Evolved(55)

“Oh, hi,” he said, clearly surprised to see me. He glanced at Shaun, then back at me. He blinked a few times. “What are you doing here? I mean, you’re welcome here, it’s just that I’ve never seen you here before.”

I liked his awkwardness. It was comforting. “Jae, I’d like you to meet Shaun.” I stepped aside. “Shaun, this is Jae.”

Jae looked at both his coffees, shuffled awkwardly, then put them down on a nearby table. He straightened and smiled. “Hi.” He extended his hand, and it was only then he looked at Shaun. Like really looked at him.

Shaun shook his hand. “Hello, Jae. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shaun Salter.”

A rush of warmth shot through me when he used my surname, but it was Jae’s reaction that made me smile.

He was wide-eyed, smiling in disbelief, but he shook Shaun’s hand. “Hello.” He looked at me, his expression unchanged. “Oh my God. He’s so real.”

I chuckled and nodded. He didn’t know the half of it. “I was hoping we could chat for a second. I don’t have a class until ten.”

“Oh sure,” he replied. He picked up his two coffees and led the way to a door that wasn’t his office. “We can talk in here.” He pushed the door handle with his elbow and held the door open with his butt. The room looked like a small conference room. I walked in first, Shaun followed, and Jae couldn’t stop smiling. Or staring.

I pulled out a seat at the table and sat in it. Shaun did the same but sat a little too rigidly, robotically, and I realised he was doing his ‘pretending to be an android’ routine. I understood he didn’t know Jae and didn’t want to arouse suspicion, so I put my hand on his knee. “You can relax, Shaun. Jae’s a friend.”

And Shaun’s posture visibly changed. He didn’t slouch, of course, but his shoulders seemed more at ease, and his face somehow softened.

Jae sat with his two coffee cups and couldn’t take his eyes off Shaun, and of course Shaun stared right back at him.

I cleared my throat. “I thought it would be best if Shaun came with me today. I’ve turned the Wi-Fi off at home.”

That had Jae’s attention. “To everything?”

I nodded. “Shaun said he feels fine.”

Shaun smiled at me, but Jae looked taken aback. “Shaun said he feels…?”

I let out a long sigh. This was it. I was about to tell someone the truth about Shaun. “Yes. He feels. And I’m not talking about tactile sensors. I’m talking about emotions, not just psychologically but physiologically.”

Jae, still wide eyed, now turned to me. “How?”

Shaun’s eyebrows pinched. “If you wish to discuss me as though I’m not here, would you rather I leave?”

I smiled and gave his knee a reassuring squeeze. “Sorry, Shaun. You’re right. That was rude.”

Jae blinked again. “You apologised to him,” he whispered.

“Of course I did. Like I said, he feels. He has likes, dislikes, preferences, with complex emotive responses.”

Shaun nodded. “Feelings. Senses detecting what is felt through inputs, in both androids and humans. Such as hearing, sight, pleasure, balance, pressure. These feed binary data into the nervous system. Emotions are what those feelings mean.”

I smiled at Shaun. “He often quotes definitions. And we’ve realised he understands things that other androids don’t.”

Jae frowned and shook his head. “I don’t understand how…”

I took Shaun’s hand. “Because Shaun’s not just an android.”

Jae blanched. “What is he—” He looked to Shaun. “Sorry. I mean, what are you?”

“I have full capabilities of the standard A-Class,” Shaun explained. “Though my core processor differs to that of an A-Class.”

“And it’s not supposed to, is it?” Jae asked.

I smiled at him, knowing it was a lot to take in. “Remember yesterday you told me there were rumours of SATinc misplacing a prototype?”

Jae stared at me, then he stared at Shaun. “Oh. Oh, holy shit.”

Shaun laughed. “Why do you bless excrement?”

Jae’s expression was comical. From shock to amazement to wonder. “You have a sense of humour?”

“He has a great sense of humour,” I added.

With a look of excitement that matched Shaun’s this morning, Jae grinned and downed his coffee.

“May I ask you a question?” Shaun asked him.

Jae nodded quickly. “Yes, please.”

“Why do you have two coffees?”

“Um. I get two at once so I don’t have to go back.”

Shaun tilted his head. “Would it not be prudent to use a bigger cup?”

Jae opened his mouth, then shut it. “I uh, I don’t know. Probably.” Then he laughed again and scrubbed his hand over his face. “This is all quite remarkable.”

“Remarkable, yes,” I allowed. “Which is why we have a need for secrecy, as I’m sure you can understand, though I have no doubt SATinc is very aware we’ve gone offline.”

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Of course.”

“I am not supposed to lie to humans,” Shaun added. He turned to me and nodded. “And I would never be untruthful to Lloyd. I do however have the ability to distinguish between blatant lies and omission of facts to protect those I care for.”