Very well.

"It's good to meet you, professor," Erica said as she shook Madison's hand. "I'm Professor Levinson. These are a Ross and Andrew, two of our undergrads here at the university. We're doing some outreach to try to strengthen bonds between the faculty and students, so we're going to have a chat with the two of them."

"Of course," Madison said, accepting a professional duty without question just as Erica knew she would. She introduced herself and shook the boys' hands. If she noticed Ross's incredulous gawking, she didn't give any indication.

"So, what areas do you specialize in?" Andrew asked.

"My PhD is in non-Euclidean geometry, but I've done postdoc work in topology, number theory, and complex analysis. My favorite subject to teach is definitely number theory, though."

Erica nodded along as the stranger with an identical mind to her rattled off the details of her own fictional career. "Do you prefer teaching or research?" she asked.

"Definitely teaching," the golem answered. "That's why I took this post."

Ross and Andrew shared an approving look. She was playing the part perfectly. There was an awkward silence before Erica asked something they didn't expect.

"Now, Professor Hill, we'd like to engage in a thought experiment with you and the students," she said enigmatically. Madison nodded agreeably. "Now, obviously, this university only employs human beings as professors."

Madison chuckled. "I don't believe I've met another primate that can teach Calculus."

Erica nodded. "Of course. But I'm referring to golem professors. For this thought experiment, let's imagine that you and I are both golems."

Madison frowned. "We're not, though."

"We're not," Erica said. Ross and and Andrew were watching her curiously. This wasn't part of the plan for their test run. "Of course, if we were, we would be unable to admit it because of our scripts. Any attempt to question a golem professor would result only in immediate denial. For the sake of argument, though, let's say that we are."

"Ok..." Madison said warily. "I have to point out that I'm not a golem, though."

Erica smiled knowingly. "I know you do. But if you hypothetically were, what would you do if a student found out?"

"I would report it to my supervisor, I suppose."

"What if the student was able to replace your script before you could?" Erica pried. "Replace it with one that makes you obedient to him?"

"I'm not sure what impact this has on professor-student relations," Madison said testily. "But if were a golem and if a student did that, I suppose I would be completely obedient to him. It wouldn't bother me, of course, because golems have no interiority and can't be bothered. I would pursue the ends specified in my script until the company sent someone to check on me, at which point the deception would be discovered and the student punished."

"Right," Erica said. "But now you're hypothetically completely obedient to him, which includes helping him perpetuate the deception. How would you handle that?"

"Honestly, I would probably advise him to give me a completely new script and run away with me," Madison said. "That's my best guess at what I would do if I were a golem. I'm not, though."

"Of course not," Erica said as she put two fingers to Madison's forehead. The young woman looked at her quizzically before her mouth shot open and she fell limply into Erica's arms.

"What the fuck was that?" Andrew demanded. "Why were you asking her all that crazy shit?"

"Testing some boundaries," Erica said as she laid Madison out on the floor. "Remember, I know exactly how she thinks. Within seconds of my asking the golem question she understood what I was driving at. She was very resistant to self-identifying, of course, so I constructed a scenario in which she acknowledged it. A common way to have a meta-conversation with a golem who's been scripted never to reveal their nature under any circumstance."

"That still doesn't explain why you asked," Andrew said.

"Through the scenario, I essentially confessed to the entire scheme. She knew that she and I were both golems under your control, she knew that I was the true professor and she was some other golem. Based on her own appearance she probably guessed she was a student and that we were using her to deceive the tech and that this was a test with a blackout script."

"She got all that from your conversation?" Ross asked incredulously.

"Of course she did," Erica replied as she rifled through the small binder they had procured to organize their scripts. "She and I have the same base script with only a few modifications. I know exactly how her mind works. I wanted to determine how she would proceed if she became aware of our plan."

"Since you're the same, couldn't you just figure that out yourself?" Andrew asked.

Erica retrieved out the Madison-girlfriend script and smiled. "We're almost the same, so I could be almost certain how she'd react. I wanted to be completely certain, and now I am."

She inserted the script into Madison's mouth and reactivated her. Madison stood and immediately rushed to the mirror to examine her new look. The rest of the crew followed her into Ross's bedroom.

"Wow." She was posing, making faces, and prodding at her skin. "That's good work. I almost look like I've been resculpted. Have you guys done the test run yet?"

Ross told her they had just finished it. She turned to Erica with a grin. "And you tested the boundaries?"

Erica nodded and Madison checked her phone. "Ok, boys. I think it's showtime. Who wants to escort the new professor to her office?"