Light danced behind her eyelids. The Nasod opened them and came face-to-face with a - she searched her database for the word - "Human." The Nasod studied him carefully. He was very old, with facial hair trailing down to his midsection. He wore intricately decorated robes, with glowing runes. His leathery face adorned with a thin golden circlet, a single turquoise gem placed delicately in the center.
"Hello," he began. "My name is Adrian." The nasod began running diagnostics, searching her database for information.
"E-Eve." She tasted the words in her mouth, shifting her gaze towards her hands. She moved them around, getting a feel for existence. Her gazed move back to the man."So this is my name. Hello, Mr. Adrian. My name is Eve. I'm a backup bank Nasod created in order to store the codes of central AI Adam."
"Hello, Eve. It's nice to meet you," he said, taking the young Nasod's hand into his own. The gesture was brief, but a small smile threatened the corners of her blank expression. The man seemed pleased. "Come," he coaxed. "There is somewhere we must be."
Eve followed the man through the sterilized corridors of the lab, never making a sound. She glanced around, watching the metal doors pass, one by one.
"Here we are." The man seemed solemn at this point. As if something big were about to happen. He glanced nervously at Eve, who returned his look with a blank stare. Taking a breath, Adrian opened the door.
A Nasod sat in the middle of the room, his dark frame a harsh contrast to the light steel environment. Eve noted her surroundings. She knew this was her duty and her destiny. She accepted it and moved into the room, taking her place next to the other Nasod.
"This is Adam. You will be his backup," the man said. She detected a difference in his demeanor, but ignored it when Adam spoke.
"Eve, organize these codes and store them in development C-4 category."
Eve began to examine the code. She wondered what it was. Numbers glided past her eyes, lighting up her vision.
"Just follow the order, Eve." The voice was monotone and broke her concentration. She continued to store the information, watching as it entered and was stored in her memory. The other Nasod watched her as she did so, gaze calculating her every move.
"Storage is complete. No errors were found in the stored data," she replied. She couldn't let him know she was secretly looking through each file, checking the information. Something told her that she could never let on what she was doing, so she hid it. Adam paused, then continued on, as if nothing was wrong.
The days continued like this and Eve was growing bored. They were programming codes for the construction bots that day. She was given the task to develop the codes for the construction bots for Sky City, and she breezed through them, excited to get to work on something so interesting.
"Codes for the construction Nasods are complete, Adam," she announced. They were sent to the Nasods in real time. Not moments later, a warning flashed across their vision:
Warning, system malfunction. Error: 3890659.8b
Eve watched as the video from one of the Nasods that were working on the floating structures malfunctioned and dropped the structure and it crashed. She felt guilty at her failure.
A few moments later, Adrian was rushing into the room. "I heard there was an accident." He looked at Eve. "What happened?"
"A floating object plummeted during Sky City construction." Adam said, matter-of-factly.
"And what was the cause of this?" Adrian pressed. He ran his hand through his hair, his Emerald eyes focusing on Eve.
Guilt flashed across her face, so subtle you wouldn't have noticed unless you were really looking at her. Adrian gave her a grim look.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Adrian. Because of my mistake-"
"AI doesn't make mistakes." Adam glanced in Eve's direction, causing her to close her mouth, before turning back towards Adrian. "Her programming needs to be examined, as there is a high chance an error occurred in her code."
"I will take a look at it, don't worry." Eve nodded and followed him out of the room, leaving Adam sitting there, not showing any concern. They continued down the hall, passing doors that Eve had remembered when he had brought her to Adam the first day she had been awakened.
After entering the room, Adrian hooked Eve up to the main computer and ran a check on her system. She felt herself power down for the test. She would be back up in a few minutes if everything was in order. A couple minutes later, her system whirred on and her eyes opened.
Eve stood up, not saying a word, and moved across the room and sat down, motionless.
"There were no problems." She weakly nodded. "No one was hurt, luckily."
"But, I made a mistake. It's like Adam said, AI never make mistakes. How didn't I notice that there was an error in the code? Why did I put in the wrong code in the first place? I am learning so much information but I can't seem to grasp the ones I don't know. What is wrong with me? Am I defective?" She blurted the questions fast, not giving Adrian the chance to respond.
"Eve," he began slowly. "You are not defective. You are working exactly how I intended."
She masked the look of shock. "What do you mean?" Her marigold eyes were fixed on his face.
"You are not just a code backup for Adam, Eve," he explained. "You might not understand right now, Eve… but if you say that a code is a Nasod's soul, then Eve, you are someone that contains the souls of all the Nasods. Someone who will inherit those souls to personally create future Nasods just like Adam is currently doing, and by understanding human emotions, become a connection between humans and Nasods."
Eve took a moment to process this new information, though it confused her. She looked down at herself. Her slender, yet strong form seemed so fragile. She wasn't prepared for what he said next.
"Someone to become the Queen of Nasods."