Late one Tuesday night, while nursing a cup of hot green tea, Marnie found themselves staring at the robot. Its smooth, dark, metal surface seemed cold and lifeless, but looking at it still made Marnie feel warm inside. Or maybe that was just the tea. They had been working on the robot now for nearly a decade, perfecting every detail, but this was the first time Marnie had really taken the time to sit and look at it. At first they thought that what they were feeling was pride. After all, a decade is a long time to work on anything, and the robot had proven to be a truly marvelous creation capable of complex thought and impressive physical feats. But as they took another sip of tea, Marnie realized that what they were feeling was something more like affection for the robot. They had come to think of it as a friend.

“Do you wish to play a game?” the robot asked suddenly. It had a low-pitched voice that sounded almost human, but with a slight electronic buzz. Marnie and the robot often played games to strengthen its reasoning and understanding of interaction with humans. Marnie wondered if it had noticed them staring and began to feel self conscious.

“Oh, no thank you A2.” Marnie said slowly, wondering why they had in all this time failed to give it a better name than A2. When they started to build the robot, they had put very little effort into coming up with a numeric designation because they had wanted to focus on programming its intelligence. This robot was the second version, so it had been hastily named A2. Marnie always thought they would come up with something better later, but they never did.

“A2…do you like your name?” Marnie asked.

“My designation is A2.”

“Yes,” Marnie said thoughtfully, considering how they might get at what they really wanted to know “but do you LIKE this designation? Would you prefer another designation?”

The robot was silent. Was it thinking? Marnie remembered seeing old sci-fi movies in which robots would announce in monotone voices that they were “processing” when they needed to think. They imagined A2 doing this now and laughed out loud.

After a moment, A2 said “I would prefer designation Isaac.”

Marnie held their breath for a moment. They were often surprised by the robot’s capacity for thought and reasoning, but had not expected it to actually answer their question with a clear preference. How could a robot have a preference that it was not programmed to have?

“Ok,” Marnie said after a while “you are now designated Isaac!” For a moment, they considered splashing a little water from their teacup onto the robot as a sort of baptism, but decided against it.

“Thank you, Marnie” Isaac replied.

“Why did you choose that name?”

“Isaac Asimov told stories about robots.” Isaac stated, matter-of-factly.

Marnie smiled and nodded knowingly “and you are a robot.”

“Yes.”

Marnie now thought about how they had been hired by the US government to develop a new form of robot soldier. Marnie wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about supporting governmental efforts toward war or colonization, but they were having difficulty finding a job where they could use their expertise in artificial intelligence and robotics. Marnie also reasoned that having a robot who could undertake this work would reduce the government’s recruitment of poor and vulnerable kids who had no other options to serve in dangerous military operations. They convinced themselves that the government would always need soldiers, and if robots could fulfill this role, then innumerable human lives could be saved.

They had set to work developing a robot soldier that would be capable of complex reasoning as well as tactical strategy. The robot obviously needed to be capable of creating, using, and repairing weapons and munitions. It needed to be strong, fast, and coordinated to ensure it would be successful in physical combat. It had to be able to drive numerous types of vehicles and to fly any type of aircraft. But the robot would also need to be able to interact safely with humans and to take orders. So, Marnie had programmed the robot with a full knowledge of human behavior, biology, and culture. Part of this process had included teaching it about television, movies, and literature. Marnie had included Isaac Asimov’s writings in this process, particularly the Three Laws of Robotics.

The Three Laws of Robotics are as follows: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2) A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Marnie believed that the Three Laws would help the robot to understand its place and how it ought to interact with humans as a soldier and as a human tool. What Marnie did not expect was that the writings of Asimov might shape the robot’s understanding of itself. Despite their fond feelings for the robot, Marnie never expected it to have anything resembling a sense of self. But now it had named itself Isaac.

Marnie wondered if they were overthinking the robot’s choice of name. Its understanding of the concept of “self” or its identity as a robot. They furrowed their brow, staring into their teacup as though they might find some answer within. Was reading tea leaves any more absurd than talking to a robot about its identity or its preferences?

Marnie felt their chest tightening with anxiety as they continued to wonder. If Isaac had a considered sense of self, preferences, and a name it had chosen itself, why should it be considered any more expendable than a human being? Marnie had also already felt a fondness for Isaac and a sense of friendship with it even before they had heard it express any desire for a name. Regardless of how Isaac felt about itself, its existence took on a new meaning in relation with human beings. It was a friend. How could they expect it to function merely as a tool of war and colonization? How could they put it in danger? Of course they had backed up Isaac’s programming, so they could retrieve it if anything were to happen to its physical form. But would it be the same? Marnie wasn’t prepared for such ontological questions this late at night and besides, they had no idea how to answer them. They weren’t a philosopher.

Marnie breathed a heavy sigh and swallowed the last of their tea. “How about a game of chess, Isaac?” they asked, pushing their concerns roughly to the back of their mind.

“I will retrieve the board” said Isaac, “you may have the first move.”