Before they went in, Connor accessed something left in his program from Kamski. More likely than not extra aid. He typed some numbers into an automatic teller machine outside and received access to a large amount of cash.
Physical cash would be necessary for proper navigation.
They moved into the store. Connor went straight to the android pets section. They were the only kind of androids still permitted by law for the average person. They were too differently programmed that no one really feared them.
Dogs. He would want a decent sized one, and a little one. "We will have to get you a decent purse."
"A purse too?" Kara just looked at him. "A dog and a purse?" She mimicked Amanda's voice perfectly, good.
"Two dogs and a purse," Connor said. "We will get the purse at a different location."
The dogs were barking, just like regular dogs. These should be perfect. He wanted a big dog that he could program to attack, and he wanted a small dog for Kara to carry like humans did in their purse. He wanted to fix it to be super sensitive to certain sounds and be an alert system.
He couldn't put everything in Kara, and animals were better at different kinds of activity.
"Hello there." Kara had stopped to pet a dog. "He looks like Sumo."
When did she see a picture of Hank's dog? Hank must have showed her at some point. It was a big SM 400, a Saint Bernard, not the easiest for what they would be doing. We need an SM 900 German Shephard.
The dog barked, wagged its tail and started to try and lick Kara. "Yes, hello," she laughed. "You are friendly. Stay down."
The command didn't work though. It barked again and tried to get closer. Really? Kara, please do not make the dogs deviant.
"Uh? I didn't think I could," she said. I only touched one android animal. "Stay." Nothing. It was excitable now.
You made the dog deviant. How annoying. "What happened to the animal you touched?"
"Oh." She paused. It . . . attacked a human, but it was a bad human and he was attacking me and Alice.
Connor tried not to overreact. It attacked a human, and you didn't think it would be bad to pet a dog?
It was a bear, not a dog. The human was hurting all kinds of androids and the bear.
Ugh. I like dogs too. What to do? If he left the SM 400 alone now here for an SM 900, it would eventually try to leave. Non-android dogs were locked away in cages so they couldn't get away. This dog was not really locked up, it just had a small fence even a young child could cross. It would eventually do something to damage itself or end a human.
"We should take this one," Kara said. "Think of it as studying deviancy if you want to." She smiled and patted its head as it jumped to her again. "I think it's a good dog."
Great, now he was stuck with the wrong kind of dog than he wanted. One that wouldn't listen. I guess it's inevitable you are going to touch the dogs. Especially the next one, she'll be carrying it around in her purse. If it gets out of control, I will have to deactivate it and get another one.
The dog whimpered at him as it hung out its big slobbery tongue.
"It's okay." Kara urged him forward. "You can be free and a good dog, can't you?"
It barked. Great. First, we have to see if I can even connect to a deviant dog. Connor grabbed its paw that was resting on Kara. It seems to be functioning normally. "Roll over."
The dog didn't roll over.
"Roll over," Kara said.
The dog rolled over.
"Good dog." Kara patted his ear. It fell on its back, and she rubbed its tummy.
"Ooh, hang on," a salesperson came over toward them. "You aren't allowed to mess with merchandise that much." They tried to grab Kara's hand to steer her away.
The dog got up and started to growl. It showed its teeth toward the salesperson.
"Now, now, be good," Connor warned it.
"Oh, whoah, whoah, that's not supposed to happen. Must be stuck in a protection feature? This way, this way, sorry." The salesperson still held onto Kara's hand.
"Hold," Connor said to it. He had no means to make the dog actually listen, he'd seen that twice. Yet, this time the dog did just that. The dog is ready to tear the human up, but it isn't. Kara's RA9 connection must be stable within it.
It would be a very good attacking dog. It might even be a better surprise if they got caught. "We would like this dog," Connor said to the surprised salesperson. "We would also like a little dog for my girlfriend to tote around in her purse. Something that doesn't take up too much room. Cute. Most commonly found in purses."
"You want a big threatening Saint Bernard, and a little cute dog?" The salesperson looked confused.
"Yes." Kara called to the dog again. "I like really big dogs, but uh, my boyfriend does not."
Wait. Wasn't that backwards?
"Oh, okay, I see. Everyone's different." The salesperson waved over Connor. "Little dog's right, for a purse or a man's bag or whatever your preference?'
Well, it would still work that way too. "Yes."
"This way," the salesperson said as they led Connor away. Kara followed with their first new dog.
Ah, they were further back. Much more plentiful, humans enjoyed carrying small dogs in purses, and androids were perfectly sized and behaved well inside a purse. Now, which one?
Do I change androids deviant when they touch me too, Connor?
Connor glanced at Kara. He didn't see anything near her until he looked at her foot. Are you trying to have me terminate you before the three weeks are even up?
At her foot was a tiny android kitten touching her.
"Oh, that is a popular android," the salesperson said. "It's a coffee cup kitten. It can literally fit into a coffee cup. It's popular, sweet and adorable. You'll have no problem taking it around in whatever you want to carry."
Connor scanned the kitten. It was an LS 2000 with no registered name. It crawled higher on Kara and then started to slide off and tumbled onto the ground.
Dog commands were one thing, a tiny kitten would have commands to follow to see if it was deviant. There is a high possibility it is though.
Their dog went over and started licking the kitten in the face. Hank would be laughing at me so hard right now. If the kitten was deviant, it was so small and non-threatening, it couldn't hurt anyone. Maybe a tiny scratch could get through.
Once again, it would eventually want freedom. Connor picked it up. "Salesperson? I would like to see the features in this android." Their should be a basic guide to see what it could do. While it wasn't an install list, it would give him a good idea of what he was working with.
When he got the book and opened to the page of the kitten android? Oh yes, oh yes it did have space! It had so much space wasted inside of it.
In fact, there might be so much space? I had wanted it to be used as an extra radar, he said to Kara. Good choice, Kara. I think this will help me root out deviants easier.
Of course, Kara didn't look pleased at that.
Connor was though, it was hard to spot deviants. Perfect. It was small, inconspicuous, and easy to get away with.
Could we remove one of its default installations? Kara insisted.
He knew what she wanted. The tumbling effect. While Connor held it, he watched as it tried to climb, but stumbled backward again. The effect was cute to humans but not efficient or nice for the android. It had a program that was designed to throw its balance off, no matter how careful it could be. It moved with a wavy balance like a very young kitten, no matter how many years it would be around.
He sat it back down. It rubbed against his shoe, awkwardly sliding down against it. I will remove the balance readjustment. Only because it will be more useful.
Thank you, Connor.
"We will take this coffee cup kitten too," Connor answered.
"Excellent choice, just come over here and I will ring you up, Sir."
Yep, outer money transactions. The dog followed Kara while he picked the android kitten back up.
"Okay, how would you like to purchase? There is a yearly rental fee where you can keep the dog for one year before returning it back, or you can outright choose to pay for it," the salesperson asked.
Connor would leave a paper trail if he wanted to rent it or do a payment plan. "I'll buy it outward today, please."
"Yes." The salesperson seemed quite excited. They must really like their job. "Okay, so the coffee cup kitten has a different kind of rental. You can rent it one day, one week, one month, one year, or outright buy it."
"Why is it so different for the kitten?" Kara had to interrupt. "A day, someone would rent it for a day?"
"Yeah, just used as a sweet outing thing for a child, something cute for vacation, rented for a birthday, all kinds of different things," the salesperson answered.
"I would like to buy that outward too," Connor answered. "Total?"
"The dog's outright price tag is 3,000 while the coffee cup kitten is 26,000," the salesperson answered. "Do you still plan on buying the coffee cup kitten?"
Connor did a quick check. He would have 100 dollars left so he would have to withdraw more money before they left the area again. "Yes." He finished the transaction with the physical cash, seeing how excited the salesperson had been. They were overjoyed about the transaction.
The dog was given a leash. "It's city policy for any canine android to be taken out with a leash. If you ever lose it though, it already has a chip inside of it that will follow it country wide." They gave a small remote to Connor. "Just keep that and you can always find your dog if something happens." They also gave a small pack of thirium. "If it gets sick or injured or just doesn't seem right, give it this and bring it back to the store."
The kitten was picked and placed in a coffee cup. Connor wasn't surprised. With the high 'charming' price, they were going to have a 'charming' way to take it out.
He felt himself wince a little, and noticed Kara glancing toward him. "What?"
"Nothing," she answered. I never thought about this way of serving humans before for an android. The kitten is used for nothing but being cute.
Which was perfect for our use- "The bow on the kitten isn't necessary." Still, she continued to put a bow on it.
"Would you like a picture for your social?" The salesperson asked. "If you say 'crouch down' it will crouch into an object, and temporarily peek out. It really drives up likes and favorites."
"No, no need, we'll just take some blue blood," Connor insisted as he watched them grab a marker.
"Crouch down," she said again to the kitten before looking back at Connor. "Do you know what you want to name your coffee cup kitten and dog?" the salesperson asked.
They are paying so much attention to the kitten, calling it by name, while they haven't called the SM 400 Saint Bernard anything but dog yet, Kara pointed out.
Rarity and price difference creates an effect on how humans address androids.
"Oh no, I should probably sell you another coffee cup kitten, this one seems to be errored." They took it out of the coffee cup and it walked around with a slight stumble. "It doesn't obey the command 'crouch down'. It doesn't have many commands, but this one is defective. I don't know if we have any more in stock."
"It's fine," Connor said. "We are fine without the command."
"The cute way it walks though is one of the biggest reasons people buy coffee cup kittens, not really the commands," the salesperson said as they picked it back up and put it back in the coffee cup . "I can look and see if we have another one? Are you sure?"
"Yes." Connor's voice was a little firmer toward the human than he meant it to be. "Sorry. We are in a hurry and we've already paid."
"Okay, sorry, but the tracking for the coffee cup kitten is different too, it's an added feature," the salesperson said. "For another 1600, you get a tracking device just like the dog. If not, you'll just have to watch for it."
"It's not needed, this is good," Connor insisted. This human was not letting them go, it seemed to be trying to upsell to them.
"But you just paid 26,000 for a rare kitten android, don't you want it to be protected?" the salesperson asked.
Nice. Be nice. He was always supposed to be nice to humans. "It's just not something we need right now. Sorry."
"You can always come back in a different day for it then." The human got him a piece of paper to fill out. "If you don't have names yet, you can pick some simple names for the registration process for now, and you can change their names later. It will have an added 200 dollar fee to do that."
Be. Nice. "I don't need to register them right now, thank you. I don't need extra tracking, thank you."
"Oh but it's company policy that everyone registers their android something before it leaves. It needs to know it's addressal to obey it's master," the salesperson said.
"If we are late to our engagement because of your slow stack on pricing features, I'll have you fired," Kara said with no nonsense to the human. Kara just lifted the kitten out of the coffee cup, pulled the little bow off around its neck, tossed the bow at the salesperson, and handed the kitten to Connor. "Honey, let's go, we have a thousand other things to do. We'll call up the company later." She patted the dogs head.
"You heard her." Connor watched as the human finally became disinterested in them, quite quickly. What kind of installation just caused that outburst from you, Kara?
No installation, just the ability to be free, Connor.