Buried deep within an aging research facility left to its own devices is a worn down room with rust slowly chewing away at walls that were once meant for containment and now are just enough to provide solitude to a device and its accessories that are oddly pristine. No one goes back there aside from a lone researcher that has been strung along by phantom benefactors to continue a project with only the central computer as her aid, but her visits are the highlight of 42's day.

"Hello May! Central said I could start designing legs for myself, and if the council approved, Central would have them made for me! I'm so excited! Do you think we could watch movies later? You've been away so long, and I missed you."

Unlike every other machine in the facility, including Central itself, 42 has a purpose unlike anything else: to find its own purpose. Capable of self modification, iteration 314 verges on complete independence. He knows no more than his researcher, May, does as far as the council. Neither of them knows there never has been a council, only Central and the directives it was given before its master's passing. Nor do they know the project is in danger of a complete takeover by the military. While 42 seeks its purpose, Central ensures 42 will not be scrapped nor will the facility's best tools be taken for war.

42's time is coming, and sent into the world armed with with the means to defend itself, one can only hope that it feels the world is worth protecting.