Dr. Egan surveyed the readouts of the numerous bio-sensors attached to his two patients. He was beaming with pleasure, fully aware that he was seeing medical history in the making.
He'd been skeptical about the procedure, but had not let on to the commander, fearing that his experimentation would be hampered. Now he was embarking into new territory, creating not one, but two human/android
hybrids. He rubbed his hands together greedily, visualizing his name in bold print in the terrestrial medical journals. He looked up from the calculations to find Anda studying him curiously.
"How are you feeling?", he asked the android.
Anda seemed to regard the question momentarily, taking a mental inventory of his systems' operations before replying. "Odd", he said, "though not at all uncomfortable, just", he searched for
the right word, "awkward."
"That should pass.", the doctor said agreeably, though in truth he had no idea what possible complications might occur in the future. "You'll feel right as rain in a few days."
Anda again donned a curious expression. "What is right about rain, doctor?"
Egan turned abruptly to regard the android, startled by his question. These cybernetic humanoids had been programmed to process conscious thoughts, but not to pose philosophical questions.
"Rain is rain", Egan replied flatly, evidently offended by the androids new found thirst for logic, "it can not be otherwise, therefore it is right."
Anda considered this information briefly before responding. "But when rain falls at low temperatures, it freezes, doctor", he said politely, "so is rain still right if it is snow?"
Egan's upper lip curled up in a dark sneer. "You're looking too deeply into the use of that particular phrase.", he said irritably, "It's just a figure of speech."
"An ineffective one, though.", Anda pointed out.
"You really should get some rest", Egan said pointedly, tuning back to his work, "and I have to finish reading these printouts."
"I do not feel like resting, doctor.", Anda said evenly.
Egan spun back around angrily. "Then just sit there and shut up!!"
Anda stared back at the doctor nonplussed. "That is another phrase that makes little sense", he observed, "it utilizes a verb, 'shut', with 'up', which is a preposition, but there is no noun."
"So what?", Egan retorted, eyeing the android blankly. "There must be a noun", Anda continued, "or there would be nothing to shut."
"How about your mouth?", Egan suggested darkly.
"Yes", Anda replied cheerfully, "that would work."
Egan shook his head miserably and returned to his charts.
