots of jokes."
Tyler continued, "Let's see, um, respectable. Charming. Confident. Intelligent. Can carry a conversation and things that wouldn't make someone uncomfortable, you know? This android will be interacting with a lot of people."
"Don't want to scare off the customers, right? Well, we can upload a great deal amount of knowledge into your android if you want."
"I also want it to be well versed inu literature, too. I love talking about books. Maybe even history? I'd enjoy that, too. Include certain photography techniques as well since it's going to spend more time in the studio."
"My thoughts exactly. And second, now you'll have to give it a name."
A name.
Tyler studied the android for a while. He didn't look like a John or an Eric. Maybe a Chad? But that's too douchey even to name that. Maybe Ryan? A part of him enjoyed choosing the Android's name as if choosing a dog's name. It reminded him when he got that puppy when he was five as a birthday present from his parents. His furry best friend had died only two years ago. Why can't Aiden live on the android in front of him?
"Aiden. Name it Aiden."
"That works. Now, please step right forward, and closer towards it. It'll scan you so that it knows you are now its proud owner of a 700 model!"
Tyler awkwardly stepped up close to the android--to Aiden. Harry tapped something on his datapad, and the android started looking--scanning--Tyler up and down. He felt naked, ogled by an android but it made him laugh how absurd the situation was. Harry gave him a confused look, but Tyler shook it off. Once it concluded, Harry handed him his datapad, and Tyler reluctantly accepted it.
"Say the words on the screen. It'll activate its primary user connectivity, which is you. It'll learn and recognize your voice even if you are at a rock concert."
Tyler read through it. "Wonder. Umbrella. Taurus. Mississippi. Yellow. Crocodile."
There was a sudden shift in Aiden's composure, and his head turned to face Tyler. "Delighted to meet you," said Aiden.
"Introduce yourself and say its name," urged Harry.
"Hi, I'm Tyler North, your primary user. You are Aiden."
The android blinked as if processing that information. Then, it spoke, "Good afternoon, Mr. North. My name is Aiden."
"Excellent. Well done. I think that's it. We're finished. Now, if you could go to that door over there," Harry pointed to the right, "It will lead you straight to the northern lounge area while I customize Aiden in the shop! Oh, you'll love our work!"
Tyler smiled and walked toward the door, but not before taking a quick glance at Aiden. Tyler froze on the spot. The android was looking back at him as if confused why he was going the other way. The Android and Harry disappeared behind the opposite door.
Tyler shrugged the weirdness of Aiden's look and concluded that the AD-Class 700 models were the real deal. Life-like and precise in imitating human emotion. Tyler shook the thought out of his head as he heard his stomach grumbled and quickened his pace toward the restaurant for that free meal.
Chapter 4
Eileen Wu's short black hair was recognizable everywhere, and it was Eileen sitting at the far side of the lounge taking a bite out of her colossal burger. Tyler was momentarily shocked she could even gulp it down into her tiny frame. When their eyes locked, they both lit up like Christmas trees, as if they hadn't seen each other for many years. Eileen jumped out of her chair and pulled him into a tight hug.
"What? You're here, too? I can't believe it!" said Eileen.
"I just came out of buying an android since the voucher requires it to be custom-built," answered Tyler. Eileen ushered him to the empty seat in front of her.
"Ah, right. So, how did it go?"
"All right, I guess? It was a bit weird not knowing the jargon of what I was buying."
"If you keep up with it, you might be a devout android buyer like some folk! SynTech always brings in a new generation every four years, and people just went crazy and lined up along all their stores to be the first to get it!"
Tyler remembered the SynTech store near him. Last month, the lines stretched out three blocks. "Wait, what are you doing here?"
Eileen blushed. "Gideon Reese invited me over. He was so impressed by the fundraiser that he wants me to handle their next event in six months. And guess what, the President and some of the big wigs in the capital are gonna be the guests!"
Both Tyler and Eileen went off talking about the upcoming event. Eileen was beaming. It was a significant exposure for her career and her small business to be chosen for this fundraiser. Tyler asked if he could be a photographer and Eileen hired him on the spot. She did warn him there may be a ton of background checks before he could be part of her staff per the White House's requirement.
Remembering that the meal was free, he ordered one of the expensive dishes they had, which was a lobster pasta along with a glass of red wine. However, Eileen instead bought an entire bottle to celebrate her new assignment.
"To us being in Washington and brushing shoulders with those DC swamps and crocodiles, and also for you, for finally owning an android," toasted Eileen giddily. They clinked their wine glasses together.
As the minutes ticked by, Tyler became anxious all of a sudden. He thought it was from sitting too long in one spot, though, he doubted that was it. When his mind wandered to Aiden, he realized he was nervous about meeting the android. The fully-built custom finish. There was no reason for him to be nervous around a machine but he also came into the factory in the dark, not knowing what was on the other side. What if Aiden's broken? Or the custom build that Tyler did wasn't enough?
Two hours passed and there was still no Harry, and both Eileen and Tyler were on their third glass of wine, gulping down the nervousness and hoping it wouldn't return. Tyler had to stop himself halfway when he remembered that he had to drive back home.
Eileen decided to stay with him, curious to see his new android. She had her own two AD-Class 600s back in her office, but she hasn't bought the latest model yet due to the cost. She had limited interactions with an AD-Class 700, but not up-close, wondering what the fuss was all about them, to which Tyler smugly answer to wait. In the end, they were a nervous wreck, anxiously waiting for Harry to finish the customization.
On the third hour, Harry entered the lounge with a big smile on his face and approached their table.
"It's all done, Mr. North."
"Where can we see him?" asked Eileen. Harry looked at her for a second, and he instantly recognized who she was.
"Oh! Ms. Wu, glad to see you, too. Well, we can either go to the adjacent room or Aiden can come in here. Your pick."
Eileen pointed at her wine glass sheepishly.
Harry frowned. "Ah. No food or drink inside, I'm afraid. Maybe it's better to bring him out, no?"
Eileen and Tyler nodded at the same time. Harry went back out of the door, and a couple of minutes, he returned to the lounge with Aiden in tow. Aiden lost his blonde hair, replaced by a darker hue just like Tyler asked, which had been pushed back slick, bringing his green-brown eyes popping and making him more dashing. Instead of being half-naked, he wore the standard Android uniform of gold and white, which was a long-sleeved shirt and white pants. Aiden's eyes found Tyler's and he caught the android smile.
Eileen's jaw dropped, and she incredulously stared at Tyler and the android, to which Tyler leaned over and lifted her chin up, shutting her mouth. They both laughed. Tyler moved to Eileen's side as Harry took the chair across from them. He carried a manila envelope with him, and he swiftly put it down on the table and slid it toward Tyler's side.
"That's most of the paperwork. Owner's license. The user manual. And a one-year free membership to the SynTech magazine. You can upload them on your datapad at home on your own. All the build you ask is in the Android. Fully up to date."
"I couldn't hear a thing," mumbled Eileen. Tyler raised an eyebrow at her, not knowing what she meant. "The 600s had this hum on them that you could pick out when the room's quiet, you know? I could hear ticks, too, from their movements, but you get used to it."
Harry nodded. "700s don't do that anymore. Gideon Reese was obsessed with perfecting that flaw with the smoothest and most advanced actuators ever built, and now," he pointed at Aiden, "Here's the final work."
As if the android knew it was the subject of discussion, it flashed its warm smile. Tyler and Eileen both exchanged looks, and Tyler shivered.
Aiden dropped the smile and frowned. "Did I do something wrong to make you uncomfortable?" he asked.
"No. Sorry. It's my first time owning an android. Takes getting used to."
Aiden looked like it was processing the information he just said, and the android's smile returned. "Then, it'll be a pleasure to serve you."
"Would you like to sit, Aiden?" asked Tyler, pointing at the empty chair next to Harry.
Harry was about to interject, but Aiden spoke up first. "If you wish, Mr. North."
Tyler nodded, and Aiden pulled the chair and sat down. Harry smirked, shaking his head before he pulled out his datapad and began typing on it.
"Okay. Now that I've given you your manual and the license, its now down to the android's rules of operation. It is a standard procedure to mention this to you so that we avoid any return issues, okay?"
Tyler nodded, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Eileen rolled her eyes and slouched on her chair. Based on her reaction, this may be one of the things he didn't want to hear today. Since she bought two androids before, she probably heard Harry's spiel twice.
"Do you have WiFi? I'm assuming you do."
Tyler nodded.
"The reason I asked is that for a one hundred percent operational function, Aiden must be connected at all times through your ModGlobe so that it can stay connected to your house. The model comes with a built-in standard house profiler so that it can take care of necessary appliances and housework. WiFi is always required. That's how Aiden will recharge.
"Other than that, Aiden can go without it for four weeks, good enough if you want the model out on vacation. If you don't use Aiden, or Aiden doesn't receive any command input from you for more than twenty-four hours, Aiden will go into sleep mode and will shut off entirely if it gets no command after forty-eight hours.
"Aiden needs a fuel change every three months, like an oil change of a car. That is their purple blood. It's their liquid power cell to keep all their components running 24/7. You can get these on kiosks around any SynTech retail stores or in gas stations, and Aiden will know what to do to refuel.
"And now to the biggest one. No commands can be given to harm another human being. No killing, understand? Or any illegal stuff. I assume you know full well how the law works?"
Tyler gulped. "Uh, yeah. Of course, I do."
"Good. Just so you know, if you do something illegal, like tell it to abuse or kill someone, Aiden will contact the police automatically via online and the owner, I mean, you, will be arrested."
"Got it," said Tyler.
"Great! Now, I am required to ask you this, but, are you familiar with the Android Act of 2038?"
"Yes, Harry. We're all familiar about that," said Tyler, frowning.
"Good. Good. How could we? Ha!" Harry guffawed. "One last thing, I need you to sign our user agreement. Most of the stuff in there I already covered, albeit in summarized form." Harry gave the datapad to Tyler.
The first thing Tyler saw were the words User Agreement written on the very top. The datapad calculated over eighty-nine pages worth of things to read, and as Tyler looked up to Harry, he found the man smirking, amused. It was already four in the afternoon, and Tyler already missed his couch in his apartment. He took Harry's stylus and signed at the very bottom.
"Congratulations, Mr. North! You are now a proud owner of an AD-Class 700 Android! Your purchase already covers a one-year warranty, so, if at some point Aiden breaks down, you can bring the model back here without fees."
Once Harry left, the awkward silence on the table was palpable that Tyler could cut it with his nails. Aiden was quiet in front of them, sometimes staring at them as if expecting a command, or wandered his eyes, observing the room. Tyler had no reason for them to stay aside from enjoying more food but he had already stuffed in as much cajun fries, the lobster pasta, and three glasses of red wine into his stomach that more would be an overkill.
When Eileen walked off toward the girl's bathroom, leaving Tyler with Aiden, he thought now was probably a perfect time to test the Android's system."What are you looking at?" asked Tyler.
The android seemed momentarily lost for a second, losing its focus from the old couple sitting two tables down. "The surroundings, Mr. North. We are in the northern lounge of SynTech Factory Tower in New York. There have been over twenty thousand reviews online about the establishment with over ninety-eight percent of responders giving it five out of five stars."
"Ah. And do you agree?" Tyler meant that as a joke but it seemed Aiden took it seriously.
"I cannot drink nor eat. Thus, it's a rhetorical question for I cannot formulate an honest response since I am an Android. Surely, you have the best opinion for the establishment since you had already eaten two of their meals from their menu and that you also bought me here twelve minutes ago."
Tyler bit his lips, trying to prevent the laughter from coming out. Did he sass me? He looked around for Eileen, but she was still in the bathroom. No doubt she would find this amusing.
Aiden continued, "However, your response is the only thing I will value most. So, Mr. North, did you enjoy the establishment?"
Tyler couldn't help but blush a little. It's not every day you get complimented, and to an android, no less. That would be a first for him. "Very much so."
"Then, wonderful. I will save this in my data bank for future reference. I look forward to working with you, Mr. North. It is not every day I handle first-timers," a smile crept on Aiden's lips.
Ah. The sense of humor I asked for, Tyler chuckled. And charming to boot. Tyler was still on the fence about the add-on that Harry insisted, but he'll form his own opinion by the end of this week.
"The only source of knowledge is experience," Tyler mused.
Aiden's eyes lit up. "Albert Einstein. Though I believe he said, pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world; all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it. You find the source of knowledge in the experience of reality; testable and verifiable. But he alludes to something much more, too."
"Ah. Harry pulled in lots of content into your data bank."
"My unique specifications were built upon your requests: The literature you ask for and the world's history, which includes all world affairs since before 2050."
"I see that. But do you have a clue what Einstein would allude to then?"
Aiden paused for a moment. "Please hold. I cannot answer at this time."
Tyler chuckled. "That's okay, Aiden. It wasn't meant to be definitive."
Eileen returned from the bathroom and paid the bill, leaving the lounge after. Eileen didn't join them toward their car, opting instead to take a taxi since she had another meeting with a client over dinner and Tyler saw it to see her off. The cab came by within a couple of minutes, and driving behind the wheel was what Harry called earlier as a CD-Class Android.
"Behave yourself, okay?" Eileen winked and cocked her head to Aiden.
Tyler couldn't stop the blood rushing up his cheeks, but it was too late to hide it now against the woman's observant eyes. Tyler glanced at Aiden beside him and noticed that the android tilted its head back as it stared at the Android driver. Eileen hopped into the taxi and drove off toward the gates.
"Uh, follow me. The car's over here," said Tyler, heading for the parking lot.
"Do you require me to drive, Mr. North?" asked Aiden.
Tyler paused. "Um, I think I can handle that."
"I came with a pre-built knowledge of standard driving practices from over hundreds of countries. Since we are in New York, we are in the United States. The roads follow the General American Road & Driving Laws, which I am capable of doing with a ninety-nine percent success rate."
"Only ninety-nine?"
"I can't extrapolate on the unpredictability of the behavior of other drivers. Some may not follow the law a hundred percent of the time."
Well, he was right about that. "Why do you want it so bad to drive my car anyway?" Tyler laughed jokingly, though, it was hard not to feel a little uncomfortable with Aiden's persistence to drive.
"You have liquor in your system, which under U.S. law, is strictly prohibited, and will incur a 10-day minimum jail sentence and a revocation of your license for six months."
They had already reached his car and was about to hop into the driver's seat when Aiden blocked the door with his hand, surprising Tyler. His eyes went wide in shock. He had never seen an android do such a thing before. Aiden had that impassive, deadpan look on him, and Tyler couldn't read what it was thinking.
Thinking! Ha! Androids don't feel! Tyler reminded himself.
"I can drive, Aiden. I already sobered up back inside."
Aiden paused for a moment, as if unsure, though, Tyler shook that thought away. Androids were never known to hesitate when receiving direct commands. Aiden drew its hand back from the door.
"I apologize if I may have caused an offense. It was not my intention to offend you, Mr. North. I am only following my health emergency adaptability program."
"That's okay, Aiden. And Tyler's fine. I haven't been called Mr. North unless you're my dad," said Tyler, laughing the awkwardness off.
"Would you prefer that I call you by that designation?"
Tyler smiled and nodded.
"Then its done. I will now call you Tyler."
"Good. Now, hop in and let's go home."
Tyler hopped onto the driver's side while Aiden took the seat next to him. Aiden latched on the seatbelt and tilted its head up to face him. "Safety," he grinned.
Tyler scoffed and laughed. "Are you saying I'm going to crash the car because I'm drunk?"
Aiden paused again, never letting the grin wore off. "There is a high probability. If we do crash, then we can save it for future reference for your experience."
Tyler rolled his eyes. He looked at Aiden, thinking that owning an android ain't so bad after all. "Okay, then, Mr. Genius, watch and learn."
Aiden deep chuckle sent shivers down Tyler's spine. He had never heard an android laugh before, too. Ah, The Human Experience, thought Tyler.
"I will make a very detailed note of that if you would like."
Tyler shook his head. "Good. If not, I'll ship you back to the factory."
Aiden's chuckle dropped, though its smile remained. The silence crept into the car as Tyler started the ignition, glancing once again to Aiden who looked out the window watching the trees. Then, Tyler left the parking lot, back to the concrete jungle beyond the walls that surrounded the factory.
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