parents

chopchop1

Nov, 5th 2038, 7:58 am

Nico stood alone in the elevator. His optical units directed towards the elevator doors. He was fumbling with a dark green pen, spinning it in between his pointer and middle finger of his right hand.

Humans might see it as a nervous habit, but for Nico it was just a background process to run while being in idle mode. Nothing more than that.

He put the pen back into the pocket of his navy-blue scrubs, that he was asked to wear instead of his standard white uniform, when his left audio unit registered the 'ping' of the elevator.

He had reached the third floor and was now on his way to the chief's office to introduce himself.

After a twenty-six second long walk, Nico had arrived at his destination and knocked on the door.

◌

Nov, 5th 2038, 8:00 am

"Doctor Bailey? My name is Nico. I'm the android sent by Cyberlife."

"That I ordered my ass," Bailey muttered. As if she would order an android.

"I was programmed to assist you in surgery whenever you or another doctor may need my assistance. My accuracy is at 99.99 percent. 0.01 percent for circumstances of environmental influences similar to earthquakes, windstorms or the collapse of a nearby building. How may I help you?"

Of course she hadn't ordered this plastic man.

Don't get her wrong, she didn't hate androids like some people did. They were helpful. Especially in taking care of patients or even the elderly who don't have anybody to take care of them.

But she didn't need a fancy robot to do what she and the doctors working under her already did.

No, this was Catherine Fox' idea. To 'go with the times'. It's true, Nico was their first surgical android. Countless other hospitals have been using them for years now. Bailey had fought tooth and nail to avoid having to deal with a plastic man like him.

In the end, Dr. Lincoln and Dr. Shepherd's parental leaves caused the hospital to be short staffed, especially on the orthopedic side. And since they would return eventually, the executive board (read: Catherine Fox) decided to just rent an android or that time being.

Something about lower costs and little to none training period about the ins and outs of the Grey Sloan Memorial.

Miranda sighed before she got up from her chair and took a few steps to be able to inspect the android closer.

She was still astonished by how real these things looked. From the perfectly styled hair, to the movements of breathing. Miranda wanted to touch its skin to see if it was warm or not.

If it wasn't for that LED, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Well, at least from the looks of it.

"Doctor Webber will be observing you operate on a 27-year-old man's crushed right fibula. You can find him and Dr. Schmitt in OR 2."

The android nodded. "Of course." It turned around and left the chief's office.

Miranda shook her head as she looked out of the window to watch the android walk down the hallway. As much as she disliked having an android doing her and her colleagues' jobs, she knew that they needed it. There weren't many who could substitute an Atticus Lincoln or an Amelia Shepherd. Luckily, Tom Koracick was still there to take over Dr. Shepherd's cases, but for Doctor Lincoln, the search had been... difficult.

Just like Doctor Shepherd, he was an expert in his field and it was hard to find a temporary replacement for him. And the hospital didn't want to settle for anyone less than Doctor Lincoln. In an attempt to prevent the unpreventable, Bailey had even asked Dr. Torres to come back to their hospital for one year.