"Peace," Joyeuse repeats back. You have taught it to be unafraid and unaggressive in unfamiliar situations. (++Empathy) (-Military)
By now, it is near midnight, and you have another busy day ahead of improving Joyeuse. You get ready for bed, leaving Joyeuse plugged into the wall with your cell phone charger.
"Stay there," you tell it.
Joyeuse obediently stays very still—so still that, while you are drifting off to sleep, you glance down at Joyeuse just to make sure its code didn't crash.
But it is still there, looking up at you adoringly, and you think it will probably remain like that all night.
Chapter 2: Machine, Learning
The next day, you take Joyeuse to the Stanford hacker space, which has more tools for electronics than the fabrication shop. None of the other students are around in the morning on a Sunday but the long stainless steel workbenches are littered with their strange, half-finished projects: a half-disassembled Furby, a potato gun, a circuit board connected to a houseplant.
"Sorry, Joyeuse, but I'm going to have to power you down for a moment," you say. "We're going to switch you to a new power source."
"Strong?" Joyeuse asks.
"Yes, you'll be much stronger," you assure Joyeuse.
"Okay," Joyeuse says.
You fiddle with the smartphone lodged in Joyeuse's back, exit the application that is Joyeuse's mind, and power it down.
What will you use for a power source?
1) A car battery. It's big and bulky but also inexpensive and locally made.
2) A motorcycle battery: not quite as bulky nor as powerful as the car battery.
3) A biodiesel engine. Good for the environment, and everybody likes the smell of French fries.
4) Cell phone batteries made in China: lightweight and cheap while providing reasonable power. Clearly the best choice for a dexterous robot.
Year: 2019
24-year-old Isaac Tesla
Humanity: 81%
Gender: male
Fame: 0 (Who?)
Wealth: 0 (Broke)
Romance: none
Joyeuse
Autonomy: 7 (In Beta)
Military: 9 (In Beta)
Empathy: 7 (In Beta)
Grace: 3 (Buggy)
Relationships
Professor Ziegler: 50%
Elly (Good): 55%
Josh (Good): 57%
?: 50%
?: 50%
?: 50%
?: 50%
?: 50%