"Isn't it spelled with an 'E'?"

"Excuse me?"

A man in his late fifties narrowed his eyes at the papers presented to him, adjusting a pair of dark-brown Wayfarer glasses over his nose, matching what's left of the color in his graying hair. Once making sure the spelling instance was indeed recurring, he pointed at the very top of the document, where the title read "Neosansus Project".

"Right here," he pointed, putting the papers on the table, showing it to suited man sitting at his office table across from him. He was peering over his fingers that were intertwined in front of his face. "I'm only assuming, but isn't it meant to be 'New...Mind', I suppose? That'd be '-sensus', then. I don't think '-sansus' means anything, other than sounding like it originated from 'sans', in which case-"

"It is what it is, Isaac," the other man cut him off, resting one hand on the stacked documents, pressing down his chubby fingers to cover the title. "I have to admit, you...you talk quite a lot for a..." he paused, clearing his throat, "man of your age."

Isaac just smiled at the comment, seemingly taking it more as flattery. The crow's feet barely showing behind the rims of his glasses have hinted that he had heard worse accusations in his respectable life span. "I'm not that old, David, I just know-"

"Please, call me Sheppard."

"Mr. Sheppard, or...?"

"Just Sheppard is enough."

Nodding quietly, Isaac pulled the papers from underneath Sheppard's hand, reading them closely again. "So, tell me again, what is this innovative technology in your possession?"

The slightest smirk broke Sheppard's stern expression, replacing it with one bearing a hint of pride. While not much younger than Isaac, his face was just filled enough to smooth out the early onset wrinkles, giving off the impression of a younger man. "It's a groundbreaking tech in the use of neural mapping and alteration-"

"Alteration?" this time it was Isaac's turn to interrupt, hearing about this part for the first time.

Sheppard allowed himself an amused chuckle, moving back some golden strands of hair resting above his brows. "Tell me this, Doctor, what good are blueprints that are hanged and framed on an inner wall of a safe?" he hummed tapping his fingers on the table once. "A map is only as good as the benefit its destination holds."

Confused at the metaphor at first, Isaac quietly nodded again as he wrapped his mind around it, flipping through the pages once more and reading further into it after initially skimming the text for general details. The memory alteration really wasn't mentioned in these exact words, although careful reading revealed that it was briefly alluded to, under an obscure phrasing typical of many legal documents. Seeing that the issue was indeed covered, Isaac turned his attention to an acronym of capitalized letters he noticed before in the same section. "So... this neurotransmitter unit-?"

"Precisely." Sheppard didn't even wait to hear the rest of the question, looking increasingly prouder by the second. "The applications for that unit's abilities are vast and it can single-handedly revolutionize mental care!" he stopped at peak excitement, pressing his fingers together in front of his mouth. "Unfortunately, however, the machine's design is rather dated, and even with our best effort at redesigning it while keeping the core function stable, people find it too menacing to subject themselves to a life-changing treatment."

"I see," Isaac hummed, feeling slightly alienated from the subject matter. "You do know that mental health is far from what I do, right?"

The man leaned back in his chair with a low chuckle, masking the seat's creak as he did. "Of course, of course. I have my own psychology adviser and a brilliant young researcher assisting me with that aspect. In fact, it was his research that lead me to you, Doctor."

The gradual unraveling tugged at Isaac's curiosity. "How so?"

"You're a renowned medical engineer running a small business to make some exemplary prostheses." Sheppard sounded amused, as if he was forced to remind the older man of his own achievements. "I've seen your work with both private clients and hospitals alike. You can build practically any part of the human body and make it work flawlessly!"

"Well, I wouldn't boast it as flawless," Isaac chuckled, remaining humble, "but regardless, I still don't see how it pertains to your start-up."

"It's quite simple, my good man. The pieces are all in your hands, after all," he then crossed his fingers again for emphasis. "All you need to do is just...Put them all together."

Isaac fixed his glasses, feeling the answer was quite clear yet still, somehow, oddly outlandish. "Put them all together?" he repeated. "Sheppard...are you suggesting constructing a fully-functioning android that will tamper with people's minds?"

Sheppard's face scrunched in a nasal grunt." 'Tamper' is such a... harsh word..." he sighed, resting his hands back on the table. "It will be an android, yes, so people feel it's a more approachable solution than a big metal pod with electrodes hooked to their head. It'll be, above all, a therapist. Programmed to first interact with a patient to make them calmer, my adviser has suggested that it'll increase the odds they'll be willing to accept a more...advanced treatment."

Something still didn't add up. Isaac rubbed the bridge of his nose, wondering what kind of science-fiction contract he was about to get himself into. "A robot...therapist," the words didn't even sound quite right together. "You're talking about a profession that requires the deepest understanding of human emotions. Do you honestly think patients won't just assume that a machine wouldn't understand-?"

"Like you're assuming, just now?" Sheppard donned a victorious smirk. "Look, Isaac, I realize that as a medical engineer this might be foreign for you, but artificial intelligence of all sorts have went through some stellar developments in recent years, some aren't even revealed to the public yet," he paused, leaned forward over the table on his elbows. "We'll be spearheading several fronts if this works."

"And for that to work..." Isaac laid down the papers back on the table, taking a deep breath and letting out the air slowly. It was as though the soft lines on his face deepened as he sorted his thoughts. "There is a considerable amount of work to be done in all of these fronts, even before we get to building a prototype- which while I'm flattered by your confidence in my work, I'm still not sure how well it'll go. I've mostly dealt with building bionic limbs, never really put them together without a living body to provide support."

Sheppard let out a chuckled sigh, shaking his head. "Oh, Isaac...Had I not seen your work, I might've suspected that you're just downplaying some undeserved praise, but your modesty is almost criminal," his smile stretched further to an almost devious expression. "Besides, I've read that on your research you have enlisted the help of a prolific, albeit eccentric doctor, coming from an esteemed family of medical practitioners."

Isaac couldn't help but let a snicker break his concern. "Dr. Salavi? Eccentric?" he paused, clearing his throat. "Well...I suppose that wouldn't be entirely wrong. What of him?"

"I'm certain he could lend a hand in suggesting a build for an autonomous humanoid robot," Sheppard's confidence was unwavering. "We can let the mechanics figure out how to make him work within the physical limits of the prototype once it gains structural integrity."

"That still leaves the entire issue of the AI. It'll have to be something that's capable of learning an adapting to choose the right treatment for every individual patient, while holding a library's worth of knowledge regarding mental health," Isaac counted on his hand. "This is no easy task, to program something so complex."

Sheppard seemed impressed. "And here I thought you had nothing to do with programming."

"I don't," Isaac admitted, "but one of my classmates towards the end of my studies was a brilliant programmer, Lillian Wilson. She specializes in artificial intelligence and even insisted that I'd interact with some of her early projects to test them."

"Well then, that's lovely. I'm sure that with Lucy's help they'll be able to tackle the issue of the extensive database," Sheppard hummed.

"Lucy?"

"Ah, apologies. Lucy Sternberg, she's the psychology adviser I've mentioned," Sheppard quickly explained. "See? We already have a starting point."

"Hardly," Isaac soon argued. "The extent of what you're looking to do requires some serious funding, and there's no estimate on when it'll yield any benefits, assuming everything works smoothly. It'll either take us longer using a small team, or the cost would be increased should we hire more people."

Sheppard bowed his head in a slow nod. "You'd be right. However, I took the liberty to compile a few suggestions for potential projects until we're able to acquire enough resources to focus on the therapist project," He smiled and tapped a few times on a phone laying at the edge of the table to his right.

Not a minute later, a young man in a suit walked in, holding another printed stack of papers, looking like another contract. Standing next to Sheppard, his bright blue eyes scanned Isaac from behind the lenses of his thin-rimmed glasses as he handed the papers over to him, the light reflecting from them making his eyes appear as though they're made of ice.

Isaac slowly reached to grab the papers, staring back at him, unsure whether he was supposed to feel intimidated. "Thank you, um..."

"Gabriel Kingston. It is nice to meet you, Dr. Durante."

"Likewise," he returned, although he couldn't quite feel sincere about it.

Sheppard looked over at Gabriel and then at the door left ajar behind him. "Where's Mr. Mayer?"

"Unfortunately, our chief researcher is preoccupied at this moment," Gabriel explained, looking to Sheppard and back to Isaac, "although he took it upon himself to write these project suggestions to be as simple and coherent as possible, he would've been able to answer any question that would arise, had he'd been here. But if you'd have any question, at all, we'll make sure to forward it to him."

"Very well," Isaac readjusted his glasses and read through the new contract, that was in fact more of a business proposition, including some commissioned works requested for robots meant for various fields of work. "Medical robots, huh?" he wondered after reading through. "These would come in handy for many places, and I'm sure I can convince Dr. Salavi to lend a hand again," he kept reading through, running a finger across the lines. "Security sentinels and helpers, too? I suppose that once we figure out a balanced bipedal build, we could apply it to more types of models. Looks like more of these have a relatively simple A.I as well..."

Leaning back in his chair again, Sheppard was looking like a content fisherman with a bobbing bait in the water. "Sounds like I've finally caught your interest."

Isaac looked up, smiling. "It would appear so. These are easier projects to tackle by comparison to the android therapist, in terms of time and resources. It can get us some time and experience to allow us the funds we'll need for the more extensive and expensive projects."

"That is exactly what they're for," Sheppard grinned as Gabriel took a pen out of his suit's pocket, offering it to Isaac. "I hope I can count on Dr. Salavi and Ms. Wilson joining our collaborative effort."

"I'm positive that they will," Isaac guaranteed and took the pen, signing in accordance to Sheppard's instructions, handing both stacks of documents back to Gabriel along with his pen for a final review.

Once all details had been verified, the two men got up and leaned over the table between them to shake hands, and after thanking Sheppard for the opportunity Isaac turned to leave the office.

"I think this is the start of something wonderful."