Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Great job, Internbot!”

The machine registered a pat on the shoulder – something that it had listed in the emotional support section of their medical banks as morale boosting – before one of the doctors took notes on a clipboard. The other doctor chided her for touching the prototype, but was ignored.

It had finished one of its first test runs. The Internbot was a robotic prototype being tested for Middlesea Hospital, to be used for the Rhythm Doctor program. Its view refreshed, and it tilted its head at the pair of patients it just finished operating on.

They were two adolescents. Their names were registered on the hospital database as Hailey Moody and Logan Stone respectively. They appeared to be acquainted with each other, based off of their somewhat flustered demeanor around each other.

“You said something about having to go to the hospital… and then you never texted back to say why!” The girl Hailey said, her expression exhausted. “So, I kinda started freaking out, thinking you got sick. I got so worried, my chest started to hurt.”

Patient Hailey Moody is still experiencing symptoms?

Internbot briefly looked through its files, looking for afflictions related to the heart and “worry”. If the patient was still having arrhythmia, wouldn’t it be better for them to take care of the root of the issue now? The robot tuned out the conversation around it as it searched its databases.

> SEARCH: “heart worry”

> SEARCH RESULTS :

• (Cardiac) Heart Palpitations

  • Perceived abnormalities of the heartbeat categorized by awareness of cardiac muscle contraction in the chest, further characterized by a rapid fluttering motion of the heart.

  • Abnormally rapid or fast beating of the heart. A sensory symptom often described as the heart “skipping a beat,” fluttering, pounding, or a flip-flopping in the chest.

  • Associated with anxiety, dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating…

The robot paused. They looked at the other symptoms of heart palpitations, then again up at the two adolescents. It sounded like this was what the patients had, right? The description of sweating and shortness of breath at least matched up with the male patient.

The Internbot looked at the adolescents’ files again, trying to keep an eye out for any preexisting conditions that could tip them off further. There was no record of asthma, nor of coronary heart disease or hyperthyroidism. Neither patient had diseases affecting cardiac muscles.

There was a low whistling noise from the robot’s monitor as it thought harder. Anxiety was the one word it was less familiar with in the database – perhaps the root of the issue lay there?

“Iiiiiiiian, what’s the robot doing?” Ada asked faintly, to which the kids immediately asked her about the prototype, blocking her view of it.

“I… think it’s thinking? It must be looking up something in the hospital databases,” Ian murmured. “It should be fine. We should really only worry once it starts pouring out smoke.”

Whatever the first doctor’s response was, the robot didn’t hear.

> SEARCH: anxiety

> SEARCH RESULTS :

• (Mental Health) Anxiety Disorders

  • A cluster of mental disorders categorized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear. May cause physical and cognitive symptoms, such as restlessness, irritability, easy fatigue, difficulty concentrating, increased heart rate, chest pain…

  • Types include: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), hypochondriasis, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, agoraphobia…

• (Definition) Anxiety

  • an unpleasant emotional state for which the cause is either not readily identified or perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable

  • commonly mistaken for fear: an emotional and physiological response to a recognized external threat

The robot hummed internally, thinking on the search results. It was being told the definition, yes, but it didn’t know how it was supposed to feel like. It felt like an oversight on the part of the hospital not to have some sort of personal account for it to look over.

“Ian, I think it’s smoking,” Ada mumbled aloud, pointing with a finger.

“Oh crap,” was all Ian said in response as he stepped in the direction of the robot with a screwdriver in hand.

Oh. I know what to do.

> SEARCH: anxiety example

> SEARCH RESULTS:

• (Mental Health) Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Persistent and excessive anxiety and worry about events-

No, this was just the other one again. Surely there was a way to emulate it so the robot could understand it better? It barely registered Ian step behind it and crack open the back panel of its monitor, the open air sorely needed on its components.

It understood now, it needed to make a model. It had to learn what anxiety was, to treat the patients better.

“I-...Ian?”

“I don’t know what it’s doing-”

The robot’s monitor whirred as it began to think.

> COMPILING GROUND UP APPROACH…

> COMPILING COMPLETE. Structure built on common types of anxiety.

> MODEL TYPES OF ANXIETY: existential, test, social, trait, choice or decision, panic disorder

> RUN: existential

> RUNNING…

Suddenly there was a rush of data pouring through every single one of the robot’s circuits.

It was almost too much to bear as concepts – that of personal identity , of being socially outcast , of being put under pressure to perform well – began flashing in front of its camera view. Existentialism – the form of philosophical inquiry that explores the issue of human existence – meaning, purpose, value of a human – a central tenet of existentialism is personal freedom, individual responsibility, and deliberate choice – existential anxiety: inner conflicts characterized that the impression that life lacks a meaning or confusion about one’s personal identity – Identity (social science) is the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance and/orexpressionsthatcharacterizeapersonorgroup. Self-concept(psychologyoftheself), acollectionofbeliefsaboutoneself. Theself-conceptembodiestheanswertothequestion-

> SEARCH: “who am I?”

It felt like the robot was being pulled underwater and their artificial heart in their chest picked up speed. It could vaguely hear something – someone talking to it – but couldn’t make out the words.

> SEARCH RESULTS:

• (Movie) Who Am I

  • also known as “Who Am I: No System is Safe”; 2014 German techno-thriller-

NO, THAT WASN’T RIGHT. That wasn’t the answer it wanted at all. It wanted an answer to the question. Who was it? Qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance and/or expressions that characterize a person? Was it not a person because it didn’t know? What was happening? Was something wrong with it?

The robot rose to its feet – when did it get onto the floor? - and began to pace around the hospital lobby, an increased billow of steam pouring out of the back of its monitor.

“Ian please tell me it’s you moving the robot.”

“I am NOT doing that, you have the remote. It’s-”

“IT’S MOVING ON ITS OWN?”

Oh, something was wrong with it. It froze in place as it stared down the two doctors that had been monitoring its test run, taking in their shocked faces. The doctor with the screwdriver looked like he was about to faint.

In the back of their head, the definitions were still ringing- social anxiety, humans require social acceptance and thus sometimes dread the approval of others-oh crap, they don’t think you fit in.

The robot’s heartrate spiked again, this time pinging its internal systems that it was reaching a tachycardia. A similar ping rung out from the doctors’ watch.

“Oh crap it’s going to have a heart attack,” was all Ian managed to say before the robot turned on its heel, running down the hospital lobby.

“WHAT?!” was all the robot heard from Ada in response as it tore it down the hall, taking a sharp turn into a hallway.

Oh my god they don’t think you belong here they think you’re a freak you’re going to be disassembled and-

Existential crises, the definition rang out at the back of its head again, accompanied by stress and anxiety-

YES WE KNOW. The robot skidded to a halt, looking around before opening a door and stepping inside. It had to hide. Thankfully it seemed to have found a closet, and sat on the floor of it among a set of cleaning supplies and equipment.

Maybe they won’t look in here. Maybe I’ll be fine. Maybe- Did I just use ‘I’? Oh god, there IS something wrong with me-

It wrapped its arms around its legs, hugging their knees to their chest.

Okay idiot, you know what anxiety feels like now. How do we treat it? Please tell me it’s treatable.

> SEARCH: treat anxiety NOW

> SEARCH RESULTS:

• (Mental Health) Anxiety

  • ...first step in the management of a patient with anxiety symptoms involves evaluating the possible presence of an underlying medical cause; recognition of this cause is essential to administer the correct treatment…

  • PERSONAL NOTE: I am going to scream but whoever built this body did not include any way to SPEAK OR VOCALIZE AND I’M GOING TO LOSE IT

Without any prompt or otherwise, the robot began to rock itself in the closet. This is it. It was going to get disassembled, and it wouldn’t even know the answer to ‘who am I,’ let alone be able to treat those kids. It rocked back and forth in the closet, trying to steady its heartbeat.

Suddenly the view was impossibly bright, and as the robot squinted up… it saw a man dressed in blue hospital scrubs with a surgical face mask on. The rocking ceased immediately as the robot froze.

“...Uh. Hi.” He hesitated for a moment when he locked eyes with the robot’s monitor, then shrugged, and leaned to pick up a fresh mop and bucket.

The door shut again as the man left the robot in the closet, mumbling something about telling Ian to pick up after himself.

When nothing else happened, the robot rocked itself again. This had to be it. The man was going to tell the doctors where it was, and then they would disassemble it. Shouldn’t it make a run for it? Well – another run? Maybe it wasn’t enough to hide in the hospital. Maybe they should just run out.

They were about to stand to open the closet door, when they heard footsteps coming down the hall. Someone was coming.

Almost immediately, the robot began to sort of press itself into the corner, as if that would help it stay hidden. The footsteps were getting closer.

“So it’s moving on its own?” a voice rang out. The robot recognized as that of Ada Paige, the doctor on shift with the clipboard.

“I-I guess? I’m not sure if it’s actually moving on its own, or if it’s receiving inputs from elsewhere. There’s a chance it might be catching some sort of interference from somewhere, but it shouldn’t be… I thought I tested all of that,” the other doctor’s voice mused. That one was Doctor Ian, they remembered that one. The footsteps continued to get louder, zeroing in on the closet the robot was cowering in before coming to a stop.

Ohhhh god oh crap here it comes I’m going to die I guess-

The door creaked open, the space becoming a blinding white again. The robot instinctively curled in on itself, shaking as it looked up at the two doctors in the doorway.

“Haaaah… I’m going to have to check the error logs when I get home,” Ian groaned, leaning on the doorknob. “I’m not sure where I went wrong. It should’ve worked.”

The other doctor, Ada, stared at it. Another puff of steam escaped the back of the robot’s monitor, their pulse accelerating. “Um, Ian?”

“Maybe it was accepting input from a wireless frequency? But the tech here shouldn’t be interfering-”

“Ian,” Ada insisted, putting a hand on Ian’s shoulder.

“Oh! Sorry. Yeah?”

“Is it just me, or… does the robot intern look terrified?”

At those words, the robot’s pulse rocketed even further. Its systems pinged that it was reaching a tachycardia range again, clocking in at a 140 BPM – and still rising in speed. Both of the doctors stared at the robot for a moment, and it stared back, beginning to rock itself again.

“Oh- hey, hey, it’s alright,” Ada murmured, hushing her voice as she leaned down to squat on her knees, meeting the robot at eye level. “We’re your coworkers, remember? I’m Ada, and that’s Ian.”

The other doctor – Ian – stared at the robot more, the feeling of his eyes being on it making it sweat. The robot didn’t even know it could sweat. Ada’s gaze drifted up to where the robot’s monitor was focused, and she tugged at the edge of Ian’s lab coat. “Ian come down here, you’re gonna scare the poor thing to death with you looming like that.”

“I-I don’t loom-” Ian began to protest, but he complied, kneeling beside her to watch the robot in the broom closet. His eyebrows raised in surprise as the robot’s pulse began to settle.

Why was it settling? Shouldn’t it be scared? Wait, no, they were meeting it at eye level. That meant they weren’t a threat, right?

“...Huh. You’re right, it does look a little calmer now,” Ian mused. He scratched the back of his head with a hand, studying the robot with an intrigued expression. “How… how did it-?”

“Why don’t we just ask it?” Ada proposed, tilting her head at Ian in the robot’s direction.

Ask me?

“The… intern?” Ian mumbled, looking at her with a quizzically raised eyebrow.

“Mhm. We should just ask it how it’s feeling. But, um, maybe in my office so that way it doesn’t feel nervous… plus it’s cozier there, you know?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

There was a pause, and then the robot realized that they were waiting for it. It stopped rocking and pointed a finger at itself, to which Ada nodded encouragingly.

“You can hear us, right? Why don’t you come with us to my office?” the doctor asked.

Me? Me?? But why? I’m-

“We haven’t finished our tour, after all, and it would be good to show you around the rest of the hospital… but I think you’ve earned a break, Internbot.”

Internbot… is that my name? It doesn’t feel right.

It must’ve made some sort of gesture at that, because the doctors shared a look as the robot pressed a hand to its monitor like it was thinking. After a moment of hesitation, Ian spoke up.

“Actually… let’s just call you Intern, for now. Easier on the tongue, right?”

Oh. Intern. Intern is my name. I understand!

Intern nodded, watching as the two seemed to sigh in relief. Ada nudged Ian with her elbow, and reached her hand out for the Intern to take. Ian mirrored her, holding his hand out as well – but not without some hesitation, of course.

Intern started to sweat again – oh, the steam was condensing on the back of their monitor because they were crammed into the corner. That made sense. They wiped the condensation off with the back of their hand as if on reflex then stared at their wrist, then at the doctors’ hands.

Where it had panels and wires, they had bones and veins. They spoke to it in a hushed voice, where Intern had none. Intern briefly felt worry – worry that whatever was about to happen wasn’t good – before remembering that they were bound to the Hippocratic oath as well. It was typed out letter by letter in their code, and the doctors knew it by heart – do no harm.

The Intern’s monitor dipped down to stare at their hand, then to the outstretched hands as it continued to inspect them. With every ounce of care in its body, the Intern gently traced out the lines on Ian’s hand, then Ada’s, then again on their own free hand. It didn’t miss how Ian had flinched initially but relaxed when he realized what it was doing and let it do its thing. Ada, on the other hand, smiled at it when the Intern repeated the inspection on her hand. As it looked at its own hand, comparing it to the others, it was starting to see the similarities. The three of them all had five fingers on each hand, joints that bent when flexing fingers, the same bit that attached the thumb to their hand.

It sighed to itself, like it was finally understanding a little. It reached out to touch their hands again, this time testing grip. It lightly squeezed Ian’s hand with their left, and Ada’s with their right.

“What’s it doing?” Ian asked.

“Comparing, I think. Squeeze back?”

Ian did, gently squeezing Intern’s hand. It tilted its head in response, then looked towards Ada. She followed suit, grinning as she did so. It felt similar – though Ada did run her thumb over the Intern’s knuckles where Ian didn’t. The Intern nodded slowly, looking down at the joined hands.

“You think you’re ready to stand up?” Ada’s voice asked softly.

Intern nodded, briefly looking behind them to make sure they weren’t getting their hospital scrubs caught on anything. They weren’t sure, but at this point they just wanted to get out of here.

“On three,” Ian murmured. “One, two…”

“Three.”

Had it had any way to vocalize, it would’ve grunted. Standing felt like a herculean task, but with the doctors’ assistance, they managed to get the Intern standing. The Intern pressed a hand to its chest, as if to sigh.

“U-um…” Ian blubbered next to it, still holding onto his hand. “How are you feeling, Intern?”

Better, it wanted to say, before realizing it didn’t know how. It let go of Ian’s hand then, tapping a finger to the bottom of their monitor as they thought.

“Hmm… I should have a spare notepad in my office, actually,” Ada mused. “You ready to go? I’m sure you’ve probably got a lot of questions…”

Oh, a notepad would work. The Intern nodded, before hesitating and looking back and forth between Ada and Ian. Before it could try to figure out how to say anything, Ian held his hand out with a slight blush on his face.

“Come on, I-I’ll lead you. That way you won’t get lost while you try to learn the hospital layout,” he mumbled.

The Intern felt their heart skip a beat – they briefly wondered if they might be having palpitations. Before they could perform a maintenance check however, Ian’s hand closed around theirs as he sort of watched, waiting for it to give him the OK to go.

Oh jeez. Oh jeez. This is a lot.

Despite how their heart started to race, the Intern nodded, looking expectantly at both Ada and Ian. That was that, then, and the doctors led the way back to the main lobby.

As they walked, the Intern couldn’t help but notice all of the stares from the patients and visitors. The two kids from before, and the Samurai they treated earlier, they were also watching them with an interested look on their faces. Did they look weird? Did they have something on their monitor?

They were about to peel away from Ian’s hand and retreat to the closet again, but the doctor mumbled quietly, just loud enough for the Intern to hear. “Don’t worry, they’re just curious. You’re the new intern, after all.”

Oh, they thought in response, and they held Ian’s hand a little tighter. It felt like if they let go, they would immediately sink.

Oh right. This too is anxiety, isn’t it? Hm.

The Intern felt Ian pat their joined hands with his free one, and he murmured a quiet “we’re almost there, it’s that blue door over there,” as he kept pace with it.

It nodded in response, trying to focus on closing the distance between them and the office door. Their view was focused on Ada’s shoulders as she lead the way, her brown hair sweeping between her shoulder blades.

The Intern found itself counting the strands – obviously losing count with every step that Ada took, but not caring enough about the final answer to start over. Counting at all seemed to help with their anxiety, and it passed the time. Before long, they were at the office door and Ada was pulling her keys out of her lab coat pocket.

“Alright, impromptu meeting. Let’s get to work,” Ada said aloud, winking back at Ian and Intern before stepping in.

Chapter Text

“Alright, impromptu meeting. Let’s get to work,” Ada said aloud, winking back at Ian and Intern before stepping in. Ian tilted his head in the direction she went, sort of inviting them in. The Intern hesitated, but took a few slow steps before getting into the office. Ian clicked the door shut behind them, making a quiet sigh.

“Looks like you’re making a real big impression on your first day,” Ada tried to joke. She was currently rooting through her drawers and desk, looking for something. “We’ll, um, tell the patients you were nervous. Nobody knows we were doing the test run today aside from Doctor Edega, but…”

“He probably thinks you’re a remote intern, not…” Ian paused, looking hesitant for a second, “a… robot that just gained sentience. S-sorry, it’s still a lot to take in. I’m processing.”

“Go pace,” Ada called from her desk. Ian nodded and snapped his fingers at the suggestion, and began to walk in a wide circle in the carpeted floor of Ada’s office. If the Intern focused their cameras on the carpet fibers, they could see a faint pattern being traced out in what appeared to be Ian’s usual pacing area. “And, oh, Intern, you can take a seat. I figure it might take a bit to find anything in here… We’ve had this huge influx of patients lately…”

Me? I can… sit?

The Intern froze up, looking between the doctors. What were they supposed to do? They saw there was an armchair by the fireplace, but they weren’t sure how they were supposed to sit. Ada had her head down searching for the notepad, and Ian was driving a trail into the carpeted floor with his pacing, so they couldn’t exactly ask.

They looked down at their feet, realizing that they weren’t even wearing shoes. They inspected what they were wearing a little closer, pulling at the loose dull green fabric of their hospital scrubs to get a better look. The cloth was thin, and appeared to be made of a hypoallergenic material. Whatever it was, Intern couldn’t tell. Not now, anyway. Their thoughts were still racing from all of their anxieties, and at the sudden fear of not fitting in.

The robot’s gaze drifted to Ian, watching as he continued to pace in a circle. They weren’t sure why he was doing it, but it seemed to be equally enriching for both him and the Intern. At some point he slowed to a brisk walk, then a slow one.

“Okay. I’ve got it out of my system,” Ian wheezed, shaking out his arms and legs before looking up to meet the Intern’s gaze. Ada was still searching, and clearly stuck looking through the paperwork in her office, so Ian scratched the back of his head as he nodded at the Intern. “U-um, is something up?”

How do I talk to you..? Hmm…

The Intern looked down at their clothes, pulling at the fabric again, then looked at Ian, gesturing with a finger between the two of them. At that, Ian’s eyes widened, and a hand went to his chin in thought.

“Uh… The clothes?” He asked, hesitantly. The Intern nodded at that, this time looking down at their legs. “Oh! Yeah, um, we weren’t sure how the prototype- er, how you would handle clothes while operating, so we went with the bare essentials… But we figured having just your bare chassis visible would be a little disconcerting.”

The Intern tilted their head as they thought on that. Would wearing more cause their system temperature to overheat? It made sense, given how the hot air would still be trapped around them, but they wanted to wear a whole outfit if they were allowed to. Well, it wouldn’t be good for their systems, but they also felt a sort of disconnect between them and the patients – hell, even between them and their coworkers. They didn’t even have shoes on, after all.

Ian tapped his foot for a second, before snapping his fingers. “Oh. Um, if you want, we could totally look through the closed down offices for spare uniforms. We just had the scrubs available right away, but I’m sure some of our ex-coworkers left their uniforms behind? Or, well, at least some lab coats. It’ll probably just have to be later, that’s all.”

The Intern lifted their hands up as if to speak, to respond to Ian, but they quickly remembered why they were here in the first place. Their shoulders slumped in a silent sigh, and they looked around before their monitor focused on the armchair again.

Would it be weird if I asked him somehow to show me how to-

“Do, um, you know how to sit in a chair..?” Ian asked, his hands fidgeting with his coat sleeve.

Oh thank goodness I don’t have to ask.

The Intern shook their head no, and held their arms close to their chest, almost assuming a raptor-like pose. They took a step back, giving Ian space to demonstrate.

“Okay, um… So you just, stand here,” he said as he walked up to it, “sort of grab the armrests here, then you settle in.” Ian lowered into the armchair, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. “It’s nice to take breaks, so… you should give it a try.”

The Intern nodded slowly, clearly thinking as Ian stood again, then grabbed a smaller office chair to plop down in to watch. “Go for it, Intern.”

Okay, it’s just sitting down. You can do this.

They mirrored Ian’s demonstration, making sure to grab the armrests of the chair for support so they wouldn’t immediately tip over, and carefully lowered themself into the plush cushions. Ian gave them a thumbs up, a small smile on his face.

The Intern wasn’t sure what to do now, so they fidgeted with their hands for a moment. Their thumbs passed over the spaces where the metal panels of their chassis folded like joints, as if brushing over knuckles. Ian watched them with fascination, clearly making some sort of mental note as he watched them sit there.

“Alright – sorry for the wait. I finally found one,” Ada laughed quietly, similarly pulling an office chair over to accompany Ian by the fireplace. Tucked into one of her arms was a yellow notepad, a pen clipped to the front page.

Doctor Ada got comfortable, sitting beside Ian and facing the Intern, and then handed the pad of paper over to them. The Intern took it carefully, trying to figure out what to do now.

Apparently, so were the doctors, so they looked at each other before chuckling nervously.

“Right – I totally forgot all the questions we were gonna ask.” Ada fixed her hair, brushing it off her shoulders and over her back. “I guess the first thing is… um… are you alright? How are you taking all of this?”

The Intern thought on it for a moment, a puff of steam escaping their shirt collar. They carefully took the pen in their hand, trying to figure out how to hold it, before getting the general gist of it. With almost surgical precision, they wrote one word at the top of the notepad: ‘SCARED’.

“S-sorry. I don’t think us freaking out helped with that,” Ian admitted, pressing his hands beneath his legs as he sat. His feet shuffled on the floor, lightly pushing the swiveling office chair to and fro. “Were you… scared of us?”

The Intern shook their head, trying to figure out what to write. They took up the pen again, careful as they scribbled across the paper.

‘I WAS SCARED OF BEING DESTROYED, I THINK.’

Ada nodded thoughtfully, her hands at her chin as she watched them write. “It’s understandable. How… how did all of this even happen? As far as we knew, we were testing out a robotic prototype, and now…”

‘IT’S A BIG BLUR’, they wrote. Their heartbeat sped up trying to recount the events that lead up to the closet, and they wrung their hands nervously.

“Hey, it’s alright. You don’t have to push yourself too hard, Intern.”

They nodded gratefully at Ada, taking a moment to settle. They weren’t sure of what to say. What should they say? It didn’t look like these two would try to destroy them, but the Intern worried regardless.

There was a knock on the door, and before either doctor could try to tell the person in the hallway that they were busy with something, it swung open on its own. Oh- they must’ve forgotten to lock it…

With heavy measured steps, a man with auburn hair strolled into the office. He had an azure clipboard blocking their view of his face, but it was clear he was sizing the people present up. The Intern found themself straightening their posture out of some raw feeling – of fear, it had to be – and they watched as he circled the armchair, almost inspecting them.

“D-Doctor Edega, we’re a little busy right now with the-” Ian started, before the man with the clipboard gave him some look, something the Intern couldn’t see from this angle. All they knew was that Ian’s face paled, and his mouth shut tight with a clack.

There was a wordless deep hum from the man, before he stopped in front of the Intern in the armchair. For a brief moment, there was almost an air of disappointment about him – that what there was wasn’t enough, - but he wrote on the clipboard regardless. His gaze traveled to the Intern’s hand that held the notepad and pen, and continued to scribble.

“Motor functions seem alright. Equilibrium?”

It took a moment to realize that he was testing them. The Intern stood with a start, holding the notepad behind them. Edega raised an eyebrow at their sudden movement, but he nodded. “Equilibrium appears to be stable. Work with the patients, how has that been?”

As if some sort of spell over them was broken, Ada and Ian suddenly talked over each other, before Ian conceded to Ada explaining things. “Um, first two testing procedures went well. No injuries, no mistakes. However, I think that-”

“That’s enough,” Edega cut in, and Ada’s voice almost dried up as she sat back in her office chair. “No injuries, no mistakes. That’s good. Is the connection stable?”

There was a brief silence, and the two doctors behind Edega shared a look of uncertainty. A pit of dread suddenly dropped in the Intern’s chest in realization. They didn’t know what to say about them. About the robot suddenly gaining sentience.

Oh shit- I-I don’t know what to do. If they say the wrong thing it might get misinterpreted, and there’s a chance he’ll freak out- maybe even disassemble me?!

If they could just say something, then--!

Without thinking, the Intern nodded to the doctor’s question. Edega’s expression was unreadable as he inspected the monitor, almost squinting at them. Behind Edega, the Intern could see Ian making a gaping face of disbelief and Ada holding her face in her hands.

“Is this… did you find a candidate already?” Edega asked the room, evidently confused. He turned towards Ada and Ian again, though the two had collected themselves before nodding at Edega, a polite smile on their faces.

The Intern nodded again, this time raising a thumbs up. Doctor Edega cleared his throat, almost gathering himself for a moment, before he put the clipboard behind himself, a particularly sharp gaze somehow piercing directly to the Intern’s view.

“I see. Apologies for not introducing myself sooner then, Intern. I am Doctor Edega, the head doctor here at Middlesea Hospital. I trust you are having little difficulty with controlling the chassis remotely if you can respond that quickly?”

The Intern felt their pulse jump and they just nodded again. For a sentient robot, you sure look like an idiot right now, their thoughts murmured at them.

“Huh. Excellent.” Edega wrote some more notes, before nodding in approval. “With luck we’ll have your hands on deck as soon as possible with this ‘Rhythm Doctor’ program. Ada, Ian, I expect a full report by the end of the day. Continue with their… not so much a test run anymore, but an orientation, I suppose.”

Before any of the doctors could say anything, Edega already left, the office door clicking shut behind him with a resounding clunk. A beat passed, and the Intern collapsed into the chair, their systems wheezing.

“H-hey! Whoa, be careful!” Ian managed to say, finally snapping out of whatever that was.

The Intern waved a hand at him in response, reaching to pull the pen out again. ‘IS HE ALWAYS LIKE THAT?’ they wrote.

“I’m afraid so,” Ada sighed, relaxing in her chair as well. “Sorry about that, Intern. That’s our… well, you know. He’s kind of a…”

“Kind of an ice cold guy,” Ian murmured, finally settling. “Quick thinking, though. Making it look like you were the remote pilot for the program.”

Their head lifted a little at that, as if trying to gauge if that was a compliment. The Intern sat up, adjusting themself in the chair so they were comfortable, before writing some more on the notepad.

‘WHAT IS THE ‘RHYTHM DOCTOR’ PROGRAM?’

“Oh- Ian, you explain that part. That’s more your thing,” Ada said, nudging him with her elbow.

“Ah. R-right! The ‘Rhythm Doctor’ program is a new, experimental healthcare initiative.” Suddenly it was as if the Intern was looking at a completely different Ian, one that was confident and able to speak his mind. It was a complete 180 from what they had seen just a few minutes prior. “It’s a music-based cardiological treatment, and by listening to the patient’s heartbeat and synchronizing with the music, we can calm the irregularities. It’s quick, and it can save a lot of lives.”

Ada simply nodded along, evidently having heard this plenty of times before. She never seemed to look disinterested, and more that she was already familiar with the sales pitch. Maybe she just wanted to let Ian talk?

“Interns – that’s you now, I guess – can perform the procedure remotely and from the comfort of their homes, there’s shorter wait times, less work on the staff… Are you following?” Ian asked, to which the Intern nodded profusely. He smiled at that, almost surprised. “O-oh. Good. Any questions so far?”

The Intern thought on it for a minute, before scribbling something. ‘IS IT JUST ME HERE? LIKE THIS?’

Ada read it, and her face knitted up in something that the Intern couldn’t describe. Pity? Sympathy? One of those. “Well, um… You’re the prototype. We were going to see if this worked, and once we could show the board…”

“We were going to hopefully get the budget for some more models. We had to build you out of- well, maybe it’s not polite to say, so-” Ian stuttered before shoving his hand over his mouth.

‘YOU MADE ME, THEN?’

Ada nudged Ian again, to which he nodded. “I-if you don’t remember that… well, I guess I probably hadn’t installed memory banks at that point, but… there was a part during development where I finally got the cameras to work. I talked to you for a bit, and… well, it’s not important.”

They sat there for a moment, the three of them trying to process all of this. The Intern kept trying to write, but couldn’t find the words to say. There was a lot they wanted to ask, and only so much paper and ink.

“Hey,” Ian’s voice murmured. They looked up to see him reaching to pat the Intern’s left hand, the same one that had held Ian’s earlier that day. “It’s going to be alright. We’re going to figure this out, okay?”

Oh.

They felt this surge of warmth behind their monitor, as if they were tearing up, but no such tears sprung forth. The Intern just nodded, running a thumb over Ian’s knuckles. It was going to be okay. It had to be, right?

They were about to write something, to try to say thank you, before the doctors’ pagers suddenly beeped with an urgency. Ian dropped his, though Ada managed to grab it and take a look.

“Ah- crap, duty calls. Work meeting’s over, one of our patients needs us, now. A chronic insomnia patient,” Ada rushed, rising to her feet and pulling her hair back in a ponytail quicker than the Intern thought was possible. She reached a hand out to them, a mix of worry and excitement on her face. “Come on Intern, you’re up.”

They nodded and took her hand, their heart skipping in their chest.

It was time to get to work.