The prototype?" I asked, looking at the device in the center of the room.

"Yes, you didn't think I just created AI on my first try, did you?" She said.

"I don't know, maybe?"

She shook her head and sighed.

"I'll be back. Don't tamper with anything." She said as she closed the door.

I prayed in silence for her as I heard the paparazzi storm her outside.

I took a look around the spacious room. A bunch of papers were on the tables. Some were mathematical, and some were about components and connections I'd never heard of before. Hell, some looked theoretical, not that I'd know, though.

The other stack of papers was a bunch of drawings. I thought she was doodling a lot at home, but it turned out those were drawings. Really bad drawings, too.

One of the drawings was the design of a humanoid machine, albeit incomplete. Just below the neck, there seemed to be a hole. Probably, she was planning to add something to that point.

Other than that, the room was almost empty, except for the prototype.

It was a spherical mechanical structure made of hexagonal pieces. For the most part, it looked dull and uninteresting.

I poked it a bit, to which it didn't respond at all. After five minutes of staring at it, Serah returned from speaking with the paparazzi and shutting down the business offers.

"What are you doing?" She asked as I poked at it a bit more.

"Trying to get a reaction," I said.

"It's not supposed to react."

I stopped bothering the structure and sat on a chair.

"So, where were you?" I asked.

She sighed.

"Answering some questions. Some corporations are offering big money for some shares on this."

"Did you take them?" I asked, interested.

"Not really. It's still in the testing phase. I still want full control over the project. The only issue is that I don't have the funds to mass-produce this." She said as she took a look at the prototype, which reminded me of a question I wanted to ask.

"You said it was half sentient?" I asked.

"Something like that, I don't actually know if it has an emotional state." She said.

"Why would it have emotions?"

"All of them do. But initially, this one was a practice run for the design, but it doesn't respond much, nor does it seem to have strong emotions or any emotions at all, for that matter."

I was a bit worried about the fact that they had emotions.

"Wait, hold up, why would they have emotions?" I asked,

"After looking at some data, they displayed signs of intelligence. It seemed each one's experiences contributed to their own intelligence, which gave them different preferences and curiosity. Over time, it was observed that they liked some things better than others. The prototype is sort of a failed test on how it reacts with humans." She explained.

"This sounds like the beginning of AI taking over," I commented.

"Yeah. Against that, I decided that it would be best to have them programmed to like and help humans." She said.

I was still a bit worried, but she seemed confident.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"So they are programmed to stand with humanity?"

"Yes. The programming sort of overrides negative emotions." She said.

When she finished her sentence, the prototype buzzed a bit. Sarah's brows furrowed, and her expression turned curious.

She held the prototype curiously, prodding at it like I did before, but it went back to being irresponsive.

"That's odd," she commented.

"Why? What's wrong?" I asked.

"It usually doesn't react to anything." She said.

She put it back down, still gazing at it curiously, then turned back to me.

"Anyway, it's now used to store information." She said.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"It's like a cloud. Every AI I plan to make will be connected to the prototype. It is a gateway for the machines to share knowledge. "

"So it's a hivemind?" I asked.

"Not really. The machines don't share experiences, only important information. If they did, they would all have the same personality and memories, which would disturb people's privacy." She said.

"Because the information would be shared?"

"Yes. Imagine a world where a random person on the other side of the continent can see your personal information due to the interconnected knowledge base of the AI."

That did sound worrying.

"Because of that, they are programmed to only share important information. Stuff you'd find on the internet, and some experiences that might be helpful to other people and situations are the only things they share together."

I got up and poured myself a cup of water. I asked Serah if she wanted some too, but she refused.

When I returned, she was looking at the designs and drawings that I'd seen earlier.

"Isn't it concerning to have all that information in this thing?" I pointed at the prototype.

"It's safe, but it needs better cybersecurity, which is what I'm looking into. I don't know what'll happen if it gets corrupted, especially since the AIs receive information from it." She said.

Her phone rang after that. Serah answered promptly.

"Hello? Yes, I can arrange... sure. Not a problem... alright, see you then." She hung up.

"What was that?" I asked her.

"E-Pro. I've been contacting them to help with the cyber issue. They also offered to invest in the invention." She said.

E-Pro was the most well-known company when it came to cybersecurity and data protection. The E stood for electronic, and the pro stood for pro. Founded by a Chinese guy a couple of decades ago, it had a good reputation and was the go-to for all cybersecurity matters.

"They want to meet tomorrow." She said, smiling.

"That's great." I was about to hug her when the door to the adjacent room opened.

A humanoid machine was sweeping the storeroom of the lab.

"Oh, Jackson, this is Sebastian, one of the first successfully created machines." She introduced.

The machine's voice was rough and mechanical.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." It said, extending its hand toward me.

"Uhhh..." I looked on in shock.

After a while, I extended my hand and shook its hand warily.

The machine was amused at my reaction for a bit, then continued cleaning.

"Oh, and madam," it said to Serah. "It's getting late. You said you had a surprise planned?" It winked.

"Madam?" I raised an eyebrow.

Serah shrugged and looked away.

"It began calling me that on its own volition, okay?" She said. "Anyway, let's go, I have something to show you."

She placed the prototype in the storeroom.

"Don't you have a name for that thing?" I asked.

She smiled.

"Delta 1A. That's the name" She said.

I couldn't decide if she had a great or horrible naming sense.

"Cato, meaning all-knowing, is the nickname." She said.

Well, it sounded easier, I guess.

She bid farewell to Sebastian and pulled me outside. On my way out, I could've sworn I had heard a buzz from the storeroom, but I brushed it off as my imagination.

The sun was setting, and all the paparazzi were gone by then. I checked my pockets for the keys and almost had a heart attack when I didn't find them.

Serah laughed, and I realized she was holding them in her hands.

"I'll drive," she said. "We're going somewhere nice today."

'How did she...?' I thought, but brushed it off.

I jumped over to the passenger seat, and Serah entered the car. She started the car and reversed onto the road. As she drove, the conversation continued.

"What are you planning to do with the AI?" I asked Serah.

"Release it worldwide and help people." She answered as she deviated from our usual route home.

I didn't have a reply to that, so I changed the conversation.

" Where are we going?" I asked her.

"You'll see." She said.

For the next half an hour, she kept driving until she reached a restaurant that we had both been looking to try.

"Say, babe," I asked, "you know payday is next week, right?"

"I'm aware," she said as she undid her seat belt.

"So my bank account is empty, right?" I said.

"Oh relax," she undid my seat belt too.

"It's my treat. Besides, we're gonna be rich soon."

She beckoned me to follow her inside.

As we entered the restaurant, a few people turned their heads, but most of them continued to mind their own business.

"You'd think more people would recognise you," I said to her as we made our way to a table.

She wasn't bothered a bit.

"People don't read the paper anymore." She said.

"Aren't you on the news?" I asked.

"They probably haven't aired yet. I'd give them two days." She said as she looked at the menu.

When the waiter came, Serah already had both of our orders in mind.

"We'll have the lover's special." She said.

I raised an eyebrow at her, and her cheeks reddened.

"We haven't gone out in a while, okay?" She said.

As the waiter looked at me, I nodded.

"Oh, and some extra chicken," I said.

The waiter left, and Serah raised an eyebrow at me this time.

"What? This meal is clearly a scam, there's barely any meat here." I justified myself as I referred to the picture on the menu.

A sweet smell permeated from the kitchen as we spoke.

"I don't remember you locking the lab, did you?" I asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Plus, Sebastian doubles as security." She said.

At this point, I had run out of topics, and she saw that.

"What do you say we watch a movie when we get home?" She asked.

"Sure, what do you want."

"Anything interesting, what do you think?" She said.

"Poltergeist?" I offered.

She sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Something romantic." She said

'The hell? You said anything!' I thought to myself.

"We could make it romantic. Every time you get scared you can jump into my arms." I said.

By the time we had finished bickering, we had settled on romantic comedy. Our food was also ready.

I finished my portion rather quickly, including the chicken.

While looking at her, I fell deeply into thought. My savings were almost enough to get her that ring she had had her eye on. I was only left with one more paycheck before I could afford it.

As she ate, we made eye contact, and she swallowed and looked at me.

"You never finished telling me about your high-school rugby team." She said, then ate another mouthful.

"Oh yeah. Well..." I started talking.

By the time she had finished her meal, we were one of the only ones left in the restaurant.

It was open 24 hours, and it was 10 pm right now.

"Want Desert?" I asked her.

"We have cake at home." She said as she rose from her seat.

She paid for the meal and tipped the waiter some money.

I drove us back to the house.

We got back and watched a movie. We were only through half of the movie by the time I realised she had fallen asleep.

Sighing, I carried her to bed and tucked her in.

"Love you," I whispered and closed the door.

I went back to finish off the movie. I watched another two films before I fell asleep on the couch.