Just one of the Gang

  It was cold outside and Andy was watching his friend closely. He and 5 five other kids from the local high school had decided to go ice skating at a nearby pond. Andy had only just arrived in the town about 2 months ago and was surprised that he had been invited. You see Andy was an android. No one new about it except his owners that had purchased him from another company. They were semi-retired scientist that had a long history of working in robotics. They had explained to Andy that he was going to be a kind of social experiment to see how android and humans would interact with each other. He was free to choose whether or not to disclose is own reality or to portray himself as human. Andy had decided to start out as a human.

 Andy was watching his friend closely because he didn’t no what it was like to feel cold. He knew he would have to mimic the others so they would believe he was also cold. His outward appearance was of a young, pleasant looking male, that seemed to be about 17 or 18. He his skin complexion was a tannish hue similar to café au lait coffee. He hair was a reddish brown and his eyes were hazel. What Andy did not realize is that the reason he had been invited is that 2 of the young women in this skating party had asked 1 of the three boys to invite him because they were attracted to him.

  He had chosen hi clothes with care after reviewing data on what was appropriate and also class and status approved for the area. He had also wrapped a scarf around his mouth and nose because he knew he would not make the same fog that human do when the breath outside in the cold. He had practiced stand on his skates before leaving the house because he needed to compute the process of skating and adjust his internal programming. Since emotions were simple and outward form of human communication to him, he had practiced facial expression and body gestures too.

    Everyone was laughing and talking and one of the young lady’s named Ann walked up next to him. “Are you sure you need that scarf Andy? It really isn’t that cold.” Andy looked at her trying to get a read from her body language. “Well maybe once we’re skating and I warm up a bit, I’ll take it off” he relied. Ann smiled and chuckled, “Guess you from someplace that isn’t like this. Maybe some place warmer?” Andy understood she was trying to make conversation but also probing for information. He decided a simple yes would do because it wasn’t a lie. He had been programed to be truthful. Ann began a dialogue telling Andy about each of the people in the skating party, how long they had known each other and how often they did things together, It was useful data and he voice and appearance we not annoying.

 “So, Andy, now that you know all about us, tell me about you.” Said Ann

“Andy told her a story about his past that he had rehearsed. “Well, my parent are semi-retired and thought this would be a good town to move to. We traveled a lot because they are involved in the field of robotics and are often called to consult on various projects. I’ve never really been in on place for long so the chance to make new friends is a welcoming idea.”

Ann face light up in a big smile. “Oh, I think we’re going to be very good friends Andy.” She stuck her arm through his and they began walking along arm in arm. The group was about seven feet away from the pond and on of the other boys had run ahead to see how much ice was covering the pond. Andy was watching everything and storing it away into his programming.

 When Andy and Ann reached the pond, the Oldest of the part was gingerly walking from the shore towards the center of the pond. “what is he doing Ann?” asked Andy. She looked at him with a very serious look. “Why he’s testing the ice Andy so we know if it’s thick enough to skate on. Andy watched with great intensity because it di make sense yet he had never been programed to determine such a variable in such a situation. He began to grasp that these must be the process people called learning. New data, processing data, and then calculating courses of action. The young made it to center of the pond and yelling and waving that it was okay to skate.

 Andy sat down to put on his skates and was calculating the risk of taking off his scarf. By now he had mastered the art of appearing cold with his body language but the breathing fogging couldn’t be faked. He quickly looked up because his ear had detected someone approaching and it a different sound then the approach of Ann. “Hey Andy, I’m Tim. Do you a smoke?” It was the tall young man that had tested the ice thickness. Stored in Andy’s data hard drive were all of the information on the planet about smoking. Also, all the information on what young people thought made them cool. He stared at Tim for a bit determining if there was away, he could utilize anything in his system to store the smoke and make it appear like the peoples fog when they were breathing in the cold. He nodded at Tim.” Sure dude but you and I both know it’s a nasty habit” Tim laughed and handed him a cancer stick.

 Suddenly there was the loud squealing of tires. He heard Ann yelling, and then a Van jumped the curb heading straight for the pond. The ice started breaking all around and everyone started running. That is everyone except Andy. He had been programmed from his being to save the lives of people in danger. He threw his skates aside and headed straight toward where the van was sinking. He gripped the van door, tore it off, grabbed the drive and head for the pond shore, yelling call 911.

 The dumbstruck skating party stared at him although Tim was dialing his phone. “Andy” said Ann. “How the hell did you do that?” Andy sighed. He pealed off his wet top, touch a hidden button on his chest that looked like a mole. “ Because I’m an android Ann.”