Today Tony had a rather peculiar package to deliver. A human-sized wooden box with something heavy inside. Probably a cyborg body or an android. The weird part was where it needed to be delivered to. One of the poor area's of the junkyard. No one had money to buy things like that over there, did they? Well, he was just a delivery man, so it wasn't really his business. He just did as he was told, considering the payment that was waiting for him afterwards. Wouldn't want to miss out on 5000 credits, six months pay compared to his normal job for just this one package. All he had to do was to not ask questions and to keep quiet about the delivery. It was still only 5 am, so everyone was still sleeping, apart from some sky city security droids patrolling the skies. The perfect time to do this job unseen. The lock on the door was easy enough to pick, since his 'normal' job was being a burglar. After that he put the box just behind the door and stuck a letter to the side facing the inside of the small apartment. Then without a sound he left again, gone before anyone knew he was there. -------------------------- Jurgen woke up grumbling. It was another day of misery. He had no money, no job, and only two weeks left before he had to get out of the house. His landlord had been kind so far, but he had to agree, two months was a long time to let someone live rent-free, especially considering the market. The cyborg sighed and got himself out of bed. He hoped he could find something valuable today. If he could get some decent scrap, he could pay the rent and keep the place for another month. The last thing he needed was to be homeless. So he got up and got dressed quickly, his haste driven by his desire to not be homeless. Things were bad enough with his father dead, he didn't need to be homeless too. He grabbed his knife, and slipped it into the slot in his robotic arm, where it would remain until he needed it, then he headed to the kitchen. Today was a sad day for breakfast. He was eating his last bowl of cereal. Likely the last for a long time, unless he got supremely lucky. So he enjoyed it. It wasn't that great, though, which put a damper on things, and he didn't want to let it get soggy, either, so that didn't help. He grumbled, swearing at nothing in particular as he cleaned up after breakfast. Then Jurgen sighed and went to look for his boot. He never reached it though, as a giant box was sitting inside the front door. How it had gotten in, he had no idea, but the fact that it was there was not good. He started to freak out, but the cyborg was still logical enough to spot the note tacked to the box. He pulled out his knife and quickly swept the room, his gaze seeking anything that might be out of place. If someone was still in here, the box could be just a distraction. But all was as it should be, so he approached, wondering who had broken in and left him a human-sized package. He hoped it wasn't a body, that would be gross... --------------------------- "Congratulations, you have been randomly selected to try out my new prototype android! What you do with her is up to you, as she is programmed to adapt to any task. However her main function is combat. I'll be monitoring your progress...good luck!" Was all the note said. Hardly any explanation of what the hell was going on, but it was the best he would get for the moment. And when Jurgen opened the box, indeed there was an android inside. Though...this one didn't look like any android in the junkyard. It looked almost human, or at least more human than machine, compared to most people living in junkyard city. There was another hint on this android inside. A small device sticking to the base of her neck. Another note was hanging from it with a piece of string. Written on it were the words "Take this off to activate me!" ----------------------------- Jurgen munched skeptically on his cereal while reading the note over and over again. Why had he been selected? How had the box gotten in here? Was this a trap? He sighed as he finished his cereal. There was only one thing to do. He rinsed out his bowl and then grabbed a pry-bar he had lying around. Then, he ripped the box open, hoping this wasn't a trap. But when the crate fell away from the contents, everything appeared to be legitimate. There was an android there, waiting. At first he had thought it was a person, it was so life-like, but a cursory examination revealed that it was indeed robotic. Then, his nineteen-year-old mind did the usual thing, considering the shape of the android. But his paranoia was still in control, and he was pretty freaked out, so that didn't get far. The cyborg was standing around, looking concerned, inspecting the robot in front of him, and wondering what to do, when he noticed the second note. If he removed the thing it was attached to, she would activate. Then he wondered if he wanted to do that. This one looked like an expensive model. It would probably pay his rent for months if stripped and sold for parts. But at the same time, the idea of having a companion was nice, especially considering that he was all alone now. And the note had said his progress would be monitored. If that was the case, then he probably wouldn't be selected for further testing of other products if he stripped the android and sold her off for parts. "I guess that means we have to turn her on..." he muttered to himself. It occurred to him he might be able to make some money if the automaton could win some fights in a ring or something, but he needed some money to bet if he wanted to win anything. And right now he was more concerned about what could go wrong with this situation. He clenched his teeth, wincing as he reached up and removed the thing that kept the android from activating. He really hoped it wouldn't murder him and run off, that would be kind of terrible... ------------------------------- "Power lock removed, starting up systems." An electronic voice spoke. It didn't appear to be the android herself though. This was a separate voice from the internal systems. "25%...50%...75%...Completed. Initiating brain chip." It continued. It took another second or two before suddenly the eyes of the android opened. Now, in her own voice she spoke "Identifying owner..." Her eyes scanned what was in front of her, then focused in on Jurgen for a few seconds. Finally the eyes blinked, and the whole body started to move. One step forward, so she was now standing directly in front of him. She was actually about an inch of two shorter than him. "Huh...not the kind of person I was expecting..." The android mused, bending forwards a little and inspecting Jurgen more closely. "Ah well! I'm Eve, nice to meet you. And you are?" The android didn't just look very human, she acted like one too. Brain chips could partially mimic human personality, but nothing as advanced as this. A distinctive speech pattern, nuances in tone, everything. "Also...do you have cigarettes by any chance? I have no idea what they are, but I want to 'smoke' one...you do smoke cigarettes right?" ------------------------- Jurgen jumped when the electronic voice started up. He moved around the android, looking for signs of system start-up, but there was nothing to indicate it, save for the voice. He ended up in front of the robot, and just in time too, as it began trying to identify an owner. That was good, this meant it was brand new. Then it took a step forward and the cyborg looked amazed. It was so lifelike. There was no way this thing originated down here. Then it spoke. Jurgen frowned. "What were you expecting, then?" he asked, not sure if he should be insulted or pleased. Then she went right ahead and introduced herself. "I'm Jurgen." he replied, extending a hand, "Nice to meet you." aaand, now she was bumming a smoke. He wanted to slap her. But then he realized it was probably no use. So he just turned and retrieved a pack from the case that his father had left atop the refrigeration unit. He tossed it to the android as he spoke, "I, personally don't smoke. That shit's bad for ya. Do it outside if you're gunna. You need a light?" there were plenty of flame-generating apparatuses about if she needed one, if not, well, that was fine too, he supposed. "This is not the way I was expecting thing to go..." he mumbled to himself. Waking up, insulting him off-handedly and then bumming a smoke, was probably the last scenario he had in mind. This was going to be an interesting experience, of that he was sure. Whether it would be a good interesting, or a bad interesting, remained to be seen. Ideally the former scenario would play out, but this was the real world, where things went bad at the drop of a hat... -------------------------------- "Well, my programming is originally for battle. And you don't look like a soldier or arena fighter to me...though that cyborg arm of yours looks pretty strong." She mused, looking around once again. "But anything's fine really. As long as I get to stay activated." Was there even a way to deactivate her? She tried checking her systems, but she was unable to find anything about an 'off switch'. The young man threw her a pack of cigarettes, which put a slight smile on her lips. "Jurgen eh? Good strong name, I like it." She spoke as she took one of the cigarettes out. "A light would be nice yes, and don't worry. I'll pay you back for these. Or heck, if it's what you want I could probably make money with a job or something. Come to think of it, what would you have me do? With some time my brain chip can adapt to a lot of tasks and situations." Eve started to pace around the place a little, inspecting the place she was going to live from now in. It was a poor man's apartment to be sure, but she actually preferred this over some fancy house. It felt nice and homely here. "So ah...where can I smoke then? Outside is...which way?" Eve was still lacking in her programming. She had been created as an almost fully blank android. Though there were already some side-effects that even the creator hadn't intended. Such as the type of personality she had.