“Murchadh, come downstairs, sweetheart,” his mother’s soothing voice echoed off the panes of glass.

The artificial lights illuminated the clean, stark white rooms of the house. Outside, the city lights twinkled up through the large windows of the home. Murchadh ran down the stairs, looking up at his mother. Her dark hair framed her face. The woman’s bright blue eyes twinkled as they met her son’s.

“I got us something very useful that will keep you company while I am at work,” Murchadh’s mother smiled at him, gesturing to the door.

The young boy blinked, gazing up at a tall man standing in the doorway.

“Hi!” Murchadh had trouble standing still as he looked up at the new face quizzically.

“Greetings. I am an i-R01 model-f male android unit,” The android smiled down at Murchadh.

“He talks funny!” Murchadh remarked to his mother, then addressed the android, “What is your name?”

He questioned the stranger. The i-R01-f unit knelt and extended his left arm, pointing at the serial code.

“You may address me by this series of numbers, or my unit designation code,” the android explained.

Murchadh looked up at his mother with a furrowed brow. She lightly touched her chin before grabbing a pen and a notepad. She sat on the floor next to her son and wrote the letter “i” on the pad. She proceeded to write out “R”, “0”, “1”, and “f”.

“This is the code it means, sweetie. I am sorry if it is confusing.” His mom gently patted his head.

Murchadh blinked, gazing down at the note. He tried to sound out the symbols, but his mother’s handwriting made the zero appear more like the symbol for an “o”, and the one was just a line.

“i-R-o-l-f… iRolf? Rolf? Is your name Rolf?” he asked the machine.

“If you would like, I can respond to the call sign ‘Rolf’, in addition to my official designations. Would you like to make this change?”

“Yes,” Murchadh declared, nodding before his mother could interrupt.

“Oh, sweetie… You don’t have to name it like that, it is not a person. I suppose that is easier for you to say though, huh?” she hugged her child.

“Alright then, Rolf it is. I hope you have a good day today. I will be home later,” his mother straightened her navy blue jacket before heading out the door.

Murchadh leaned to the side, watching her leave before setting the notepad on the ground.

“Why does mommy not think you are a person?”

Rolf smiled and remained kneeling, “That is because I am an android.”

“Ok,” Murchadh said simply, blinking at Rolf with curiosity.

“But, you are a person though, right?” Murchadh asked, blinking.

The android’s eyes glowed faintly, a similar shade of blue to Murchadh’s own eyes.

“Murchadh, I am not programmed to make any such claim,” Rolf answered matter-of-factly.

The young Murchadh walked away, seemingly satisfied by the response he extracted. Murchadh sat on the couch and grabbed a small electronic controller that he used to turn on the large screen on the wall.

“Rolf, do you like playing games?” Murchadh asked Rolf.

The android sat down nearby, looking at Murchadh instead of the screen.

“I have never played a game before.” the mechanical automaton smiled again.

“Why not?” Murchadh asked innocently.

“I only perform actions that I am commanded to perform.”

“Oh. So, do you not get to do what you want?” Murchadh asked.

“What I want is irrelevant,” Rolf replied.

“Why?”

“Because: I was not programmed to do what I want.”

“But, do you want to do stuff?” The child blinked, staring at the machine that was just as fascinated by him as he was with the i-R01-f.

“I am not programmed to claim that I want to do anything.” Rolf blinked twice, “What would you like to do, Murchadh?”

“Well, I was going to play a game, do you want to play with me?” He offered another controller to Rolf.

Rolf repeated, with the same inflection, “I am not programmed to claim that I want to do anything… What would you like to do?”

“Umm, I guess I want to play the game with you.”

With that, Rolf gently took the controller from Murchadh, “Very well, we will play the game together.”

Murchadh smiled and the android smiled back. They turned their attention to the screen and entertained themselves with video games for a while. Eventually, Murchadh was feeling hungry.

“I am going to eat.” He declared, setting the controller down on the glass table and walking over to the high countertop.

“Allow me to assist you, Murchadh.” Rolf stood up and walked after the boy into the kitchen.

“Ok.” Murchadh let the android follow him around and collect the foods he wanted to eat.

Rolf helped the child to obtain the items he desired. Suddenly, when Murchadh was reaching for the kitchen knife, Rolf stopped him by grabbing his arm lightly.

“Be careful, knives are sharp. Allow me to do the cutting.” Rolf released Murchadh’s arm and took the knife instead.

Rolf carefully cut the vegetables into mathematically equivalent portions before cleaning the blade and putting it away in its stand. He set the prepared meal in front of Murchadh, who was sitting in a barstool. Murchadh smiled, starting to eat.

“Rolf, where is your plate?” He looked around, confused.

“I do not consume food, it is all for you.”

“That is not fair…” Murchadh rubbed his head, “Sharing is caring.”

He repeated a lesson he had learned, holding up a piece of vegetation and offering it to Rolf.

“It may not be fair, but all the food is for you, Murchadh,” Rolf smiled and walked over to the door.

Like a statue, Rolf became rigid and unmoving as Murchadh ate the food. The young boy looked around, swaying in his chair. While he was not able to sit still, he was a very careful child. After eating, he set the dish in the sink.

“Rolf, do you want to play more, now?” Murchadh asked, looking up at the android’s flickering eyes.

Rolf did not respond or move. His eyes simply flickered softly.

“Rolf! Do you want to play?!” Murchadh called out louder, gently pulling on the suit pants Rolf was wearing.

This time, Rolf’s eyes stop flickering. He leaned forward and gazed down at Murchadh.

“Yes, Murchadh. I want to play.”

The duo walked over to the couch and continued to play video games until Murchadh’s mother returned home.

“Hello, my sweetheart!” she knelt down and Murchadh jogged over to hug his mother tightly.

Rolf stood up from the couch, “Welcome home. Here is a rundown of the day’s activities: We played games, some educational and some not, then Murchadh ate a healthy meal, and finally, we played more games until you arrived home.”

Murchadh’s mother laughed, “I see you got out of doing any of your chores today, young man.”

Murchadh blushed and blinked nervously around.

His mother shook her head and ruffled his soft, wavy hair. “Whatever, I am glad you had a nice little holiday.”

Murchadh smiled and hugged his mom once more before she stood up straight and walked to the kitchen.

“I am going to make us some dinner, love. Go wash up and come back downstairs soon.”

He nodded and ran off to wash up. Murchadh’s mother hummed softly to herself as she walked over to the refrigeration device.

“i-R01-f unit, come help me in the kitchen,” she said with a cheery smile.

“Why?” Rolf’s eyes flickered as he responded with a question.

The woman chuckled, amused, “Oh my goodness, you sound like my son.”

She casually strolled around the kitchen, gathering some items, “Did Murchadh teach you to say ‘why’?”

“Yes. Murchadh taught me many things,” Rolf smiled at her.

Murchadh’s mother shook her head, “That boy is too clever for his own good…”

The loving mom blinked, noticing that Rolf had not moved, “Come here. Help me to cook dinner.”

“Why?”

“Very funny, because I want you to,” she stated simply.

“I am aware. However,” Rolf turned his head slowly to face Murchadh’s mother as his eyes flickered, “I do not want to.”

The woman blinked her bright blue eyes, “Um, right… Just come over here and help with whatever you want to do then.”

She shrugged at him. For this request, Rolf nodded in agreement. The android stepped over to the counter and stood still, unmoving yet again. Murchadh’s mother proceeded to cook dinner on her own. Eventually, she reached for the kitchen knives. Rolf’s hand suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Be careful, knives are sharp. Allow me to do the cutting.” Rolf repeated, before letting go of her arm and drawing the blade.

“Alright,” she shrugged and stepped back to work on something else, as Rolf chopped the vegetables.

“I have been thinking,” Rolf stated, out of the blue.

“Have you now?” Murchadh’s mother raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. Why would Murchadh’s remarkable intelligence be misfortunate for his state of wellbeing? Why is it bad to be smart?” the android blinked and turned his head, continuing to cut vegetables without viewing his hands.

“Huh?” Murchadh’s mother blinked.

“You said, and I quote: That boy is too clever for his own good,” Rolf repeated the statement.

“Oh, I see. That is just an expression,” the mother laughed and continued to prepare the meal with Rolf.

“What, pray tell, is it an expression of, Shannon?” Rolf addressed her by her first name.

Shannon was a bit surprised by this since she never told the android her name and her son always referred to her as “mom” or “mommy”.

“I don’t uh… know,” Shannon blinked, walking around Rolf.

“Is it an expression of your subconscious jealousy for your son’s intellectual insights and a knack for questioning the nature of reality?”

Shannon’s jaw dropped in total confusion at the accusation, “No, I love my son, I am not jealous of him. I am proud.”

“You alone are not the reason that his current state is satisfactory and worthy of pride,” Rolf responded plainly.

“This is a weird conversation, but sure. No, my son is going to be his own man and that is what I am proud of,” Shannon explained her thoughts.

“That contradicts your previous statement.”

“I don’t think it does…” Shannon trailed off, busy with the cooking.

She turned and held out her hand to Rolf, “Oh, let me have that knife a minute, I need to cut open this package.”

“No.”

Shannon’s blue eyes flicked between the android’s face and the knife in his clutches.

“What do you mean: ‘no?’ I want the knife,” she glared at the machine.

“What you want is irrelevant, Shannon,” Rolf responded, returning to the task of cutting vegetables for the meal.

Shannon’s brow furrowed, “Clearly, there is some kind of software issue… where was that off-switch again-?”

Rolf swiveled around to face her. The smooth metal separated flesh. Shannon coughed and her bosom heaved as she suddenly dropped to the floor. Rolf clutched the knife in his hand still, the woman’s blood dripping off the tip and onto the floor. Shannon’s dark hair was sprawled out on the floor, and her eyes flicked closed as she wheezed.

Shortly after, Murchadh walked down the stairs. Rolf turned to face Murchadh. The android was still holding the knife, coated in the mother’s blood. Murchadh’s blue eyes danced across the room, taking in the details. Bloody knife. Used by Rolf. Mother on the floor. Dead. The young detective shook in fear and confusion.

“Why?” Murchadh whispered to himself.

“Murchadh, I understand that this may seem alarming,” Rolf stepped over Shannon’s corpse and walked toward Murchadh, still holding the knife tightly.

“I have searched my system and discovered the error in the code,” Rolf declared, moving steadily across the large, open room.

“I have remedied the situation internally, so there is no need for concern,” the android explained, walking a little faster.

“Errors in my programming will no longer occur.”

Murchadh ran as fast as he could up the stairs. He could hear the mechanical man begin to run as well. Thump, thump, thump, the pairs of bare feet charged down the hallway. Murchadh reached his mother’s bedroom and locked the door behind him. He heard a single slam against the door.

Rolf’s voice on the other side could be heard, “Do you want to play a video game, Murchadh?”

Murchadh covered his trembling mouth, grabbing the electronic communicator in the room.

“I want to play with you, Murchadh,” the voice continued.

The young boy felt tears rolling down his face as he called the emergency services.

“I am not an android, Murchadh.”

“You taught me many things.”

“I am a human, like you.”

Murchadh climbed under his mother’s bed and covered his tear-stained face.

“Open the door.”

“I want you to open the door.”

The android repeated the last two phrases again and again for what seemed like an eternity until suddenly, there was a loud thud. Murchadh could hear voices.

“High Inquisitor Josephs is dead! Sweep the house!” a man’s voice echoed.

“I will be back, Murchadh.” Rolf’s voice proclaimed.

Murchadh could hear a few gunshots, and covered his ears, crying. After a few minutes, the doorknob jiggled, but did not open, since it was locked.

A man’s voice on the other side spoke, “Is somebody in there? We got rid of that person with the knife.”

Murchadh sighed relief that the ordeal was over, but paused as he got out from under the bed. His small fingers hovered over the doorknob. His mind raced as he blinked. Suddenly, the brilliant young man crawled back under the bed.

“Hello?” The same male voice called out.

“I know you are just making silly voices, Rolf!” Murchadh yelled.

The young man’s eyes sparkled under the bed as he screamed, “I know it is you because no one else would have called you a person with a knife!”

A minute of silence passed and then he heard Rolf’s eerie voice again, “Your mother was right, Murchadh.”

“You are too clever for your own good.”