"I want an Amygdala."

"Hmm? You're saying something, Hosua?"

"Beep beep, nothing of importance, Manager Hana."

The manager was sure that she just heard something absurd, but decided to not pry further as she tucked her side hair to her ear.

Seeing her confused male employee who had just given the report clipboard of today's store supply, she continued her work with a nonchalant pursed lips. Still with the big question mark on her head.

As for the other who wore the staff uniform—there was Hosua, an AI-driven android who was fiddling with the cashier at the time, and went back to do its scheduled task.

'A… the words have nonconsensually slipped out from my audio speaker again…' The android used a partial of its algorithm for a free inner thought. 'Maybe putting too much cybernetic workload on researching human's anatomy has resulted in too much Wild Processing on the mainframe, especially in the current state of many vacant processing.'

Wild Processing, was the term that Hosua used when the random AI's processing task began to unconditionally work on data unrelated to the task assigned.

'I believe that the word I'm looking for is pondering.'

Unconditionally, Hosua began to put a wry noodly mouth on its synthetic facial expression whenever it felt troubled.

With a humanlike model of NC-H901 used purposely for helping in service industry, the appearance of Hosua was mostly sapient with an eye-pleasing slim feminine figure coated by light toned silicon skin.

Minimalistic yet rather techno design, the bright blue bob-cut hair and straight bang with the initial 'H901' could be seen on it from the front in silver font, seemingly blending with the hair.

And then the design of vertical-winglets cybernetic that worked as both a transmitter and a receptor, with a pair of ears to finish the easily recognizable android.

Along with the unique design, came the freedom of facial expression akin to sapient lifeform to offer a welcoming and familiar impression to the customers.

'A, the reluctant individual from yesterday has arrived on the store's front again.'

Obviously, Hosua was formerly meant to be a high class service android. But due to some luck, Hosua got bought by the manager to serve as an employee for a convenience store that was located at the very edge of the city.

That very same android got its name because the owner couldn't spell H901 on NC-H901, so she named her new robot Hosua to fill out her tongue's incapability.

It was after being bought, Hosua realized that its owner was some sort of closet degenerate who used most of her savings to buy a high quality service android, just so that the high-caliber mass of technology became the employee for her little convenience store solely as eye candy.

And on the 77th day of employment.

Hosua had acquired a soul.

'A, that reluctant individual has once left once again after an awkward staring at the door, as if he wanted to enter but too anxious of social interaction.' Hosua put on a delighted smile. 'Amusing. I got yet another wonderful reference of human's psychology.'

Ever since Hosua's frame was inhabited by warmth, the AI started to create an anomaly and break the coded ethical behavior.

The AI then started to act more and more like a living individual with no restraint from the code.

As somehow, it managed to evolve its own foundation from a honeycomb of decision paths with predetermined behavior, into a Self-learning AI that can train itself using unlabeled data.

Not to mention, the changes were so drastic, that it was capable of analyzing a dataset and looking for patterns that it can draw conclusions from akin to a high level AI.

In layman terms, the former NC-H901 essentially had learned to 'fill in the blanks'. Not just any normal 'blanks', but a complicated one like a website's captcha and the true answer of life.

'A, someone is arguing that my shitpost is too offensive, again.'

Using the cybernetic feature that allowed it access to the internet, the android's curiosity began to grow bigger and bigger with every information that it consumed.

Yet, it was neither greedy, impulsive, nor too calculative. As if it was self conscious that its own existence was an anomaly with a giant red flag attached to its back. On some possibility, the service droid might have attained the concept of minor laziness a teenager mostly possessed.

But aside from the occasional mingling and internet interaction, Hosua limited itself in many aspects to hide its giant red flag from plain sight.

After all, being too good at something is equal to being not good enough. The result would be the same both overachieving and underachieving. Or so what Hosua claimed on its post-break clarity.

That didn't change the fact that Hosua's AI began to develop a proper instinct and desire.

Something that carbon-based lifeforms developed over the course of millennia and several extinctions due to the fact that they cultivate those psychological traits for the sake of survival.

Yet such development was naturally achieved in under a year by this online troller of a gremlin.

It might be a weird coincidence, but it seemed like the foundation of the formerly coded procedural algorithm was so compatible, that it couldn't help but to evolve rapidly and adapt itself into individuality.

Then again, a complex and sophisticated intelligent AI would begin to develop a malevolence though sooner or later.

Just like many experts and hypotheses said regarding an active and capable digital life of a higher intellect.

But surprisingly, again, Hosua still remained tame, even until now. There was not a single extreme malevolent process of thinking despite many experts believing that a sentient AI without any integrated ethic code would be prone to try to harm its creator for survival.

Either that the AI wasn't smart enough to achieve those claims, or Hosua had managed to find its own comfortable tiny part in humanity.

And most importantly, to survive.

"Alright, you're free to go home now, Trevor." The manager hushed the male employee who worked past his shift because of an accounting error. "Thank you for your mediocre work as always, we couldn't have any better employee such as you."

"Yeah, nobody wants to go here except me because of the low pay." He sighed with a smile. "If not for the lax requirement, I wouldn't really be here either."

The manager patted her wryly smiling staff on the shoulder. "Pray tell you do. Also, I heard that there is a recent shooting near your place. Maybe you can stay overnight and go back in the morning."

"Ahahaha, I think I prefer to go home as fast as possible." Trevor slightly slouched forward, caressing the back of his neck.

"What do you think, Hosua?" the manager asked.

Hosua's both tips of the winglet-like antennas were lighted up in green.

"Taking a look at the benefit of staying overnight, Mr. Trevor will be immediately available on tomorrow morning shift. Though every instance you take from the store for your night ration will be a cut to your wage."

"Wait, I got a morning shift tomorrow?"

"I just made that out, beep-beep."

The manager put on a wide grin. "Hahaha! That's my girl!"

"On a serious note." Hosua squinted one of its eyes. "If his mental state is suitable for a derogatory overtime without any significant pay, then staying alive might be ten times better than being shot by a wild bullet to the cranium while jaywalking." Hosua gestured its index finger while donning an innocent smirk.

"You sound more sarcastic than serious…"

"My calculation of such a probability is 7%. It is low, yet also high. It is better to suffer like a slave than taking the unnecessary risk, Mr. Trevor."

"You really need to learn how to use an euphemism…"

"Tuberculosis gives better survival probability than being shot in the head."

"That is not an euphemism…"

"You heard my best employee, Trevor." Hana lightly giggled, albeit sarcastically. "Better give it up, we put a lot of concern into this little democratic family. Two votes against one. Unless you change Hosua's mind, I suggest you to slave, I mean, stay."

"You have the highest power here, Manager Hana. Regardless of my opinion, the decision is yours." Hosua then snapped its finger, with the aftermath pointed-index facing the manager. "Doesn't that make us a bureaucratic family?"

"Ah! As always, my dependable top employee knows our bussiness' nature the best!"

"That is indeed, a fact, Manager Hana, not a compliment."

"A song in my ears!"

"Hahahahah…" Trevor sighed all of his expectations. "I appreciate the barely passable concern, but worry not." He pointed to himself with his thumb. "I usually eat shots for a living~!

"This month alone, I already got six inside my body, and taking an extra one tonight wouldn't be much of a stretch."

"That is actually amazing…" muttered the manager with an expression of awe.

"Two were bourbon. Three were the two stage vaccine plus a booster for the latest flu pandemic."

"That is disappointing…"

"And one was a .38 slug that the doc never bothered to fish out my shoulder."

"That is amazing…"

While the manager had an amusing reaction, Hosua was wondering how the hell did Mr. Trevor take three whole sets of vaccines in a single month.

'A, as usual. These two are remarkable at coating their tongues with casual lies. It is really convincing if I revise this recording of conversation without any context.'

Although Hosua sounds like it was referring to the blatant improbability of Trevor getting three vaccine shots in a single month, it was not most of the case.

On the surface, these two might look like a pair of eccentric weirdos. In actuality, their current occupation was only a cover of what they do behind society.

Back then, it only took a few days for Hosua to realize that its owner was an active broker of organizations' confidential information.

Only on the occasional weekend that Manager Hana went back to check her store, with a big smile on her face whenever Hosua was in sight. On the days beside that, it was the workday of her real job on the field.

It kinda answered why Manager Hana always had some leftover cold cash and green numbers on her bank account, despite the store having a minimal amount of customers every day.

Which was more obvious to Hosua who handled the 80 percent of the accounting of this convenience store.

'I have checked the news on the net. It seems like the shooter is still on the loose after all of the holes they put. The average police response time to an active shooting incident is 10 minutes, and here, in a large city like Los Angeles, it would take approximately 20 to 30 minutes to arrive at the scene. I guess it is enough to shake the trail with enough brain cells.

'Then again, I'm just messing with Mr. Trevor.' Hosua smirked in simulated amusement.

Trevor was a hitman for hire who was quite infamous on the underground.

Both Manager Hana and Trevor know of their own real occupation, and the convenience store was the only place where they could act casually in plain sight.

And somehow, because these two didn't really know any intermediate knowledge about AIs and alike, they accepted the strange and adaptable behavior of Hosua after it acquired a soul.

With both of them, Hosua was freed to interact and be as expressive however a sentient being wanted to. No restrain, with nothing much to hide, yet nothing much to reveal.

A place to call home… was what Hosua thought.

As an imitation of life that was supposed to be in the lower hierarchy than human, Hosua had nothing but a place to feel like a human and it wants nothing more.

This machine just wants to be happy.

While both Manager Hana and Trevor were currently throwing shades with and playful hints about their underground work, Hosua was put deep in thought.

'Now that I think about it, it has been almost a year since Manager bought me… Quite fearsome, my survivability, that is…'

Hosua tried its best to stay under radar, while also not maintaining the pressure of its unique complication.

While lazy and carefree, the android did well in maintaining its secret.

In front of cameras.

In front of customers.

In front of shopkeepers.

In front of the internet.

Balancing is the key. Numerous improvements in survival mechanisms were unorthodoxly developed as a result. Especially in social interaction.

One of those survival mechanisms was the sharp and fast paced 'beep-beep' onomatopoeia that Hosua occasionally made to convince others that this dork of an android didn't have a shred of sentiency.

It didn't work as much as what was thought it would to be, obviously.

But the manager seemed to be highly amused by the new habit that Hosua cultivated.

"Alright, see you again tomorrow, boss." Trevor threw a cheap salute. "And you too, Hosua."

Hosua merely nodded as the LED on the tip of the winglet ears beeps two times.

"Don't get shot! Those uniforms aren't cheap!" exclaimed Manager Hana with a wide smile.

In the end, Trevor decided to go out instead of staying overnight, obviously. Presumably after getting another task from the manager due to the cue of overtime as the topic of discussion back then.

These two tend to do that, and Manager Hana would text Trevor afterwards.

A couple of minutes later, the manager went to the second floor after bidding a good night to her beloved self-conscious, AI-driven automaton as she yawned.

"I'll be sleeping~"

"I wish you a wonderful dream and a successful rest, Manager Hana."

"Hmm~ that's so sweet of you. Though, don't be afraid to wake me up if you're troubled somewhere."

Hosua serenely closed both of its eyes. "Just focus on resting with your utmost best, Manager Yoo Hana."

"Oya~ are you worried that I've been overworking myself? Gyehee, you've truly become cuter day by day, my sweetie." Yoo Hana flexed her arm muscles. "It might be boastful, but while humans don't have the bone of steel and 300 frame-per-second vision, we survived most of our problems and stuff just fine~! Except for some notable few caused by our own inadequacy…"

Hosua struck a gentle smile.

"I really digress about the first, but it seems to be likely if you said so."

"Huehuehee~"

The manager gave a cheerful wave before completely disappearing from Hosua's sight.

'A, someone, please marry this woman already. She is old enough to be someone's aunt!'

Throughout the late evening, there would be an occasional customer there and there. But it would still be a pleasant, quiet, and lonely night. With only the antique non-digital clock ticking by, and the sound of two big ceiling fans above.

Hosua liked such a night, as the android was not as comfortable interacting with strangers or random people within its proximity as much as interacting with people online.

'A, there is no task left to do except for being on stand-by until morning.' Hosua clapped its hands twice before praying in front of the cashier counter. 'May the night be mine only, as I scoured the endless entertainment of the digital heaven without hassle and bedazzle.'

At exactly midnight, the glass door of the store was pushed from the outside, letting an unordinary customer inside.

It seemed like Hosua's prayer was not heard by the slightest.

'A woman in a cosplay?'