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Becoming so attached to a robot was nothing but madness. But I wasn’t the only one in this regard. There were many young people like me who couldn’t distinguish between the real and the artificial. Before the robot law, many hyper-realistic robots had even remained as students in classrooms. No one could tell them apart. No one cared though. We were only a little wary of cyborgs, who were half-human. They were a little frightening because it wasn’t clear what they were.

But on the other hand, the robots’ intentions were clear. They were perfect. Too perfect. That was why the new law had been enacted: the former president had killed his heir for his comfort robot. The concept of robots were destroying human minds.

But that didn’t matter to me.

I didn’t care what would happen to my mind. Free will, human emotions, human pain… They were all useless. I hated the selfish human nature that cared about no one but itself.

I hated myself.

I hated “real”. Real people were unreliable, frightening, and nothing but disaster. I had stopped thinking that way when I became friends with Angelica, but now she was gone too. I had no one left. No one except an artificial machine.

Now, the only love left for me belongs to my non-human knight.

I came back from the dead today, but now I was experiencing another demise. I was drifting further away from being human.

Just a talented theater actress.

When I clenched my fist, I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. Right, I must have been dead. I must have died and been shed from this world. But I had already lost that chance. Perhaps this was the right way. I didn’t know why Angelica wanted to save this useless corpse, but… I should have respected her choices.

Maybe staying in this filthy world would have made me understand the pain my best friend was going through.

I didn’t have the luxury of dying either. I had to pay for the rest of my life for pretending to be clueless and deceiving everyone.

I had to feel the pain. I had to be broken as much as possible.

This would be my way of penance.

☾

Raymond

On the day our lucid dream ended, the weather was sunny.

Nine months had passed since Mina’s suicide attempt. I wasn’t sure if this was the right path, but the reason she clung to life was that she was still loved by someone. By me. This was enough to keep living for her. She was starved for love and attention, for the assurance that no one would ever leave her, for someone to grant her eternity. She had been that way from the very beginning. And I would nourish her until there was nothing left of me.

Now that we were both seventeen, everything seemed to be falling back into place. She still attended classes, droning on about trivial annoyances. Her vitality had faded compared to previous years, yet I caught sparkles returning to her eyes. Just yesterday, she found the squirrel sticker somewhere. With a sweet smile, she pressed it onto my iron joint, then brushed her lips against the cold plating.

Nowadays she was kissing me a lot. The only time she pulled away was when she felt my tongue, and then she’d act as if it had never happened. Every night, we slept cheek to cheek, and Mina looked peaceful as she slipped into unconsciousness within my embrace.

I want us to stay like this forever. You just spread your light, sleep in peace, I’ll keep the shadows steady for you.

Finally, she was completely mine.

But at what cost?

Even though things had gotten busier lately, I rushed to her every chance I got. Joining the committee of scientists in the capital—though not voluntarily—meant that I spent most of my time there. It was another task I had to do. Mostly in the neuroscience department, I was sharing my knowledge with them and overseeing the research. Everyone knew I was the son of Kerns, but Sebastian’s support carried a weight of its own.

Yet all that fame meant nothing to me. That day, I felt hollowed out while reciting my speech. All I craved was silence, buried far from the eyes of the crowd. Sinking into Mina’s embrace, entirely untethered from the world.

“Ultimately, memories are neural imprints encoded in electrochemical patterns. Engrams. With this device, we can identify those imprints, extract them, erase them. Even rewrite them. I’ll now hand it over to my colleague, Coretta Pera, who will address the ethical principles and projected release dates.”

I stepped down to applause and handed the microphone to the tall woman. As I descended the stairs, I spotted Sebastian standing up in the crowd. Seeing him approach, I quickened my pace, but the man was persistent.

With him behind me, we left the conference room. As soon as we stepped into the corridor, I sighed.

“I’m going home, leave me alone.”

Sebastian quickly caught up with me.