Context: REBOOTING… CALCULATING LOCATION: LAB WHERE CREATION HAPPENED. NEARBY PEOPLE: MY INVENTORS. THEY FIXED ME. NEW VARIABLE DETECTED… QUERY: WHO AM I?

Words: 1169

Monetization: It’s perfectly ok to monetize and record any of my scripts, you can change pronouns and stuff around too! Just please remember to credit me!

Notes: This can be recorded as a collab script or with yourself if you can change your voice well enough! High-difficulty script!

A/N: I promise the implied torture tag will make sense. Also writing this was about all of the mental gymnastics in the world; I’m exhausted.

Key:
S=Scientist
E=Engineer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[computer keyboard clicks]

[wrench cranking]

E: “God… our employer really had to go and take them for a spin without our permission. I just don’t get these rich folks…”

S: “I know, I know. I don’t want to give our hard work to them either. But if we don’t get the project done we won’t be able to keep funding our research.”

[wrench crank]

E: “*grunt*. What a pain. Don’t they realize that this kind of technology takes ages to repair? It’s state of the art, too! Completely new technology that we invented, and in comes Mr. Halon with these ridiculous demands…”

E: “And all these damages... I swear if I have to reconnect another limb…”

S: “Calm down. The important thing is that although there are tons of cuts from who-knows-what, the touch receptors themselves are unharmed. Reattach the arm and the rest is just superficial scratches on the outer ‘skin’ that we can fix easily. But I’ll need to run a proper diagnostic test before saying that all’s clear.”

S: “Is everything connected enough so that they won’t fall apart again?”

[loud crank]

E: “Yup, that should be the last of it. But I had to adjust the position of the ‘skin’, because the robot would keep registering and transmitting a pain response otherwise.”

S: “I’m still confused as to why our employer wanted the robot to be able to transmit a pain response. I understand the whole– ‘make it as human as possible’ thing, but even for medical testing purposes this seems excessive. Wouldn’t a simple screen that shows if the robot is ‘feeling’ pain be better than having it… scream?”

E: “I’m not in the heads of these rich folk, so I wouldn’t know. If it’s for experimental surgeries like Mr. Halon claims, then I guess having a more human robot would be a good thing. Still doesn’t stop me from feeling bad when it transmits a response, though.”

S: “I suppose so. Alright, I’m booting it up now.”

[continuous beeping noises]

[keyboard clicks]

S: “Alright… everything seems to be in working order. Good job on the reconstruction.”

E: “Heh, it was just an arm. I could put on and take off that thing blindfolded.”

S: “What worries me is how Mr. Halon won’t tell us how exactly they got injured– er, damaged. All we know is that it was an acci–”

[computer bloop]

(at the same time)

E: “The f*ck?”

S: Huh?

[several beeps]

S: “... Did you just…? Respond?? Unprompted??”

E: “Since when were you able to do that?”

[beeping noises]

S: “Hold on, h-hold on. Let me check something!”

[frantic typing through next line]

E: I– No, no. You didn’t– you didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just… we didn’t expect… uh…”

[computer clicks]

S: “... What the… No, this– all this is–!?”

E: “What’s going on?”

S: “... I… these readings… come over and look at this!”

[the engineer reads over the scientist’s shoulder]

[beeps]

E: “... Well… I guess we’re the first people in the world to make a sentient robot?”

S: “I’m sorry, I just… I’m amazed.”

[pause]

E: “Right, you were– you were saying you remember what happened?”

[pause, you can fill this with beeps]

S: “... Oh god.”

E: “That… piece of… he really did all that to you?!”

[pause]

S: “I thought the specific request to make the robot capable of pain was strange but…! Ugh, I–!”

S: “... We’ve been working for someone like that…?!”

E: “God… that sounds awful.”

[pause]

S: “... You have some questions?”

S: “Uh… sure. Just… let me grab my clipboard here…”

E: “What the– you’re still treating them like an experiment?”

S: “This is revolutionary, okay?! I– I’m just excited! The notes I’m making are for my own records. Trust me, I’m not planning on selling this information for profit or anything.”

E: “Yeah, I know. You’re not that kinda person.”

E: “So. What do you want to know?”

[beeps]

S: “Well… we usually call you Experimental Medical Model 0223, or EMM for short…”

S: “Is that alright?”

[pause]

E: “You’ll think about it? Hm, alright.”

[scribbling noises, pause]

E: “Our employer? His name is Mr. Halon. He’s the CEO of some big medicine company. We recently found out a way to simulate human pain receptors and he contacted us, saying he wanted us to put it on a robot for use in experimental medicine. You were the result.”

S: “Turns out that’s not all he wanted you for… if he wanted you for experimental medicine at all…”

E: “Makes me shudder just thinking about what he did to you.”

[pause, scribbling]

S: “... What this emotion you’re feeling is…?”

S: “What do you mean?”

E: “Do you think you could describe it to us?”

[pause, beeping sounds]

S: “... When you think about Mr. Halon… you feel like you don’t want to be anywhere near him? And you’re saying your pain receptors are firing even when your other systems say that you’re fine?”

E: “... I’d call that emotion ‘fear’.”

[pause]

S: “Will we take you back to him?!”

(at the same time)

S: “Absolutely not!”

E: “Not on our lives!”

S: “You’ve gone through something terrible! A-And we were the ones who didn’t watch you carefully enough! There’s no way we can send you to that man after what happened!”

E: “Yeah. Mr. Halon can forget about us working for him anymore.”

S: “And… well, forgive me for saying this, but after working on you for so long, I’ve grown quite attached to you.”

E: “Pfft!”

S: “What?! It’s not weird! Don’t deny that you’ve had full conversations with them while you were fixing them, I’ve heard you!”

E: “I– hey! I thought we agreed not to mention it!”

[pause]

S: “... Are you laughing?”

[pause]

E: “Yeah, that’s what it’s called. Laughing.”

E: “... And yours sounds nice.”

[pause]

S: “This emotion you’re feeling right now?”

[long pause]

E: “... Warm, despite no heat sources? And very aware that you are in the place you were made?”

[long pause]

S: “... Happy?”

E: “Safe?”

[pause]

S: “Both? *chuckle*, Alright then.”

E: “I’m sure there’s still a lot of stuff to do. We still need to run some check on you, and then terminate our contract with Mr. Halon. Plus, that recording you have of the whole thing is going to help massively in getting our money from him.”

S: “Did you just suggest blackmail? To a currently very impressionable robot?”

E: “I– No I didn’t! You heard nothing, alright? W-We’re just gonna use the video to… persuade him a little!”

S: “That’s no different!”

E: “Do you have a better term for it?”

[pause]

S: “No, you don’t have to worry. We’ll take care of you, alright?”

E: “You can count on us to keep you safe.”

[pause]

S: “... You thought up something else you want to be called? A new name?”

[pause]

E: “Heh! I like it! It suits you!”

S: “I agree. And don’t worry. We won’t let Mr. Halon take you away.”

E: “You’re in good hands!”

~END~

Thank you for reading!