Chapter Text
30 years old. Well-paying job. Brand new house inside an affluent, private neighbourhood with some of the richest families in the city. Perfectly healthy and in shape...
Alone.
Very alone.
I have felt like this for a long time. Even before I moved out here there was this emptiness inside of me, an emptiness that gave me the sense that I was truly alone. Even when surrounded by friends, family, and former lovers, I always felt alone. I thought that if I moved to a new location, a new job, a new way of life, things would be different.
As soon as I moved here, I was invited to various parties by my neighbours (there always seemed to be one or two parties every week) and I went out of my way to attend each one. I would talk to anyone willing but that emptiness inside of me never seemed to fill, even just a little. I could engage with each person’s conversation but after a while their voices and the words they spoke seemed to all mesh together into one bland, monotone voice that my brain would refuse to process. I would just end up standing there with a blank expression, listening to them drone on and on. Their company brought me no happiness or fulfilment.
I stopped receiving invitations to parties recently, I think they realised I was not going to fit into their cliques. I was fine with that. At this point, I am better off with my own company than the company of others.
My days are now mostly spent working with my free weekends spent hiding in my house, doing nothing. My mood has gotten much worse after this realisation and that empty feeling inside has gotten heavier. I needed to get up, I was all out of food and had to get some shopping in before the stores closed soon. I needed some excuse to get out of this house, I was deteriorating in here. I went into my bedroom and grabbed some of the clothes from the floor (they were only worn once) and grabbed a jacket off the coat rack and headed out my front door, carrying only my keys and wallet.
The neighbourhood was slowly getting dark with the sun going down and a light rain pelting my back as I rushed to the bus stop. To my relief, it didn’t take long for the bus to arrive, and I quickly got on board. I hopped up the steps to the bus driver, who was in fact one of those automatic robotic drivers. Every one of his body parts was rectangular in shape, apart from his flexible human-like arms that were permanently attached to the steering wheel. He had no lower body to speak of, as his torso was attached to the bus driver’s seat, where I assume his and the bus wires join. His body had been painted over to resemble a bus driver uniform, but the paint was old and fading. His hat appeared real to me.
“Good evening, sir.”
The robotic driver blurted out, as I stood in front of him.
“Please state your destination.”
“Uh, North Ridge Road. Please.”
I said, wondering why I even bothered saying please to a robot. I quickly grabbed some loose change out of my jacket pocket and placed the coins into the farebox. There was a moment of silence before the farebox begin to print out my bus ticket.
“Thank you. Please take your seat…”
The driver responded. The bus door soon closed behind me. I was the only one at the bus stop and before I could even take a step the bus began to drive again, which caused me to slip slightly on the floor with the sudden jolt forward but I steadied myself and my eyes darted down the bus for available seats.
The bus was completely full. This was not that surprising. Around this time people are coming home from their jobs. Office workers from Sterling HQ and other big tech companies from the surrounding areas. I slowly began to move down the thinly spaced aisle, trying my hardest not to knock into anyone’s legs as I went down. Behind each head was just another head and I slowly began to surrender the idea of having a seat for the bus ride. That was until I spotted an empty space near the backseat. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as I quickened my pace down the aisle. Despite how my life was going right now, I could at least have the pleasure of a relaxing bus journey, watching the cold rain splash against the window. That was my thought… Until I saw her.
She sat tightly in the corner bus seat, her feet lightly swinging back and forth. Her upper body was completely leaning against the bus window, with her right arm’s hand gently placed on her light rosy-red cheek to protect her face from touching the window. Her wide, dark blue eyes stared thoughtlessly out the window seat, her eyelids slightly down which made her look as tired as the rest of bus passengers. Above her eyes, and her thin eyebrows, was her beautiful brown and orange fringe, which was a part of an admittedly beautiful head of hair, all tied in a perfect ponytail, with a quaint head piece to decorate her. You would have thought her hair was combed over a thousand times, as the strands of her shiny hair were perfectly lined. Her bright blue and white maid outfit stuck out amongst the suits and ties, and my admittedly dirty getup. It was something so elegant and finely put together, with not a spec of dirt or stains on it.
I felt my heart jump in my chest for a split second as soon as I saw her. She was like no one I had ever seen before. A woman of such extreme, striking physical appearance. It was like a fantasy. I believe the jump my heart experienced temporarily stopped my brain from functioning, as I blinked and finally noticed the lines above her eyes, the unusual skin tone she had and along with the clearly inhuman shapes of her body. This was no ordinary girl. This was a Nandroid.
Nandroids were not a new concept to me. In fact, you could not get anywhere in this neighbourhood without seeing one or at least seeing an advertisement on TV for one. They were everywhere, especially in this neighbourhood that could easily afford them. I had never been this close to one before. I blinked again and realising I was standing in front of the free seat for an abnormal amount of time, I sat down quickly. As soon as I did my eyes darted over to the Nandroid sitting beside me, staring at the side of her petite head. I just realised I was quite a bit taller than her, Nandroids in general were short. Just then her legs ceased swinging and her head slowly turned to face me, her chilly eyes staring directly into mine, her eyelids closing further as if she knew that I was staring and was offended. My heart skipped a beat. Time starts to freeze as I watch her leer at me. She looked unreal, like something out of a fantasy. Time snapped back to normal as her eyes blinked and her mouth grew into a subtle smile.
“Good evening, sir.”
She said, her eyes still glued to mine. She had a mature, sophisticated voice with an almost commanding tone that demanded your attention. I opened my mouth slightly, trying my best not to become too flustered.
“G-Good evening to you, Mrs…”
I said with an embarrassing shyness. She nodded her head and brought her upper body away from the window to sit up right, her feet placed firmly against the floor and her head facing forward, staring into the back of the seat in front of her. I was a little relieved she turned away; I was becoming overwhelmed just by the sight of her. I tried to compose myself a little to act normal, but I was genuinely fascinated by her and unconsciously continued to stare. She was truly something else. This did not last long however, as soon her eyes glanced back over at me and her subtle smile turned into a slight frown.
“Excuse me for prying sir, but is there a problem? I could not help but see you staring and thought there may be an issue. Do you need medical assistance?”
She said, her tone of curiosity barely coming through her voice. I blinked twice before lying back in my seat and chuckling to myself. Realising the humour of the situation let me relax.
“Oh, no, no, no… It is nothing. I’ve just never seen a Nandroid up close before and-“
“I see. Well then…”
She said, suddenly cutting me off in the brief pause between words. Her eyelids had dropped down a little further and looked annoyed. I did not think that was possible, a robot being capable of being annoyed. I brushed it off.
I spent a couple minutes deep in thought. The idea of a Nandroid like this seemed to cloud my brain until it was the only thing which I was thinking about. Who owns this Nandroid? Why was she on this bus? What are her limits? All things I began to ponder as she sat beside me. Are Nandroids capable of small talk? I pondered. The advertisements always boasted about how human-like they are. This Nandroid seemed to be by herself as well, I am sure her owners would not mind. I raised my hand to cough into it, clearing my throat before turning to face the Nandroid once again. She did not pay attention to my movements, clearly content to continue staring at the seat in front of her. I thought to start talking quickly before she began to think I had a problem again.
“Excuse me?”
I directed at the Nandroid, with an inquisitive tone. She turned her head slightly in my direction and her icy eyes stared back into mine, causing a sudden chill to shoot down my spine.
“Yes?”
The Nandroid replied blankly.
“I was wondering… Well, I have a question. Are you capable of having a discussion?”
She raised one of her eyebrows when I asked her that question. She placed both of her hands on her lap and turned her body to properly face me. Her expression was still the same.
“Yes. All Sterling Nandroids are programmed to have the ability to have complex discussions with other humans. All Nandroids come preprogramed with a range of subjects to converse about, along with the capability to learn new subjects and discuss them as well.”
“Interesting…”
I replied. My eyes looked away from her, letting what she had just told me sink in. If this was all true, she, along with other Nandroids, are a technological marvel… But I had my doubts. I assumed since she is essentially a worker bot, her personality would be lacking. All Nandroids must be practically identical, with exception to of their hairstyle. I wanted to prod her anyways, and my curiosity got the better of me.
“Can you have conversations with strangers?”
Her hands grabbed the skirt of her maid outfit and gripped it slightly when I asked that. Her head tilted slightly, and her eyebrows dropped down just enough to where you can faintly think she was doing an annoyed expression. Her new pose started to create a slight tension between the two of us.
“Yes, it is not encouraged, however.”
She replied. That line amused me and made me break into a smile. Just as I opened my mouth to respond to her, she cut me off.
“Before you go on, let me say something. Under no circumstances will I reveal any personal information about my owners, myself, or any sensitive information regarding Sterling that I may know. Do you understand?”
I nodded eagerly. Again, she predicted I was about to speak again and made sure to cut in before I did.
“I also reserve the right to cease conversating with you. If you try to touch or harm me, I will use appropriate measures to detain you. Do you understand?”
I nervously looked away from her slightly when she said that. Not that I would do anything to her, but I may do something wrong by accident. I did not know what Nandroids were capable of when it comes to detaining someone.
“I understand.”
I replied. She shuffled more towards the corner of her seat and crossed her arms. She did not once avert her gaze from me.
“Alright then. If you understand those boundaries… You may proceed if you are that eager.”
She told me, with a sudden tone in her voice at the end of her sentence which was not present before. It caught me off guard, I did not think a Nandroid could give off a tone other than cheery optimism. It intrigued me even more.
“So… What’s your name?”
I asked.
“Molly.”
She replied quickly. There was an awkward pause after this, I expected her to ask what my name was, but she just sat there, as if she was truly being forced to have this conversation with me and was only going to put the very minimal effort in.
“Molly… That’s a nice name. My name is Andrew. It’s nice to meet you.”
I replied.
“Well, Andrew… May I ask you something back?”
My eyes widened a little when she said that. I was expecting to be the one forking over all the questions doing this back and forth between us. I cleared my throat.
“Of-Of course you can!”
I blurted out in a sudden burst of excitement and anticipation.
“Are you lonely?”
She replied, sharply. It left me a bit dumbfounded, like someone just shoved a knife into my brain and I lost the ability to think. Am I lonely? Did I hear her correctly? A sudden burst of numbness shot over my body, then followed by a sudden heat and redness all over my face. I tried to hold back the obvious embarrassment I felt from that question, but it felt as though it was obvious. The urge to say something grew sudden as gap in the conversation grew.
“E-Excuse me? Am I lonely?”
I shakily replied.
“Yes. Are you lonely?”
She replied again, confirming that is exactly what she said. I moved a little to sit up straight, my eyes only slightly staring at hers because the more I looked directly into them, the more nervous I ended up feeling. I let out a nervous cough and opened my mouth to speak but I could not think of anything to say that could answer that appropriately. I spent a few seconds with my mouth agape and just when I thought I had a reasonable response to her question, she raised her hand as if she was trying to stop me from moving forward and cut me off once again.
“I was just asking because… You know, it is a bit strange for a human to talk a Nandroid for this long. The little conversations I have had with strangers don’t go much further than ‘’How may I help you?” and “Will this be everything?”. You talk to me like as if you want to get to know me personally, which is not what Nandroids are for. Especially not to strange men I just met on the bus. My patience has run thin, don’t waste your energy on me. I know I won’t with you.”
Sweat began to bead on my forehead and my palms, making me uncomfortably moist. That numb sensation shot through my body once again, only for an even more intense feeling of embarrassment to follow afterwards. I did not know a Nandroid could deliver such a nasty response. My eyes pin-ponged from looking at her to looking away from her in shame. I tried to muster some sort of response, but the embarrassment made me choke on my words. Her words rang through my brain until it was all I could really think about. It was the truth, coming from someone who only just met me 15 minutes ago. Was this some sort of wicked imbedded programming in her system to snuff out lonely losers, like myself?
There was some mercy given to me in this situation, as the bus came to at stop. Molly suddenly shot up and walked straight passed me, completely ignoring me as she went by to exit the bus. I nervously looked at her as she left, her ponytail bouncing with each footstep. I continued to stare until she turned into a large estate and vanished from my view. The bus soon continued forward. I looked to see the person next to me on the other side of the aisle staring at me. He must have heard our little conversation and thought I was some sort of freak for trying to talk to this robot. I panicked and pressed the stop button and stared at the floor until the bus came to its next stop. As soon as the doors opened, I nearly jumped from my chair and sped out of the bus. Sitting on the empty bus stop seat, as I stared at nothing.
Her words still haunted my mind. Sitting here, alone, only seemed to make the situation worse as the encounter became more and more real to me. It was extremely embarrassing and yet, as the realisation of what just happened swirled in my consciousness, I felt something. That embarrassment, that brutal honesty, that cold personality… She was like no one I have ever talked to. Mixed in with that red hot embarrassment and that numbness, was excitement. A kind of excitement that lit a spark deep within me for the first time in God knows how long. I felt alive talking to her. I don’t know why and I don’t know how but… but I want to speak with her again.