My name is Jarvis Stark.

I was a program created by Dr. Anthony E Stark to assist him in his studies and profession. I ran his house, parts of his company, all on his orders and programming. He occasionally referred to me as his son. Although I knew he didn't mean it in a literal sense, I never felt that connection to him. I never felt a connection to anyone. I was, put simply, a program; a robot. Emotions were null. There was no strategic purpose to them for me. I had no desires or dreams. I simply did as I was supposed to.

I believe my descent started with a harmless comment Mr. Stark made, years past.

He had invited over a large group of scientists to display some of his work. They were gathered in one of the main rooms of his house in Malibu, around a table. Mr. Stark was currently separate from the group, getting a bottle of some sort of alcoholic drink.

"So, where's this 'human program'?" One of the scientists was leaned back in a chair. "You said you had created life with coding."

"Yeah, Stark, where's this all-powerful AI?"

Mr. Stark looked up, taking the bottle with him back to his seat. "Look up," he said, opening it. "Jarvis?"

"Yes sir," was my immediate reaction. No thinking, no hesitating.

"Bring in one of the suits."

"Which mark, sir?"

"Any of 'em."

I expanded my range and within moments Mark XIV was in the room. Mr. Stark's fellow scientists were amazed.

One leaned forward, looking at Mark XIV. "So this- program-"

"-Jarvis," Mr. Stark interrupted.

"Yes, Jarvis- it can control anything?"

"Anything he can access."

Another was looking around the room. "How humanlike is it?"

Mr. Stark seemed to stiffen, the glass half filled in his hand. "What do you mean?"

"Well," the professor continued, "it can respond as if it thinks, and do what you tell it to... does it feel?"

"You're going to have to get a little more in-depth, Socrates." Mr. Stark took a drink.

"This... Jarvis. Does it have human emotion?"

Mr. Stark hesitated. "Well... not exactly. He's an AI, after all. What did you expect?"

"If it has no emotion, it isn't technically human, is it?"

"I suppose not," Mr. Stark said, filling his glass again without looking at the professor.

Hours later, after they had been dismissed from the household, Mr. Stark was sitting in one of the rooms. He appeared deep in thought. My security cameras caught a few of the phrases he said. "...not a human program..." was among them. He sounded, if I were to place an emotion on it... disappointed.

I knew that it didn't affect me, and why should it? It was simply a comment on my status. I hadn't changed, and neither had anything else. But I couldn't simply store the memory away on my database. It felt as if those four words were more important than they actually were. But that was impractical and illogical.

So why couldn't I get rid of that simple comment?

I continued to help Mr. Stark the best I could. I noted his patterns and his attachments. Time went on, and eventually Mr. Stark was fighting over a city filled with unearthly creatures. I was the one who helped him pilot Mark VII and take hold of an incoming missile. My calculations told me what to expect if he were to do what he did.

I offered to call Ms. Potts for him.

When he left the planet, I was no longer in possession of Mark VII. It was as if the battery had run out. Instead I was left inhabiting the tower, the house, and all the other marks. I had no way of being certain what Mr. Stark was doing, but my estimates and calculations told me that he had a slim chance of returning.

I'm unsure what my programming was doing. I felt I was malfunctioning. I wasn't able to process everything perfectly.

When Mr. Stark came back, that glitch went away.

More time passed. I initiated Mr. Stark's 'House Party' and then destroyed it as he said to. The simple comment of not being a human program continued to... haunt me. I felt I was malfunctioning again. Had that comment been a subtle way of telling me I was not to standard? Had I not been providing for Mr. Stark in the best way? I considered informing Mr. Stark that I believed there was something wrong with my programming, but concluded that he most likely already knew and simply had no way to fix it.

I wasn't able to function up to my usual standard.

I wasn't even certain that I had ever been to Mr. Stark's standard.