"Walk, my little slave, walk as your master commands!" Albert cackled to himself as he watched the tiny robot inch along from one end of a table to the other, navigating around some obstacles and over some others, completely autonomously. IT was a relatively simple A.I., simpler even, perhaps, than some of the toys out now, but Albert had coded it himself and watched with an almost paternal kind of pride as the little robot used hooks on the front of its legs to pull itself up and over a rope-net that turned into a slide down.

There had been no real reason to make this little robot, apart from the sheer pleasure of it. Yet, even though there was no real purpose in the project, which had taken far longer than Albert would ever admit to, it was nice to see it coming along so well at last. (The sheer number of times that he had been forced to untangle that same tiny robot from the net, or pick it up as it rammed itself against the coffee can over and over and over again was something he would never admit to, despite trial and error being a natural part of the creative and scientific process.) He bit back a cheer as the tiny robot reached the top of the slide, pulling its limbs into itself and becoming a box-like shape as it slipped down the short slide, only unfolding once its momentum had stopped.

Two or three more obstacles and the little thing would cross the finish line, and then Albert could show it off to his baby and everyone else in the family. "Come on, little spark," he crooned affectionately, despite knowing that the robot had no system for either hearing him, understanding him, or responding to him. None of that mattered right now, in this moment. His tiny, newest creation was working toward its ultimate goal, and he was so proud of it. "The sandpit is next," he coaxed it, watching anxiously as the robot made its way toward a tabletop zen garden that had become an improvised sandpit for it to try and forge through.

This was one of the parts of the course that made Albert the most nervous, simply because of how dangerous sand was to eloctronics. The small, particulate matter could cause so much damage to delicate machinery and set him back months in work. So why had he bothered to add such a needlessly dangerous aspect to his course? For science, of course! Crooned encouragement turned to mad cackling as the delicate-looking robot paused at the edge of the field - and turned to bypass it entirely.

It wasn't really what Albert had intended, but it was frankly kind of hilarious to him that some quirk of the programming he had given it decided to make the tiny, synthetic creation go around this particular obstacle rather than through it. Still, that wasn't how the test was supposed to go, so he stepped over to the table and scooped it up, holding it in the air while its 'feet' flicked back and forth, trying to propel it forward toward its goal. "Now, now, no cheating in plain sight, Rover," he chided it as it wiggled, carefully placing a couple of cereal boxes on either side of the 'sandpit' and placing it back in front of the obstacle.

This would force it to go through it, with any luck. With a beeping sound as it was once more placed upon a surface, the little robot trudged forward. At first, it tried to go around the sandpit once more - and Albert chuckled, knowing he had programmed it to be able to 'learn' simple things like this. If it worked the first time, the robot would try it again - only this time, it would find its first choice blocked on either side.

"Now what will you do...?" Albert asked, taking notes. He knew what it should do, he had programmed it after all. And he had actually run this course many, many times with this same robot - but he never knew exactly what it would do, especially since he was constantly making tweaks to the robot's programming between tests. By this point, he was reasonably certain he didn't need to make any more changes, but this test would prove if that was the case - if the little robot could make it to the end without any more intervention from him.

If it couldn't do that... well, it would be back to the drawing board. Nibbling absently on his fingernails, Albert watched as the robot went back to the path of least resistance, which this time was the tiny zen garden. It paused on the edge, camera lens mounted on its back taking in detailed pictures of the surface, then began the treck .... by placing its feet only on the raised outer edges of the sandpit, keeping its body (and delicate inner workings) quite clear of the terrain that could damage it.

It moved a bit more slowly than Albert would have liked, but by the time it cleared the obstacle he was still satisfied with its progress - and moreso with his programming job. Programming robots was so very different from coding websites or financial programs or any of the ridiculously boring jobs he often took. It was fun, and the results were tangible - like the little robot that now had two routes to take to the finish line - or two apparent routes, anyway.

Sunk into the table was a little pit full of pebbles, level to the surface, and beside it was a small set of dual-sided stairs. As per its programming, the little robot went first to the flat pool, but stopped at the edge as its camera took in data about the surface. Its programmer watched in somewhat sadistic glee as he wondered whether it would accidentally step in (he had fished more than a few models out of that pit, actually), or take the other route instead.

It stayed there for a moment, and Albert thought that if it was something with a little more life to it, a little more sapience, it would be making a sad whine like a conflicted puppy. As it was just a robot, however, no sounds were made, and he grinned as it moved toward the steps instead and began the slow and clumsy journey up and over them, then down the other side to the finish line.
It almost fell as it moved over the top and began the downward journey, because for a moment it pulled its limbs did like it was conditioned to do with the slide. When it only wobbled instead of sliding down, it waited in place for a moment before extending its legs again and making its clumsy way down the stairs ... and across the ultraviolet-painted finish line.

Albert dropped the notebook he had been scribbling in, cheering loudly. "You did it, little spark! You did! Wonderful, you're the first one to make it all the way through the course!" He plucked it up into his hands, twirling around in a circle with his prize, then grinned wickedly and walked back to the start of the course, plunking it down at the starting line with a laugh.
"And now, my pretty, let's see if you can do it faster."

Word Count: 1239, x2 solo count