“Put your card into the keyboard.”

Eric taps his finger on the edge of the computer's keyboard, showing me a gap into which a card could be slid.

“Using your card is how you log into your account. Your birthday is your default password, in the format of eight digits.”

He slowly slides the keyboard toward me. After inserting the card and entering the password, the computer’s desktop is unlocked. Great, yet another part of my job which demands this card.

“We’ll begin with the User Manual and the PRD document for now.”

He boots up an internet explorer and navigates to a local file-hosting server. After downloading the two files, he briefly fills me on what to expect.

The PRD document, which is supposed to detail the product’s requirements, is described as “outdated” and “messy”. Normally, it should be a QA’s bible regarding how the product is expected to behave during tests, but in this case it’s just a rough reference at best.

On the other hand, the User Manual is said to be polished, for it’s meant for consumers. As a father of a little android girl, it’s imperative that I read through it and learn everything there is to know about my daughter.

Speaking of which, I haven’t yet reported to Eric about Lily’s glitching, I hope that she isn’t damaged in some way.

“I wanted to ask something. Lily was glitching a little yesterday, is that normal?”

“Who?”

“Ah, err... the android, the model. I wanted to know if it’s normal for this model to occasionally glitch like that.”

“Heh, does glitching sound normal to you?”

He shrugs with a chuckle.

“When does she glitch? What’s the scenario?”

“Um, well I can’t say for sure... Basically, I was playing word chain with her. She didn’t know the game, so I taught her.”

I briefly go over yesterday’s events, describing how Lily froze every time she had to think of a new word.

“I see, interesting. Can’t point toward any obvious cause. It may a problem with config, but it can also be a practical bug. At the very least, I haven’t heard about this one before.”

He shrugs and shakes his head.

This is horrible, I’m beginning to fear that Lily is affected by my negative videogame karma. Hopefully, the reason Eric isn’t aware of this bug lies in that no other QA tester ever bothered to teach the girl new games.

“Hey Eric, where are you, man? That package isn’t going to fix itself.”

Eric sighs as he hears someone calling from outside. I strech my head out of the partition and see Gary standing near the door.

“I’m coming now.”

Eric stands up with a sigh and walks toward the door.

“Give the two documents a good read, they’ll keep you occupied for a while.”

I nod and also stand up.

“After I deal with this headache,”

He points at Gary and continues.

“I’ll have a very long meeting with guys from another branch, we gotta root out some ancient bug together. Either way, I’ll probably not be available for most of the day.”

“Got it.”

“If there are any problems, try turning to this troublemaker here.”

He points at Gary again.

“No problem, man! Tell me if you need anything.”

Gary acts friendly and confident, but I’m not sure how much I can rely on a guy who always runs to Eric for help.

Once all the visitors are gone, I walk toward Lily. She’s still sitting on the sofa, eying whatever moves.

“Sorry, I was a little busy.”

“Hmph, it’s not like I was waiting or anything.”

She puffs her cheeks and turns away. Was she sitting here all this time just because I told her to wait a little? Contrary to her behaviour, she’s extremely obedient.

“Good girl.”

“Hmph.”

“I’ll be busy, so I don’t think we’ll be able to play much.”

“... hmph, I never said I wanted to play.”

She tries to retain an indifferent expression but her eyes convey sadness. Rather than abandoning her like this, it’s better to turn her off for now.

“Do you want to go to sleep for a while?”

“Sleep? Together with papa?”

“Ugh...”

She probably didn’t mean anything by it, but when taking Japanese entertainment into account...

“N-no, I mean by yourself.”

“... well, if papa insists so much.”

She hangs her head and slowly kicks with her legs against the sofa. She’s totally against it, isn’t she?

But no matter how much she pouts, I won’t be able to play with her; I have to read the manual and the PRD right now.

Instead of being lonely, it’s better for her to sleep. Yet, when I look at her depressed expression, none of these arguments applies; I can’t beat this kid.

We’re alone in the office and Eric said that he won’t be coming back for a long while. Under these conditions, I could take a break to play with her for a spell.

“Okay, then do you want me to teach you a game?”

“Really!?”

She jumps with a shining smile.

“I-I mean, if you insist so much, hmph.”

She immediately turns her face away, embarrassed by her cute deredere outburst.

It’s decided then.

I’ll properly read the two documents... after playing with Lily for a while! Nobody is going to find out anyway.