Just a Machine |Detroit: Become Human

8.

A couple of weeks had passed since that awful night.

Caroline was not the same anymore. Instead of making fun of Androids, she had began to fear them and it showed in the way she'd stare at Zoey.

Marlene had no choice but to tell Zoey to change that routine she had been programmed her to do. That hour she had with Daniel where they both would pick Emma up had to be canceled.

And for some reason, the first day it happened, Zoey's LED remained yellow the first fifteen minutes of that hour, as if forgetting she was no longer supposed to go to the Phillips.

Red code lines would appear every time she turned toward the door

/STAY HERE

Marlene's command took a bit to settle in, though. Zoey had to run a scan on her system as to why the reason.

She didn't want to become like Daniel.

^Software Instability

She wasn't a Deviant, how the people had began to label those Androids ignoring their orders. Those who deviated from their programming.

Zoey didn't think she was one. She obeyed, but her software took a couple of days to adjust again to that change of not seeing Emma. Her social relations program, she figured. She was so used to adjust to the burst of emotions Emma was daily that it was like a clockwork how her protocol was ready to process her emotions and pick an appropriate approach.

Marlene took notice of this and she was a bit cautious. Did that mean, Zoey actually missed Emma?

That was Human emotion.

And so she gave herself a mission to figure that out, approaching Zoey who was preparing dinner that night.

"Zoey" Marlene called, resting her elbows on the counter, thoughtfully staring at her Android.

Zoey raised her head, glancing to her owner. "Yes, Marlene?"

Marlene flickered her eyes to the glowing blue LED, "Yellow means processing, right?"

As if to confirm her statement, Zoey's LED cycled yellow once with the slight furrowing of her eyebrows before returning to blue, "That is right"

Marlene chuckled, "I could tell" she said cheerfully. "It's the thinking color"

"I suppose if that is how you understand more, then yes" Zoey replied, a light shrug of her shoulders, unsure as to why her owner was bringing up her LED.

A text box appeared next to Marlene.

Curious about Androids?

"May I ask why the interest?" Zoey's social relations protocol detected a follow up question was required, seeing Marlene relaxed and quite at ease, something it had happened the last couple of days. As if she no longer was wary of her.

"Yes, you can" Marlene said with a grin. Zoey was learning to keep going a conservation without sounding like a robot and she couldn't help but think that she was proud of that. "It remained yellow a lot the first few days after... Daniel"

Zoey's LED turned yellow, cycling in thought. Without her meaning to, the footage of that night was pulled up, HUD slightly in static as if her software was trying to put away the memory file.

^Software Instability

The label appeared as the Daniel on the file fell to his knees, thirium leaving his wounds.