sentient // phan

http//: prologue

"So, this is our newest model, fresh off the assembly line. It one comes with at least a thousand more phrases." Dan nodded, rubbing his face in thought. He slowly reached out to the robot, and pinched its silicone skin, pulling it gently from its metal skeleton.

"Can you turn it on?" He asked Chris, the salesman, who smiled widely, his bright white teeth almost as white as the porcelain ones within the mouth of the droid that stood, limply, in front of both of them.

"I sure can! Here we go..." Chris, checked the tag wrapped tightly around the bot's wrist, inspecting the name and number printed on it. "Anthony?" He asked after pushing the Life chip all the way into the slot on the back of the robot's neck and shutting the hatch.

The robot's eyes slowly slid open, and its face was neutral as it surveyed Dan and Chris. It blinked with a slight clicking sound, which Dan disliked.

"I am Anthony." The bot replied, blinking again, slowly, looking from Chris to Dan, unimpressed.

"I was wondering if thought my friend here was cute." The bot blinked. "What do you think?" The salesman prodded, gesturing to Dan, who pushed his fringe farther out of his eyes, unphased. The droid surveyed Dan with its digital eyes, the irises spinning with the new sensory input.

"I do not think." it replied, and Dan sighed, rubbing his face in annoyance. Chris popped the slot on the back of the droid's neck with a concerned look to Dan.

"Not your type?" He asked as it drooped back into its original position.

"It's lovely, it really is. But do you have anything a little more... real?" He asked, turning away from the bot, feeling uneasy at the sight of it turned off after it had just surveyed him, however artificial it was. Chris' smile faded slightly, but he looked around quickly, checking to make sure no one else was near them on the sales floor, and leaned in to whisper to Dan.

"We do have one, a, uh, experimental model. It technically hasn't been released to the public yet, but I'm sure we could make an exception for one of our most... valuable customers." Chris said, surveying Dan's gold watch and diamond earrings. Dan pursed his lips, thinking for a split second, but then his face straightened.

"Anything." He replied. Chris smiled again, this time much more deviously.

"Just this way, sir." Chris waved for Dan to follow him further into the warehouse, passing only one salesperson and a couple, holding each other as they silently surveyed the child section. Dan began to straighten his already impeccable sleeve cuffs in apprehension. Maybe this was a bad idea.

But all hesitancies were erased when Chris opened the door marked "Do-Not-Enter". Dan's jaw dropped open slightly as he surveyed the bot standing on a pedestal just inside the room. Its face was perfectly angled and china white, its lips a soft pink, its cheeks just the right amount of rosy. Its skin looked so real from where Dan stood. He wanted to touch it, to feel it, to run his hands all over it.

Chris grinned at Dan's reaction. He pushed the door open further and gestured for Dan to enter, which he did on soft, slow feet, his eyes glued on the definition of beauty that stood before him. It had perfect posture, not slumped over like the other bots when they were off. It looked very, very real.

"Dan, allow me to introduce you to PL-34071. Or, as I call him-" Chris shut the door gently behind them, and they both looked at the droid. "Phil."

The robot opened its eyes gently, and his lips split into a dazzling grin. "Hello, Chris." He tilted his head at Dan, who felt a slight blush creep up from the collar of his jumper. "Who is this?"

"I'll take it." Dan said quickly, wishing he could have seen this model even sooner. He thrust his hand into his pocket, his wallet open in a split second and a plastic card shoved under Chris' nose. "How much?" Dan begged. Chris slowly took the card from Dan's hand, smile just as wide as it was before.

"That can be arranged." he said, inspecting the card quickly. "Please, follow me to the cash register." He said through his teeth, and they wandered off, Dan with one last glance at the robot, who waved. The door slammed shut behind the two humans.

"Goodbye!" Phil called.