Phase 1: Recognition.

Chris thumbed through the report he'd been given. Across the table, Ada glumly played with the straw in her drink.

"Ok, apparently right now you're basically coasting on a combination of instinct and assumptions about what I want. You're still mostly you, but completely beholden to me."

"I don't feel like mostly me," Ada muttered.

"Uh... say your name three times," Chris read out of the pamphlet.

Ada rolled her eyes. "Ada Poe, Ada Poe, Ada Poe."

"It says here that you'll accept... um, you'll accept any command. Even those of a sexual nature."

She grimaced. "I'm your fuckdoll."

Chris winced. "No, of course not! I'm just reading the guide! I would never-"

"Just tell me to suck your dick and get it over with!" Ada snapped.

Chris looked like he'd been slapped. "You think I would... Ada, that would be ****! Of course I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're..."

"Your ****?" Ada prompted. "I can feel it a little already. A little question in the back of my brain: what could I be doing for Chris?"

"Jesus," Chris said. "I don't know how to feel about this."

"At least you have a choice of how to feel," Ada replied. "I'm about to lose a lot of emotional range. It feels funny, having you be the reason for everything I do."

"Oh, that reminds me," Chris said, pulling out a small slip of paper. He held it in his hand and looked into her eyes. "Ada, it would be best for me if you only acknowledge your neurological problems when you are with me or the researchers. It's in my best interest that you continue to behave as you always have."

"Well, I'm sure you have a few alterations in mind." Ada said skeptically. "Can you do me a favor, actually?"

"Sure," Chris said.

"When it's all said and done, will you make me happy?"

"Happy?"

"Yeah," she said. She put a hand on his forearm. "Listen, you may have noticed me acting a little more affectionate. Right now I have this incessant urge to make you feel good. It's not overpowering; it's like when you're craving a very specific dish but more distracting."

"Yeah, but you can resist it, right?"

"Well," she said, twirling a loose hair. Her thumb was gently rubbing circles on his arm. "I can, but I can also lean into it..."

Chris looked stunned. She fought the urge to giggle at how cute he looked. "Why would you do that?"

"I'll give you something you really want if you give me something I really want," Ada gently explained. "I'm still 100% old Ada for now. I hereby give you consent to do anything you want to whomever I become."

Chris stared at her in mute shock. This time she giggled at his face. "What? I don't think you'll have problem getting my consent going forward, so as one of the last acts of the fully cognizant Ada, I consent for Robot Ada or Arm Ada or whatever."

"That's just you prioritizing me," he said.

"It is and it isn't, which is the best you're gonna get at this point. My instinct was to resist but I've realized it's inevitable so I'm choosing to let go. As a last use of my crumbling autonomy, I'm making a request for myself."

"Make you happy," he said.

She nodded. "And don't just paint a smile on my corpse and stick me in the corner. Give me real and ongoing contentment. To be honest, part of me is looking forward to it."

Chris was thrilled, and immediately agreed to her terms. As soon as they shook hands, she became more coquettish.

"So," she said sweetly. "What now?"