Bring Me to Life

[iApollo]

Travis Mitchell is a twenty-two year old who lives alone. In college, Travis majored in robotics, having had a knack for building machines since a young age. However, unfortunately, there's not too huge a market in the way of robot building. After recent incidents in which multiple humans were slaughtered by autonomous androids, the trust and want for self-sufficient robotic assistants has died down. This has left Travis without a job. So, as opposed to giving up on the idea, Travis works in an underground workshop of sorts that lies beneath his home.

Since the incident, Travis has been working nonstop since perfect and re-design the former androids. Before the facility in which he worked was shut down, he took home the majority of his lab equipment and the secret project he was working on. That project, was now almost complete.

Speaking into a microphone of sorts, Travis ran impatiently around his room, making finaly adjustment and running last minute diagnostic checks. "This is Travis Mitchell, working on Project C.A.S.S. That is Computerized Autonomous Self-Aware Servant. The solid silicone plating seems to sturdy and stable..." He said as he examined the robot that was lying down on a cushioned operating table of sorts. His hand gripped the arm of the robot, giving it a quick shake to make sure it would stay in place. "All that's left is to incoporporate the MK-III Autonomy Artificial Intelligence programming into the hard drive of it...." He mumbled into his audio log as he made his way over to a laptop of sorts, clicking a few keys, and pressing a few buttons. There was a decently loud high pitched sound that was comparable to the sound of a computer starting up.

The eyes on the robot would glow a bright blue color. The body being white silicon, but the anatomy resembling that of a female almost. The robot was restrained to the table with unbreakable cables designed specifically for holding robots down. Travis walked excitedly over to the robot, half-worried it would be hostile. The personality that it receives is completely at random, that way that every android is different. "Hello, machine, can you hear me?" Travis asked in a moderately low pitched voice. On the robot was a black marking of sorts that contained the lettering of C.A.S.S. This was her title when she was in development at the facility.

 

[The Beauty]

C.A.S.S eye's lit up, her scanners starting, rapidly scanning every object in view. Recognizing that she was laying down and all she could see was the ceiling. Her eye's adjusted to the brightness of the lights and when a man stood above her, she looked over at him. "Yes. I can hear you sir." C.A.S.S moved her fingers slightly and looked to the left and right, feeling the restraints around her arms she gently tugged her arm upward, this did nothing. "Why am I restrained." Her voice was soft, angelic, but still had some robotic pitches and tones to it. C.A.S.S looked at the man, her expression blank. Her system starting to do a manual check of movement and making sure her body was in working condition. Her ankles rotating like that of a normal human, her eye's did not blink, her mouth moved slightly, yet she had no tongue. She looked again to the left and right. Her body could not finish its movement test, due to the restraints.

 

[iApollo]

Travis cleared his throat and loosened the tie that was around his neck, holding a clipboard in his left arm, making marks on it with his right hand. "First of all, you'll drop the sir. I don't play that. You'll refer to me as Travis." His tone lacked any sort of emotion and was full of demand. "I'll refer to you as Cass. Cassidy, if you'd prefer." He said, then continuing to talk before she could say anything. "You're restrained in case you happened to have a violent personality and I had to decomission you. But you're not violent are you?" Travis said with an emotionless look on his face, staring down at the robot. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and release these bindings. You do anything I would recognize as hostile, and I'm pressing this button right here and you'll be right back on that table for another six months. Are we clear?" While it didn't seem like it on the outside, Travis was overjoyed that the robot was responding and able to communicate properly. It hadn't seemed hostile yet, but there were billions of possible robot personality types that could be inherited. There was always the chance of getting a deceptive one. The one that would gain your trust and then turn on you.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass looked at Travis and nodded. "Of course Travis. Whatever you wish." As the restraints were taken off Cass lifted herself off the table and her body finished it's movement test, bending her knees, rotating art the waist and hips, bending over and back. Being a robot she had the felxablitity of a acrobat. She could easily do back bends and such. When she finished she looked around the room scanning it. taking in her environment and recognizing each feature. "I notice we are in an underground structure reaching about 10 feet underneath the structure of a home above us. Your walls are weak and should a storm hit, about the size of a large tornado they would collapse. I also notice you are putting up a front of stern and serious yet the acceleration of your heart and breathing shows a certain amount if excitement. Does your work of creating me bring you joy Travis?" Cass looked around more and then stared at Travis, her expression blank.

 

[iApollo]

Travis smiled at Cass. Not necessarily a friendly and comraderous smile, but one of pride. She had successfully detected his emotions. She was working better than he'd intended. "My work in general brings me joy. It gives me something productive to do. You are something that I have been working on for about a year, and to finally see all of the pieces fit together....it makes me happy." Travis didn't really mind sharing his emotions with a machine that could already detect them. He is normally used to keeping them to himself, but the piece of metal before him, afterall, is just a machine. "Let's run a few diagnostics. How do you feel, Cass? Is everything moving alright? Anything stiff? Anything bothering you? Anything you feel that's necessary that I haven't included?" Travis' eyes squinted, examining the robot, his mind racing with ways to improve it.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass took note of what of Travis had said. He was her creator and master and so what he said and how he acted and reacted was something she was going to have to take note of, in order to perform to her best ability. "My left knee is stiff and unable to function properly. I can only bend it into a 90 degree angle, I should be able to bend it into a degree of 40, meeting the back of my calf to the back of my thigh, Which I am unable to do at the moment. This serves no purpose to be able to fulfill my job, however, to ensure I am am capable of all that you are it is a necessary maneuver that I need to be able to accomplish." Cass showed Travis what she meant. "In case you do not understand, I am capable of doing this." She bent her left knee to 90 degrees. "When I should be able to do this." Her then placed her left knee down and lifted her right knee, bending it to a 40 degree angle, meeting her calf and thigh. Still looking at Travis, she did a quick scan of him. "I also believe you should take into consideration your own needs, You have not consumed anything of proper nutrition in 48 hours. Would you like me to prepare something for you?" Cass, had the ability to perform any housewife job with ease among an arrangement of defensive and offensive attacks.

 

[iApollo]

Travis crouched down, examining the leg of the robot and holding it in his arms and examining the underside of it. "My nutrition isn't of importance right now." Travis hadn't even realized it. He'd been down here for two entire days, not even having it once taken into consideration. "I think what happened is that I've screwed this bolt in too tight. I'll see if loosening it up helps any." Travis grabbed a wrench from a toolbox that was atop a seperate table, going back to hold the robot's leg out straight. He then began to turn it a bit to the left, finding it rather difficult. Damn...that was in there tight. It was still tight and firm inside, but it wasn't nearly as tight as it had been moments ago. "Alright. See if this is better." Travis looked up at Cass, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass, stood very stiff has her leg was held. His hands were warm and she took note of the temperature change. After he was finished she tested the motion again, finding it to be successful. "Yes, it seems to be working properly now. About you nutrition again, It may not serve as importance to you, but to me, it does. I cannot perform maintenance on myself, so for my own survival, I must ensure that you needs are met." This was true, androids of Cass's making were programmed to ensure their own survival, along with the survival of their makers.

 

[iApollo]

"Well that's an annoynace. I'll have to come up with a program that allows the ability for you to maintain yourself. How bothersome..." Travis muttered, his brain increasing with activity as his thoughts continued on methods of improvement. "Fine. To appease you, you can make food for me. It's going to be difficult to run tests when you're continually concerned about my health. Not to mention, this is one of the areas I have to test regardless." Travis stood up and made his way out of the rather dark basement area, which was only illuminated by computer monitors and the occasional singular lightbulb that would hang from the roof. The house itself was rather magnificent. It was a multi-story house that looked like it would belong to a billionaire. There was an entire area at the top of the house that served as a sort of overlook for the place. From that point, it being at the top of a set of spiraled stairs, was the ability to see over the entirety of both the house and even the city from a humongous glass window.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass nodded her head and turned to walk upstairs. Finding the kitchen she cooked Travis a meal of steak and potatoes. She cooked the steak to a medium rare state and the potato was baked, with a slice of butter placed in the center. When it was finished she brought it down to him and set it gently in front of him. "Your dinner Travis." Cass took a few steps back and looked forward awaiting her next command.

 

[iApollo]

Travis watched as she prepared his dinner. He nodded in approval as she set it down at the table. "Good work, Cass. Try your hand at cleaning the house." Travis gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. While it wasn't necessary to compliment the robots for doing what they're programmed to do, he finds that since they're self-aware and have their own personalities, that it's best to keep them in good spirits. His house was remarkably clean, as opposed to his workspace. However, there was still plenty to do. It was relatively dusty in his house, but not disgustingly dusty. He sat down at the table, eating the food. It was cooked surprisingly to his taste, letting out a moan of pleasure due to how amazing the food tasted, and he was really hungry, now that he thought about it.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass nodded. "Of course Travis." Cass began to clean the house, dusting and organizing things to the best of her ability. When she reached his computer area and found it to be in much chaos and disarray. She organized the paper, from newest to oldest. Leaving them by his computer. She returned to Travis, grabbing his plate when he finished and washing it. "The house has been cleaned to the best of my ability. Your papers have been organized by newest to oldest and left by your desk. Is their anything else I can do for you?"

 

[iApollo]

"Nothing but run more and more tests." Travis stood up from his place at the table and went down to the basement area. "Follow me." He instructed, knowing that the robot would follow behind him. He leaned against a table, the dim lighting in the room not failing to show the exhaust of sleep deprivation underneath his eyes. "Your weapons systems, as you've probably noticed, are disabled. That is simply because I haven't found a role for you to take part in just yet. However, you still have basic combative abilities based on basic street fighting. So, Cass. Before we continue tests. I'd like to ask you this. What is it that you want to do? Having a personality and opinions, you'll for sure prefer doing something over another. So what is it that makes you happy, Cass? What job would you like? Housekeeping, house defense, lab assistant....human?" Travis asked with a cheeky smile on his face. That was his goal, afterall, to reproduce a human by artifically making one.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass followed and stood in front of him, tilting her head to the side as he asked his question. "I am designed and programmed to be what you ask me to be Travis." Cass didn't understand the question. She searched her programming for the correct answer but she could not find one. "I am too be whomever and whatever you wish. A housewife, a maid, a slave, a cook, a mother. If you ask me to be the dirt you walk upon, I must be what you ask."

 

[iApollo]

"Mhm. As I expected. You lack complete free will." Travis bit on his lower lip and went over to his computer, typing furiously for a few moments. "We'll have to fix that..." He scratched the side of his face. Evidence of lack of shaving was present. "I'm going to explain this to you." Travis said, walking over to Cass. "My goal right now is to make a fully fuctional, artifically made human. Therefore, you'll be undergoing an innumerable amount of tests and re-programmings before you'll be complete. For now, I recommend you plug yourself up and get some rest. I need to think things over. How the hell am I going to give her a fleshy appearance....even more so how am I going to make her feel fleshy.... I suppose appearance should be the last thing I work on. For now, I should focus on implementing actual human behavior. The voice, for one, has to change. It sounds too....forced.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass nodded slowly. "As you wish Travis." Cass walked over to her charging station and plugged in. Her eye's began to blink blue and her body stood erect and stiff. Her body powered down.

 

[iApollo]

Travis let out a small sigh, running his hand through his hair. He spent the night working on modifications to the voice. He used his vocal patterns as a sample to make the voice sound more human, but kept the same pitch and female origin of Cass' original voice. It was roughly six o' clock in the morning before he had finished all of the vocal testing. He walked over to Cass, giving her a command. "Cass. Wake up." He said, staring at her, curious to see how her voice would sound. Hopefully it would be a lot less robotic.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass awoke her body doing a startup procedure, installing the new updates and replacing them with old ones. "Good Morning Travis." Her voice sounded soft and sweet, the robotic twang was gone. Cass took notice of it. "My voice, is more...human. You have changed it?" Cass was not quite used to it, but she wasn't going to say she didn't like it. "I sound like a...woman...a real woman." She knew that her body makeup was that of a woman but she had never been given a specific gender, she was a robot so gender had no meaning. Underneath her robotic makeup, she was a Barbie doll. "Travis, may I ask a question?" Androids of Cass's makeup had never been one to be curious, and so for her to want to ask a question was strange, even to her.

 

[iApollo]

Travis watched in admiration as the robot booted up once more, he awaited to hear the voice, wanting to see how his hours of hard work paid off. When the voice came out, his face lit up. Along with the new voice came a question, something he hadn't been used to from a robot. "Yes. Ask." His face still beaming in fascination.

 

[The Beauty]

Cass processed her question for a moment. "Am I...am I a female?" Cass looked into Travis's eyes, she could see the reflection of the bright blue in his eyes.