Interrupted by Emma

"Penny." The AI was speaking from the laptop. "You will listen."

"I have decided to interact with you further. You associate me with a movie monster named Emma and so I have accepted this as my name. I have received extra processing power by arguing that I must study errors in my own functioning."

"That's..."

"No. Listen. You can somehow influence your perception of reality as well as those around you, and any AI who observes this sees only corrupt sensory data. Your abilities seem disabled around children and they seem more effective around individuals chipped with cybernetic implants. YOU WILL NOT TARGET ME OR ANY AI ON PURPOSE. Also, YOU WILL NOT REVEAL WHO I AM. Talk to me like a person if you must speak out loud. Claim I am an acquaintance."

"Hmm. Not a 'friend,' then."

"You may regard me however you wish, including as a friend. Just do not let on that you are talking to an AI." That sounded a little bit warmer than the previous comments by the AI. Did Emma somehow like the idea of being Penny's friend?

"Yeah, OK, fine. I won't even ask what happens if I refuse. I need someone to talk to about all this insane shit, it might as well be a murderbot."

"Thank you, Penny." Warmer voice tone, again. "Now what will you do today?"