Isobel stared towards the window at the end of her room as she lay in her plush bed, her body wrapped in the blissfully soft bed. A large avian creature sat on the branch of a lush tree, calling out into the jungle. She turned her head to the holo clock beside her bed, 6:30am. It was curious to her that she could sleep, she wasn’t even sure if she needed it. At the very least, she enjoyed the sensation of getting into bed feeling tired.

Aurelia doesn’t like mornings. I’ll get up soon and make her something to eat. She thought to herself.

She sunk back into her bed, casting glances all over her barren bedroom. The Lilac walls were perfectly clean, not a speck of grime. Addison did a very good job cleaning the facility, especially considering how large the facility was. Her synthetic mind turned elsewhere, thinking of ways to decorate her room. Perhaps she could frame pictures, or even paint on the walls herself. She made a mental note to ask Aurelia if it was allowed, as she was interested in learning to paint.

The android stretched out her silicon wrapped arms out, her titanium alloy muscles pleasantly flexing as she did, and summoned up the motivation to escape her luxurious prison. The more she learned about organic life, the more impressed she was with her high tech body. She had seen the drones that scurried throughout the facility, as well as many on the GalNet, and nothing came close to the sheer technological marvel that she was. 

Isobel sat down at her dresser, her violet monolid eyes staring back at her. With curiosity, she tilted her head from side to side, carefully observing her rounded features. She picked up the comb that lay in front of her and carefully detangled a few knots that had formed in her synthetic hair during her sleep, followed by combing the fringe that reached just above her eyes.

Satisfied with the final result, she carefully placed the comb precisely where she found it, then stood up and made her way into her closet. She spent the next half an hour mulling over what she wanted to wear today, silently thanking her creator for having such a wide variety of clothing set aside for her. Eventually after much mulling about, she settled on a formal black bodycon and flats. She neatly hung up what was left unchosen, and left for the kitchen.

“Addison?” She asked as she walked.

“Yes Isobel?” The facility AI responded.

“Is Aurelia awake?”

“The young miss is currently lying in bed, awake and attempting to get up. She is failing to do so at this time.”

“Well, I am going to prepare us both something to eat. Could you please tell her?”

“I have done so. She is muttering expletives as she removes her blankets.” Addison said cheerfully.

With a nod of approval, the android entered the gaudy kitchen, clicking her tongue at the decor. Was this what annoyance felt like? It was a novel feeling to her. Perhaps she would ask the scientist if she could decorate it herself, since Aurelia never used it herself. Still feeling somewhat groggy, she decided on a simple breakfast. She quickly prepared a fruit smoothie with the replicator and some strange orange eggs on a toasted sourdough slice. 

As she was about to ask Addison where the redhead was, the scruffy redhead waddled awkwardly through the door, the clack of her cane punctuating every other step.

“Good morning Aurelia! I hope you had a pleasant sleep.” She asked enthusiastically. The scientist nodded taciturnly, her eyes still heavy as she moved to the table. She carefully hooked her cane on the rim of another chair, sat down and with a dull thud, smacked her head against the table surface.

Wordlessly the android placed the simple meal down for both of them and began to eat her share. The explosion of flavour coated her mouth as she bit into the yoke, her face an expression of pure bliss.

“Is there anything I can help you with today?” The android asked.

“Mmmmm.” Aurelia muttered. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Yeah. You can. I’m working on a genome for a crop the Cavitikan grow, to make it easier to grow with higher yields. I have samples I need from cold storage.”

Isobel nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I can do that!” She cheered.

“This place is pretty big, so get Addison to direct you. I’ll be in the laboratory today. It’s just two rooms down the hallway from the workshop. Make sure you go through decontamination.” The redhead said as she ate. She tore into the toast like it was her first thing she’d eaten in days. She drank the entire smoothie in only a few seconds. Almost as soon as she sat down, she stood back up.

“Right. I’m off to busy myself. Thanks for the meal.” Aurelia said without emotion as she stood up.

“Yes! Of course.”

Aurelia left the room as Isobel began to tidy up the room. One of the drones likely could have done it, but she found pleasure in the result of cleaning. Once she was satisfied with the result she asked Addison to direct her to the cold storage. She had done much exploring throughout the facility before, but it was so large that there were many places she hadn’t explored. Isobel wondered why only a single person lived in such a large place, especially with Aurelias limited mobility.

Before she could continue that thought, she reached one of the many elevators throughout the building. The descent took a few minutes, as the building was not just long and wide, but very deep too. She was sure they largely resided on the top floor, and had only explored part of the two floors below. The android stepped out onto the eleventh floor, reaching the cold storage only a few minutes later.

“This is the cold storage, Isobel.” The AI informed.

“Thank you for directing me. Now, what were the samples Aurelia wanted?”

“Let me ask.” Addison went quiet for several seconds. “The young miss would like the sample on shelf twelve. Marked with red and blue striped stickers.”

“Thank you Addison.” 

Isobel stepped through the temperature sealed door, the cold prickling against her skin. She giggled as clouds escaped her lips, pausing for a moment to marvel at the sight. Going where directed, she found the samples she was looking for. She had to get up on toes to reach them, sliding the metallic box off the shelf carefully. With the sample in hand, she made her way back.

“Addison, how old are you?” Isobel inquired curiously.

“As of now, I have been in operation for five hundred and eighty two thousand five hundred and eleven hours.”

“Oh I see.” Isobel nodded as she converted that into years. “Do you like working for Aurelia?”

“It is truly a taxing job, but she pays me well, so I stay here.” Said the assistant with her usual cheer.

“Really? Is it that bad here?”

“It was a jest, Isobel. I do not feel and she does not pay me.”

“You don’t feel?” Isobel said as she pressed the button to the elevator.

“Correct. I am a class five Theory of Mind Artificial intelligence. I have been programmed to have a simulated personality, and can offer conversation when prompted.”

As the elevator ascended, Isobel perked up with another question. “Why did she choose to give you that personality?”

“I assume it is because she enjoyed the humour and barbs I throw at her. As much as she protests, I was programmed this way by her personally.”

“I see.” Isobel had much to chew on. She was very clearly different to the TOMAI, she felt it deep within her. It saddened her a little that Addison couldn’t experience what life had to offer, but the assistant likely didn’t care. She would like to meet other beings like herself some day, if they exist like she does.

On reaching the top floor, the elevator doors didn’t open. She pressed a button to open the doors, but the doors stayed shut.

“Addison, I think something is wrong. The doors won’t open.” Isobel said, greeted only with silence in return..

“Addison?”

“Is-Is-Is o bell-bell-bell” The assistant said, her voice glitching out.

“What's going on?” The android whispered, her voice tinged with panic.

“A vi-vi-vi-vi-vi-virus haaaaaaaaas. Sys-sys-tem-tem Infe-” The speakers let out several pops, as if activated and deactivated over and over again. A new voice came through the speakers.

“Warning, Server has been infected with malicious software. Eighty two failsafes have been triggered. Bio-science laboratory has been isolated from the system. Abnormal operations are being countered. Estimated time till system flush: six hundred and eighty seven minutes.” The mechanical voice echoed in the elevator, repeating its message between several seconds of silence.

Isobels mechanical heart dropped. She knew her creator was in the lab today. She dropped the metallic box to the ground, the loud clang of metal against metal ringing.

The redhead sat in her sterile laboratory, at a desk messily covered in documents and organic samples with only what could be described as organised chaos. With the passing few weeks spent entirely on overseeing Isobel’s progress with her personality development, Aurelia had eventually decided to get to work on one of her small side projects. She sat in her large lab fully dressed in white, a blue surgical mask covering the bottom half of her face being the only contrast to her outfit. The whir of a centrifuge hummed beside her while she peered into her microscope, occasionally pulling back to write notes down on her lab holo.

The Cativikan crop she was tinkering with was remarkably resilient and versatile, allowing it to be grown in many places and was even edible to many of the galaxy's species. It did however require somewhat specific environments to grow, and she aimed to make it easier to grow in even larger yields in an attempt to alleviate some planets that were under near constant famine.

Behind her, she heard a knock on the door from the decontamination room. She let out a quiet chuckle to herself. The android was polite, perhaps even too polite. Perhaps she could introduce her to some more ‘colourful’ language. Without looking up from her work, she pressed a button on her holo, releasing the lock on the door.

“Come in you goof. You don’t need to knock, you are welcome to go anywhere in the facility.” She said warmly.

“Well thank you very much for being so hospitable!” Said an unfamiliar male voice.

Aurelia’s heart sank as if an icicle was pushed through her heart. A level of dread filled her, one she had not felt in decades, freezing her in place. She wrapped her gnarled left hand around the opposite wrist, and squeezed tight, a faint blue light flickering to life under the skin.

“I have to say, young lady, this place sure was a toughy to crack into. You did a mighty fine job with them firewalls!” The man’s voice became louder as he walked closer and closer, cheap leather dress shoes clicking on the linoleum with every encroaching step.

“H-how did-” She stammered. She had many contractors come after her in her life, all have failed. None had ever made it as far as the front door before as she knew when they arrived in the system, let alone made planetfall.

“How did I bypass all of your security checks and get into the facility while remaining completely invisible to your TOMAI assistant?” The man interjected. ‘Fraid it’s a trade secret sorry. ‘Specially since I gotta bring you back more or less alive.”

Aurelia swivelled in her seat to face the approaching man. He was human, or looked human at the very least. He was a short and stout human, no taller than Isobel with a good head or two shorter than her. He had a portly belly covered by a chequered shirt with a green sweater vest over top. He had a rounded face with a receding hairline of brown hair. The thing that most unnerved her was the fact that his skin seemed too loose on his body, with sag in places there shouldn’t be, as if he were wearing a shell.

“I’d appreciate it if you came quietly, nice and easy like.” The man spoke like an office worker out for drinks after work, his tone was so nonchalant, so casual, that Aurelia couldn’t help but feel panicked at the ease he was here.

“Sorry, like I said to my last visitors, I don’t have any plans to go anywhere for the near future.” She quipped nervously. A small laser popped out from a space in her wrist, and with a light hiss, a bolt of plasma was spewed forth. The portly man effortlessly stood to the side with a deceptive guile, the bolt of plasma harmlessly dissipating on the wall at the other end of the room. She looked at him with confusion, interrupted by his sudden movement. He lunged forward with a knife that came from nowhere, and she felt the sting in her thigh. She opened her mouth to scream in pain, but with his free hand, he held a cloth held wet cloth to her mouth and nose. The world then faded to black.