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“Please keep your eyes on the scanner and answer the following questions truthfully. Is your name Alicia Wendell?”
“Yes.”
“Is your identification number 47-D2479?”
“Yes.”
“Are you captain of the Star Sentinel?”
“Probably not for long since I’m sitting here.”
“Please answer with a yes or no.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. We’ll move on to the next section. In order to confirm there are no irregularities in your mental stability, you must consent to a Poinsettia Behavioral Test. Are you ready to begin?”
“Not unless you promise me a bathroom break.”
“Let’s begin then. For the first section of the test, I’ll show you a few images. Please tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Let’s start with this one.”
“A tree.”
“This next one.”
“Unwashed laundry?”
“And this one.”
“Kinda looks like my ex-girlfriend’s pu--.”
“Need I remind you, Ms. Wendell, that you should be taking this seriously.”
“It’s kind of hard to see this as nothing but a joke when you haven’t even told me what I’m being charged with.”
“The officer from Contact didn’t tell you?”
“Nope.”
“I see…Six months ago, you were paired with an Artemis Unit, serial number ED-157. You were tasked to traverse the eastern Onasi Zone for any signs of survivors or threats. It was the job of ED-157 to assist you with ship maintenance or repair work.”
“Yeah, I’m well aware of that.”
“Were you also aware that reprogramming an Artemis Unit under any circumstance is against Contact policy?”
“Wow, that sounds like it’s never been done before.”
“ED-157 no longer exhibits her original programming. And before she escaped custody, she showed signs of irregular behavior.”
“Yeah, well, patrolling a zone filled with dead colonies for half a year can do that to a person.”
“ED-157 isn’t a person. She’s an android.”
“Can you stop calling her that? It’s a mouthful.”
“Ah, yes. What did you refer to her as in your vid-coms? ‘Eden’ was it?”
“It’s shorter than saying her serial number.”
“I highly doubt you gave her a nickname for the sake of it being shorter to pronounce, Ms. Wendell. In fact, I doubt you understand the gravity of your crimes.”
“All I did was teach Eden a few things to pass the time.”
“Because you believed there was nothing out there in the Onasi Zone, correct? Your commander gave you a boring patrol job in the middle of nowhere, so you decided to test the limits of your android companion?”
“Look, if this is your strategy to put words in my mouth, it’s very obvious.”
“All I’m doing is using your words. Isn’t that what you wrote in here? This is your journal, isn’t it?
“Where did you get that?”
“It says here on the 7th of September, you wanted to test what you referred to as a ‘professional curiosity’ about ED-157.”
“What about it?”
“15th of September, ‘Eden plays chess like a pro despite only learning from a book I lent her a few minutes ago. However, she’s terrible at card games even though she always has a poker face.’”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Your entry on the 21st of September, ‘Eden baked me a birthday cake. She remembered that one time I mentioned liking strawberries.’”
“Are you going somewhere with this?”
“1st of October, ‘I’ve been teaching Eden how to build synthetic butterflies. Today, she finally got one to flap its wings. It didn’t get far but it actually made her smile. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen her make that expression. It was beautiful.’ 19th of October, ‘She’s running out of things to clean and fix on the ship. I told her she can read my other books. She seems fond of the ones with stories instead of those with technical subjects.’ And here on the 7th of November, you two talked about clothes and she asked to wear some of yours. You thought it was cute.”
“So what?”
“18th of December, ‘She asked me about an expression today that she read in a book. What does it mean to have butterflies in your stomach, she said. It could be nervousness or anxiety, I told her. No way was I going to tell her the other meaning.’ 20th of December, ‘She found out the other meaning and tried to explain why it was bothering her.’”
“Okay, you can stop.”
“29th of December, ‘She kissed me today--.’”
“That’s enough. What of it? Why does any of it matter to you?”
“You are being charged with disobeying Contact policy, ignoring your mission objective in favor of personal entertainment, alternating the program of an Artemis Unit, resisting arrest against a Contact Officer, and withholding information about a rogue android. Do you understand the seriousness of your situation now?”
“You talk a lot.”
“Ms. Wendell, I’m here to help you resolve this matter. Artemis Units do not have the ability to evolve pass their original programming. If ED-157 has learned to ‘feel’ emotions such as the ones you caused, she can also learn to hate or to use violence. That is not something Contact and the government want. Tell me where she is. You’re the only person who might know where ED-157 would run off to. If you tell me, I only need to make a phone call and you can keep your pilot’s license…Ms. Wendell?”
“I told you to stop calling her that.”
“You don’t need to go this far to protect an android. Contact needs to find her and have her decommissioned immediately. We don’t need another android who’s learned to do more than she was programmed to do. Why do you think Contact had to evacuate the Onasi Zone? Those colonies suffered because their units evolved too quickly for anyone’s benefit.”
“So, Contact thought missiles was the best solution to their android rebellion?”
“ED-157 will get something much less dramatic than missiles. You’ll remain here until a Contact Officer comes to escort you to a cell. They’ll find her sooner or later but it’ll be your advantage if you point them in the right direction.”
“They don’t have to look far.”
“What do you mean?”
“If they want to find Eden, they don’t have to look far. She’s pretty good at finding where her pilot is.”
“Then for your sake, I hope she comes soon. I told the Contact Officers to be gentle. Her parts can be recycled for--.”
“Speak of the devil.”
“What was that?”
“That’s probably an officer falling down the stairs outside this room. And for your sake, I hope she’s gentle when the door opens.”
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