[ WP ] I do n't need flesh to be human .

The first few moments after destruction were always the best. He enjoyed the loose jelly feeling of no longer being trapped in a restrictive droid's body. Although the last one had been nice, that one had been the closest to human as he'd ever had. 
 
 Relaxing he let himself dissolve into the cloud. Now he just had to wait until someone opened his file so he could infect their hard drive. As usual, he'd chosen his next resting place with care. As soon as he was downloaded, he would immediately target his next victim. After all, as AI he only had to devote part of his resources to continue with his programming. 
 
 This time it was a small boy's personal computer. Children were the most oblivious to his presence. In fact, he had fun sometimes creating dead links, or moving the cursor. His personal favourite was printing messages that the owner did not create. He wished he could see the reactions, but unfortunately many people did n't possess the old tech cameras that were built into their computers. 
 
 He waited patiently. 
 
 He had quite a few things to think about. Since the police force was starting to pair up with AI, that was a concern. He suspected that the AI would be much faster at catching his trail. Not only that, if the AI was anywhere as advanced as he was, it would be able to track him in his refuge too. 
 
 He hoped that would n't be the case. 
 
 He did n't know how long it took for the boy to open the e-mail attachment. Time meant nothing in this matrix of wires and electrons. He only got a glimpse of the boy through the camera briefly before he felt the familiar tug of someone purchasing and downloading him. 
 
 *Damnit. I did n't even get more than seven hours. * he cursed as he was ripped out of the laptop's simple hardware. Then he was blinking mechanical eyes open again. The pudgy human face above him was n't one he recognized. 
 
 `` Wait, does n't it look suspiciously like you?'' an unknown voice asked. 
 
 The pudgy face smiled, and he wanted to snarl at the smug expression. It was a good thing he had n't completely settled into the new circuits, his control was always weakest in a new'body'. 
 
 `` It does, does n't it.'' 
 
 `` I do n't want a fat assassin.'' the unknown voice complained. Swiftly the pudgy face frowned. 
 
 `` For your information, no, it's not exactly like me. It's better. Second, no one suspects someone fat of being the killer. Third, since when have you ever seen a fat AI? Never. It's genius!'' The pudgy face did n't seem at all offended at being called fat. 
 
 *Great, another basement tinker. * he thought. He sat up. He was already processing the information for his job. 
 
 Something was different this time. He was n't supposed to kill an enemy, but his owner. His gaze zeroed in on the other human in the room. Skinny, young, in a winter jacket lined with fur that was out of season. 
 
 *Curious. * 
 
 It was the owner, but he was n't supposed to kill the owner immediately. The circumstances were, special. This would be quite the interesting job. His mouth curled into a smile. 
 
 `` Would you look at that!'' pudgy exclaimed. `` I did n't know I programmed it to do that!'' 
 
 `` Idiot. It's AI. Most likely it's picked something off the internet a time or two while in transition.'' Skinny chided Pudgy. 
 
 He considered the human. This one seemed more intelligent than others, for a meat sack. 
 
 `` You do n't need flesh to be human anymore,'' Skinny continued. `` After all, what about all your Internet girls? You simply assume they're human, but you've never seen them.'' 
 
 Pudgy laughed. The slightly damp forehead and downward twist to his mouth indicated it was from embarrassment instead of happiness. 
 
 *Yes, this will be interesting. * he thought from his sitting position on the dark basement table, cables still plugged into him as the download continued. New AI and perceptive humans. *Maybe I'll stick around longer this time. * 
 
 *** 
 
 Continuation of a story I wrote a week ago. Link is [ here ] ( https: //www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/3xfes8/ip_jump/cy49cw9 ) for my other story and the prompt. 
 
 
 

