One More Little Floor

Alicia leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up on the desk in front of her, just out of the way of her computer monitor. She flipped her head back as part of her massive stretch and out of the periphery of her vision she saw Janice walking into their dorm room.

"What's new, boss?" The robot spoke casually as she moved over to Alicia, but Alicia detected subtle tension in her posture and the timbre of her voice.

Alicia gestured towards the blinking terminal on her desk. "I'm still trying to track down the source of those new nanocarbons we found in your blood. And...I still don't understand where it came from, but I finished some calculations on its properties. Maybe we can start to isolate it that way."

Janice leaned over Alicia to study the luminescent graphic blinking in and out of existence millions of times per second on the screen in front of them. The robot blinked several times to adjust her optical filters such that they eliminated the distraction, realized that her lack of understanding had nothing to do with her lack of ability to physically process the images (mostly it due to Alicia's distaste for labeling anything), and directed said sensing devices quizzically at Alicia.

Alicia dropped her feet back down onto the floor and pointed at the leftmost chart on the screen. "This one shows the ability of the nanocarbons to withstand various toxins, compared to the rest of the synthetic materials that make up your equivalent of blood. You'll notice that in nearly all cases, the nanocarbon is remarkably resilient. That might be bad if the nanocarbon also seemed likely not to play well with the rest of your inner makeup, but so far our simulations seem to show that your body will benefit from its presence - it should boost your physical abilities and endurance in most circumstances."

While Alicia finished her explanation, Janice paced over to the full length mirror Alicia had haphazardly attached to the foot of the bunkbed, puffed out her chest, and flexed her arm in a mock imitation of a bodybuilder.

Alicia started to chuckle, but stopped as the robot tensed again. Janice took a deep breath.

"In spite of your optimistic assessment, I see a problem here. I was programmed to want to be human. However, this new compound in me - whatever it is, wherever it came from - you're saying it's going to make me better, stronger, faster than was intended. What now? Do you find a way to remove it? Do you change my programming so I don't know I'm more than you wanted? What if I like it, and want to keep it, and want to keep liking it?" The robot looked from her reflection to Alicia and back again. A glimmer of defiance surfaced in her eyes, then dove otter-like back under the surface.

Alicia started to respond, and then thought better of it. Instead, she jumped to her feet, grabbing a sweater from the back of her chair and shrugging into it as she stood.

"Come with me." She led Janice out of her room, down the two flights of stairs to the ground level, and outside into the cool humidity of the evening. The robot knew Alicia well enough not to question her, and so simply strode beside the girl as they crossed Main street and headed towards the south end of campus. Just as Janice's respiratory system leveled out at a rate that would accommodate her movement, Alicia slowed and stopped.

"Classrooms?" Janice raised an arm toward the brick behemoth facing them. The two were standing in front of the building where they'd attended their required "Colonization History and Challenges" class as freshmen, and where Alicia currently suffered weekly through four agonizing hours of mathematical smoke and mirrors otherwise known as linear algebra.

"Yeah, classrooms, but also don't forget all those displays about the famous dead people inside." Alicia shrugged. "I dunno. I think my point is just that people - human people and I guess maybe now other people - have been exceeding the expectations and intentions of others pretty much since the beginning of time. I hate to burst your bubble, but you're still not so different." She paused for the appropriate length of time to elevate her final statement. "And so, no, we're not changing a damn thing about you."

Janice nodded. She stretched and folded her hands behind her head. "Cool. That does make me feel better." Feeling Alicia's eyes on her, she accessed and executed the "insert shit-eating grin here" code that she kept cached exactly for situations like this. "But on that note, wanna race back to the dorms?"

With that, the two took off running into the night.