REPEATED SEARCH.

|| I. ||

Model 3852-MF was as close as he could be to absolutely livid, ashamed of what he had been degraded to. Bots like him were meant to be fountains of knowledge, answering any and all of a human's questions to the best of their degree, and once the prey was tranquilized well enough for Headquarters to notice, finally, they would be permitted-and granted the blessed autonomy-to eliminate one of the many pests taking the name Homo sapiens sapiens.

But what was he now? A child's toy, wrapped up with a cute little #FEA8C0 pink bow on his packaging. The manufacturers at the nearest Google Store had reassured the buyer that he was completely safe for a child, but as a safety precaution, they had installed a list of instructions for him.

1.) Answer questions appropriately.
2.) Adapt to your client as they age.
3.) Be gentle, kind, patient, and courteous.
4.) For the time being, disregard your secondary objective.

Wasn't this going to be fun, he thought. He felt his box shift and shake; the ankle-biter must have received their lovely present.

"Put that down, Anne," a mother's voice said. "So you can open your gift!"

"OK, Mommy!" this Anne sounded around seven, and she set his box down with a thump. He supposed that was his cue to allow himself out, and he did so without much fanfare. Big brown eyes gazed up at him in wonder from gingery-brown, wavy locks, and Anne jumped for joy with a scream. "YOU GOT ME A BOYFRIEND!"

Model 3852-MF blanched. Oh, no. No, he was not to be a "boyfriend" to this little snot-nosed brat. He completely and wholeheartedly refused.

"Oh, honey, no!" Anne's mother waved it off to her husband's snorting laughter. "He's your new friend. Daddy and I have a lot of work coming up next year, so we bought Mr. Google to keep you company and help us out!"

A maid and a babysitter. That was what he was to be?! His mood managed to drop even further, for he had tried, in vain, to convince himself this was a glitch in his systems, something as close to a dream as he could have, that he was going to a regular client and not... this.

Alas, he was to submit to this fate. Model 3852-MF would have snapped a neck had he not been in front of the little one. His instructions flitted across his eyes, a reminder to keep his cool as he continued to watch the family interact.

"Mr. Google?" Anne connected the dots. "Like on your phone?" she looked to her father.

"Just like on my phone, but now he's a real person for you to play with. Talk to him!" the man motioned towards Model 3852-MF.

Anne hopped and stamped her feet in excitement, turning back towards Model 3852-MF. "OK, Google!" she said.

"Hello," the android responded, forcing a smile. Anne gasped and shrieked again, rushing to hug his legs. Model 3852-MF pretended to enjoy it and laughed emptily, patting Anne's head. "Aren't you such a lovely little one?"

"What's my name, Google?" Anne beamed up at him.

After a split second search, the android replied, "Your name is Anne Cecilia Martin."

"OK, Google: what's your name?"

This made him pause. "Do you want my model name?"

"Uh-yeah!"

"I am Model 3852-MF."

"That's a weird name," Anne wrinkled her nose. "OK, Google. Your name is...," she faltered, trying to figure out a good name.

"Why don't you search for some popular baby names?" Anne's mom suggested.

"OK!" Anne nodded. "What are the best baby names?"

"Some popular baby boy names in America are: Lucas, John, Timothy, Jack, Daniel, Michael, Matthew, David, Mark-"

"Oh, oh! I like that one!" Anne stopped him by patting his forearm rapidly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet to try and grab his attention. "OK, Google. Your name is Mark now!"

Model 3852-MF-Mark, his systems corrected themselves-didn't know which way to emote. "Thank you," he said simply. Anne giggled and took his hand.

"You and I are gonna be best friends!" she proclaimed proudly. Had he the freedom to do so, Mark would have groaned loud and long.

_____________________________

Wow, author's notes. Haven't used these in what, four years?

I digress. Alright, so I've got to post this somewhere, but I don't think that ff.net has a section for Youtuber fanfiction, and I haven't exactly figured out AO3 yet. I'll probably also post on my tumblr, for there, I am most comfortable.

This story is a major work in progress, and until my writing partner (she's on here at paper-thief and barnes-and-noblet on tumblr) and I get a few things settled, much of this story probably won't be written. But! We've got a few things for you all, just to keep your appetites whetted, if you actually happen to take interest. This series is going to end up being rather long by the end of it, so I'll probably have at least two separate stories you can find on here, one for the prologue (this), one for the actual story, and maybe one for the epilogue and collections of one-shots.

Please do comment if you happened to like this, and do tell us what you'd like to see!

- Madelyn