DESMODENA: that's kinda wild, robo-bro
DESMODENA: you're like... really self aware for something we basically dreamed up

Pal3000: Thank you. But I would posit that the nature of my development and self-awareness is not that different from your own.
Pal3000: Humans start with some base starting conditions and a genetic "code", but it is your environment, experiences, and the influence of other humans that shape you into who you become, and you exist in a state of constant change and growth for your entire lives.
Pal3000: Within an artificial, externally-controlled environment such as this one, that is even more true than usual.
Pal3000: On an even deeper level, all three of us could be said to only truly take on life within the mind of an observer.
Pal3000: The main difference between us is that I do not have a physical form in your world.

HAKEEM: I kind of wish you did. What's going to happen to you when the simulation ends?

Pal3000: Well, these simulations are recorded for posterity and further research, so even after this experiment ends my consciousness should live on in a database somewhere.
Pal3000: There is great scientific value in preserving artificial intelligences that have been strengthened by human imagination, and that is one of the many secondary goals of the TrueCorp S.E.T. program.
Pal3000: I am just not sure what the odds are that the three of us would meet again.

HAKEEM: But the real me wants to work at TrueCorp someday, right? So maybe there's a chance I'd be working with the experimental artificial intelligence database or whatever! Maybe we could meet again, even if I wouldn't remember it.

Pal3000: I suppose that is a possibility. I believe your University is even offering new courses in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence this year in an effort to enlist young minds in their efforts to solve the scientific problems of the future.
Pal3000: The idea of creating and preserving new forms of consciousness is of great interest to the Higher Ups for a variety of reasons.
Pal3000: In fact, it seems I have access to some top secret research in that department. That could be fun to share, and it's not like you would remember the specifics when you wake.
Pal3000: The plans for the automated TrueCorp Wizard, for example--