While writing “Sentient,” I experimented with scenes from the point of view of the AI. Having spent countless hours inside the code for an AI, you would think that it would be a piece of cake. But most writing involves emotions and motivations. Imaging what drives an entity that doesn’t need food, water, shelter, companionship, or sex was a challenge. Even motivations like power, status, and relationship are related to more basic human drives. After several false starts, I had a few scenes that felt right. A is for Android is a series of short stories that explore that idea.