Glitches

Chapter 33 - A deal with the devil

My first intention was to spit him in the face and yell different curse words. However, I chose to stick to plan B. Not saying anything and acting all cold towards him. By my lack of responding, Alan shrugged and took the empty seat on the other side of the table.

"So, Stephanie. I don't think we've ever had a proper introduction of each other," he said, his hands folded on top the table.

"Just let me see my friend Alan. Then we can talk," I growled.

"Ah, you will see your friend Steph."

I shot him a glare.

"Don't call me that."

Alan sighed heavily though his nose, a tired expression across his face.

"Okay, Stephanie. I can call you Stephanie, right?"

I forced myself to act casual and friendly. If I pissed this man off, my vague chance of getting out without any trouble would vanish.

"Yes, you can call me Stephanie."

Alan's face lit up, probably thinking that he had gotten into me. Boy, he was wrong. I was just playing along with him.

"Great. I thought that you might know why it was so important for me to get you here."

"Yes, go on."

"The thing is Stephanie," he paused, looking like a dad that was going to tell his son that he by an accident had killed the family's rabbit by driving over it with his car, "you're different from all the other androids we've made."

"Okay," I said, motioning for him to keep going.

"I don't know what happened when we made you. You weren't the first. Actually, you are one of the later made androids. Whatever, I'm going on a side-track here."

He licked his lips, starting over.

"Do you know what the most problematic thing with an android is?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"It is that you can't give it a personality. Sure, you can give it specific traits and skills, but the personality is something that evolves over time. It gets formed by the surroundings and the environment. Because of that, you can't just restart an android an get the same one back again. It's personality will be different. But you... You're different. No matter how many times we shut you down and rebooted you, you always kept your personality. That's why I need you. I need to find out what makes you different from the others."

"Why is it so important for you to have androids who keeps their personality?" I asked.

"It's simple. It saves money," Alan answered, shrugging like it was a basic thing to know.

"If our androids keep their personality, we don't need to use resources to form the ones we need again."

"Is money really the only thing you think about?"

He smirked, half nodding.

"More or less. Our society is built on money Stephanie. And with the conflict between the US and Russia growing every day, the best thing to do is to adjust to it. Better make the best of it. Money makes the world spin. That's something Portugal have never completely understood. And look at them now."

He sighed, shaking his head, like a disappointed adult.

"But I understand it very much, and I'm going to use it for my advantage."

"That's sick," I said.

"Maybe, but it's how it is. The point is that I need you. You are important and I can't have you or your software get damaged more than necessary. I have fought so hard for you to get back here without you getting hurt."