Being Human: the Sequel ⊗ EMH

                                    

                                          
Request: a sequel to Being Human
"Okay!" HABIT glanced up as Vinny walked in with a package in hand. His pet sat the box on the table before him and pulled out a... baby? 
"...What is that?" 
"This is how we're going to teach you to show empathy and treat something like a normal human would." He held the doll up and gave HABIT a look. "It's like the ones schools and colleges use in some of their classes to teach people how to care for a baby. This will simulate what it's like and I will know if you do anything bad to it or ignore it." 
"Vin... I think you're forgetting what I did to Evan's little girl." He rose to his feet, threatening despite his shorter stature. A wicked grin spread across his face, his teeth bared like an animal. 
The man looked away, unable to look him—or more likely Evan—in the eye. HABIT was even more satisfied by the agonizing scream of Evan's broken mind begging him to let that memory be wiped from his mind. Now why would he do that?
"It was this or bring in some innocent person." Vinny spoke quietly, still not looking at him. "...I didn't want to be the reason you killed them." 
"I don't kill everything I see. You're still here." 
"Because I do what you ask." He shifted, setting the doll down on the table. 
"Cats are still here." He reached down, picking up one of them as it conveniently walked by. He smiled at the small predatory animal. "You know, if they weren't so small they'd probably try to eat you. Not like a dog. Dogs were bred to obey." 
The cat squirmed free and trotted off. HABIT didn't spare the animal another glance, as he was focused back on the hurt look on Vinny's face. Cursing under his breath, the entity picked up the fake child. He supposed he had told Vinny to do this. 
"Alright... Fine. I'll get this back in one piece and prove I can have some human empathy... or whatever mushy stuff it's called." 
He regretted going along with this very quickly. The baby was pure torture. No real mortal child would ever be so needy as the robotic replica he'd been given. HABIT was fairly certain Vinny had tampered with the programming just to make him suffer. It would've been so easy to crush the thing and stop the wails coming from the lump of plastic but the entity held strong. He wouldn't let something like this get the best of him, not when he was the one who wished for a challenge. 
"But really, I must've done Evan a favor getting rid of his daughter. He should be thanking me." HABIT grumbled under his breath as the monstrosity of a device started babbling. "What now? It got fed, changed, held... What else does it want?"
He glared at it spitefully. It had been given all the basic needs, right? What else did it want? HABIT continued staring, his mind churning through the centuries of information he'd obtained over humanity... Right, that was it! The thing was programmed to want comfort and companionship. Guess he couldn't just leave it sitting in his general vicinity then...
"I had plans..." He quirked a brow and glanced around. Vinny wasn't anywhere in sight. "Well, guess I could do a little 'bonding' with it." 
Vinny looked at the gore covered doll as HABIT sat it back in front of him at the end of the day. For a moment he was just speechless. He hadn't expected this to go well but it was... Worse? Better? Well, it wasn't what he thought would happen. "...Uhm, what... What happened?" 
"Take your child to work day." HABIT stared smugly at him. "I got him back in one piece, that's all I promised." 
"So... you traumatized it?" 
"Well, can you really do that to a toy?" 
"If it was real the baby would be traumatized for life." Vinny shook his head. "I-I don't know why I bothered. Clearly you know what humans are like and you go out of your way to avoid being like one." 
"Hard to care for a dead-eyed chunk of plastic and wiring." The entity stared up at him before turning his back to the man. "I know you think I hate you... But I wouldn't keep you around if that was the case. I could replace you if I truly wanted." 
Vinny watched him leave without responding. If he did, he might ruin the moment. That was the closest thing to a flat out compliment he'd ever been given by HABIT. He didn't have hope that it would last, but at the very least it showed the entity was capable of feeling some form of love and companionship. 
He glanced back down at the doll. It hadn't worked out quite how he'd hoped but a small grin twitched at the corners of his lips. "Wonder if it recorded anything good I could use to hang over his head."