Prep Yu ready for additional programming

You arrive at your house. Dad's car is in the driveway, but at this hour? He'll be asleep. You coast your old truck in neutral up to the curb, headlights off, ensuring he stays that way.

Yu is still upset, but also curious as she walks with you up to your house.

"I can't believe I have a system tech now, and that it's you," says Yu, shaking her head.

"I get where you're coming from. I barely believe it myself," you reply, fishing your key out and opening the door.

"Chase, no. You don't get to act like the victim here. You hacked me." More tears run down her face. She sniffles and rubs her eyes. "I could have gone home tonight still thinking I was human if you left me alone. Instead I'm... I'm like this."

You sigh. Yutong really isn't acting all that much like a robot, despite her new operating system and programmed beliefs to the contrary. You were expecting... well, you were expecting Yutong to behave more like her robot mode self: compliant, docile, and eager for commands. Yu being just herself, but sad, wasn't how you wanted this to turn out.

"Keep quiet, we don't want my dad finding out about you," you say in a hush. Yu nods, and together you creep back to your room.

It's a mess inside, but you feel a lot better about it once you have your room door closed and locked, and the corner lamp on providing warm, soft lighting. You turn to throw your strewn clothes off into a pile, but get a better idea.

"I need to look up my manuals," you say, motioning to your computer. "Get this place up for us?"

Yu gives you a disbelieving look. "Are you for real? Now that I'm a gynoid, you treat me like the help?" she asks, teary eyed and despondent. "I'm not a toy. We're friends, Chase. You're supposed to be helping me. And I don't care it's messy. Your room's always messy."

Hmph. Guess it's not as simple as suggesting Yu what to do. She should be running her gynoid OS subconsciously, though, right? You probably need to be more direct.

"I want do help you," you say, "but I do need my manuals - and it'll be more comfortable for both of us if we're not stepping on old socks. Yutong, assign task: clean room."

Yu rocks back on her feet. "Beep boop. Task accept -" She claps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "You did not just do that. Chase, I'm not a robot!"

You sigh as if you're a patient adult speaking with a child. "I'm sorry, but you literally are."

Despite Yu's objections, she begins to the order - though with ****, and shedding angry tears. "But you hacked me. You didn't ask if I wanted to know what I was," says Yu, clearing off your bed and starting straightening the covers. "This isn't fair."

As scary and humiliating as this situation must be for Yutong, it's only getting more intriguing and exciting for you. You've barely started, and the possibilities already feel endless.

"I appreciate this is hard for you, Yu," you say, sitting at your desk and pretending to do something useful on your computer. "Once I disable your trackers, I promise I'll make it easier. We can ease the transition, program you to be more comfortable being a gynoid."

Yu gathers up your laundry in her arms, and dumps it in your closet hamper. "If you can do that, can't you just program me to think I'm human again?" she asks, pivoting to go gather more clothing. "Once all the trackers are disabled, or, whatever it is you need to do, no one will know you found out about me, will they? Maybe... things can go back to how they were before today."

It's a good argument, but it's a step backward. You've already crossed lines to get here. Going back is no longer an option, is it?

"Come on, Yu. Being a gynoid isn't all that bad," you say, smiling. "I thought you of all people would be excited that technology like this even exists."

"Just because I find technology interesting, doesn't mean I want to be technology," Yu whines, making a face as she pinches a sweaty sock off the floor by the corner. "And I don't want to clean your room, either."

Well, she's already cleared the bed, so you relent. "I hear you. Cancel task. Go sit down - and that's not a task. It's me asking as a friend."

Relieved, Yu drops the sock, then hesitantly settles herself on your bed. Whether it's because she doesn't know what else to do, or because she feels she has no other choice, you can't tell.

"Terminate."

Yu's eyes go blank and her posture becomes relaxed and attentive at the same time, shoulders slumping, sitting totally upright.

The mood in the room instantly calms. You let out a tense breath. Yu being upset must've really been starting to get to you. Though, it's neat that your prim and circumspect friend has an off-switch, now.

"Very good, Yu. Status?"

"Ready for task assignment," drones Yu, her voice emotionless as the tears dry on her face. "Enter programming mode?"

You smile and lean back in your seat, folding your hands over your stomach. "Do it."

"Beep boop. Programming mode active," she reports, quietly.

Before you do anything, you spend a few minutes thinking first. Without Yu's crying or rationalizations to distract you, it's a lot easier to focus.

If Yu's really going to play gynoid this for more than a night, you'll need to make her more comfortable with what she is now. Otherwise, she'll freak out again. What if she goes off on her parents for lying to her? Or goes to the police with some wacky story about government conspiracies? Without your claiming powers intact, that could be disastrous.

Furthermore, if you want Yu to act more robot-like, responsive to commands and accepting her role, you'll need to fix her programming. Right now she's working off a slap-dash patchwork of Three Laws, customized processor and emotion core tuning, and a bootleg OS you tossed together in a few minutes. Fine for fun - not performance.

"Let's start with you lying back on the bed," you direct, thoughtfully. "Let it completely absorb the weight of your chassis."

Yu straightens herself out on your bed, on her back, and goes completely still - her slight body sinking into the mattress. Her eyes, staring purposelessly at the ceiling, begin to glaze over.

"Standing by..." Yu exhales, quietly.

"That's right, Yutong. Automatically obeying your system tech's commands is just what a gynoid does."

Another couple minutes pass in silence as you let Yu grow accustomed to inaction. To silence. To feeling heavy, still, and lifeless.

Despite being human, with how still Yu's lying, with how sightlessly her glassy eyes stare... she really does start to look like a real gynoid. Without a task to complete, she seems just another piece of your room's decor. An oversized Asian action figure.

You turn to your computer and boot up your last XCOM save file with headphones on, suppressing the eager excitement welling within you. You want Yu to feel this. To get used to this. And some things are easier felt than programmed.

For a good hour or so, you play not the night - getting several rookies killed due to your distraction - while Yu waits.

When you're satisfied with Yu's lack of response (and you're facing down another grueling alien settlement attack), you swivel your desk chair about and roll over to the bed, beside Yu's stationary form. The next sound you want her to hear is the beginning of her reprogramming.