It took a solid thirty seconds for Zeke to register the last words his boss had said. The young man fell into his chair as if he were a pile of bricks, putting his head down onto his work area. Sniffle.. sniff. He felt like crying at that moment, and it took everything in his power to hold his tears at bay. 

Sitting there and pressing cold metal to his face, he slowly calmed down. The coolness allowed his red face to return to its usual pale appearance. He sat up, a weak flame growing in his chest. The determination to succeed, or the fear of failure? He gave a sniff and shoved his little project to the side, shuffling through his cabinets for some paper. He'd need to begin planning, and he was not exactly looking forward to that. Usually, he enjoyed poorly sketching out his ideas and thoughts, but this was a different case. 

Zeke took a deep, shaky breath before beginning to sketch out his plans and ideas. This took twenty minutes, and even then, he would crumple and throw away the drawing. Another shaky inhale. With blurred eyes, he couldn't draw at the moment. 

He swore at himself, spinning in his chair to his work computer. Perhaps he could work on the coding part. That was what was most important, after all, the personality of it. Zeke drummed his fingers on the desk, thinking in silence, the only noises his breathing and his tapping. 

Then, he began to type. 

Every few minutes, he would simply delete all that he'd written and start anew. It was never good enough. Until he struck a vein in his mind, a flow of the thoughts rushing forward. Taking over the sound of breathing was the sound of furious typing. Coding. Creating. 

He was creating a life. The thought made him freeze for a moment, poring over his code. This would become a personality.  The thought made the corners of his mouth tug into a half-smile. He wiped his face one last time, blew his nose, and that was the last time he left his chair that day. He was so transfixed on his new project, he'd even forgotten to eat lunch. 

Zeke was the last person to leave the building that night, only being reminded when his boss returned to tell him to go. The next day would be the same. And the next. 

He would finish this damned android, even if it was the end of him.