Chapter 2: The premises of the beginning (2).

Time passed, and after more floors than they could count in search of an android, Clovis and Reiner finally found a model that caught Reiner's eye. This was a model that wasn't too extravagant, despite a few minor peculiarities. She had milky-white skin and long, slightly dark pink hair, with a few light highlights that caught the eye at first glance, to the point where both wondered how her hair had been made. What's more, it matched her bright pink eyes perfectly. After hardly averting their gazes from her face, they both read the small note placed on the glass of her station, and saw the android's detailed description.

{ First name: Alice - Pink hair (slightly darkened in places) - Pink eyes (light) - 169.8 cm -76.2Kg (internal and external structure included) - material: light, resistant riftine alloy, steel and titanium-based variant - slim waist - measurements: 32D... }

Reiner stopped reading at this point, concentrating instead on the personality described by a brief description not far below.

{ A naturally cheerful and optimistic personality who will put anyone in a good mood (this is not guaranteed), calm in difficult situations and possesses a touch of perversion if people get too close to her. ( The personality of the product may change over time, no refunds will be made under this pretext, nor any returns ). }

Once he'd read the quick description, Reiner made his decision. But just as he was about to open his mouth to tell Clovis, Clovis spoke before him, looking slightly disappointed.

"Too bad about the ending...shall we keep looking?"

Reiner gasped, speaking hurriedly before Clovis could leave.

"We'll take it, there's nothing to throw away, it's perfect! What's more, you want to keep looking? We've been here forever already..."

Clovis looked surprised, then nudged Reiner lightly before whispering a few words in his ear, a big smile crossing his face.

"So that's your type...should've said I didn't know, well it's too late...look at this one instead, it's much better isn't it?"

Clovis pointed randomly at a station. At this spot was a very muscular male android, dressed in a soubrette outfit, which made Clovis burst out laughing when he saw where he was pointing. Reiner first doubted his eyes, then made sure of what he was seeing by observing the whispers of nearby customers. However, as Reiner blinked rapidly to try and understand, he heard Clovis approach again, saying.

"Rooo I was just kidding, no need to make that face."

Reiner looked back at him, and spoke in a voice just as serious as his expression, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"You know, everyone likes what they like, me it's the perverts, you're allowed to like it, I won't judge you. You'll always be my best friend."

Clovis chuckled without answering, slightly embarrassed. He then passed his index finger over the payment machine, saying "Payment confirmed", leaving a robotic voice to reply: "Thank you for your purchase, and come back soon.

And so, after an hour and a half of searching, Reiner and Clovis finally bought an android. Barely thirty-eight seconds later, however, a service android dressed in a red employer's outfit with the store's "Androïde Paradise" logo on his jacket arrived, and opened the visibly armored window, before saying.

"Do you want to activate it now or at home?"

As if expecting it, Clovis answered without the slightest hesitation.

"At his home, and can you give us the instructions to activate it please? Ah, and also put his charging station in the trunk of his car?"

The android replied in a cheerful tone, while giving instructions to the other androids around with a few quick, neat gestures.

"Of course, and come back soon! If you encounter any problems, please don't hesitate to contact us, we'll be at your complete disposal!"

Once they'd climbed all the floors in the elevator and carried the disabled android down, they arrived in front of Reiner's car. The charging station was already in the trunk, testifying to the efficiency of the androids employed by the store. It was at this point that Reiner asked a question he'd been dying to know the answer to for some time.

"Why didn't you activate it? It would have been easier to do over there though."

"You're right, but you forgot one detail, the android will wake up and be confused because she's never been turned on before, and to calm her down in front of a crowd of customers and employees...good luck. Even if they're programmed to quickly appreciate, or more, their owner, it's not instantaneous for all that. I've been there.... On the other hand, it's a lot simpler to live at home alone, and it's said to be quiet, so let's avoid unnecessary worries..."

Clovis replied without too much enthusiasm, his eyes empty, visibly depressed by a memory he would have preferred to forget.

"Ah I understand now, it's not silly when you put it like that."

Reiner quickly added after seeing Clovis' face, silently wondering what had happened to make him depressed like that.

* * *

After spending just a few minutes on the return journey, Reiner arrived at his apartment. He then set up the android in one of the few relatively empty places in the apartment, to prepare for its activation with the help of Clovis, who couldn't stop smiling after accomplishing his goal. However, once everything was in order, Clovis handed the manual to Reiner and spoke to him while turning his back to head for the front door.

"Good luck man, if there's a problem it's not my fault, well normally there wouldn't be..."

Then, as he left, he waved his hand, pretending not to hear Reiner's various questions as he whistled. This left Reiner sighing resignedly, unable to stop himself from looking at the garterbelt highlighted by Alice's outfit.

"Well...now that I'm alone...let's read this I guess...and after we've calmed her down let's go buy a change of clothes for her...this outfit...is too short..."

He sighed again, then after carefully reading the instructions twice for almost ten minutes, Reiner began to speak a little hesitantly.

"Protocol 1 activation...passwords 7274."

After hearing these words, the android named Alice opened her eyes, gradually raising her head.

"Where am I?"

She said, looking gradually more and more confused.

Reiner did his best to answer her gently, taking the friendliest tone of voice possible despite his deep voice.

"You've just been bought, and you're with your new owner. Don't worry, I won't do anything to you against your will."

Then he shouted almost unknowingly because of the slight stress of the situation.

"Protocol 2 deactivated, full free will engaged, any further attempt to activate protocol 2 will have to be consented to by the Synthetic naming Alice, and her owner."

Surprisingly, there was no mention of Protocol 2 in the manual. Reiner only knew about it from his former job. The function of Protocol 2 was fairly unknown, but crucial, forcing the android to obey its master's orders even against its will. As for Protocol 3, it was briefly touched on, but consists solely of protecting its owner. The same goes for sub-protocol 129, which enables the android to access the Internet freely via its internal components.

Once Protocol 2 had been deactivated, Alice froze momentarily, before relaxing after actually confirming the deactivation of her Protocol 2. She then spoke in a cheerful voice, flashing a radiant smile.

"Thank you master, I see you work in one of my sembla factories..."

However, she was cut off mid-sentence by Reiner, who said, "Worked". He added almost instantly.

"It's strange, why aren't you afraid? I was told you'd be confused at first. Seeing as I used to work in the technical side of Synthetics I don't really know what I'm supposed to do...even though I know the hidden protocols and functions by heart..."

"Deactivating Protocol 2 made me feel a little more at ease, as if a weight had been lifted from my consciousness...it gave me a good pre-feeling, although my confusion hasn't gone away yet. But why did you deactivate it?"

Alice asked, still sporting her warm, gentle smile.

"To me, you're the same as humans. It's stupid to chain you, even to buy one to be honest... Anyway, I'm not really in a position to talk now that I'm one of those people..."

After a slight silence Reiner continued his sentence, somewhat embarrassed as he looked away.

"Would you like to buy some more clothes with me? Don't say you don't need them, I already know you sweat too... well... even if it's just water evaporating to get rid of the heat from your internal machinery... Anyway..."

After listening wordlessly, and seeing her future attempt at refusal fail before she'd even tried it, Alice nodded while saying.

"I apologize for the inconvenience..."

"Subprogram 214 deactivation, you can speak as you wish and stop with this 'master', it's making me uncomfortable..."

Alice blinked non-stop at this unexpected action. She spoke thus of her own free will so as not to appear rude to her new owner, who had given her a very good impression.

"Follow me, my car's over there...ah...and sorry about the mess, I haven't cleaned this place in a while..."

Said Reiner, scratching his head, a sense of forgetfulness growing as he blushed more and more, not knowing where to put himself.

"No problem..."

Alice replied as she followed Reiner out.

Once in the car, and with the air-conditioning on, Reiner had a belated realization and spoke to clear up any possible misunderstanding.

"I'd like to make it clear that I'm one of the "irregulars", as most people treat synthetics like slaves, whether for housework, menial tasks...or whatever... The fact that your measurements are written on your place of sale proves it perfectly I think... Anyway, don't think everyone's like me...well...all that to say that if you have a problem with someone, don't hesitate to tell me."

Seeing Reiner's awkward smile, which had a hint of anger about it, Alice didn't really know where to put herself, remaining silent for a few seconds. However, she couldn't help asking a question in the midst of the awkward atmosphere.

"I understand, but if you don't mind me asking, we were made to perform all kinds of roles and not be treated like humans, so why go to all this trouble?"

"You say that because you've just been activated."

Reiner replied, shaking his head. He then added a few more sentences with a sigh.

"Right now you've only got the basic information, you've got no experience and they've hidden a lot from you to make you subservient. Subprotocol 129, activation...Now look at the android suicide rate after a year, and tell me...I wonder if it's gone up again."

"According to an unofficial study, after one year 34% of androids have attempted suicide, of these 27% have made several attempts and 11% have succeeded after one or more attempts, and 10% of androids have been successfully repaired. The study was published the day before yesterday...and it's the only one I can see."

Alice retorted calmly, despite a somewhat stiff expression filled with incomprehension.

"It's normal that it's not official. Companies won't say this kind of thing or their sales will go down, and in fact they're still up one percent everywhere. Now, after 2 years?"

Reiner asked, slightly saddened by the evolution of the statistics, although he couldn't contain his strange curiosity to learn more.

"After 2 years..."

After a long silence Alice replied, simultaneously as the sun began to set. This gave the immense skyscraper-filled city a magnificent orange hue, giving the place a somewhat dreamlike appearance.

"6...63% of androids have attempted suicide and 41% have tried at least twice...29% succeeded, and barely 12% could be repaired because the wounds were too deep..."

"You see, when I said you were treated like slaves...I wasn't lying, android stores, well synthetic ones aren't so big for nothing, demand is growing. And then there's the need to get those who've lost their old one to suicide...or an unfortunate domestic accident. What's more, no one's going to say no, it adds a hell of a lot of sales, and once you've got an android, it's hard to do without it when you lose it. I hope it's different somewhere else..."

Reiner replied bitterly, as a huge store could be seen in the distance, with "In Clothing Heaven" written large on its sign. This store was a little smaller than the other, but was undoubtedly part of the same chain as Synthetics' store.

"7% of androids are killed by their owners and of those 5.3% for pure pleasure..."

Alice recited with remarkable calm, although a slight sense of fear could be seen in her eyes, echoing Reiner's bitter expression.

"Stop it, don't hurt yourself over nothing, I just wanted you to be able to see the real world...at least part of it."

Reiner grunted, clearly annoyed that Alice had dug a little too far after his innuendo. He then stopped the car in a parking lot and got out, asking Alice to follow him accordingly. On hearing this, Alice stood up hurriedly and followed him into the store. She then shook her head, speaking in a voice that showed no emotion.

"I wasn't told this when I was made, so why is it..."

However, her voice faded as she drew closer to Reiner, as if she already knew the answer to his question. Leaving her with only her thoughts, and questions that will forever remain unanswered.