It was already past midnight when Noelle had shut herself down to rest, but due to a massive intake of caffeine, I was wide awake. I had set up a makeshift workstation on my desk in my bedroom, the robot laid out on a towel to keep the dust off. I had turned on all the lights in my room, and there were three cups of coffee sitting on my desk. In front of me was an old laptop I used for diagnostics, hooked up to the robot via a USB cable.
I yawned widely, blinking blearily at the screen. I was barely able to crack into the robot's system, but what I saw was promising. The AI inside was more advanced than anything I had ever encountered before. It was a treasure trove of data, and I felt like a kid in a candy store. And it was in peak condition, too, which was strange considering the robot's damage. It was as if someone had gone to great lengths to preserve the AI while the body was left to decay.
There were no files or documents left behind, not even a whisper of its former purpose or identity. It was like the robot had been wiped clean, which didn't surprise me much. When androids were being recalled or decommissioned, they were often wiped before they were junked. But the hardware remained untouched, which was a goldmine for someone like me. Pretty much everything internal was top-notch, and the way the AI was designed was...innovative, to say the least. It was like someone had anticipated my every need before I even knew I had them.
I took a long swig from my coffee cup before turning my attention from my computer to the android's chest cavity that I had pried open. The wires and circuits inside looked fairly intact, with some pieces even looking better than most parts put into newly released AI Synergies models.
"I'll be damned," I whispered with a smile. A perfectly intact and possibly functioning android was right before me, in perfect time for Wong's big project. It was probably unethical, but it's not like we were going to sell it on the black market. We were just going to give it a new purpose, a new lease on... well, not life, but something close to it, at least.
At some point in the middle of my work, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Noelle was gently tapping my shoulder. "Master Eric, I am sorry to wake you, but it's nearly 10 am."
"Huh?" I blinked, my foggy eyesight slowly coming into focus. The sun was shining through the windows, and the sound of hover cars, birds, and distant chatter was all around. "Oh. Oh, shit." I stood up so fast that my chair fell backwards onto the floor with a loud thud. "Crap! Am I late for work?"
"Not yet, Master Eric. Your shift starts at 11:35. I have already prepared your breakfast and ironed your shirt," Noelle said, picking up my chair and setting it upright.
"Oh, thank god," I muttered, rubbing my eyes. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
"You appeared to be deep in sleep, Master Eric," Noelle explained. "I did not wish to interrupt you."
I glanced down at the computer, where my notes were scattered about in various documents and spreadsheets, a jumble of words and numbers and symbols that either made sense or didn't. My eyes trailed to the robot on my desk, just as I had left it, and I sighed. I felt like I could have worked all day, and still not be finished.
"I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now, so I gotta run. Just...uh...don't touch her until I get back, okay? I want to be there."
Noelle nodded, her eyes glinting. "I understand, Master Eric. I shall wait for your arrival."
"Right. Quick shower, then I'm off."
***
The commute was surprisingly simple. I anticipated the streetlights to target me with their lasers, the road to close itself into a dead end, and the hover cars to suddenly decide that they hated me. But no, the streets were clear, the lights turned green when I approached, and the cars parted to let me through. It was like I was being granted some sort of divine favor. Maybe this robot is a sign of good luck, I thought to myself as I pulled into the AI Synergies parking lot.
Welcome-Bot at the front door greeted me upon my arrival with its usual monotone robotic voice. "ID, please."
I waved my hand in front of its scanner, the red light blinking over my fingers and then across my face. "Identity confirmed: Eric Ivesone. You are 10 minutes early for your shift. Please report to your desk for further information."
"Will do." I said with a mock salute. I walked through the security doors and took the elevator up to the office floor, nodding a greeting to the android elevator operator.
A few employees were already hard at work at their desks, so I hurried to mine without drawing attention to myself. The office was a buzz of activity, with screens flickering and keyboards clacking, but I had only one thing on my mind: the robot. I slid into my chair and pulled out my phone, opening the messaging app to send Zander a text.
_Zander, you're not going to believe what happened last night._
My phone buzzed a minute later with his reply. _ What happened?
_Just hurry up and get here, I'll tell you all about it_, I wrote back.
The rest of the morning flew by as I lost myself in my work, which consisted of updating a few old AI models with new code. My usual job was primarily designing new android models for random clients, but I had to keep my skills sharp in case I had to fix a bot while I was at work. Wong loved people who could multitask, which I considered a blessing because it gave me more time to do my real work.
Zander made his arrival thirty minutes after I had texted him, loudly slamming his bag down on the desk and sliding into his chair. "Dude, what's going on? You sound like you just won the lottery."
"Better," I said, glancing around to make sure no one was listening before leaning forward. "I found a frame."
Zander blinked, his eyebrows raising. "You mean for the project? But we just got started...what do you mean, you found one?"
I motioned for him to move closer, and he obliged with an eager grin. "I found a robot, a really advanced one, in a dumpster last night. It's ten years old, but it's still in pretty good shape. I think we can use it for our project."
"Seriously?" Zander beamed, and I quickly slapped his arm to shush him. "Sorry, sorry. But this is perfect! We don't even have to make a frame now, we just need to get it working!"
"Yeah, that's the thing. It's been wiped clean, there's nothing there. So I'm gonna see if I can find any information on the robot while I'm here. Then we can fix it up and get it running," I said, glancing around again to make sure no one was paying attention. "You ever heard of a company named Echo-Six? They made this bot, but the company went under and the records were purged."
"Echo-Six? No, I've never heard of them. But that's so strange, they had to have produced this frame a long time ago... why would they go out of business?" Zander asked, rubbing his chin in thought.
"That's what I'm wondering," I said. "Noelle couldn't even find anything, either. She said it's like the company never existed."
"But then how did this frame end up in a dumpster?"
I shrugged. "I dunno, maybe it was never released. Maybe the business got sued or something. Doesn't really matter, though. If we can get it up and running, we're in the clear."
"But how are we going to hide it from Wong?"
"We just don't tell him. This model is insane, he'll fall in love with it. We just gotta make sure it doesn't say anything about its origins," I said, smiling slyly. "I can program it kinda like Noelle, but obviously better, you know. Wong wants an intimate android, so we'll make him one."
Zander leaned back in his chair, looking down at his hands. "Are you sure we should do this? If we get caught, we're dead. It could get us fired."
"Dude, when was the last time we ever got caught doing something we weren't supposed to? We're in the clear, I promise," I said. "Besides, if we don't do this, we're gonna be making a frame for the next three, no, four months, then we'll fail. Think of the promotion we'll get if we pull this off."
Zander let out a long breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "You better be right. Wong already kinda hates me 'cause of that one time I forgot to put cream in his coffee."
"He won't hate you, he'll be too busy loving this new frame," I assured him, waving my hand dismissively. "Trust me, this is gonna work. Now help me look for info on Echo-Six."
Not much of a shocker, but every time we tried to search up Echo-Six, the results were either completely unrelated or just didn't exist. We tried everything from general searches to more specific ones, even looking through the company's history page. There was no mention of Echo-Six anywhere in our database, which was weird considering we had archives going back decades. I tried every search engine, every possible keyword combination, and every underground board that might have a sliver of information. But it was like the company had been wiped from the digital world.
As the day dragged on, my excitement started to wane. The more we looked, the more it dawned on me that this might be a wild goose chase. Zander kept throwing me nervous glances, and I could almost hear his thoughts.
What have we gotten ourselves into?
But Zander was always apprehensive about everything we did, so I brushed off his concern.
Everything left a digital trail. That was just how the world was now. But Echo-Six? It was as if it had never been born. The lack of information made no sense. I knew I was smart and technology-savvy, but it was like someone had gone out of their way to erase every trace of the company from existence. It was unnerving.
"Dude, we've been at this for an hour." Zander whined, resting his head on the keyboard. "I'm tired."
"This is important, man. If we find anything, it could be huge," I said, tapping away at the keyboard.
"Yeah, but I'm getting nothing," Zander said, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe we should stop."
I ignored him and continued searching.
Before I knew it, it was lunch hour, and everyone was leaving. I took a quick break to get a cup of coffee, but when I got back, I immediately resumed my research. The office was empty, the only sound was the distant whirring of the air conditioners and the clacking of keys. Zander had fallen asleep, drooling all over his desk, but I didn't wake him.
"Come on," I whispered to myself, clicking through page after page of dead ends. "There has to be something."
"Mr. Iveson." Wong's sharp voice startled me so bad I nearly fell out of my chair. "Why are you still here?"
I swiveled around in my chair, nearly dropping my coffee. Wong was standing beside my desk, his hands neatly in the pockets of yet another beyond expensive suit. He was staring down at me with a quizzical expression, as if I were a particularly difficult math equation that needed to be solved.
"I-I'm sorry, sir," I stammered. "I was just working on...something."
"Working on something? Well, what is it?" Wong asked, stepping closer. "Is it the project? I should hope so. There has been very little progress made by the teams."
"Uh...yep, Zander and I are working hard." I said with a nervous laugh, scrambling to close all the search tabs on my computer. "We're definitely making progress. Lots of it."
Wong nodded, his eyes flickering down to my desktop. "I see. And where is Mr. Barlow? He appears to be sleeping."
"Oh, yeah, he's just...resting. He's working really hard, too." I said, wincing at the sight of Zander's sleeping form. "Super hard, you know? I just had to...uh...give him some coffee."
"He looks like he's inhaling it," Wong remarked, glancing at the empty coffee cup sitting on Zander's desk. "And you look like you're about to pass out, Mr. Iveson. I don't want any delays or excuses when the deadline arrives. So please, do not stay any longer than necessary." He gave me a curt nod and turned around, walking away.
I slumped back in my chair, letting out a sigh of relief. I quickly closed all the search tabs on my computer and shut it down, making sure to save all my notes and files. I was tempted to tell Wong about the android, but it was almost too good to be true. If we were actually able to fix it up and get it working, it would be a huge success. But if it was somehow linked to something illegal or shady... I didn't even want to think about the consequences.
"Zander, wake up, you idiot." I flicked a pen at him, the plastic cap ricocheting off his forehead. He jolted upright, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "Lunch break's over, you slob. You drooled all over your desk."
"Ah, man." Zander wiped the drool from his desk, his face reddening. "Thanks for letting me sleep."
"Don't mention it," I said, grabbing my bag. "But we're in a bit of a pickle."
"What do you mean?" He rubbed his eyes, still trying to wake up.
"Wong almost caught me looking into this Echo-Six crap. We gotta keep this on the down-low," I whispered to Zander as we walked out of the office, shoulder to shoulder. "But we're getting nowhere. The company's practically a ghost."
"Maybe the robot you found is a foreign spy." Zander laughed, bumping me with his shoulder. "I won't say anything, but just so you know, if things go south, I'm throwing you under the bus so hard that you'll be nothing but tire tracks."
"Wow, thanks."
"You're welcome."