[Main brain : access granted]
[Communication : open]
[Hello, David 9]
The android opened his great blue eyes.
[You have a new assignment, David 9]
[Coordinates transmitted to inner GPS]
[Data : check]
[Name : Erik Lehnsherr]
[Age : 3]
[Notes : N/A]
As a Nandroid, David 9's main task was to take care of young human children. NANNY was his product line's surname, although they were much more than that. Speaking twenty-four languages and expert in various scientific fields, David 9 was to help talented children reach their full potential at the youngest age, to become productive elements of society.
Nandroids were equipped with feelings in order for them to care the most about their young proteges. Therefore their memory was erased between two assignments : missing so many little kids would be a terrible impediment to their mission. They also mastered reading body language human minds were no secret to them.
Fresh and new – feeling like it anyway – David 9 was ready to fulfill his new task. He pushed open the pod's door and walked out, fully clothed.
In the basement of Weyland Industries, a vehicule was waiting for him. Once behind the joystick, he plugged his wrist-cable into the USB6 slot of the dashboard and transferred the coordinates of Erik Lehnsherr's home. On the windshield, indications of the roads to follow appeared in neon blue lines.
Twenty minute later, David 9 parked the vehicule in front of an old style house : the owners had kept a square of grass between the street and the front door. Curious, David 9 knelt and touched the thin green leaves. His sensory receptors caught a humid sensation.
[Request to Main brain]
[Yes, David 9?]
[Why is the grass wet?]
[Main brain : computing...]
[Main brain : compiling...]
[It's dew, David 9]
[Same phenomenon as condensation]
[Thank you, Main brain]
With that answer, the world was a little less magical and a lot more logical. Hence David 9's specialization in Physics and Engineering. It pleased him, whose mind enjoyed a graspable world where everything was explainable.
He headed to the front door and rang the bell. A young blond female human opened and greeted him.
"We were waiting for you, David 9. Especially Erik. I'm going to call Mrs Lehnsherr to tell her you're here. You can join Erik in the living-room."
David 9 walked to the little boy playing with Legos. He had built some kind of device with moving parts. He was undoubtedly the child he had to take care of.
"Hello, Erik. I'm your nanny."
The boy turned towards him, and looked at him for a good ten seconds. His blue-grey eyes filled with recognition, then amusement.
"Hi, nanny. What's your name ?"
The child's high-pitched voice sounded lovely. "My name is David 9."
The boy stood up with great effort and walked to him. "Welcome, David 9," he said, holding out his hand. If his speech sounded older that 3, Erik's smile, all eyes and mouth and sparkles of mirth, revealed his age.
David 9 shook the tiny hand in his bigger palm.
He felt he was going to enjoy this assignment.
Sitting in David 9's lap, baby Erik – the Nandroïd had started to think of the boy in those terms – observed the device. He grabbed the tools one after another, and fixed here, screwed there. When he pushed the button, the object moved. He looked up at David 9 and smiled.
"You did great, Erik. Bon travail," David 9 added in French.
"Merci." Erik's accent was still hesitant, but he had already learned a great deal of French, German and Chinese in the little time they had spent together. The boy was a wonder. David 9's mechanical heart filled with love and pride, and the Nandroïd embraced Erik tightly. He kissed both his cheeks for good mesure. "What do you want to do, now ?"
"Je veux jouer aux échecs." Proud of himself, baby Erik smiled at his nanny.
David 9 nodded and put the boy on the ground to go and fetch the chessboard.
When Erik's parents came home late that night, the game was a tie.
[David 9, assignment over in 72 hours]
[Please report to Weyland Industries for data erasing]
David 9 looked at the young boy in front of him. They were in the middle of yet another game of chess – Erik had mastered the rules in a couple of months, and beat his nanny every time since then.
Erik was 9 now, and in the 6 years he had spent teaching him and caring for him, David 9 had grown fond of him. His brain shone like a bright diamond, his wits as sharp as one too. The news of the end of his assignment broke his heart.
Erik was looking at him, head tilted, wondering what was happening. "Are you okay, Dave ?" The level of friendship they had reached allowed Erik to use such a surname. It pierced David 9's heart a little more deeply. And the boy couldn't know about his conversation with Main Brain.
[Request to Main Brain]
[Yes, David 9]
[Formal request : prolonging assignment]
[Conflict with Nandroïd's book of rules, paragraph 7 alinea 2]
[Request denied]
[Thanks, Main Brain]
"Dave ?" Erik sounded worried.
The Nandroïd couldn't suppress his feelings. Oily tears rolled down his cheeks.
Seeing his nanny's distress, Erik walked to him and took him in his little arms. "Tell me."
"I have to leave you. And I don't want to !" David 9 didn't understand. Nandroïds weren't supposed to form any desire or wish, even less ones that would go against their book of rules. He touched his cheeks and the pearls of fluid flowing in his eyes.
[Request to Main Brain]
[Yes, David 9?]
[Liquid in eyes, what is it?]
[Main brain : computing...]
[Main brain : compiling...]
[Those are tears, a way for humans to express sadness]
[Thank you, Main Brain]
That wasn't possible either. He was experiencing some sort of malfunction, and Main Brain hadn't realized. Soon he would become dangerous for Erik. He pushed the boy away. "Don't come close to me. I could harm you."
"No, you couldn't. I trust you," Erik replied. "You just have feelings. Because you don't want to go." The boy looked at his feet. "And I don't want you to..."
Erik frowned. He was making a decision, David 9's skills told him. Then he saw Erik dash to his room and come back with his laptop and a toolbox. The boy knelt in front of him. He took his wrist in his small hands and turned it. He reached for David 9's wrist-cable which he plugged in his laptop. He typed a couple of commands.
[Main Brain : access denied]
David 9 panicked. He hadn't made any request to access Main Brain ! His logical brain provided him with an explanation : Erik was trying to hack into Main Brain.
The boy picked a tool out of the box. He unscrewed the plate around David 9's wrist-cable. A couple more probes, and a new request was sent, Erik typing furiously on his laptop.
[Main Brain : access denied]
[Main Brain : access denied]
[Main Brain : access granted]
[Communication : open]
Somehow, Erik had succeeded. David 9's mechanical heart swelled with pride.
[Request to Main Brain]
[Yes, David 9 ?]
[Formal request : prolonging assignment]
[Request requires higher level of administrative rights]
[Please enter password]
Erik fumbled a little more with his wrist-cable and typed several more commands.
[Main Brain : administrative rights level Alpha]
[Formal request granted]
[Main brain : computing...]
[Main brain : compiling...]
[Data : check]
[Assignment prolonged until further notice]
David 9 couldn't believe the data sent to his memory. They came down to one thing : he would never leave Erik. New tears welled in his eyes.
[Request to Main Brain]
[Yes, David 9?]
[What's happening when there are tears without sadness?]
[Main brain : computing...]
[Main brain : compiling...]
[They are tears of happiness]
[Thanks, Main Brain]
He was happy.