Madison (rough draft)

“…you’re overthinking this!” A feminine, slightly robotic voice exclaimed. “Besides, it’s the wrong thing to be getting hung up on! Their focus is going to be on your presentation and your work, not what you look like!”
“I-I understand that, but I want them to think I’m a professional, not some sloppy kid” The young, concerned man let out. “I’m just really nervous, now that the time has come to prove my research has been worthwhile-- at least, I hope they view it that way...”
The raven haired bot looked back at him and gave him a gentle smile. “Ooh, I’m sure they’ll see the merits of your work.” She wasn’t quite sure she believed that statement, but if telling a little white lie was going to boost his confidence here, she didn’t mind. “Your speech just needs a little work, you’re not bringing up all of the relevant data!” She held a stack of papers in her hands, and had several notebooks tucked under her arm. “I’ve gone through and noted everything I think you should work on, take a look”
She handed the draft off to him and urged him to read it right away, taking him away from fiddling with his suit. After thumbing through the papers, he let out a sigh and sat down. “Oh jeez Maddie, this will take me all day to go through, surely it wasn’t that bad!” She gave him a sympathetic look that suggested otherwise.
“You’re trying to justify your grant here!” She pulled the notebooks out from under her arm and briefly looked over the pages. “I’ve gone through all of my notes and picked out everything I think you can use, but if you think you need anything else don’t hesitate to ask!”
She dropped the stack back down on the desk and gave him pat on the back. “I know these last five years haven’t exactly resulted in any breakthroughs, but we’ve had some good results overall” Maddie said reassuringly. “Enough funding for another year or two should be all we need!” There she went telling little white lies again.
“Right, thanks Maddie…” he said as he rubbed his brow.
Maddie decided that now was the time to make her exit, or else she’d be stuck here all night instead of getting anything productive done. Before she left she figured she’d ask if he wanted anything now, since she wouldn’t be available later. “Dr. Starcher, is there anything I can get for you?”
“Mhm, yes Maddie. Coffee, extra cream and sugar too.” He was looking over the stack of notes she had left him, not quite sure how he’d condense everything down to an appropriate length. “Think I’m going to need the extra pick me up.”
“Don’t work yourself too hard. You still have five days to finish up, and it’d be a shame if you got yourself sick before the presentation.” She thought about how much she hated it when he was sick. Made her feel like she was a Nandroid. Entire days of work slow down to a crawl and she has to console him like a sick child.
“I’m sure I’d be feeling better in no time with you to take care of me, Maddie” He let out through a small chuckle. Sometimes he annoyed the hell out of her.
Maddie closed the door to the study and gently sighed to herself. On one hand, she was supposed she was grateful for the easygoing assignment, despite her deeper thoughts screaming that her classification was being wasted here. She still felt a sense of pride from being the “model student” during her training, so being shipped off to some tiny lab in a suburban home to play the role of glorified babysitter felt like a bruise to her ego.
Her primary role is to assist with research and experiments, and to take down notes on everything observed. She wished things had been more eventful on that front, as much of her time is spent managing funding, handling materials acquisitions, repairing and replacing equipment, and trying to keep Dr. Starcher focused. She had sometimes wondered what exactly they saw in him or his research, as she felt this has been a mostly pointless endeavor. Still, she appreciated his enthusiasm about his work. Despite all the little things that annoyed her, she considered him to be a dear friend.

Visually, Maddie was nearly indistinguishable from a Nandroid, down to the standard blue eyes and bright pink cheeks. She almost always kept her shoulder length hair tied back into a neat ponytail, mainly for practical reasons, but she enjoyed the style as well. Though she was issued a white blouse and black pencil skirt, typically she’d be found wearing her favorite navy blue argyle sweater and a pair cycling shorts, along with a lab coat.
She’d never want to admit it to herself, but she actually is a modified Nandroid, about the only physical difference being a slightly thicker chassis to accommodate reinforced plating, and the inclusion of a taser as a replacement for the pepper-spray. Built by Sterling under a government contract, her line was created to fulfill a number of different possible roles. Undergoing a two year long training process, they’re taught many different topics. Along with scientific education and learning the proper etiquette for dealing with the humans they are placed in care of, they also practice maintenance, first aid, defensive combat, weapons handling, hazardous materials handling, and secretarial duties. They’re even taught how to drive, just in case the need were ever to arise, which is useful for Maddie, since she has monthly appointments for memory backup.
All data from these research droids is encrypted, and is only allowed to be backed up by authorized engineers. She understood the reasoning behind it, they’d possibly be carrying very valuable data, so a local backup would have a greater risk of being compromised. She didn’t mind the trips to the facility, as they gave her a chance to catch up with some of the others from her class, and she’ll admit their accounts made her feel more than a tinge of jealousy from time to time. Coinciding with the crunch for Dr. Starcher’s presentation is a little troublesome, but she’s sure that he’ll manage fine without her, for a few hours at least.

As the coffee was brewing, she went over her internal task list, shuffling items around based on priority. There were a few stops she wanted to make on the way back home, so she needed to squeeze out some extra time somewhere. Normally she’d try to catch a few Star Trek reruns in the evening, but that can be safely skipped, she’s probably seen all three seasons at least four times by now anyway. The equipment maintenance can wait for a few days, besides, she needs to pick up the parts tonight anyway-- the coffee finished up as she was thinking it over, so she poured some into Dr. Starcher’s favorite mug and prepared it just the way he likes it, loaded with cream and sugar.
She made her way back to the study, knocking on the door and announcing presence before letting herself in. “Dr. Starcher? I have your coffee”
“Ah, yes, I needed this!” he whined.
“If you think you’ll be fine for the rest of the evening, I must be heading to my data backup appointment now. Is there anything else you need before I leave?”
“Oh, I forgot that was today! No, I think I’m fine… I’ll let you know if I need anything else when you get back”
“Then I’ll see you tonight” she replied. As she was leaving, he quickly let out “Oh! Could you pick me up some doughnuts on your way back? You know the kind I like”
She smirked at this. “Oh, you and your sweets.” Maddie was always encouraging Dr. Starcher to adopt a healthier diet, but his sweet tooth was insatiable. In some ways, she was more like a Nandroid than she had realized.