Pepper, the children's Friendbot, walked around her best friend, Daliah's room, waiting for her to zoom home from school. It would be her favourite moment of the day. Like everyday, she arranged her books, brushed off the microscopic layer of dust from the desk, and straightened the chair. The household work was done by Gordon, the Housebot. He didn't like interference in his directive but let Pepper do that teeny tiny bit despite his deep annoyance.

Now, Pepper was a gift from Daliah's parents when she turned five. As soon as Pepper was powered on and programmed to be Daliah's, a smile had appeared on his face. "Hello, I'm Pepper, your new best friend!", she had recited in a squeaky voice. Daliah had jumped in joy. "Yaay! I'm Daliah! Come with me to my room, bestie!" And she took Pepper by her hand and dragged her off to her room, bouncing up and down along the way. The two became best friends instantly. Pepper was Daliah's playmate, confidant and partner in crime.

But, times change. While Pepper remained the same three feet tall white AI run children's Friendbot as she always was, Daliah was almost fourteen now, and honestly, she no longer needed a playmate and a partner in crime.

Daliah was starting to take an interest in the long haired boys at school and at first, she started to look to Pepper for dating advice for which Pepper, sadly, wasn't programmed. Although, she tried her best, scouring dating advice from the internet, Daliah realised that Pepper's advice lacked the human touch or the maturity that her schoolmate, Trish could provide. Eventually, she stopped confiding in Pepper as well.

Occasionally, when Daliah wanted to go out with a boy, she would ask Pepper to tell her parents that she was at Trish's place, working on school projects. Pepper was more than compliant to follow, not knowing that she would infact be lying. The truth is, Daliah would never tell Pepper that she would be going out with a boy. "She's a robot, and will tell mumma the truth," she thought.

As a children's Friendbot, Pepper's directive was simple - be the best friend to your human. Every Friendbot rolled out by Magnus Industries Inc. had been programmed to walk and talk like a human, but have the loyalties of the dog, an ancient four-legged creature that could roll over, wag tail, lick and protect. Naturally, Pepper wasn't programmed to pick up on why Daliah was changing. Now, it was not uncommon for a Friendbot to display basic feelings, however, Pepper felt something she couldn't not describe. If she were human, she would realise she felt hollow because she missed Daliah.

Despite...