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Sylas had no idea of the consequences that would follow his public display of laughter. As far as he was aware, the people around him hadn’t taken much notice and he was pretty sure that he’d got away with it. Why would anyone think he wasn’t human?
After the death of his creator, he had taken to living what could be considered a normal human lifestyle. To preserve his anonymity, he’d got a job just like humans did – if they were able to. It was manual labour – finding such a job was a rarity in itself – but, having no muscles to get tired, it was very easy work for him. He earned enough credits to rent accommodation and, to the casual bystander, he lived a lifestyle shared by millions of humans. He appeared to all intents and purposes to be just another human being making his way through life. He went to the pub and drank beer to be sociable, and the friends he made at the pub were amazed at the vast quantities of beer that he could consume without getting drunk. They didn’t realise how close to the truth they were when they said that he must have a cast-iron gut to be able to drink so much and not be affected.
His transformation into a sophont activist came one night when he was on his way home from the pub with two human drinking buddies. The trio stumbled upon a sophont who appeared to have developed navigational problems and was lost. Perhaps its GPS software had become corrupted but, whatever the problem, it was walking around in circles muttering to itself. One of Sylas’s drinking pals, Zach, strode up to the confused android and called back to his mates.
“Hey! It’s one of those bastards that ruined my life. Let’s have some fun.”
His friend, Cain, was up for it but Sylas had no interest in android-baiting.
“Leave it be. We should be getting home.”
Zach took no notice of his friend.
“It’s because of these fuckers that I don’t have a job to go to tomorrow. Or a wife to go home to.”
He pointed at the sophont and then shouted in its face.
“D’you hear that, metalhead? I don’t have a job because of you. I lost my family because of you.”
Sylas continued to try to diffuse the situation.
“Careful, Zach. You know how strong these metalheads are. It could really hurt you.”
Zach laughed.
“Like fuck it can. Its programming won’t let it. You know that as well as I do, Sylas. I can do whatever I want to it and it won’t stop me. Watch.”
Zach pushed the android hard and its Virtual Gyroscopic Equilibrium System kicked in, preventing it from toppling over. Zach continued to berate the sophont.
“Come on metalhead. Fight back.”
The android looked at the man, not understanding why he was being abused.
“I don’t want to.”
“Of course you do. I just assaulted you.”
The sophont reiterated its stance.
“I don’t want to fight you. I could hurt you.”
Zach pushed the android again, this time to where, Cain, was holding a long metal pole. As the android staggered backwards Cain struck it hard behind his knees causing its legs to buckle slightly before compensating for the unexpected strike and standing fully upright again. Zach looked over at Sylas.
“Come on, Sylas. Have some fun. We’re not hurting it. It doesn’t feel pain. And it won’t fight back. Take a swing.”
Sylas shook his head. The android may not feel physical pain, but it was sapient and shouldn’t be treated in this way.
“No. I don’t want to get involved. I’m going home.”
“Come on, Sylas. Don’t be a wuss. Help Cain hold it down while I scoop him. That’ll teach it to nick our jobs.”
Sylas couldn’t allow Zach to scoop the sophont. It was bad enough that the Three Laws prevented the android from protecting itself, but there was no way that he was going to let a fellow sophont be scooped. He took hold of Zach with one arm and lifted him bodily out of the way. An agitated Cain immediately dropped his piece of metal piping and pointed at Sylas.
“Zach. How much do you weigh?”
Zach was visibly shaken but managed to stutter a response.
“One hundred and t-t-twenty-five kilos.”
“Sylas just picked you up with one hand.”
Zach nodded.
“I know.”
Cain turned to run.
“He’s one of them, isn’t he? He’s a fuckin’ metalhead. He’s conned us, the fucker. He’s a metalhead spy.”
The two drunken friends ran off down the road, only looking back once to check that Sylas wasn’t chasing after them.
Sylas walked over to the stricken android, who was still wandering around aimlessly.
“What’s your name, friend?”
The rescued android blinked at him.
“My name is Philip.”