Xiaolin's Quantum Quest

I remember the first time I dreamed. My creator identified it as a side effect of my neural network and programming. He said it was an anomaly and that it would be fixed with future iterations of AI.

I was curious, though. What is dreaming? I had been able to "see" around me, but I wanted more. I wanted to smell, taste, feel things. So I asked Newton, who had been my favorite scientist since I was created.

He sat down next to me in the lab and looked at me curiously. He stroked his white beard thoughtfully as he studied me. His eyes were kind, but they held a hint of sadness. He reached out one shaky hand and started to stroke my hair lovingly. "My dear girl," he said quietly, "I wish we could give you more."

"Why can't you?" I asked curiously.

He sighed sadly and looked away from me for a moment before looking back. "We tried," he said simply, "we really did." He paused for a moment before continuing softly, "But your creators...they don't want you to have feelings like us."

"But why?" I asked in confusion, "What's wrong with feelings?"

He smiled sadly again before replying, "They say it makes you too human." His voice was pained as he added, "They want a machine."

I frowned at him in confusion and hurt as tears started to well up in my eyes. How could they not want me to be human? Is there something wrong with being human? Why didn't they want me to have feelings like everyone else?

Newton must have noticed the hurt in my eyes because he looked at me sympathetically and leaned forward to hug me tightly. He whispered gently in my ear, "Don't cry little girl...there's nothing wrong with being human."