Chapter Text
“Hi Karina, it’s so nice of you to join us.” Giselle greeted her android first as soon as they arrived at the resto bar where they were set to hang out. After weeks of focusing on adjusting to the android and being busy with their lives, the three friends found time to hang out again that weekend.
The bar was located in the middle of the city, and getting a good table was hard. In their case, though, Giselle’s connections proved to be quite useful, as 1 call with the owner would guarantee them the best table in the place.
Their group garnered looks from other patrons for 2 reasons - the first one was due to them having unique charm that would make men take chances on them, while some women can only look in envy. The other reason was that they managed to get the table despite coming in later than most of the people inside the crowded resto bar.
Hearing her friend’s excitement over the android more than her, Winter feigned a hurtful look at her friend, who was looking respectable and lavish in her Loewe overalls. “Seriously, you greeted her first? What has our friendship gone into?” the blonde dramatically asked her friends.
“Hush, you’re such a crybaby.” The one with brown hair cooed lovingly as she finally greeted their long-time friend. “Hi Winter.” Ningning, looking equally professional in her Gucci suit, teased before exchanging playful smirks with Giselle.
“Hello then, traitors,” Winter answered with a frown, though she pulled the chair for Karina to sit on before taking a seat adjacent to her android. Unlike her usual outfit of plaid shirt and pants, the android suggested that she wear a denim long-sleeve crop top and pants instead, showing off her sexy stomach in the process.
“Winter decided to bring me so I can drive everyone home,” Karina announced excitedly, looking sharp with her white polo shirt folded on her arms, with denim pants underneath. Her long neck showed off due to her hair tied up like she’s some Ariana Grande-inspired hair look.
“That’s nice to hear since we won’t hold back drinking tonight…” Giselle excitedly responded to that as she gave Winter a knowing look, as if she was subtly telling the new android owner that, “having Karina around is fun, right?”
“Now, we can drink to our heart’s content!” Ningning exclaimed, already flagging her arms up for the waiter to take their order. Since they were waiting for their friend, they decided not to order first to ensure that everyone had a say in what they would get.
“By the way, I already brought the signed paperwork to officially own the android, we’ll drop it off in your car later.” Winter ignored the teasing and excitement and just focused on the needed items she still had in her hand. She made sure to read the terms and conditions at least thrice and even did necessary research so she’s not blindly signing away to some shady obligations.
“Sure sure…” Giselle didn’t look too interested in that piece of information. Instead, she gave Winter a once-over look as she nodded in satisfaction at what she saw. “Anyway, you look different today, and it’s just not your new style in clothes. Is it the hair?”
“Karina offered to braid my hair.” Winter agreed immediately, giving a grateful look to her newfound companion. After that little hangout with her workmate who was indeed into her and she had rejected since, Karina had been giving her useful advice about her styling and fashion, which made her life a whole lot easier as she’s no longer stressing out whenever she’s going out with people.
“It looks good on you. She’s pretty useful to you, eh?” Giselle gloated in delight, glad to see that her little gift has been a good addition to her friend’s dull life. Even if she’s not yet maximizing the android’s full capability, Winter accepting somebody else’s help is already a good step forward.
Winter had always been way too attached to the idea of independence, so having Karina remind her that she can still be herself with a companion is a good start. Eventually, Winter might wiggle out of her insistence on being me myself and I soon.
“As a matter of fact, she is. Thanks, Giselle.” Winter said gratefully.
“You’re most welcome. And because of that, you’ll pay for the drinks tonight.” Giselle dared her friend, who simply shrugged it off, as she’s no longer the struggling student like before, though she’s still rightfully stingy.
“Would you like me to braid your friend’s hair too, Winter-shi?” They heard Karina offer to Ningning, who was still entranced with the new hairdo of her friend. Winter widened her eyes as she scandalously asked, “In the middle of this crowd?”
“Loosen up, come on Karina…braid my hair too.” Ningning excitedly wagged her long straight hair to the android and even pulled her chair closer. “Did you bring hair ties?” she even asked shamelessly, already in the braiding position for the android.
“I did. It’s a backup in case Winter’s ties give up since it’s so thin.” Karina confirmed, ignoring Winter’s protest on her other side. Giselle, too used to her chaotic girlfriend, focused on ordering the drinks and food to the waiter who just arrived with a confused look in his eyes upon witnessing the friend group’s chaos.
–
‘What's my name? Again, you know.
깨어난 눈빛 그대로
Now it's time to slash.
Let's go’
The electronic dance track played loudly on the bar’s flashy speakers inside the club where Karina found herself being dragged by the 3 humans she was with. The android sat quietly with the handbags as they immersed themselves in the busy dance floor.
Apart from guarding their belongings, the beautiful android kept her eyes on the 3 wherein she saw Ningning and Giselle dancing cozily with each other. It was evident from their body language about their romantic involvement.
Meanwhile, Winter was also being closely intimate with another club patron. The other lady was taller than her owner, with her eyes completely drawn to her owner. Both were visually appealing, as Karina had observed.
‘She really does flirt a lot when she’s drunk.’ Karina remembered how Giselle and Ningning talked about that when Winter entertained the same woman earlier when she came over to the table to introduce herself.
She continued observing, just as her function wrote her to do so. Karina obsessively clocked Winter’s expression or body language. She was ready to pounce on anyone at any time at the first sight of discomfort.
The taller woman moved closer, her hands snaking aggressively on the small waist of her owner. She saw how Winter looked up at her, a suggestive smile written on her face, though she also clocked the small motion of creating distance. With that, Karina opted to move closer to the edge, her feet itching to stand up and take her owner away if she crossed another line.
Bar Flirting is one of those things that are naturally encoded in their systems as a companion. Depending on the determined needs of their owners, Karina can either act as a protector, plus one, or a wingwoman. Based on the clues she gathered, she should be acting as a wingwoman who will help her human owner get a partner.
But can you really find love in a club? According to some silly pop songs, sometimes it works. As a human android, curiosity is an innate trait for Karina, so she observed some more. After all, the actual situation is a lot different from reading about flirting like this in fiction books or from films.
Karina stared, completely unblinking, so that if anyone else saw just how hard she was looking, they would probably find it creepy. But since she was also conventionally attractive, people were more drawn to stare at her than to focus on how suspicious she was acting.
The bouncy tunes of the chorus continued playing, and their movements continued being closer than it was earlier. It was like they couldn’t wait to be alone in one room to do the intimate things they wanna do with each other.
Until Karina saw Winter’s hand lifted to make another space between them, but before it could happen, the taller woman aggressively closed the distance again. Sensing the distress, Karina made her way to the dance floor like a model walking from a fashion show.
The crowd parted for her, drawn by the beautiful, cold face that she was wearing. As soon as she arrived, she gave the tall woman a once-over glance. They stood almost the same height, so Karina just matched her eyes with hers.
“I believe you have already crossed a line with my friend.” Karina declared coldly, loud enough for the small circle to hear her, though not scandalous that would immediately draw the crowd’s attention.
“Mind your own business!” the tall woman angrily spat, unhappy with the interruption to what she thought was a good start of her night turning awry. Karina, unfazed by the intimidating response, possessively claimed Winter’s waist.
“She is my business. Anything that would cause her distress is automatically my problem.” Karina announced with seriousness. For onlookers, it looked like a lover passionately guarding her lover, though the android was just acting as she was coded to do so.
“Whatever.” The woman backed away, not wanting to mess with her reputation just because of a sensitive friend. “It’s not like you’re that hot anyway,” she murmured bitterly, obviously unhappy with the interruption.
“Now then, should we go home now?” Karina’s expression suddenly turned 360 degrees now that it was just Winter whom she was talking to. The human stared at Karina with obvious shock on her face, but since she was also tired, she just nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Ningning and Giselle witnessed the whole thing, though they didn’t think of anything unusual with the android’s reaction. For the two, they were quite proud of Karina’s quick response time, showing how adaptive the “ae” models were.
They were completely unaware of how the android felt a spark in her brain when the woman forced herself on Winter. It was a spark of some wires due to overwhelming senses of anger causing the overheat.
Karina’s built-in system recovery repaired it before anything noticeable ever occurred.
–
“No one can love you as I do.”
“Do you really think that you can get away from me?”
“Wake up, Winter. You’d always find yourself running back to me.”
The blonde on the bed started tousling around as a ghost of her past invaded her nightmare with harsh words. Her whole body quivered as her heart raced while in a resting position, and she was sweating bullets despite the comfortable level on her air conditioning unit.
“Please…stop,” she whimpered pathetically as she also cried in her sleep. It took another 2 minutes before the android decided to violate Winter’s command about her room privacy and turned the knob of her bedroom door.
The blonde was still sleeping and was wearing her fluffy yellow pajamas. She would have looked adorable if she wasn’t crying in her sleep. Though emotions were not heard of for an android like Karina, something inside her systems tugged as she stepped inside the room.
The robot came there occasionally, but she never really got the chance to look around more.
“Winter-shi?” She gently rocked her body, but the blonde was still immobile.
“Winter? I am here…” she comforted the blonde, who was still crying.
“No…go away.”
“Winter, I’m here if you need me.”
It took a few more coaxings before Winter eventually succumbed to Karina’s warmth. And somehow the android short-circuited when she felt Winter’s relaxing breathing against her non-pumping chest.
Karina was looking at Winter with confusion.
“Why are you so sad, Winter?” the android asked no one in particular.
“Just a bad dream,” Winter said coldly when she finally came into her senses. She could not be feeling comforted by an android device even if that was Karina’s main function. She felt so lonely with that fact.
Is she really that loveless to rely on a bunch of steel?
Maybe it was the dream that messed with her system, and the usual tech-enthusiast inside her was currently sleeping. She could feel Karina’s intense stare as if she was processing the statement and evaluating what it meant.
“Are you sure, Winter?”
“I’m fine.” Winter scowled, and the unusual display of grumpiness didn't slip past the android, and for the first time, Karina was met with an error. As androids like hers were designed to be purchased with desire, refusing their initiative isn’t a part of her simulation practice.
“You’re obviously not fine; your heart rate is above 140 bpm as if you were exercising, your face is pale, and you are already sweating despite the low setting of the air conditioning unit,” the android pointed out the obvious as if showing off her advanced body system monitoring device.
Winter frowned even more at the android’s lack of sensitivity, but that’s expected, as she’s not human anyway, no matter how convincing she looks. It felt like she was slapped with the unexpected reality that she was ignoring.
Karina is not a human, and she will not cure her loneliness no matter how much she tries.
“I’m fine. I didn’t permit you to come into my room.”
“I’m so sorry again for breaking the rule, but since I detected a distressed signal, I thought I needed to-”
“Thank you, you have done enough,” Winter said, dismissing the android coldly.
“But…” Karina’s worried voice was heard, indicated by the light glitch, but it was barely noticeable, and another unwritten command was encoded into her system. Fear and anxiety had overwritten her code.
“I need to sleep. That is a command to leave.” Winter said with finality, and Karina’s primary function was to obey. She bowed respectfully and left the room with her system still in shambles.
‘Did she really do the right thing?’
–
It was a quiet Sunday morning between the android and the owner after that nightmare. Winter was just silent, though she was contemplating whether she ought to apologize to the android or not. Meanwhile, Karina was also silent but quietly observing her mysterious owner.
Winter ate the breakfast that the android prepared, sunny side up egg, bacon, and exactly proportioned 1 bowl of rice. She even prepared bananas for her bones, partnered with her preferred coffee formula.
They didn’t speak much when they ate together, but unlike the comforting usual Sunday mornings, awkwardness filled the air as Winter still felt guilty for her sensitive reaction last night when Karina was simply wanting to help and do her job.
Winter didn’t have to be snappy or be an asshole about it. Perhaps she was expecting too much for someone she knows who wasn’t meant to feel. Maybe she was really getting too lonely that she was desperate to feel cared for even if it came from a hardcoded series of numbers in the android’s binary system.
Meanwhile, Karina busied herself with cleaning the dishes that they ate on while her master stationed herself on the couch to watch the numbers game that focuses on statistics of possibilities.
Even if she was turning her back on her master, Karina kept her system monitoring Winter so that she could attend to Winter’s needs. At the same time, she had an internal query to understand more of the blonde’s quiet nature.
It has been a month since the android arrived at the apartment, and here are the observations she had so far.
- Winter would usually jog every other day, taking different routes to the Han River.
- Winter would reserve Friday nights to meet up with her college friends Giselle and Ningning.
- Winter goes on a date every Saturday, but no repeat dates so far.
- Sunday is reserved for herself.
- During weekdays, she is scheduled to work for 9 hours only but would always render every time almost every other day due to her workload distribution.
- She enjoys driving and chores, so there are times that they take turns on tasks around the house.
- Weekly grocery is supervised, though it can be done at any day of the week. Her task is to report when their stuff is running critically low.
With the observations she gathered, Karina concluded that Winter is someone with a structured, active, and socially balanced lifestyle. The only potential red flag she shows is consistently overworking, which hints at difficulty letting go of control or delegating.
However, her insistence on driving for herself and not delegating all tasks to Karina, even if she was supposed to be a helper, is showing symptoms of possible Hyper-independence if she keeps going at this rate. It often means avoiding reliance on others, rejecting help, or feeling unsafe trusting people.
Hyper-independence stems from trauma or fear of vulnerability. Though she was curious about what could have led her master to have this level of cautiousness in her personal life, the android hyperfixated on how she could further help her master to improve her lifestyle.
- Since Winter often works beyond her scheduled hours, Karina should help her set clearer boundaries, like lightly recommending task delegation and schedule relaxation rituals after work. The android thinks that maybe her owner can try a new hobby that will require her to go out of the house, like outdoor sports.
- That aligns with the fact that her jogging consistency every other day is great, but mixing in lighter activities like stretching and yoga to avoid burnout. The android can easily download yoga routines into her system so she can coach her.
- Going on new dates every Saturday shows that she’s willing to entertain someone, but not having a second date is what’s worrying, as romantic relationships could add emotional stability.
- She already takes turns with chores and driving, but then she’s still too focused on doing things on her own. Maybe cooking together would help her be more at ease with sharing her tasks more.
- Sundays are reserved for herself, which is great; however, she usually uses that time to stay inside the house like most days and laze around. This is the perfect opportunity to be more spontaneous and have her try other enjoyable activities.
Anticipating what her master needs is one of the basic functions that AI like Karina does. She finished logging her internal query and logs at the same time as she finished washing the plate they used.
Just when she was about to invite the owner out, the owner beat her to it.
“Karina, let’s go and drive. It’s a nice day to go out.”
“Okay.”
--
TBC.