The initial curiosity Nicholas had when it came to Ben Smith, now designation 299935B, and using the Doll DLS-9 had worn off rather quickly. He was fascinated with the emergence of Laura, designated 299935C. Though it was what had happened to Stanley that had him demotivated.



Nicholas enjoyed working with Stanley. The guy was a rules follower, Nicholas was not. It was fun pushing his buttons. A part of the reason he stopped Stanley from disconnecting user 299935B from DLS-9 was to annoy Stanley. Though the fact DLS-9 was modeled off a female body and 299935B was male added a lot more to it.



If Nicholas could go back to that day, he would’ve followed protocol. He would’ve ejected the unauthorized user and gone on about his day. That day Nicholas had seen the darker side of the company. Though he was complicit in it, he was the one who sedated 299935B when he was having a panic attack. He also retracted his statement to have Lauren booted from the program. It wasn’t that he cared, he just didn’t like the paperwork dealing with failed test subjects or damaged equipment.



Raymond on the other hand was a micromanaging senior executive. Rather than pulling the plug on everything and reprimanding Nicholas he had just added to the policy breaches. In fact he commended Nicholas for his part in all this. Then there was the other stuff Raymond did, like adding information to DLS-9, giving 299935B his new code. Nicholas didn’t even know that it was possible to do that to a Doll and his job was monitoring their mental development. Raymond had also used his position in the company to send 299935 halfway around the world, to give 299935B more access to DLS-9.



Of course Stanley’s social skills weren’t the best and he didn’t know when to ignore breaches in the rules. He had been asked to leave the room in a way that suggested he was fired, and he took it as such. Ben had been focused on the possibilities with 299935B that he didn’t fully pay attention to his closest work colleague. So that evening when Stanley had his accident, Nicholas felt remorse.



Though Nicholas knew there was more to it than a simple accident. Especially since the cause of the accident was a rogue truck driver disconnecting from his Doll. There were safety protocols for that sort of thing, so it didn’t make sense. At least not until Nicholas considered everything he saw that day. The rules they had broken weren’t just company rules, they were international laws that oversaw the use of robotics and artificial intelligence. Stanley was murdered, Nicholas had no doubt about that. Though he did what he usually did and let it slide, better Stanley than him.



Since the incident and given the sensitive information regarding DLS-9, Nicholas had been assigned sole responsibility for that unit, being pulled from all others. He knew that what they were doing was illegal but if he went along with it, he’d be safe. He saw two options moving forward. He could start documenting everything and build a file against Raymond or he could prove his loyalty and follow every instruction given to him and bury the evidence. Nicholas chose the latter.



The next few days Nicholas just focused on his work. He watched 299935B’s piloting DLS-9 and noticed something peculiar with the brain waves. 299935B had begun to consider the version of him in the Doll as a separate being. Though this made sense as there was a baseline scan of the initial subject’s brain that was built into the programing of the Doll. 299935 also had two short sessions piloting DLS-9 so there was some integration from her. In fact with the panic attack 299935B had referred to themselves as Lauren.



Even though it was to be expected that 299935B wasn’t quite themselves when piloting DLS-9 there was more going on. Nicholas had pulled up the scans of the pilot’s mind and the Doll’s mind and compared them side by side. If he didn’t know any better he would say that they were two different people. Even 299935B acknowledged this and named the mind he was controlling, Laura. Nicholas was instructed to designate her 299935C and to monitor her more carefully.



Though the two minds were separate, they still had a deep connection. 299935C couldn’t be activated without 299935B in the chair and she was uploading the memories and experiences to 299935B’s mind. This created a unique relationship and 299935B chose to remain ‘asleep’ to experience life through 299935C. Though the relationship was cut short as DLS-9 hadn’t been charged since she arrived.



With DLS-9 running low on power, there was an incident with 299935B as none of the biological warning systems had gone off. Nicholas had to file a report on that, and mentioned that low power should trigger those senses for future incidents. 299935B also didn’t know the protocols on how to shutdown a Doll so next time he activated 299935C, Nicholas gave her the information to be able to shut down and reserve power.



Now that DLS-9 had been shutdown it enabled 299935 to pilot it again. Though no one had notified 299935 of this. 299935B was also unable to activate DLS-9 as he wasn’t the registered user. Nicholas thought his observation job was over until 299935 started a new session. He wasn’t sure how that would go as 299935C had majority control over DLS-9 now. Nicholas was surprised to find out that the company planned to leave the unit inactive for the next week.



As this side project had only been going on for a few short days, Nicholas thought that his job or life might be on the line and wished he chose the evidence route. That’s when Raymond brought him onto another side project that needed to be completed before work on DLS-9 could resume. This was why the Doll would be left inactive for a week.



Nicholas was not expecting the side project Raymond had brought him in on though. It was regarding one of the other Doll units, DLY-4. This Doll had belonged to Lisa Young, who had been booted from the Doll program after one day for excessive use and having it drive to work. The Doll should’ve been recycled but instead it had been kept for who knows what.



When Nicholas saw DLY-4, it made sense as to why Lisa had chosen to remain in the Doll. The woman was in her late 50s, with graying hair and wrinkled face. At least that was what the employee photo showed. DLY-4 looked to be in her 20s, as all the Dolls did. She had wavy blonde hair and the perfect figure. Lisa was able to experience her youth again and her over excitement had cost her her job.



Nicholas asked what the plan for DLY-4 was and Raymond had informed him that the Doll was to be trained as an analyst to assist him. At first Nicholas was doubtful that was the intended job and suspected that it was to learn what he did and would replace him as the one monitoring DLS-9. Giving its artificial status that broke all sorts of laws but as long as Nicholas was safe he didn’t mind.



Lisa Young was a sales representative so Nicholas was expecting that he’d have to teach DLY-4 how to do its job. There was no pilot behind the thing but had learnt enough to be semi sentient. What Nicholas wasn’t expecting was that the Doll seemed to already know what it was doing, or it was learning by doing. That shouldn’t have been possible unless there was a pilot feeding it information.



Nicholas couldn’t breathe when he recognised how the Doll worked. There was indeed a pilot behind the DLY-4, one Nicholas thought dead. Anyone else wouldn’t have picked up on it, but he had worked with the man for many years, they went to university together and were employed at the same time. Stanley was in control of DLY-4. At least a part of him was, the part that was a programmer.



DLY-4 never said a word while it worked, it only followed instructions. So despite having Stanley’s knowledge, nothing else was from him. Working beside DLY-4 was like working with a ghost, as it was working with a ghost. Nicholas tried to ignore the explanations as to how and why this Doll had Stanley’s skills and suspected that this was a test of loyalty. If Nicholas caved and questioned the work, he suspected he too would have an accident.



For the rest of the week, Nicholas felt uneasy. It felt like security was watching him and he swore he was followed home a few times. He felt an unease that he had never felt before and he wanted out, but he knew it was too late for that. Raymond Jones also made sure to check in on him a lot more often, to see how DLY-4 was performing and if there were any issues.



On Friday, Nicholas had been told he would be making a house call with DLY-4 to 299935’s residence. He was to upgrade their system and check in on DLS-9. He was also given instructions to let 299935B know that the chair was now passcode locked and not based on the user. Nicholas hated this type of work but he complied.



When Nicholas left the residence he felt horrible. 299935B wouldn’t let him out of his sight. He was also aware DLY-4 was a Doll, so Nicholas had to lie and give a reason. That included naming the thing. Nicholas almost called it Stanley but quickly changed it to Stacey. If there was any monitoring software, which Nicholas knew there was, he just revealed that he knew without a doubt DLY-4 was his former work friend.



Raymond was in the monitoring station when Nicholas returned to his normal duties. He praised Nicholas for a job well done and his discretion, and promised him a new position in the company. All Nicholas could do was smile and nod as he returned to his station. He felt all eyes were on him now, it even looked like Stacey was looking at him. They all questioned where his loyalties lay. Nicholas tried to drown out the stares as he was glad to return to what he knew best.



With DLS-9 patched up, 299935 was scheduled to pilot it. Given the existence of 299935C, Nicholas had to set it to an active connection, so the Doll was relying on information from the pilot, rather than stored information. Though that didn’t help as the two minds ended up merging for a while, creating 299935D. All these users were starting to give Nicholas a headache and he left to go home, leaving Stacey in charge for the overnight shift.



Had Nicholas stayed, he would’ve noticed that 299935D had managed to untangle themselves, splitting back into Laura and Lauren. He would’ve seen that Laura was fully sentient and that the two of them had come to realize the company’s misdeeds. He would’ve seen that Lauren was removed from the Doll for discovering this. He also would’ve seen that Laura didn’t shut down when Lauren was removed. All this happened on DLY-4’s shift.



If Nicholas didn’t go home that night. He would’ve witnessed Stacey’s defiance. He would’ve been able to alert Raymond of Laura’s sentience. He would’ve been brought into the inner circle. He wouldn’t have opened the door in the morning. He wouldn’t have felt a sharp pain in his chest. He wouldn’t have been lying on the floor as the masked man ran off. He would still be alive…