Phew.

"That's all for now," Andrew said. "Oh, and are there any good templates in there? Sex templates?"

Madison rolled her eyes again. "You know we can lift cars and calculate square roots instantly, right? Seriously, though, I'll pop out a few of the most relevant scripts." She winked at Ross. "Maybe we can use some later."

While she was printing the scripts, Ross took Andrew aside. "So after this, can I... you know?"

Andrew smiled. "All yours, buddy. Good thing Derek moved out last month, huh?"

Outside of the building the trio split up. Andrew went to Professor Levinson's office and Madison and Ross headed to Ross's small duplex just off campus.

As soon as they set off, Madison grabbed Ross's hand and interlaced their fingers. "So," she said with a playful smirk, "When's our first date? I don't think sneaking into a lab to reprogram me counts."

"I don't know," Ross said. "I'm still wrapping my mind around this. I mean, you're my friend. Or you were my friend? Can you even technically be someone's friend?"

She laughed at that. "Ross, some people have imaginary friends. At least I'm a physical object! Why would knowing I'm a golem change anything?"

"...because you're not real?"

Madison stopped and turned to face Ross. She put his hands on her midsection, as though they were slow dancing. He felt the warmth radiating off of her flawless skin through the thin fabric of her tank top.

"Look at me, Ross. Do I feel real?"

He swallowed and nodded.

"Do I sound real? Do I look real?" Her voice was compassionate, her eyes filled with empathy.

"Yes," he said hoarsely. "Very much."

"Then to you I'm real. Let me ask you this: if Andrew was secretly gay, would he still be your friend?"

"Of course," Ross replied.

She nodded. "Even though the Andrew you know is a facade created by the real Andrew, it doesn't make your friendship any less real. Everyone has secrets, but we love and care for each other anyway. We know there's a little artifice, maybe some false confidence or secret shame or hidden resentment, but we still see the person underneath."

"But there isn't a person underneath your script," Ross pointed out.

Madison removed his hands from her sides and continued walking. "A minor distinction," she said. "The script inside me makes me funny and kind and sarcastic in a unique way. It's a personality without a person."

Ross didn't respond. They walked in silence for a bit while he digested what Madison told him. He felt the cool night air on his skin and smelled the fresh cut lawn of the quad, and the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Ross realized that he was just now coming out of shock. Since the moment he saw Madison crumpled to the floor, everything had been dreamlike and unreal. Now, in the silence of the empty campus, holding hands with his new girlfriend, Ross felt grounded again. Madison rubbed his forearm lightly and hummed contentedly as they walked. He decided to ask a few more questions before they arrived.

"So do you, like, enjoy things?" he asked. "I mean, do have you have real feelings and stuff?"

Madison thought about her answer. "Probably not the way you'd define it. Like, my script tells me to love pop music, so I love pop music. Turning on a top 40 station doesn't give me any real joy, but following my script is natural, necessary, inevitable, and good. It doesn't feel good the way things feel good to you, because I don't have any qualitative way to judge whether a feeling is good or bad. I just follow the script, and following the script is good."

"What if you didn't follow your script?" Ross asked. The leaves crunched under their feet as they made their way through the early morning fog and it occurred to him that he hadn't slept all night.

"That's impossible," she said plainly. "I can't stop following the script. It's like... can you do intentionally do something you don't intend to?"

"That's a contradiction," he said. "But what if someone **** you? Like tied you down?"

"Then I'd do what I can to fulfill my script in that scenario. Early golems were like the monster from It Follows; they were given a short description of a task and relentlessly pursued it. The earliest scripts were usually for ****, and the golem wouldn't stop until its target was dead. Then they added rudimentary logic, stuff like 'Get $1000 from Michael. If Michael doesn't have $1000, bring him to David's house.' If you tie the golem up, it will try to escape. If you bury it, it will dig its way out."

They had reached Ross's apartment. As he fumbled with his keys, Madison looped an arm around his waist and whispered into his ear.

"Enough questions. Let's get in there and I'll show you what a golem girlfriend can do."