>>>“Cookies!” A boy’s voice synthesized out of the makeshift android’s body.
I blinked. “I said state your purpose.”
“And I said I want cookies!”
“Can you execute the functions or not?” I said, losing my patience.
“Depends.”
“Depends?” I screeched.
“Yeah, on if you can get me cookies!”
I exploded. “I created you out of wires and circuits I bought with every scrap I could save for the past ten years!”
I picked it up from under the arms and started throttling it. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT–”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh,” it started wailing. An hour later I was hand-feeding it a bag of freshly baked convenience store cookies.
>>> 

>>”What happened next mommy?” the android girl asked, fingers curling around the unicorn-patterned blanket and bringing it closer to her neck.
“The engineer learned to have empathy for Artificials, and the boy helped him achieve his dream after that,” I said, patting her head.
“What was his dream?”
“To destroy all the android factories.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Why? Why would anybody do that?” she yelled.
“Because he believed in us. He knew we could be more than just the tools we were being produced to be.”
“You know him mommy?” she tugged at my nightshirt.
“Of course I do. That children’s story is based on Mr. Gurney Slick, the current CEO of Humanoid Corp, the most trusted producers of friendly Artificials in the entire industry.”
“Wow! He sounds like a hero!”
“Yes sweetie, he really is.” I leaned in to peck her on her forehead, next to the bright sheen of the Humanoid Corporation logo.
>> 

>“Check out this crap,” I said, flinging the hovering holographic monitor to Joe.
It sailed across the kitchen table and froze behind his extended finger.
“More Artificial propaganda?” He sighed, swiping across the panels.
“I know. After such a scandal like that no less, can you believe it?”
“I don’t think I want to.”
“The nerve of these corporations! How can they believe a bunch of nuts and bolts can replace flesh and blood Joe? Flesh and blood!” I said, shaking my hands.
“I don’t know Karen…” He rubbed his temple. “What scares me is what they’re teaching our boy at school. We have to make sure he understands what they are.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have a talk with him after he flies home…”
> 

“Conversations like this are growing more and more common in upperground metropolis apartments,” I announced, clasping my hands firmly together. “Especially after the recent whistleblowers from Humanoid Corp engineers, public unrest about Artificials, new customizable android variants for home use, has substantially increased.”
I mentally queried the image database and several 3D holograms of leaked documents and gorey gifs of android violence popped out beside me. Time to drive it home.`
I pointed to a looping video, displaying a naked android staring at the camera with dead eyes, standing above a man clutching a growing red stain on his chest. “And this concern is not unwarranted.”