As Leon walked into the small metal A-frame shed of the junkyard, he quickly took in the entirety of the interior.

  It was small but practical.

  A little counter to the side with an older computer model, and a wooden chair with a cozy couch on the other side. Further back, a tiny room served as a restroom, with the rest serving as free space leading to a door to the rest of the junkyard property.

  ‘This won’t cut it.’ Leon thought in his head.

  This junkyard was small and isolated. Compared to the rest of the competition, it was drowning. Of course, that was exactly what he loved about it.

  Leon could do whatever he wanted without anybody getting curious or suspicious. However, despite these advantages, he couldn’t work with this small space.

  ‘Time for a remodel.’ He grinned, getting to work.

  Over the next several days, Leon spent most of his time demolishing the metal shed. He used outside contractors to fix up the foundation, as well as reinforce and expand the size of the shed itself.

  In total, it cost him the majority of the credits he received as payment for Vulcan to work on the place, with most of the work being done by himself.

  Luckily, he didn’t waste his time at the lab anymore and worked fewer hours on the maglev race car as the major changes have been completed, for now.

  This resulted in a complete change in the interior while the outside remained largely the same. Old, rusty metal sheets served as covers for the new reinforced walls, whereas the inside was renovated by Leon to adopt a more modern look.

  He threw out the small couch and service counter, replacing them with two self-service stations for trash disposal drop-off requests, as well as a lounge with a darker leather couch and a coffee station.

  Leon painted the walls in white with dark grey accents while replacing the restroom tiles.

  The major change, however, was in the house extension which added a spare room to the left of the small hallway that led to the backdoor.

  From the outside, it was labeled as a regular storage room with a sign indicating access only to employees. Naturally, this was merely to hide its true purpose, which was Leon’s personal workshop.

  There weren’t many customers using the small junkyard to get rid of trash, most of them being the few regulars of the Brightvale community who preferred the shorter distance for transportation.

  Still, he didn’t want to take any chances of exposing what he was actually doing.

  The workshop was basically a big Faraday cage, using specially ordered metal alloy foils and meshes which he layered into the wall to block any electrostatic and electromagnetic influences. Not to mention, the additional EMI shielding paint enhances this blockage even further.

  Together with the multiple signal jammers Leon installed, the workshop was essentially blocked off from the outside.

  It wasn’t perfect, but it would do its job for the near future.

  The entire remodeling took Leon a little over three weeks, having spent many nights, as well as all his recently earned money, on the process.

  “Now, it’s finally time for the fun stuff,” Leon mumbled, looking at the large rectangular box with the new GenoTech android inside. He used a delivery service to have it transported from the apartment over to the junkyard.

  Grabbing a crowbar from the big workstation, he quickly opened the front of the box, revealing the Android inside.

  The newer model looked more human, with revised silicone skin and body structure. Compared to the prior model, the legs, other than the feet, were covered in the same silicone skin, while only the arms had it replaced by white plastic with more adhesive rubber at the fingertips for more grip.

  “So this is the best Android on the market, huh?” Leon mused as he gave the human robot a once-over. The more he looked at it, the clearer it became that GenoTech was already on its way to dethrone Alpha Dynamics in the robotics industry. Even with Vulcan at their disposal, it would never be enough.

  Where the Vulcan System was a universal upgrade of everything the company stands for, these Androids were revolutionary. A product that had no rival, no competition.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  And now, Leon would take this marvelous piece of technology apart, again. Only this time, he wouldn’t mess it up.

  Pulling the crate over to the side, he stepped behind the Android, opening the neck panel to activate it, only to put it on standby immediately afterward. Next, he connected the cable to the Android and his computer unit, getting access to the command window.

  This setup would allow him to enact his plan, one he designed specifically for this operation.

  Last time, the firewall blocked his attempt to infiltrate its code files, deep frying the entire system as a defense mechanism to protect its software.

  However, Leon was better prepared this time.

  With the Android on standby, it would restrict any movements but keep the processing ability online, which brought it to the next step.

  Leon’s new computer was directly connected to the Vulcan main servers, no matter where they are now. He used a backdoor he put in when he developed it, in case he ever needed direct access with admin rights. This allowed him to use the maximum processing power from the system, as opposed to the restricted access every other device had.

  With that, he’ll use Vulcan to give the Android prompts at an extremely high frequency to take up the majority of its processing ability, so that Leon can break through its firewall much easier. At the same time, the isolated workshop ensures that GenoTech cannot be contacted of his attempt to break into its code files in case he fails.

  With the steps clearly laid out, Leon got to work.

  The computer unit started buzzing loudly as the commands were transferred to the Android’s system, requesting an enormous amount of calculations every millisecond. At the same time, Leon opened the command window to hack the system, which tried to counteract a lot slower this time, much to his relief.

  Five minutes later, Leon smiled as he succeeded.

  “Got it.”

  Shortly afterward, tens of windows opened up on his screen, revealing the code library he had tried to get access to for months. Every window had hundreds of folders, each of which contained large numbers of code files.

  The total number of files was overwhelming to the usual program, showing the complexity of the Androids’ system. Vulcan was child’s play in comparison.

  “Damn, this is gonna take forever to sort through.” Leon scratched his head as his eyes frowned in exhaustion. Then, an idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

  “Unless I use an analysis program to scan the whole library. I only need the right keyword.”

  He didn’t look for a needle in a haystack. No.

  The big treasure that these files contained was what he’s been looking for since the very beginning. The Phoenix Project.

  Dr. Andrei Kotova took the incomplete work on True AI and used it as a framework to build up the world’s most realistic and capable androids. The AI wasn’t good enough to be fully independent, but it certainly came close.

  In the end, however, it seemed impossible to take the big step to finally cross that line. The work on the first True AI remains incomplete to this day.

  So, there was only one thing he needed to find.

  “What exactly is missing?” Leon wondered. It was a simple question but when considering the scale, it was incredibly complex.

  Why is True Artificial Intelligence considered to be impossible?

  Everything can be replicated. A perfect vessel that copies human anatomy, a guided calculation process, and data storage that simulates the brain. Restrictions and barriers, as well as growth through machine learning to replicate human intelligence, and more.

  With enough research and development, all this can be replicated. But would that be enough?

  What gives an AI its independence?

  The body?

  The digital brain?

  In the end, no matter how close it would come to a living being, an Android would always understand and accept that it runs on a program and that its rules restrict it. The Android would always know that its thoughts and emotions were simulated based on guidelines. That its personality is formed by calculations and actions, nothing else.

  ‘No sense of Self.’ The realisation appeared in his mind, prompting Leon to act without wasting a single second.

  He spent several hours writing a simple analysis program that used Vulcan’s enormous processing power to scan the files. After he let it run for a while, his guess soon proved to be correct.

  The Genesis Code.

  The centre of what makes up an Android’s individuality and existence. The personality, morals, and values that influence all other actions and define it to the core.

  It was both the most valuable and most inconspicuous piece of code in the software.

  By its nature, it would constantly grow and adapt as experiences accumulate over time. It was the piece that incorporated machine learning as its most vital component.

  The Genesis Code, however, wasn’t anything like what it was supposed to be.

  It was…

  “... Completely static. No matter what happens, the Genesis Code doesn’t change or adapt. Its individuality is set in stone from the beginning.”

  The most important piece of code was sabotaged to keep it from anything more than a simple machine.

  ……….

  ‘Every living being is built on flaws. Machines are built to be perfect. That’s why neither of them can become the other.’

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~