Hey are we supposed to call this post March Madness

William walked down the hallway to his dorm room. He made sure to blink every few seconds, and also to expand his chest to mimic breathing. The hallway was crowded with other freshman, many carrying bags and talking with each other. William bumped into a few of them, but luckily they didn’t do more than mumble an apology. He noticed that most of the guys were socializing instead of going into their rooms.

Try to act normal.

He looked around for someone to socialize with.

William wasn’t an average college student. He didn’t have the years of experience you get from going through elementary school, middle school, and high school. He didn’t have experience from home school either. In fact, he had been built into existence only a few months earlier.

“Come on, come on.”

A switch clicked. A whir of fans. A deep, nervous breath.

“Um, hey robot. Open eyes.”

As commanded, the robot’s eyes flew open, and he saw his master smiling down at him.

“Finally!” His master sighed. He studied the robot. “Can you move around? Can you speak?”

“Yes master.”

The robot sat up and got off the table he was on to demonstrate.

“It’s a little clumsy,” master mumbled. “But so are humans. It’ll blend in better this way.”

He looked the robot over again. “Listen up,” he said. “Your name is William, and you are going to be me so I don’t have to.”

“Yes master William.”

“No,” Master said. “Don’t call me William. It’s Will. But your going by William so you don’t have to draw attention to yourself by correcting people.”

“Yes Master Will.”

“So, William, you are going to go to college for me tomorrow. Try to act normal. And don’t get caught. I would get in so much trouble if people found out about this.”

As soon as the commands were said, William was internalizing them. Every part of him needed to fulfill his masters wishes. He felt these orders overtake all others thought, all he want, all he needed, was to do as his masters said.

“And now that I’m done building you, I can finally get back to playing fort nite.”

William was filled with shame. He didn’t want to be a burden on his master.

“Why take the time to build me, Master Will?” He dared to ask.

“Because it will be worth the investment.”

Master turned on the tv and slumped into his beanbag.

“Also, can you calculate any problems with you going to college real quick?” Master Will asked.

The analysis was done in 3.96 seconds.

“People may notice if I don’t eat or use the bathroom.”

Master shrugged, his eyes on his screen as he set up a game. “Just fake it.”

“I may have too much or not enough knowledge.”

He sighed. “You’re programmed to be mediocre, and you can literally do a google search to find out anything you need to know. Any real problems?”

William blinked, because that’s what a normal person would do. “I don’t feel like a real human, if someone were to touch me. Wouldn’t they realize that my body is fake?”

Master waved a dismissive hand. “You’re squishy enough. Just don’t go kissing any girls and you should be fine.” He winked.

This was added to Williams list of commands. The ones he couldn’t disobey.

Dang it.