To Make A Machine Cry (LevixReader) AU! Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The DA-11






"As you can see I get pretty busy here. Thankfully I have Armin here to help. Can you believe this is his first year in college? He's brilliant but has no idea what he wants to declare as his major. He's been interning for all the departments since he was in high school and now it's my turn to have him."

"Surprised someone as delicate looking as him would stick around."

"Well he's a determined kid. He's not just great with papers and calls, he is great at helping me with my experiments. Now if you're ready we can go see (Y/N)."

Hanji opened the door she had come from and beckoned Levi to follow. The raven haired man was a little apprehensive seeing as he had never seen this part of Hanji's lab.

As soon as he stepped in Levi was surprised at how big it was. While there was a lab set up in the room itself, there was also a long and wide hallway with many mysterious doors. Some seemed no more protected than a closet while others appeared like steal vaults Levi had only ever seen in movies.

"As you can see the university funds my research very heavily. Though I will admit to working on some things behind closed doors."

Levi nodded as he followed behind his friend. Hanji finally pulled up to one of the more high-tech doors and began typing a long code into the keypad.

"I'm afraid (Y/N) may be sleeping right now but she wakes up fairly quickly. Would you like to see what she looks like?"

"I suppose."

"You can be a bit more enthusiastic." Hanji said with a small pout as she scanned her hand print allowing the metal doors to slide open.

"Why do you call her (Y/N)?" Levi piped up, having been curious since Hanji first mentioned the name.

"Armin decided to call her that and it just sort of stuck. It sounded a lot better than calling her the DA-11. You can, of course, call her whatever you like."

Hanji's boots thumped loudly as she stepped into the large windowless white room. Levi took a deep breath as his eyes zoned in on a table towards the back of the room covered in a sheet.

Large machines were whirling and beeping on the walls surrounding the table. Stepping closer to the figure half covered by a sheet Levi leaned over to get a closer look.

A young girl with (H/C) hair and (S/C) skin was lying on the table half covered by the white sheet. Her face was peaceful and she seemed like just a normal girl sleeping. Levi reached a hand out and pinched her face, surprised that she felt so realistic.

"Do you like her?"

"I guess. So explain to me again why she looks like this?"

"Well I know that you came to me asking for something that would look like and act like Petra but I felt it would be best to give you (Y/N) like this for now."

"And why is that?" Levi asked while lifting the android's arm, testing the different way it could bend.

"Well (Y/N) is the DA-11 for a reason, meaning there were ten other prototypes before her."

"You have ten of these things? I don't see what that has to do with giving me some random girl."

"Follow me. I'll start booting (Y/N)'s systems up, it shouldn't take too long."

Hanji sat the (H/C) haired girl up, allowing the sheet to fall off her upper body. Levi looked away from the realistic nude female body. He heard clicking and beeping before Hanji placed the body back down.

"She should be starting up now. Come on I'll show you my other prototypes!"

Levi couldn't react before Hanji grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the large hallway.

"I thought it would be best to give you (Y/N) the way she is in case she has some set backs."

"Set backs?"

Hanji winced as she unlocked one of the doors that lead to a rather large room. Levi stepped in and took in several glass containers filled with junk and scraps. His brown-haired friend pulled him up to one of the cases.

The short male raised an eyebrow in confusion as he stared down at what looked like a metal skeleton surrounded by a puddle of hardened goo.

"This is the DA-1. I was aiming for an internal heating system to mimic the warmth of human skin. The poor thing malfunctioned and overheated. And that over there is the DA-5."

Levi turned his head in the direction Hanji was looking to. In that case an unfinished android was snapped in half.

"By this point I was adding too many unnecessary parts and that made it a little top heavy. I tried standing this one and it snapped in half. And the list goes on and on. I was never able to finish any of them before it ended in failure."

Levi walked down the row looking at all the failed experiments until he got to the last spot. There was nothing in the container except a small pile of glittering black dust.

"Ahh that was the DA-10. She was the most complete of all the androids. The DA-10 was nearly perfect and was almost going to be the one going home with you today."

"What happened to it?"

"I don't know what went wrong. Armin and I were testing her out in a field by the university when she exploded. We think perhaps pollen or some natural debris got into her system and caused a reaction. The explosion was small enough to not harm anyone but I can't say the same for the DA-10. Perhaps it was for the best though she was a bit..."

Levi watched as Hanji's eyes went slightly out of focus, as if deep in thought.

"A bit what?"

"It's not important, either way I am nearly 90% sure that (Y/N) will function exactly as she was designed to."

"And the other 10%?"

"Spontaneous combustion, a unhinging of her limbs and head, software viruses, and of course just taking into account the wear and tear of living as a normal human. As you can see this would be very graphic and hard for you if she looked like...Petra."

Levi thought over Hanji's words. He knew she had a point; he wouldn't be able to handle seeing something that resembled Petra be destroyed. It had been three years since he brought up the idea of Hanji creating an artificial intelligence capable of acting and appearing as the woman he once loved.

Hanji had already been working on robotics but nothing of this magnitude, as far as Levi was concerned. He was slightly surprised at how quickly the scientist had agreed to take on the challenge.

Both knew that the final product would never actually be or replace Petra but Levi was convinced that it was what he wanted.

"So I want to let you take (Y/N) on a test run. I'd like you to live with her for three months and at the end of the trial period if you still want to go through with it I can change her appearance around and install a new programming to give her Petra's personality and traits."

"Why can't you just test run her here and give her to me when she's actually finished?"

"I can't bring her home with me and her staying in the lab all the time isn't really a trial run. I want to make sure she will be able to withstand the living conditions she will be dealing with if you choose to keep her. So yes?"

Levi stared at the woman with a skeptical look on his face.

"Creator Hanji?" A soft metallic voice came from the door.

Both people turned their heads to see (Y/N) standing at the door way, adorning a simple white dress.

"What's wrong with her voice?" Levi asked curious as to how Hanji could make such a realistic body and face but failed to give her a human voice.

"(Y/N) did have one minor set back in burning her original voice system. We were having lunch and she accidentally ingested a diluted hydrochloric acid I had lying around. I decided to install taste buds after that to avoid another incident."

"It can eat?"

"I prefer the pronoun 'she' not 'it'." (Y/N) said as she strolled further into the room.

"As you can see she is very aware and intelligent. She is very adamant on being treated with the respect you would give any other human."

"So she believes she's real?"

"I am real, I am standing right in front of you. I do not, however, believe I am human. I am simply a program created by a brilliant mind but doesn't that just describe the human race as a whole? Humans are not the only creatures to deserve respect."

"Are you like this all the time?" Levi asked, finally directing a question  at her. (Y/N) simply tilted her head to the side as if she didn't understand.

"She does enjoy a good conversation and debate. I'm telling you Levi, if it wasn't for her voice most people would be unaware that they were talking to an A.I."

"I suppose." Levi said as he glared at the android slightly. Her face remained blank as she watched him stare at her.

"Okay! Well I'm sure Armin will want to talk to (Y/N) before she leaves and I need to go over some basics with you two." Hanji said quickly, attempting to break the tension.

Both Levi and (Y/N) were being shoved out of the room when a clatter was heard down the hall. Turning his head Levi took notice of the giant steel door. It seemed to be the most heavily guarded and was at the very end of the hall. If he wasn't mistaken the noise had come from behind it.

"Hey what's in there?"

"...Lab rats." Hanji said closing the door behind her with a slight slam.