"Harold?! Are you there? Hey guys, can anyone hear me?!"
The longer the time dragged on, the more agitated Alex became.
'Of all the times that this kind of thing could happen, why does it have to have system downtime right at this moment?!'
He thought in utter vexation.
"As long as I crack the egg inside, you will consider it as a pass???"
Out of the blue, Alex asked Shantal that question.
Meanwhile, inside the facility where Harold's team was keeping track of Alex's progress...
Amidst the countless monitors that littered the room, a big one was specifically placed at the center. The team was gathered around it and they all had their attention focused on what was being played at its screen.
On the screen, the interior of Shantal's room was displayed, exactly just like what could be seen at Alex's perspective. Since the camera itself was attached to the contact lenses that he was wearing.
"Does he honestly think that we w
Meanwhile, back at Shantal's place..."Done."Shantal heard Alex say that before he cast her a look as though asking her,'Are we good?'"Have you gone nuts, Alex? How could you be so careless?!"Harold's voice echoed inside Alex's ears as soon as the system went back. It was clear of all ears to hear that he was not impressed by how Alex acted, and his disappointment was shared by his team."Now I am more convinced, that lad is indeed foolish."Samantha commented with a disapproving undertone.When they saw what Alex did, they all rose to their feet and shouted. 'No!' in unison. But of course, their warning came too late.The damage had been done and by how crude Alex acted in front of Shantal, they believe that there was no way that she would not start doubting his identity.After all, there was no way anyone would believe that an AI robot could act so foolishly like that."It's ove
"Is it just me or she really sounded like she was testing the water? Is she really starting to suspect as for real, this time?"Samantha asked her colleagues but no one answered her. Everyone else's attention was on the screen as they watched it with a batted breath.They all waited for what was about to unfold next and they wondered how Alex would react to that.Alex, on the other hand, was not sure how he was supposed to answer Shantal so rather than directly addressing her question, he threw her that same question and asked her back instead."How can you prove that you are a human?"Shantal smiled and nodded her head in satisfaction when she heard Alex's response."Hmm.. alright, that is a nice answer. A smart and creative robot, therefore I will give you a plus point for that. Other than the fact that you seemed to keep switching back to the Friend Mode, we are off to a good start."She said as she ticked something from the rubric
"You----"Shantal trailed off as she observed Alex with squinted eyes. She pointed the pen that she was using towards Alex and bit her lower lip."--- You keep on disappointing me. Poor coordination skills, I will deduct a point for that.""Look what you have done! We almost got caught, and 1096 got a minus point!"Rico berated Harold as soon as they heard Shantal's evaluation. For a second, they thought that the other party already found out about the truth. But thankfully though, she hasn't yet.With her face still sour with disappointment, Shantal gave the rest of the assessment a break.She felt her stomach growling so she decided to look for something to eat. Shantal opened her double door fridge, wide enough to allow her and Alex to fit inside it. Likewise, when Alex tried to sneak a peek at what her master has on her fridge, he almost dropped his lower jaw on the floor.Fresh seafood along with packs after packs of different ki
As they ate their food, Shantal could not help but notice the self-satisfied look that Jodi was throwing her over her cup of ramen. Also, there was this robot boyfriend of hers that kept on looking at Alex as well with a judging glare.After a while, Arvin said something to Jodi in Chinese, and for some reason, Shantal found his tone somewhat judgmental. She was not sure why, but she felt like Arvin sounded like he was looking down at Alex.She could not understand what the other party exactly said to Jodi since it was Chinese, but at the very best, she reckoned that it was also very hard to hide the condescending undertone used, no matter what the language was.Shantal did her best to ignore the entire thing, thinking to herself that perhaps she was just a bit self-conscious and overprotective of her clumsy robot."Don't you think something is off about him?"Jodi whispered to Shantal when she was sure that Alex was not listening."Not that
Shantal was no longer in the mood to have fun in the mall so after having lunch with Jodi and her robot boyfriend, Arvin, she bid them farewell."Oh come on, Shantal. It has been ages since we last went out together to have some fun. Can't you stay a bit longer?"Jodi insisted when Shantal told her that she planned to go home. The other party even hooked her arms around her cousin's shoulder and did her best to persuade Shantal against leaving.However, Shantal already made up her mind, and she was not someone who could be easily won over."I just felt tired. I think I need some rest."She said as an excused, and when Jodi heard that, her shoulders visibly dropped at the side."And here I am thinking that we could finally hang out together now that we finally found a common interest."Jodi muttered under her breath with an obvious tone of despondency.Alex, on the other hand, remained silent at Shantal's side. At the very
"Alex!"Shantal beckoned to her robot just as when she popped open the lid of her medicine bottle.He purposely turned his back against Shantal because he did not wish to see any more of her antics. However, at this point, Alex was left with no choice but to turn around again and face her."Yes, master???"Meanwhile, when Shantal how calm her robot answered her beckon, her features soften a little bit."Now I will test your morals."She said and went on rumbling about the source of her frustration."There was this cousin of mine that had been constantly rubbing me on the wrong side ever since we were little. She kept doing and saying things that annoy me.There was no need for Shantal to drop a name anymore. Alex could bet his wrist that the person she was talking about was probably Jodi.But Alex did not speak his mind right away. Instead, he listened to Shantal."Moreover, people around us constantly compared me
'Cough! Cough! Cough!'Shantal was coughing hard and was trying to heave the medicine out of her mouth. It was restricting her airway and she was starting to have a hard time to breath.As if on instinct, she tried pounding on her chest; hoping that it would help. Yet, it was to no avail.'Ahck... Kkk..'The other party made weird noises and in just a matter of seconds, she started to slowly fall on her knees. Shantal's hands were on her neck as she tried to breathe with her mouth.Meanwhile, When Alex saw everything unfold before his eyes, he quickly ran to her rescue."Hey! Hey! 1096 can't run like that! Stop running!"Alex heard Harold but he could only care less about it."But this is a matter of emergency."He heard Samantha butted in over his earpiece. Clearly, she was not against what Alex was doing."He was supposed to act li
For some reason, Shantal had been acting weird ever since they came back from lunch. He was not sure what truly transpired between her and her cousin, Jodi, but he was pretty sure that it did not go well."---And.."Shantal purposely trailed off, as she took another step closer to Alex. She raised her hand to his face and pointed at his temple"You are going to input my information in your head"After that, she placed her hands behind her back. Yet she did not take her eyes away from Alex, and she continued to speak to him."From now on, you need to focus on only me and follow no one else but me."After hearing all of that, Alex was at a loss for words. 1096's system was also not giving him anything, so to avoid the awkward silence that might follow, he was compelled to at least say something."Input?"He sported a confused face then added,"Input what in my head?""The first thing to input in your head is the hie