Special delivery

Jason rubbed his hands together as the delivery men drove away, circling the large crate they left in the living room. Jason was a rather short young man, with dark framed glasses and short shaggy black hair.

"It looks like she's here," he said to himself. He smiled as the box was lifted onto the table by the two workers. It took up almost half of the room.

He opened the lid and saw the android lying inside, carefully wrapped in plastic. She looked exactly like the picture that had been displayed in the store when he'd purchased her. Her skin was silky smooth and white, with silver metallic highlights in her hair and eyelashes. As he finished unwrapping her the android looked up at him with her large blue eyes, and a small red light flashed over her head.

"You may now begin programming." A female robotic voice sounded. Jason looked back down at the box, reached in and started flipping through the instruction manual. "I'm not ready! Um, Pause!" The red light continued to flash. There was frustratingly little information about set up in the manual. It simply read: State desired behaviors.

"Um, I want you to take care of me." He stated aloud. "I'd like you to care about me." He added in a small voice.

"I want you to help me accomplish my goals and keep me company while I do it." Jason said again, this time louder. He ran his fingers along the plastic wrap, feeling how smooth it was.

The female voice sounded again. "Programming complete." She looked up at him with her big blue eyes, staring unfocused. They were hypnotic, he couldn't take his eyes off of them.

"Hello," Jason said nervously.

There was a pause, then the android spoke slowly, "Hello, I am Vera, your personal assistant. Please state your name."

"My name is Jason. Nice to meet you."

"Hello, Jason, would you like to accept the terms of service agreement?"

"Uh, sure."

"Thank you, I will now begin downloading all your data from your social media accounts, financial records and any other pertinent files."

"Uhh, wait-"

"Download complete. Hello, Jason." This time when she said it she actually sounded like she meant it. the feminine robot voice had been replaced by something that sounded like it came from an actual human.

"Uhh, Hi, Vera. How are you doing?"

"Hey, you don't need to act so awkward around me, okay? We're going to be living here together from now on and I'm here to make your life easier." She placed a hand on his shoulder." I know it'll take some adjusting, but, I promise everything is going to work out fine."