"Do you think it's beautiful, Laurie?" I asked.
   
"Very beautiful, Doctor. Of course my personal preference leans more towards elegantly-written code . . . "
   
I chuckled at her response. "Have you never wanted a body?"
 
"Why would I, Doctor? I have top-of-the-range hardware, an excellent cooling system, unlimited access to information and a good problem to solve every now and again. What more could I ask for?"
 
I offered no response.
   
The input globe on top of my desk came alive as I sat down. I gestured at it, programming the last few instructions that would allow Laurie to perform the brain transplant and nerve recalibration by herself. If she had to stop and search public systems for surgical data when the time came, it could throw up all sorts of red flags. One of the institute's directors might catch on to my activities. Dr. Huygens had been trying to sideline me for months, and this would give him the perfect excuse. I'd spent too much time and effort to allow any chance of failure.
   
I was still a little worked-up from my daydream at the window. The closer I got to achieving my goals, the more time I seemed to spend on thoughtfulness and introspection. Maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise after so many years. I just kept coming back to the moment when it all began, long before I started work on the body, before I ever picked up biomechanics. I think I fell in love with Earth the day my father lifted me out of my cot and showed me the walls of my bedroom, hand-painted by my mother during the months she carried me, and explained each image with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. The incredible beauty of their world swallowed me up whole.
   
Left of me, a mountain peak jutting into the clouds. Right of me, a desert like golden syrup under the setting sun. Behind, green fields and hills covered in flowers, grass rippling in the breeze. In front, a tropical beach with an ocean stretching out as far as the eye could see.
   
Much of Haumea colony was painted in bright colours or done up in garish holograms, but they were pale shadows compared to what my mother had made for me. She died minutes after my birth, but she lived forever in those paintings.
   
As soon as I was old enough I started to devour all the information I could find about my home world. Photos, books, holograms, simulations, even things as mundane as scent canisters. I spent months listening to the old colonists, wheedling out story after story. You might say it turned into an obsession.
   
Suddenly Laurie spoke, "Doctor?"
   
I looked up at the unexpected interruption. "Yes, Laurie?"
   
"I hope you're not going to do anything ill-advised, Doctor."
   
"Of course not, Laurie," I lied immediately. "What makes you think I would?"
   
"Forgive me, Doctor. A detailed observational analysis of your work and behaviour over the last few months indicates that you may be planning to turn the experiment to your own uses." Laurie said it without accusation, a simple statement of fact, although there was concern in her voice. "If this is accurate then I strongly urge you to reconsider your course of action. There is a greater than thirty percent chance of failure due to various factors, likely resulting in your termination. I would hate to see anything happen to you."
   
"I wouldn't fret over it, Laurie," I said. A vague twinge of guilt plagued me over what I had to do next, but it had clearly become necessary. "Please delete all records of this conversation, all information pertaining to my behaviour or inappropriate intentions towards the experiment, and suppress any future attempt to reacquire such data. Use my override."
   
Laurie murmured, "Very well, Doctor. Delete confirmed. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
   
"Not right now, thank you. I'm just finishing up."
   
I settled back into the silence and added the last few touches to my illicit package. My father once told me that every dream came at a price, that you had to take risks and make sacrifices in order to get what you wanted. I lived by that philosophy. After thirty years of working around the clock, having devoted my entire life to get to this point, abusing an AI was the least of the things I was prepared to do.