Michael 2.0

Part 3

“Dr. DeLanne, how is it going?” Dr. Lawrence approached Charlie’s desk with a hopeful smile. “I’ve heard you spent last night in the lab. Did you run the first diagnostic?”

“I did, sir,” she handed him a few papers. “I examined him to check for bugs, viruses, malformations, everything. The results are clean, he is perfect. Also, I have programmed him to answer for the name he’s been given.”

“Excellent,” the man nodded approvingly. “Good job, Dr. DeLanne. I wonder if you’ve started the tests already?”

“No, not yet, sir. I was wondering who would be the object of interaction. Perhaps an intern?”

“Hmm,” he said. “No, no, no interns. I won’t risk Michael. His existence is supposed to be kept between us until all the tests are done. Why don’t you interact with him yourself, Dr. DeLanne?”

“Me?” Charlie raised a brow. “Well, I suppose I could, of course, but –”

“Since you are the one running the tests, you’d know exactly what to do to make Michael respond the way you want. It would make it more natural, right?” He tapped her back. “And don’t forget to record it. We need all the interactions in tape to show the boss when it’s time.”

“Yes, sir,” she agreed. “I will start it immediately.”

Charlie ordered that Michael was brought to her own office; there was no better place for her to perform the test. Not only all her data and equipment were there, it was the only place she felt comfortable enough to be recorded. As she waited for Michael to be taken to her, she carefully set a camera, directed to a wooden table with two comfortable chairs.

“Great. And this will be my date.”

“Charlotte?” A voice called from the outside of the room, and she saw Dr. Gregory through the glass, smiling at her with a huge white metal box by his side. Charlie nodded for him to come in.

“Sorry it took so long,” Dr. Gregory apologized. “Michael here is a heavy bloke.”

“No problem, Walter.”

He opened the box, that revealed the robot standing inside, perfectly still. Gently, the man took him out pulling him by the hands, and he walked outside obediently. Charlie thought he seemed almost as if he was a sleepwalker. Dr. Gregory opened the back of his head and activated him. Michael opened his eyes.

“Now, Charlotte,” he explained. “To have him talking to you, plug this string here, and to activate his brain, press those set of buttons below. If you wish to deactivate him, just come here and press those two buttons simultaneously: they will stop his involuntary and voluntary movements. Then call me and I will finish deactivating him properly.”

“Very well,” she said. “Thank you. I will start running the tests with him.”

“Good luck.”

Dr. Gregory left, and Charlie felt a bit awkward. The robot looked emotionless, blinking regularly and perfectly simulating human breathing. She was glad they had dressed him.

“Well, Michael, let’s get this over with,” she thought, activating his brain and talking skills as Dr. Gregory had taught her.

Immediately, she could see the response; from emotionless, the robot adopted a surprised expression, and smiled.

“Hello,” Charlie said. “My name is Charlotte DeLanne.”

Michael gave her a little bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Charlotte DeLanne,” his voice was clear and deep, with a slight husky tone. “I am Michael.”

“Michael, please sit.”

He obeyed the order and sat on one of the chairs. Charlie could not help but to think how amazing it was to be interacting with such a project. She tried to focus, thinking of the control questions that should be asked.

“Michael, how are you?”

“I’m very well, thank you, Charlotte DeLanne. And how are you?”

For a moment, Charlie thought she had made a programming mistake, as he seemed to not be able to refer to her in another way. Either way, she tried:

“You may call me only Charlotte, or Charlie.”

Michael smiled. “Oh, really? I thought you wanted me to call you that. You are so very formal, Charlotte DeLanne. But of course, I will call you whatever you wish. I thought Charlie was a male name?”

That was a surprise for Charlie; up to that moment, she had no idea how close the interactions with Michael would be to a human normal interaction. “It is, but it is also short for Charlotte.”

“Short for Charlotte? I understand that only friends use short forms of names. Does it mean we are friends now?”

“Would you like us to be friends?”

Michael smiled again. “I would be happy with that, yes.”

Charlie smiled, awkwardly; she had just become friends with a robot.