Fingers typed on a black keyboard. The light from the computer screen hardly illuminated the small office.

"I'm heading home."

"Okay."

Luke finally staggered into the doorway where she could see him. She quickly glanced up at him before she resumed to her work. From that brief moment, she could see how exhausted he was with the low light casting heavy black shadows under his baggy eyes.

"Marie, you should head home soon too. Get some rest."

"Je vais, I will."

Luke stood there a moment longer, waiting for her to look up again. When she didn't, he went ahead and added:

"Why are you doing all this extra work on these guys?"

Marie shrugged. "For the hard effort. You think they'll give me a raise?" she sounded quite sarcastic.

"Aucun…No…" Luke was too tired for the joke.

"They fascinate me, Luke."

"Je sais, I know… They interest me as well. But I'm not going to let that get in the way of my sleep… of my health."

Marie smiled slightly. Finally, Luke left her in the dark office, with nothing but the low hums coming from the computer.

"Votre ami…. What is your friend like…?" she mumbled. She had stopped typing her report and looked back on the pixelated image of the two robots from their first meeting with the Ministers and the US President. It's face… or helmet, was shaped and structured quite differently. Instead of bearing gold, this one was a chrome silver, and a small visor screen went across where the eyes should be.

"Unit 001…intéressant… I wonder if your face makes shapes and symbols too."

She began striking down her thoughts on a side document:

'Are they connected? Like wifi computers? Can they hear each other without speaking aloud? Were they created at the same time? Is one more superior than the other? Do they process equal knowledge about themselves? About Us?'

She stopped again. She thought about the Creators that Guy; that Unit 002 had mentioned.

'Were others created? Are they the only ones? Are their other units out there? Are the others among us and watching-'

"Aucun! Don't think like that…" She deleted that sentence. That was paranoia playing up suspicions in her head. She knew deep down that there was just as little proof to show she was right as well as being wrong.

"They would tell me if there were others…"

Wouldn't they?

She placed her finger tips to her temples, thinking deeply as she stared fixed on the glowing monitor. Some part of her knew the logical choice would be not to trust beings from another world; not until she could learn everything about them. About their motive, their purpose and their Creators.

"But I want to trust them," She said softly. Why did she? Was that maybe a side affect of their waves and sounds they produced? Those fluid soothing noises like rhythmic music leaking into her head and reconstructing her thought process. Like fingers plucking and stringing out fear and panic, to create and replace with a sense of awe and relaxation. Was it all a distraction? This thought should scare her… for all she knew, they had the ability to drug the senses and brainwash the mind. So why did it intrigue her? Encourage her to get closer?

She stood up from her desk and walked over to one of the filing cabinets. She dug through one of the drawers, peeking through several labeled folders.

"Where is it?" She needed that tape. Where was the recorded track of their wave demonstration?

There. Labeled Unit's Message.

She brought the disk over to the computer and placed it into the hard drive.

"Okay… I need to hear that demonstration one more time."

She opened the file in the default audio player and listened. A man spoke softly into a mic at first:

'First audio record of the 'messages' produced by specimens Unit 001 and Unit 002.'

The man fell silent as the sounds could be heard lulling out of the speakers.

The soft shrilling caused immediate nerves to fire in Marie's finger tips. She felt herself slump over, coming closer to the monitor as she listened deeply. She still felt like herself, she still could think for herself… and yet, she could not feel any kind of negative emotion. It was being flushed from her from the core, out. And her fingers… they were the exit, the place where the horrible thoughts were chased out by this beautiful combination of sounds.

Then the pitches began to change, and distinctly there were different coords being struck in the message.

So was this music? Was this how other being betrayed it? Was it how they sang?

She closed her eyes, imagining the sound coming within the two robot's body frames, bellowing out of their imitated human vocal cores and into a humming sensation of song.

It brought a smile to her face.

As she opened her eyes, her attention fell to the silver robot, the one she had not spoken with yet.

"What will your friend be like?"

Suddenly the thought escaped her, and a rush of exhausted overcame her as the sounds of the message came to an end.

Instinctually, she closed her notes up on her desk, saved her progress on the desktop and shut the computer down.

She sat there in the absolute dark for a brief second, not allowing herself to move. She only reflected on the emotions she felt from the music of the robotic beings.

No words, just feelings.

I don't think everyone will be able to relate to their sounds the same. It needs to be more connected to humanity… United. Somehow…

…

"AND THAT IS HOW THOMAS EDISON INVENTED THE LIGHT BULB."

Guy Manuel looked up from the text before him, and looked over his shoulder at his companion.

"IT'S A SHAME HE DIDN'T TEST A LITTLE HARDER. HE WAS SO CLOSE TO FINDING THE PATH TO SOMETHING WORTH WHILE…" Unit 001's comment sounded more critical than sympathetic.

"ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE SYNGTHE GENERATORS?" Guy asked, and an image of a glowing device illuminated on his visor.

"INDEED. I NEVER THOUGHT HOW WONDERFUL THEY WERE, UNTIL I FOUND THAT HUMAN LIGHTING HAS A LIMITED LIFE. LIGHT BULBS ONLY LAST FOR 416 EARTH DAYS. SYNGTHE'S DO NOT DIE. THEY RECHARGE AND CONTINUE TO ILLUMINATE LIGHT. THE LIGHTBULB IS SUCH A WASTE OF MATERIAL AND PRODUCTION."

Guy shrugged off the negativity, a digital smile appearing on his face. "INDEED, THE HUMANS ARE VERY BEHIND ON ADVANCEMENT. BUT ISN'T THAT WHY WE ARE HERE?"

Unit 001 let out a statical sound in the back of its artificial throat. "WE ARE HERE AS A TEST, DON'T YOU REMEMBER? WE MAY HELP THEM ADVANCE OR WE MAY NOT. IT'S ALL UP TO THEM IN THE END." It explained.

"EXACTLY." Guy said, straightening in the chair he was seated in. "IF WE SUCCESSFULLY SMOTHER THEIR ANGER AND GREED, AND ALLOW THEM TO FUNCTION AS ONE WHOLE RACE, THEY CAN THEN CATCH UP WITH TECHNOLOGY AND DISCOVERY. PERHAPS EVEN DISCOVER SOMETHING WE HAVE NOT."

"MY LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE HUMAN RACE PREVENTS ME FROM BELIEVING SUCH A THING IS POSSIBLE.." Unit 001 said. "BUT WE SHALL SEE, BECAUSE THE CORE OF HUMANITY IS STILL VERY MYSTERIOUS TO US."

"HOW MUCH LONGER WILL YOU BE WORKING?" Guy asked, resting his head down on his metallic arms. The gesture was very human, and it started to cause an irritation in the back of Unit 001's head.

"PERHAPS ANOTHER 24 MINUTES. REINVENTING THE SYNGTHE IS A LOT MORE CHALLENGING THAN I THOUGHT."

Unit 001 had been working all day to recreate a single syngthe, an important lighting unit that was crucial to the creation of the Home. Once it was able to figure out one, making the rest should go quicker over time.

"AND YOU ARE SURE WE CAN RECREATE A CHARGING SYSTEM WITH THESE HUMAN CABLES? OR WILL WE NEED TO ADJUST THEM TOO?" Guy asked curiously.

"WE WILL SEE. PATIENCE, UNIT 002."

Guy created a pixelated frown on his face. Still, his companion did not wish to call him by his new, human name.

"HOW MUCH MORE ENERGY DO YOU HAVE LEFT?" Unit 001 asked.

"ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER 4 DAYS. AND YOU?"

"PRODUCTION HAS LEFT ME TO LESS THAN 2 DAYS…"

"I WILL TAKE OVER WORK ONCE YOU HAVE SHOWN ME HOW TO RECREATE THE SYNGTHES. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REST FOR A WHILE. THEN WE CAN RESTORE OUR ENERGY WITH THE HEART AND CONTINUE TO MAKE THE HOME."

Unit 001's visor flashed the word 'GOOD'.

Guy continued to watch his companion work; working to reinvent the syngthes: Their light bulb.

"LIGHT BULB…" He flipped the book back over to the front and peered at it again.

"UNIT 001."

The silver robot did not stop, did not even speak aloud, but responded to Guy with a single question mark scrolling over its face.

"COULD WE PERHAPS GIVE YOU A HUMAN NAME TOO?"

A noise came out of Unit 001's core, a sound that was rather unpleasant. The gears had grind aggressively.

"WHY WOULD I NEED A HUMAN NAME?"

"WHY NOT? IF WE ARE TO STUDY THE HUMANS, SHOULD WE NOT ACT MORE LIKE THEM?"

"I AM NOT HUMAN, SO THEREFOR I WILL NOT ACT LIKE ONE."

"BUT DON'T YOU SEE, MY COMPANION? THERE IS IRRITATION IN YOUR TONE. YOU DO NOT HAVE BALANCED COMPOSURE."

Another aggressive sound came forth from the chambers in the silver robot.

"YOU ARE EXPRESSING EMOTION. SOMETHING THAT HUMANS DO REGULARLY."

Unit 001 did not respond anymore. Instead, it quietly finished its work. Guy could tell it was trying to resist anymore expression. It was fighting to show emotion. A smile glowed across Guy's gold helmet face.

"THE CREATORS PROGRAMED US TO BE LIKE THE HUMANS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OUR NOT, MY COMPANION."

With that, Unit 001 set down its tools rather harshly on the side table and stormed for door. As it stomped off, clanging loudly on the metal floors below, it shouted over its shoulder: "I'M FINISHED. NOW IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND, LET'S SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE MORE OF THESE SO I CAN REST."

Guy stood there. He knew he shouldn't keep smiling, but he couldn't help it. He was feeling… what emotion was this?

"EXCITEMENT.."

He was thrilled that his companion was beginning to feel it too; beginning to express humanity.

"UNIT 001. YOU CAME TO EARTH AND INVENTED THE NEW LIGHT BULB. YOU ARE THE NEW THOMAS EDISON." He set down the book to follow.