Chapter Text
Lizzie isn’t worried. Not at first.
Because Hope’s too nice to say no if her boss asks her work overtime. So maybe, she won’t be home until half eight that night. She’s not answering her phone, but Lizzie knows her girlfriend wouldn’t want to be behind in her work.
It gets to nine at night before Lizzie’s fully worried. She call's the main phone to the coffee shop, and Hope's manager answers. She tell's Lizzie Hope didn't show up for work that morning.
Remembering an address Hope told her she gets her checkup’s at, Lizzie leaves the house, heads to her car and drives off.
“Are you MG?” Lizzie asks the man in front of her. She’s just arrived at the garage Hope goes to, and she remembers name ‘MG’ getting thrown around in a good light. He’s friendly with Hope, she thinks.
The man looks up from his work and looks to Lizzie. That’s when she takes in his expression.
Bloodshot eyes, unshaven stubble and just a general look of him that make’s the stranger seem small, this man looks miserable.
He puts down his tools and stands up, holding himself up by his hands on his desk. “Yeah.” He replies weakly. “Lizzie, I’m guessing?”
She nods her head, then decides just to get into it. “It’s about Hope.” She take’s a breath. “I haven’t seen her all day. And I know she was here this afternoon, so I was just wondering if she had to stay longer for…whatever reason. Is she here?” She asks, her voice cracking by the end.
MG shakes his head, looking down at his hands. He closes his eyes tight, and Lizzie can see the tears welling up.
That’s when she knows.
“MG?” she says again, desperate for an answer. Hoping the horrible thoughts in her head are just her being paranoid.
“No, she’s not here.” He finally replies, rubbing at his eyes.
“Then where is she?” Lizzie says, sadness drowning out the anger in her voice.
It’s a few tense seconds before MG starts speaking again. “My mom, the CEO of Triad AI Productions, the company that made Hope, decided to send her to Malivore.”
“What’s Malivore?” She asks. And God, is she dreading the answer.
“It’s a deactivation center. It’s where we send AI’s that are damaged beyond repair.”
Lizzie keeps nodding her head, trying to wrap her head around it. “And how the hell was Hope damaged beyond repair? She’s been doing just fine. Amazing, even.” She says bitterly in one breath.
It just doesn’t make sense.
“It’s actually because they think she was too advanced. Showing too many feelings. And robot’s aren’t supposed to feel, they’re supposed to serve. That’s what my mom told me, anyways.”
She takes a moment to process the man’s words. Then, she concludes.
“It’s because of me.”
Of course it is. Hope loved her, and Hope was a robot, and robot’s weren’t supposed to love. Her and Hope were living a perfectly domestic life together as equals. As a couple.
MG doesn’t disagree with Lizzie. Doesn’t try to say it wasn’t her fault. All he can say is an “i'm sorry” before he breaks down sobbing into his desk, hands covering his face. Lizzie can only stare lifelessly at the engineer.
“I tried to stop it, I swear! I told her it wasn’t a bad thing, tha- that-“ He doesn’t finish what he’s saying.
It’s was hard for Lizzie not to fall in love with Hope. She knew a happy ending for them was a long shot, but she couldn’t help herself, Hope is more human than half the people she’s ever met, despite everything.
Was. A small voice in the back of her mind says.
“We were planning a life together.” She says, staring into the wall behind MG. “We were going to leave here once I finished with school, travel Europe for a year.”
MG doesn’t look up at her, but he still talks through his hiccups. “I know, she told me.”
Lizzie doesn’t bother to wipe the tears streaming down her face. “She loved me.”
“I know.”
And maybe she shouldn’t be surprised that they ended like this. She shouldn't of been surprised that people saw it as unnatural. Truth be told, she sort of forgot Hope was a robot. And as time went on, and as they grew happier and happier together, she had Hope.
And now Hope’s dead.