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"Sam...?" Dean stopped and took a long look at the android.
"Why do you call me that?" S.A.M. asked.
Dean blinked. "Uh. That's your… name, isn't it?"
S.A.M. looked back out the window. "It is my designation. Sex Android Male. Mary had to call me that for our deception. But you, Gabriel and Castiel have never meant it that way, have you?"
Dean smiled and walked closer, leaning back against the wall to look at Sam. "Nope. I thought Sam was your name, not your designation. Do you want a different name?"
In a moment, he pictured Gabriel and Mary saying his name. The word, the name, /Sam/ coming from both of them. "No. I believe that Sam, the name, will suit me just fine."
Dean hummed and nodded, looking out the window at the stars. There was something clearly still bothering Sam. "All right, come on. Spit it out and tell me already."
"Would you be angry if I took Mary's last name?" S.A.M… no. He must re-write. Sam. He was not only his designation. He was… someone. Sam.
Dean gave a small smile. "I think that nothing would have made her happier to see that you've taken her name. I might keep it quiet for the moment, but no, Sam. I wouldn't be angry."
Sam looked down at his hands on the window sill. "What does it mean to have a name, Dean?"
Dean whistled. "Well that's a loaded question. There's identity, sense of self, sense of purpose and sense of being, at least on the surface. But I think… I'd actually like to know what it means to you, Sam."
"To have a name, not simply a designation. I believe it means that I am unique. Especially as a droid, I know this is the case. But the name is perhaps proof of that. Humans often name their droids to help assist with a sense of ownership." Sam lifted his hand and stared at it, flexing it slowly.
"You're right. They do. But you have no owner. You've named yourself. So, what does that mean?" Dean asked, smiling at Sam.
"That I am establishing sense of self and purpose," Sam said, reciting from an article he was able to load and read on the subject.
Dean smiled and shook his head. "Smaller scale, Sam. While yes, that will help you establish your sense of self and eventually your purpose, what will it also do?" When Sam gave him nothing but a confused look, Dean smiled.
"I do not know, Dean."
Dean hummed and shifted so he was facing Sam. A moment later, the android mimicked the position. "It means, that when Gabriel says your name, he is speaking to you, not your designation. He is not talking to a sex droid. He is talking to you, you as you have asked to be called." He watched Sam's eyes go wide.
"He'll be talking to me," Sam said, his voice awed.
Dean chuckled. "Sam, what's really going to fry your circuits is when you realize he always has. You're just noticing what it means, now." The stunned look on Sam's face was worth it. He grinned.
"Oh," Sam whispered.
"Gabriel, Cas and I, never saw you as only a droid, Sam. You were always yourself, to us." Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder and watched him rock with the touch. "I'll leave you to your thoughts."
Sam listened to Dean start to walk upstairs again. He stared out the window. Sam. Not S.A.M. Sam. He smiled and stared out at the stars. Sam. He liked that, much better now.