I thought I could update sooner, but then my body thought it would be a good idea to give me the mother of all headaches. Anyway, here's another chapter :)

Prompt 2: Android And Human

"Doctor Beckett, do you really think it's wise to wake him up?"

The brunette shrugged off the guard's hand on her forearm, getting more and more irritated. "Of course I am, Mister Ryan," she replied coolly. "Otherwise I wouldn't activate it, would I?"

Kevin Ryan nodded his head dejectedly and slinked off to his usual corner of the room. Seeing his look, the scientist held him back. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh. Years of work are culminating in this moment. My irritation has nothing to do with your abilities as a guard… or as a friend."

She offered him a tight smile that he mirrored before resuming his path, but with his head held a little bit higher.

Kate Beckett stepped forward toward the console in the middle of the sterile room. This is it, she thought. She raised her eyes to the lifeless construct on the metal slab before her and took a deep breath. The biggest breakthrough in the history of artificial intelligence research was only the press of a button away. Her hand was shaking when she raised it, which didn't surprise her. She was terrified.

"Starting boot sequence now," she said out loud with more confidence than she felt and pressed the glowing red button. The lights in the room went dark and began pulsing red a second later.

Her eyes grew wide and she began cursing under her breath as she ran to the emergency off switch and hit it. "No. No, no, no. Not today." She slipped her phone out of her lab coat's pocket and began punching in numbers.

"Yes, director, it's me. Yes, I'm aware I'm supposed to be conducting a test run right now. No, it didn't even get to that. There has been a power surge in doctor Sorenson's lab. Again. Congratulations, director Sherlock, it is indeed very much possible that the two occurrences are connected. Ugh, just tell them "I told you so!""

With a huff, she shoved the phone shut again and leaned her forehead against the cool metal on the wall.

"Is there a problem, Kate?"

She whirled around in shock. Before her stood her project, Runtime-based Intelligent Computing Cyber-Human; short: R.I.C.C., or just Rick. Alive. As in, standing in front of her. Away from the table where it was supposed to be lying right now. Ryan was slumped on the floor, probably fainted at the sight of him waking up.

"My sensors suggest you're close to a panic attack. How may I help you, Kate?"

Lay on the table and play dead, as you're supposed to, she almost said. "How come you're standing right here?"

He scrunched his nose, as if he were in thought. "One moment please… according to my diagnostics, the power surge in the laboratory of the human designated 'Sorenson' jump-started my power core, leading to my activation."

Kate turned around again and started softly banging her head against the wall in exasperation. Why did it always hit her experiments? Why couldn't she sabotage Sorenson's stuff once in a while? Life wasn't fair. She froze when she felt its hand on her shoulder.

"But... it felt like more than that. According to blueprints and software schematics, I'm supposed to be a simple robot built from elastic polymers and titanium alloys. Which is absolutely fine but kind of contradicts the 'simple' part - and apparently this unit has a knack for rambling."

She had to laugh at that despite her mood. This was so not what she had planned, and if she were ever questioned about what happened that day, she would never admit that his creation had been an accident, but she decided she would totally take credit for it. A self-aware artificial intelligence was an even bigger breakthrough than she had hoped for, but she was a little terrified (but only a little) to be the first human to talk to one. Sort of a 'First Contact', if you will. "And it may be time to think of RICC as a 'him', not an 'it'", she thought.

"It's okay. So, do you want to choose a name for yourself?" she asked.

He shrugged, which was a surprisingly human gesture, she observed. "I rather like the name I already have. Rick has a nice ring to it. Riiiick. Rrrrrick. Richard? Ouh, I know, Rick Castle! Almost sounds like 'rich asshole' - did I mention that I am partial to bad puns?"

Her mouth hung open wide before she shut it loudly. Then she realized he already knew his name. "Wait, how do you know that name? You woke up just now!"

"I gained control over this body just now, but my mind was already awake for a little while... You look pale, Kate. Can I interest you in a grande skim latte with two pumps sugar-free vanilla?"

Oh, and if you find the ending a little 'unsatisfying'... that's intentional :P feel free to continue writing ;)