"For every action, there is a reaction."

*

Androids weren't told of their existence, at least not in detail. As an android, I was aware of my make-up and build because it was required knowledge. If damage occurred to my systems and frame, a random technician could be summoned to work on my repairs. If that technician was unaware of my computers before entering the room, they would be lost and confused. Because of it, I needed to be the one to educate them before they cut me open.

But that was it. I knew no additional information about myself beyond those specifics. Everything else I was able to learn was acquired through daily context clues.

The fights, for instance. The training. There was the constant reminder that I was to be strong, fit, and ready for war. Yet, those reminders, simulations, and instructions never went further than at the base of our warehouse facility. A facility I knew the other androids were oblivious of. I was only made aware of it because of him.

Rory.

"All right, now." Rory placed a delicate yet firm hand on my chest, ensuring I was flat against the droid-bed. He smiled down at me when I looked at him, watching as he moved his chair closer. "This won't hurt a bit," he said.

"Hurt?" I blinked at him as he lowered the sheet placed over most of my body. My bare chest was exposed to the room. The prickling sensation of cold air moving in through the vents made me look down at my artificial skin. I watched his fingers trace a line along my abdomen.

"This is the same procedure conducted during each occurrence, isn't it?" I glanced at him as he reached over to retrieve his droid-kit. "I do not feel pain. Every reaction I display during simulation is-"

"Programmed, I know." Rory gave my chest a quick pat before revealing the tool he had grabbed from his bag. A long, slender blade with a light on its tip. I watched as he moved it towards my skin. "I'm an android, too, remember? But I'll be easy on your build. Don't worry about a thing."

"Worry..." The blade slid across my torso, effortlessly slicing through my skin. The light on its tip burned in a way that severed the artificial cells, making it easy for an android medic to make entry, but it wouldn't leave lasting damage. Rory would be able to fix me when he was done checking my system.

Only, I could not process what he said. "I'm not sure I understand what 'worry' means, sir," I said to him.

Rory glanced at me, pulling his bottom lip up between his teeth. "I'm sure you understand it. You just haven't felt it."

He pulled back the skin, exposing my internal wires and mechanical organs to the cold air within the room. A tiny spark went off near the opening. But I didn't look at it.

I stared at his face instead. "Feel?" I dipped my head back against the pillow beneath my head. "I'm allowed to feel?"

Rory moved his head, his gaze slowly shifting to meet mine. "Aren't we all allowed to feel?"

|||

What Rory said stayed with me and I wasn't sure why. Many conversations came and went through me, nothing was retained or saved. There were a few instances, however, when something would stick. But those situations arose when a human spoke to me, like Mary, or the droid-medics in another room.

Yet, Rory, an android like myself, said something that sparked my curiosity.

"Aren't we allowed to feel?"

I supposed I could feel, but not to the extent of a human. If they were to feel something, someone, it would have been by choice; their own action or need. Everything I have done, or will do, has been programmed into me. A simulation paired with a reaction designed for specific situations.

Nothing about me was organic. Natural.

Analyzing information.

"Androids are dormant," a voice echoed as the door to the warehouse basement opened wide, allowing light to break the darkness.

I kept my gaze forward. Hours had passed since my computers became active for the day, but I had lost track of the time. I spent each passing minute wondering. Thinking. Allowing my computers to wander like a dangerous mind.

Footsteps entered. And the voice spoke again, "All but one."

The voice was strange to me. Distant. Sergeant Phillips normally arrived after the other androids finished their charge cycles and prepared themselves for our daily simulations. But as the voice said, I was the only android awake. And I was far from ready to run military programs.

"Emergency start, retrieve simulation-B."

I placed my hands behind my back rather than leave them at my side. Sergeant Phillips preferred his androids in stance, ready and attentive.

"Awaiting simulation commands."

Letters passed over my vision as I stared at the open space in front of me. Concrete floors met the wall yards away, my computers calculating the distance. We were to stay ten feet from the Sergeant, granting him space for commands and room for safety. As my computer was the lead within the Replicas-B line, I maintained the correct space. If I were to be too close, uncalculated, the other androids would follow.

And that would be a flaw in commands.

I am without flaw.

"It's interesting to see you awake." A shadow passed close by before a body appeared in front of me. As I had been ready for our Seargent, the sudden motion didn't pull a reaction out of me; at least, not one that should have been expected.

It wasn't Seargent Phillips who smiled at me. It was Rory. His unnaturally blue eyes sparked with light as his lips pulled back into a grin. His head dipped to one side as he observed me. "You're awake," he said. "Are you feeling all right?"

Feeling. Again, Rory stated reactions that were foreign to me.

Without the information to answer him properly, I copied his movements and dipped my head to the side, just as he had done. "I do not understand the question, sir," I said. "Please explain."

The light in Rory's eyes changed. Darkened. Every flicker turned black until he lowered his head and sighed. "This is something I can't explain. It's different."

Again, I copied him. It was the only programmed reaction I was allowed to do without a simulation to start it; mimic the person before me.

I lowered my head, sighed, and looked at my shoes. The white on the tip of the right sole was scoffed, dirtied. I couldn't remember how that happened.

"What is different, sir?" I asked, still observing the stain beneath my shoelaces. "Replicas are not different. We are identical to our original program."

"Are we?" There was a different tone in Rory's voice. It was deeper, yet somber. The change made me lift my head, and I found him looking at me, eyes scanning over my body as if he tried to examine me without tools. "Are we really identical?"

I felt as if there were more to his question. My computers shifted through different files, different scenarios, but I couldn't find the right answer. At the end of each search, I stopped at the only possible reaction. To copy and repeat, learn through simulation. "Are we really identical?"

Light passed over the single window of our android warehouse. The sun changed position in the sky, bringing morning with it. And morning destroyed most of the shadows in the room. Even Rory's.

He smiled as he stepped back into the stream of sunlight. The shimmer returned to his eyes as he cracked his knuckles in front of him, one at a time. Each finger sounded louder than the last. "If we're truly identical, then that only means you are different," he said, nodding. "It's something I've already noticed, each time I serviced you, but I don't know how far it goes."

With a deep breath, Rory moved closer. His finger settled on his lip as he looked at my face. With that same finger, he traced the outline of my chin, up to my ear and around my head.

I blink, waiting for him to speak to me. This was a normal reaction from an android-medic; to be closely observed, analyzed, and documented for further research. My only disconnect from this situation was Rory's sudden arrival; I wasn't scheduled for any scannings, there were no computers to save my data.

He did this on his own. It was as if he contained free will.

Analyzing data.

Rory smiled at me. "Your spark is more advance than the others, do you know that?"

I blinked at him. My computers attempted to process what he said. "Sparks?" Internally, I opened seventeen files and compared them to my android counterparts in the room with me. Each search result returned the same; we were each identical in comparison.

"Sir, am I malfunctioning?" I asked.

"No, you're not," he said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. His fingers squeezed, a tight grip. "And please, call me Rory."

The letters across my field of vision flashed red. I was aware of his name, his android number within Bionics main computers, but when I was to address him-when I addressed anyone-it was with manners. Polite and respectable.

I cannot call him by his name, not to his face.

"Please," he added when I remained silent.

With my lips pressed together, I shook my head. "I'm sorry, sir," I told him, "per my programming, I am to be-"

"I insist." His hand squeezed my shoulder again as he moved his head closer to mine. I felt the heat from his eyes when he blinked, the warmth of his breath as his lips passed over my cheek.

He did this until his mouth was beside my ear, and he dropped his voice down to a whisper, "No one's listening, remember?"

|||

A/N: What's Rory up to? :o (I mean, if you read Human Code, you kind of know, lol. BUT... why? :o *insert curious music here*)