Jon's words faded into echoes and nothing seemed to happen at first. And then a silver-steel cylinder rose up around Jon, completely surrounding him with high tech electronic screens that displayed diagnostics and other information.
"Whoa." He said.
"Hello, and thank you for choosing the E-Life Rapid Robotization Pad. My records indicate that you are a first time user. Can you state your name for me?"
"Jon, uh, Gibson."
"Thank you, Jon Gibson. Please, stand still for the duration of this process. Would you like to begin?"
Jon nodded, fascinated by the screens around him. Snakelike arms came down from the ceiling and up from the floor, hooking painlessly into five points on Jon's body.
"Error detected. Please discard foreign items before continuing." Jon didn't know what the machine meant at first, until a clawed hand came down and reached for the stone.
Jon almost jerked back at this. "Hey!" He said.
"I apologize, Jon, but all foreign objects must be removed from the chamber."
"Will I get it back?"
The machine paused for a moment, just long enough for Jon to notice. "Yes, of course." It said.
But Jon thought nothing of it and placed the stone in the claw hand of the armature. It was just a machine, what could it do with the stone, anyway?
"Thank you, Jon. Please remain still. This will not hurt."
Jon nodded. He felt something start to be injected into his body, but looking down at his wrist where the armatures were hooked into him, he saw nothing different. Except maybe that his skin was paler, more shiny.
"This Rapid Robotization Pad will convert you into an E-37 Drone. While an E-37 Drone, you will look, speak, and in some ways think like an E-37 Drone. Do you understand?"
Jon nodded. "Yes.
"Please, Drones respond in the Affirmative or Negative."
Jon nodded again. This whole set up seemed very advanced, and he was sure this was a temporary measure. Default settings.
"Affirmative." His voice came out more synthetic, and maybe more . . . feminine? He then looked at the diagnostic screen in front of him, which showed his body in silhouette, slowing coloring in and turning silver. But more than that, his waist pulled in and bust expanded.
"Query:" he said quickly, panicky, "Why am I becoming female?" Wait, why had he said query?
"It has been found that humans are more comfortable around feminine drones rather than masculine. Your body is being updated to reflect this bias. Furthermore, as a Drone, you will have no true sex."
"Well, stop it. I want to be myself as a robot, not some ditzy drone."
But the voice, whatever it was, paid Jon no heed. "I am going to designate you Drone J-289. As an E-Life Drone, no one will know your true name or identity. You cannot reveal your true name or identity. This is done for your own protection. Please state your name if you understand."
While J-289 didn't want to respond, he did automatically, as if by programming. "J-Two-Eight-Nine."
"Thank you, J-289."
"Cancel process. Cancel and undo." Jon started to say, searching for the right command to change him back. This isn't want he wanted. This isn't what the stone was supposed to do to him.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, J-289. As a Drone, you will be barred from giving commands. Your only purpose is to serve your owners."
J-289's new, thin silver eyebrows went up, "Query: Owners?" He was not and could not be property.
"Yes, of course. By law, all Drones must be owned at all times by a human or corporation. You must have an owner who can take responsibility for your actions. You are the property of the E-Life corporation. As your sole owners, we reserve the right to run diagnostics on your platform, upgrade your hardware or your software, add or subtract features, alter your appearance, and we reserve the right of sale and lease. We may do any of this at our sole discretion."
J-289 started to reply and tell the machine it could not do this, that it needed to change him back into a human. But a red error flashed up on the inside of his eye, blinking and angry.
[ERROR: ATTEMPTED COMMAND]
"Please remember, J-289, you are a drone and cannot give commands."
J-289 was bewildered. This was not he had in mind. This was not his idea of being a robot. He wanted to change back, but this damn machine wouldn't let him. And now he was stuck in a silver body, feminine in shape and voice, barred from telling anyone who he really was.
"Conversion complete." The voice said, and J-289 looked between the diagnostic screen and his own body. He had breasts and an hourglass figure, dainty hands and feet, and moulded silver hair cut in a short style. His skin was mostly silver with patches of matte gray to help break up his body.
"Installing default commands: Drone J-289, you will think of yourself as an it. You will refer to yourself as J-289. You will not speak unless spoken to. You will obey all commands give to you by a human, unless the break local, state, or federal law. Do you understand?"
"Affirmative." J-289 said. It turned away from the diagnostic screen, staring straight ahead. It's body locked into place.
"Very good, J-289. You have been leased to the Gibson family. You will refer to them as your owner and will obey their every command. Please wait here for further instructions."
With that, the silver cylinder fell away, leaving J-289 standing on a recharging pad in what used to be Jon Gibson's room. Now it was an office of sorts, with two desks and computers, a few sets of shelves and a big comfy chair.
J-289 did as it was commanded, and waited. The cold programming of the Drone did not need or want, though the mind that used to be Jon Gibson was angry-panicky, wanting to break free.
It waited for Nine minutes, thirteen seconds before the knob on the office door turned and someone stepped in. The Drone saw that it was . . .
