Transmitting Second Document: Am I missing something here?
Zeta's processors could barely keep up with the amount of knowledge scanning past on the computer screen. The number of possible adjustments for a synthoid of his complexity was simply amazing. Some were simply aesthetic-synthetic skin like that of the newer models, eyes that could not only dilate and change color but also enabled with night vision and infrared, hair that both changed color as well as acted as a cooling system. Some were anything but aesthetic, ranging from neural systems and synthetic organs to finger tip tools or complete restructuring. Some Zeta couldn't process why they were even available. Several were specifically Dr. Shinto's own creations, some were done in other countries where robotics were used with more frequency. Zeta found a few that he had to ask Dr. Shinto what they meant. "What does 'cyberbrain fittings' mean? It comes up quite often in the cyborg remodeling sections." "Ah, cyberbrain implants. You wouldn't need them, of course, seeing as your processors are already hardwired for the Nets. But you take a human like myself," Dr. Shinto turned around and pulled down his collar to give Zeta a better look, "you get a new level of speed and control of operating machinery." Zeta studied the back of the scientist's neck. He saw what could only be described as six standard port terminals outlines lined up in two columns below the hairline. As he watched, skin tone covers opened the four female connections and the two male on top. Dr. Shinto pulled at one of the male connectors, revealing a retractable wiring. "See? Now this way, I could plug into you and check everything at the closest possible detail. I could feel exactly what you feel, see what you see, pinpoint the exact part of disrepair. No third party to worry about." Zeta processed the data, then looked up at the doctor. "How much of you is robotic?" "Oh, now, I'd have to say a good 30 percent. Left arm, brain implants, left eye." He lifted the patch to reveal where his eye should have been, was now a mass of lenses, metal and wires. "And some supports of my joints. But some of the people I've worked on are less that 10% of their original matter." "And all of these-" "Pass for living, breathing people? Yes. Even when looked at by a normal physician, they are barely distinguishable. That's why I offered the chance for you. With enough modifications, you would be impossible to find." "And, in a sense, human." Zeta's processors wondered if this would be considered 'musing'. Dr. Shinto laughed. "In a sense? Hell, you've seen the things people robotize in those files- you could forget that you ever been born an android. Not even a lover could tell, and genetics today make it more than possible to make robotic procreation an option." That made Zeta genuinely confused. "In vitro fertilization has been around for decades, sir, how is that different?" Dr. Shinto mock-slapped himself. "I meant that it's possible for an android like yourself to create a child the old fashioned way." Zeta, if he were 'wearing' his holographic image, would have been crossed-eyed. "Old fashioned way? What does that mean?" "You've been travelling with a teenager for how long and you don't know what the old fashioned way is? Either she's a saint or your lacking some serious programming, Zeta." Again, Zeta was confused. "Ro isn't very religious, and I don't recall missing any standard programming." "Oy vey! The first upgrade you're getting, Mr. Literal, is a current list of slang and phrases, as well as lessons in Sex Ed. On second thought, maybe there's a playground we can stick you on for a couple of days. At least, that's how everyone else learns about it." "Huh?" The scientist looked to the ceiling, his mind screaming, 'Why me?' "Never mind."
Ro, meanwhile, was blissfully unaware of Zeta's problems, and relaxing in the Japanese bathtub in one of the guestrooms. No more muck, no more gunk, no more grease! She could stay here forever. All right, not forever, but pretty damned close. Hotels rarely had good bathtubs, and it had been such a long time since she could actually wallow. Zee didn't understand why she took so long to get ready in the morning. Of course, this was the same synthoid who really didn't understand the meaning of 'modesty'. She still remembered the first time he had walked in on her shower. One loud scream and a thrown trashcan later, she was sitting in a towel, dripping wet, trying to explain why humans prefer privacy at some points. This proved to be quite difficult in explaining, for the synthoid really had nothing to hide, physically. After all, he was basically a nudist, only appearing clothed thanks to his holograms. There were some things, no matter how hard she tried, she never really thought he's get the hang of some human concepts. She was just thankful he never asked the questions she dreaded. He got close once, after they had ducked into a store when NSA agents were following them. Of all the stores they had to pick, it had to be a fetish shop. Luckily, the NSA charged in after them, and they quickly exited before Zee could even think up a question. No way was she explaining THAT to him. She was 18 years old, but she wasn't about to explain the birds and the bees to someone with the innocence of a three-year-old. Now there was a line of thought she did not want to follow. Was she his mother or his friend? He was like a child, in so many ways, unsure of the world and always asking questions. But then, in space of a moment, she became the child in need of rescuing, and he was there, taking charge, taking action. A wacky relationship from any point of view, she scowled, and sunk deeper in the water, wishing to become a prune. That brought another question to her mind. Although Zee, for the most part, was innocent and inquisitive, and never sure of anything human, Zeta, when faced with a challenge, was all knowing, sure of everything and quick to respond. Was there a part of him that actually wasn't so innocent as she had gotten to know? She'd have to ask Dr. Shinto about that. Perhaps, in become aware, had lost something in exchange. A sudden image of Zee, super spy-like, seducing women and doing daring feats drove Ro from giggles to full out laughter. That's it, either the steam was getting to her, or 3 years on the run had driven her mad. Next she'd be admitting that his damnable hologram- which she helped to create, she scolded herself- was the subject of her dreams of late. Wait. That was true. "I can't win." She whimpered, and decided that she needed to get out of the tub. Thinking too much was giving her a headache.
Zeta tried to what was on the screen that Dr. Shinto gazed at. "Zeta, stop fidgeting! You're making the diagnostic scan difficult enough as it is." Zeta tried to stay still, but the examination table held his attention. He wanted to know how it worked, what each arm was doing as it attempted to perform its duties. Finally, Dr. Shinto had had enough. "Avais?" A small disk appeared, and above it the hologram hovered of the young man at the door. Although only his head and shoulders, Zeta noted that he was dressed a tad anachronistically. "Could you get Ms. Rowan from the guest rooms? I think she would be best at helping with Zeta." The hologram nodded and flipped off. "I wish I had programmed him with some fashion sense. Ah, well, too late for that." He shrugged and tapped at the screen again. "Programmed? You mean he's a." Zeta's eyes turned in confusion. "Avais? He's an AI, if that's what you're asking. He's the main computer of this place, as well in most of my equipment. He built that image of himself so he'd stop scaring off the visitors. That, and I think he likes to argue with me when my wife's not around." He rolled his eye. "Not only did I create the most powerful AI in the country, but I seem to have created the first homosexual one, at that." "It isn't polite to discuss someone when they're right here, sir. And I'm not homosexual. Just all-encompassing." The face appeared on the main screen, and blew a raspberry at the scientist. "And the most annoying, to boot."
End transmission of the second document.
Zeta's processors could barely keep up with the amount of knowledge scanning past on the computer screen. The number of possible adjustments for a synthoid of his complexity was simply amazing. Some were simply aesthetic-synthetic skin like that of the newer models, eyes that could not only dilate and change color but also enabled with night vision and infrared, hair that both changed color as well as acted as a cooling system. Some were anything but aesthetic, ranging from neural systems and synthetic organs to finger tip tools or complete restructuring. Some Zeta couldn't process why they were even available. Several were specifically Dr. Shinto's own creations, some were done in other countries where robotics were used with more frequency. Zeta found a few that he had to ask Dr. Shinto what they meant. "What does 'cyberbrain fittings' mean? It comes up quite often in the cyborg remodeling sections." "Ah, cyberbrain implants. You wouldn't need them, of course, seeing as your processors are already hardwired for the Nets. But you take a human like myself," Dr. Shinto turned around and pulled down his collar to give Zeta a better look, "you get a new level of speed and control of operating machinery." Zeta studied the back of the scientist's neck. He saw what could only be described as six standard port terminals outlines lined up in two columns below the hairline. As he watched, skin tone covers opened the four female connections and the two male on top. Dr. Shinto pulled at one of the male connectors, revealing a retractable wiring. "See? Now this way, I could plug into you and check everything at the closest possible detail. I could feel exactly what you feel, see what you see, pinpoint the exact part of disrepair. No third party to worry about." Zeta processed the data, then looked up at the doctor. "How much of you is robotic?" "Oh, now, I'd have to say a good 30 percent. Left arm, brain implants, left eye." He lifted the patch to reveal where his eye should have been, was now a mass of lenses, metal and wires. "And some supports of my joints. But some of the people I've worked on are less that 10% of their original matter." "And all of these-" "Pass for living, breathing people? Yes. Even when looked at by a normal physician, they are barely distinguishable. That's why I offered the chance for you. With enough modifications, you would be impossible to find." "And, in a sense, human." Zeta's processors wondered if this would be considered 'musing'. Dr. Shinto laughed. "In a sense? Hell, you've seen the things people robotize in those files- you could forget that you ever been born an android. Not even a lover could tell, and genetics today make it more than possible to make robotic procreation an option." That made Zeta genuinely confused. "In vitro fertilization has been around for decades, sir, how is that different?" Dr. Shinto mock-slapped himself. "I meant that it's possible for an android like yourself to create a child the old fashioned way." Zeta, if he were 'wearing' his holographic image, would have been crossed-eyed. "Old fashioned way? What does that mean?" "You've been travelling with a teenager for how long and you don't know what the old fashioned way is? Either she's a saint or your lacking some serious programming, Zeta." Again, Zeta was confused. "Ro isn't very religious, and I don't recall missing any standard programming." "Oy vey! The first upgrade you're getting, Mr. Literal, is a current list of slang and phrases, as well as lessons in Sex Ed. On second thought, maybe there's a playground we can stick you on for a couple of days. At least, that's how everyone else learns about it." "Huh?" The scientist looked to the ceiling, his mind screaming, 'Why me?' "Never mind."
Ro, meanwhile, was blissfully unaware of Zeta's problems, and relaxing in the Japanese bathtub in one of the guestrooms. No more muck, no more gunk, no more grease! She could stay here forever. All right, not forever, but pretty damned close. Hotels rarely had good bathtubs, and it had been such a long time since she could actually wallow. Zee didn't understand why she took so long to get ready in the morning. Of course, this was the same synthoid who really didn't understand the meaning of 'modesty'. She still remembered the first time he had walked in on her shower. One loud scream and a thrown trashcan later, she was sitting in a towel, dripping wet, trying to explain why humans prefer privacy at some points. This proved to be quite difficult in explaining, for the synthoid really had nothing to hide, physically. After all, he was basically a nudist, only appearing clothed thanks to his holograms. There were some things, no matter how hard she tried, she never really thought he's get the hang of some human concepts. She was just thankful he never asked the questions she dreaded. He got close once, after they had ducked into a store when NSA agents were following them. Of all the stores they had to pick, it had to be a fetish shop. Luckily, the NSA charged in after them, and they quickly exited before Zee could even think up a question. No way was she explaining THAT to him. She was 18 years old, but she wasn't about to explain the birds and the bees to someone with the innocence of a three-year-old. Now there was a line of thought she did not want to follow. Was she his mother or his friend? He was like a child, in so many ways, unsure of the world and always asking questions. But then, in space of a moment, she became the child in need of rescuing, and he was there, taking charge, taking action. A wacky relationship from any point of view, she scowled, and sunk deeper in the water, wishing to become a prune. That brought another question to her mind. Although Zee, for the most part, was innocent and inquisitive, and never sure of anything human, Zeta, when faced with a challenge, was all knowing, sure of everything and quick to respond. Was there a part of him that actually wasn't so innocent as she had gotten to know? She'd have to ask Dr. Shinto about that. Perhaps, in become aware, had lost something in exchange. A sudden image of Zee, super spy-like, seducing women and doing daring feats drove Ro from giggles to full out laughter. That's it, either the steam was getting to her, or 3 years on the run had driven her mad. Next she'd be admitting that his damnable hologram- which she helped to create, she scolded herself- was the subject of her dreams of late. Wait. That was true. "I can't win." She whimpered, and decided that she needed to get out of the tub. Thinking too much was giving her a headache.
Zeta tried to what was on the screen that Dr. Shinto gazed at. "Zeta, stop fidgeting! You're making the diagnostic scan difficult enough as it is." Zeta tried to stay still, but the examination table held his attention. He wanted to know how it worked, what each arm was doing as it attempted to perform its duties. Finally, Dr. Shinto had had enough. "Avais?" A small disk appeared, and above it the hologram hovered of the young man at the door. Although only his head and shoulders, Zeta noted that he was dressed a tad anachronistically. "Could you get Ms. Rowan from the guest rooms? I think she would be best at helping with Zeta." The hologram nodded and flipped off. "I wish I had programmed him with some fashion sense. Ah, well, too late for that." He shrugged and tapped at the screen again. "Programmed? You mean he's a." Zeta's eyes turned in confusion. "Avais? He's an AI, if that's what you're asking. He's the main computer of this place, as well in most of my equipment. He built that image of himself so he'd stop scaring off the visitors. That, and I think he likes to argue with me when my wife's not around." He rolled his eye. "Not only did I create the most powerful AI in the country, but I seem to have created the first homosexual one, at that." "It isn't polite to discuss someone when they're right here, sir. And I'm not homosexual. Just all-encompassing." The face appeared on the main screen, and blew a raspberry at the scientist. "And the most annoying, to boot."
End transmission of the second document.