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[Vgray]

Eiji blinks. "Huh. I wasn't expecting you to say that."

You take out your smartphone, the one that's going to become Caliban's mind, and show Eiji pictures of the frame under construction. "Check it out."

Eiji makes a little not-impressed face.

"I know, I know," you say. "I have a ways to go."

"It's okay," he says. "That's what I like about you. You're a dreamer, in it for the long haul."

The waitress brings your order of Paper Moon maki and you dig in to eat.

Just then, your phone buzzes. You take it out to glance at it: it's reporting malware on your phone's memory card.

"Is something wrong?" Eiji asks.

"One sec." You quickly glance at the warning details. Apparently, some kind of virus has decided to take control of your phone's microphone. It appears to be sending the packets of audio data somewhere.

Huh. Of all the times to get a security warning on your phone. Who the heck would want to listen to your conversation? You really can't think of anyone.

1) Power off the phone and don't worry about it.
2) Ask to search Eiji's phone for evidence of similar malware.
3) Just keep copies of the data as it transmits—it'll be useful for training Caliban.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2019

24-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 90%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 0 (Who?)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Caliban

  Autonomy: 1 (Buggy)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 0 (Nonexistent)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Good): 52%
  Eiji (Great): 72%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

2. SHit be real.

[Un67]

3!

[birdy51]

2. I think I know who this is. That little rat.

[Culise]

2.  Little worried about tipping our hand by talking about the issue while we know it's sending whatever we speak (the option doesn't mention shutting the phone off first), but if it's on our phone, it might have also been sent to our friends, including Eiji.

[Vgray]

"Can I see your phone for a second?" you ask.

Eiji visibly tenses. "Why?"

"I just got a weird security warning. I thought maybe you'd see the same thing."

"Unlikely." Eiji shows you his phone. "Apple?"

You show him yours. "Android."

"Thought so."

You grin. "Likewise."

You blurted that without really thinking about it—of course Eiji would be an Apple user—and now you sort of regret it, like maybe this is a thing that would come between you, the way people who owned Gamecubes when you were young were just a little standoffish from the Playstation owners and vice versa. You suppose you could insist on checking his phone for malware, but it might seem a little crazy at this point.

1) Press to see Eiji's phone, stating that someone appears to be listening to the conversation.
2) Just ask to see Eiji's phone again but don't mention the audio recording part.
3) Let it be.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2019

24-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 90%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 0 (Who?)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Caliban

  Autonomy: 1 (Buggy)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 0 (Nonexistent)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Good): 52%
  Eiji (Very Good): 69%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

3. No need to press this.

[birdy51]

3.

[Vgray]

You decide not to press the issue—it only make things weird.

You continue the meal chatting about random topics and enjoying the food.

Eiji talks about how it's difficult to meet new people after graduating from college. In addition, the time difference with Japan is substantial, and it makes it difficult for him to chat with his family as often as he'd like. He repeatedly expresses a desire to have some kind of family, until you become fairly certain he is dropping a hint. In college, you had never quite believed someone like Eiji would be interested in you. But apparently, he is.

Pippin turns out to be about the subject you've been thinking about the most lately: how to live an extraordinary life instead of an ordinary one. Eiji sold you on this particular production because the supporting cast—everyone but Pippin and the love interest—are all robots. You can see in the play's opening number that the robots are following preprogrammed steps, and are not intelligent in themselves; but then, that doesn't surprise you. In 2019, artificial intelligence is still mostly being used for handy websites and smartphone apps, not robots.

The first song, "Corner of the Sky," is about Pippin's feeling that he doesn't belong anywhere, and wondering what the purpose of his life is. The robots, which look like imitations of Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet, are toiling at ordinary lives while Pippin sings about his wish for something better.

"This is called an 'I wish' song," Eiji whispers to you. "I heard on This American Life that all musicals have to start with a song that is about what the protagonist longs for. It's like the unwritten rule of musicals."

You think for a moment about what your "I wish" song would be, and suddenly recall your conversation with the robot companion this morning: it was, perhaps, a peculiar sort of "I wish" song. You think of Caliban's new frame you built today. You suppose whatever future that dream was hinting at, you still have a long way to go.

You are startled to find that Eiji has taken hold of your hand.

1) Squeeze his hand.
2) Quietly panic and don't react.
3) Yank away your hand and let him know it's not like that.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2019

24-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 90%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 0 (Who?)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Caliban

  Autonomy: 1 (Buggy)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 0 (Nonexistent)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Good): 52%
  Eiji (Very Good): 69%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[Arcvasti]

2

I'm almost certain this is how socializing works.

[FelixSparks]

1. We are gonna have his babies.

[Rolepgeek]

1 but no we ain't

we got robots for that

also head canon says we're infertile.

[FelixSparks]

Fine, he can have OUR babies then.

[NRDL]

1

[Vgray]

You squeeze his hand back and realize that, just like that, you're kind of a couple now. You had no idea it could be so easy.

The play goes through a series of vignettes in which Pippin leaves one lifestyle after another—he's not content to be a soldier, nor a king, nor a simple man in love. As Pippin sings about how he's going to leave the woman he met in the countryside to achieve something great, you think…

1) He is right to leave a simple life to achieve something extraordinary.
2) He is a fool to give up his love just because he has delusions of grandeur.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2019

24-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 90%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 0 (Who?)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: Eiji

Caliban

  Autonomy: 1 (Buggy)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 0 (Nonexistent)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Good): 52%
  Eiji (Great): 72%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%