[It is a rainy day. Dorothy wears the same and ragged dress. She stands in Roger's waiting room looking out the window. She is wet and holds a damp towel. She is shrouded in shadow. Roger ascends the elevator. Roger fixes his tie as he enters nears the darkened figure. He looks like birthday boy about to open his presents.]
ROGER. I have an rule that only comely young women can unconditionally enter my mansion. [He comes close enough to see her.] Oh, it's you. [She turns toward him. His expression sours. He throws himself on the couch.] Norman must be getting senile. What do you want?
R. DOROTHY. [Mechanical voiced] I have come for your explanation.
ROGER. Of what? [Loosens his cravat.]
R. DOROTHY. Of why an android cannot have parents.
ROGER. Ah, that. Simply, because parenthood is a function of biology.
R. DOROTHY. Is parenthood also not a function of emotion?
ROGER. Yes, but an android is a substitution for a human vessel, a seemingly perfect one, but ultimately false.
R. DOROTHY. But what if the feelings are real?
ROGER. That's my point, the feelings are not real. They too are a function of biology. No matter what they think they feel, it's for a created and unnatural being. Your creator manufactured you for a purpose, probably a substitution for another person, a wife, a daughter, a niece, or an old flame. Am I right?
R. DOROTHY. You are right on one count. There was a Dorothy Wayneright, the daugther of Timothy Wayneright. He is my father.
ROGER. Timothy Wayneright. That would explain why you're such a well built machine. [He appraises her perfect hourglass figure.]
R. DOROTHY. You said that you would offer proof for your statements, yet all you offer are more statements, mere assumptions.
ROGER. Fine then, let me think about it for a second.
R. DOROTHY. I thought that you already had proof.
ROGER. I knew that I could prove it. [He puts a hand to his forehead.]
R. DOROTHY. That is not the same as proof. Well, I am waiting.
ROGER. Hold on just a moment longer.
R. DOROTHY. Don't strain yourself on my account.
ROGER. That was almost witty. [Continues pondering.] Holmes once said. "Eliminate all other factors and the one which remains must be the truth." [R. Dorothy remains silent and stares.] With my resources and my expertise in human behavior, I can pass you off as a human.
R. DOROTHY. What does that have to do with parenting?
ROGER. Parenting is only one type of human relationship. If you can mimic a person and interact with other people, you'll see that there is always a gap between the real and and created. How does that sound?
R. DOROTHY. That sounds extremely frivolous and besides that, convoluted reasoning. Good day to you. I need to work for a living, unlike some who can lounge about in dark clothing and think about how to disprove an android's parentage.
ROGER. Experience is the best teacher. And I must say that this is one experiment that I, the number one negotiator in Paradigm city, cannot pass up.
R. DOROTHY. I thought that you were a human behavior expert.
ROGER. A negotiator needs to be an expert on people. The first order of business is to fix your broken mama-box into a real voice [Leans forward and presses the top of the griffin ornament. He speaks into it.] Norman, please come to the waiting room. There's an android here who could use your mechanical touch.
NORMAN. [through the telecom] Very good, Master Roger.
ROGER. One moment, miss-?
R. DOROTHY. R. Dorothy, R. Dorothy Wayneright. I said that I was leaving.
ROGER. Nonsense, Dorothy. Why would you want to? You are being offered the services of Roger Higgins.
R. DOROTHY. Higgins?
ROGER. Yes, Higgins. Is there something wrong with that?
[Norman, the penguin clad butler, enters the room. He carries a toolbox.]
NORMAN. Master Roger. Miss Dorothy, if you'll please have a seat. [Dorothy takes an stuffed armchair. He approaches her. Norman pulls a device from the box and begins to scan her throat.] We'll need to go down to the workshop to fix this. [looks at Roger significantly.]
ROGER. Go ahead.
Norman. Very good, sir. [to Dorothy] If you'll follow me. [replaces tool in box.]
[Norman and Dorothy take the elevator down. As they leave, Roger reaches for the ornament again. Action follows Norman and Dorothy down past the Big O into a workshop. Norman gestures to an examination table. Dorothy puts the damp towel on a counter and lies down on the table. Norman begins his work on her throat. After he is finished, he asks her to test the scale. Do, Re, Mi, etc. He adjusts her voice again.]
NORMAN. While you are here, I can also fix your skin. Please take off your dress.
R. DOROTHY. [her voice is more human, though flat] I can't do that, not for a stranger.
NORMAN. I am very sorry, but please think of me as a doctor. [he prepares tools and a 2 ft by 4 ft hot metal plate. Sheets of skin-like tissue are placed upon the heated plate.]
R. DOROTHY. Very well, but I am keeping my shift on.
NORMAN. I wouldn't have it any other way.
[R. Dorothy stands and reluctantly strips to her stained and dingy shift. Circuitry is also exposed on her torso.]
NORMAN. I will repair your arms and face. [He holds up false skin to her face and begins to cut it out the eye holes with a scalpel. Norman works efficiently.]
R. DOROTHY. Why is he doing this?
NORMAN. That is not my place to answer.
R. DOROTHY. Based on your experience with Roger, why do you think he's doing this?
NORMAN. He is a man of his word. If he promised you something, even in the most facetious of tones, he will follow through on it. That is the sort of man he is. [he finishes with her face] There. Not a bad job, if I do say so myself.
R. DOROTHY. That still doesn't answer why.
NORMAN. I suppose it doesn't. But that is the best that I can tell you.
[lull in the conversation]
R. DOROTHY. Is he married? [he starts on her right arm]
NORMAN. Goodness, no. It is quite against his grain to be anything but a confirmed bachelor. Now only the left arm remains.
R. DOROTHY. Then no woman has to suffer him then.
[Noman finishes the treatment. Dorothy flexes her newly covered arm and touches her face. Norman pulls out a mirror. Dorothy continues to prober her face.]
R. DOROTHY. So this is what I was supposed to look like.
NORMAN. Please wait here, I shall return in a moment with more suitable clothing.
[Norman returns with a black clothing over his arm.]
NORMAN. Please return to the waiting room after you are finished dressing.
[Dorothy pulls on the black stockings and dress. She folds up her old clothing and carries it over one arm as she makes her way across the catwalk in the hangar that houses the Big O. She looks up at Big O for a moment before returning to the elevator.
Loud voices come from the waiting room. One is Dastun's. The other is scratchy and dusty; it belongs to Timothy Wayneright. Mr. Wayneright is dressed in a shabby suit. Dorothy enters the room. The three men are standing and talking.]
WAYNERIGHT. What do you intend to do with my granddaughter?
ROGER. Help her, of course.
WAYNERIGHT. Sir, I do not even know you. [notices Dorothy] Dorothy! There you are. Has he done anything to you? [He holds out his had to her. She takes it.]
DOROTHY. No, father. His butler has only fixed me.
WAYNERIGHT. Your voice. What has happened to your voice?
DOROTHY. It has been repaired.
ROGER. As you can see, I only have honorable intentions.
WAYNERIGHT. How can I be sure of that?
DASTUN. Mr. Wayneright is right, Roger. He doesn't know you. [Dorothy lets go of her father's hand and faces other speakers.]
ROGER. Listen. All I want to do is advance science. In the meantime, I would be helping her. If she could pass off as human, she could find a someone willing to hire her.
WAYNERIGHT. Young man, how do I know that you are not going to try to take advantage of her?
ROGER. Is there anything to take advantage of?
DOROTHY. Quite a bit actually.
ROGER. [glances at her with a raised eyebrow and then clears his throat] Anyway, what more can I do to show you my good will?
WAYNERIGHT. A little respect would help. You have continually referred to Dorothy as "it" and "the android". I would never leave her in the care of someone so callous. So utterly devoid of feeling.
ROGER. Though it shocks me to be called calloused, I must say that it is rather difficult to show respect to a mere machine, no matter how well built it is.
WAYNERIGHT. [angrily] Now wait here just a second-
DASTUN. Calm down, Mr. Wayneright. I believe that we have some more serious business to attend to. Now, Miss, please tell me how you got here.
DOROTHY. After last night, I wanted to speak to Roger again, so I asked the grocer who knew the laundry woman who knew the butcher and told me where to find Roger.
DASTUN. I see. At least we know that this wasn't a kidnaping.
DOROTHY. Kidnap?
DASTUN. Your 'father', called me up to report one, but he was evidently mistaken.
WAYNERIGHT. You call this mistaken? This barbarian has obviously deceived my daughter -
ROGER. [Interrupting.] So how else could I show my good intentions? Would $500 do?
WAYNERIGHT. [Enraged.] WHAT? HOW DARE YOU!?! EVEN PARADIGM FORBIDS OUTRIGHT SLAVERY!
ROGER. Androids cannot be not slaves. Humans can be slaves.
WAYNERIGHT. [Changing color. Whispers.] How dare you? [Begins coughing and wheezing. Dorothy comes to his side. He is wracked by coughing.]
DASTUN. It IS true that androids can be registered as property, but...
DOROTHY. [Looking between Roger and her father.] How much did you say?
ROGER. $500.
[Wayneright gurgles with fury.]
DOROTHY. I make on average $15 a week, that is $780 a year. That is far too low. You must pay for at least 20 years of my average receipt.
DASTUN. Twenty years IS the average life span of an android these days, give or take a few months.
ROGER. Okay that's $15,600. Let's make that an even $20,000.
WAYNERIGHT. Dorothy, how could you?
DOROTHY. [Steps away from Wayneright.] I am doing the best that I can to take care of you, father. It's what any child would do. [Wayneright's shoulders collapse.]
ROGER. Dastun, if you could witness this. [Dastun gives a questioning look at Dorothy, who nods. He looks at Roger. Dastun reads his look and then slowly nods as well.]