Chapter Text
This morning, Team Hyunmoo received a missive from HQ, dictating that GR8P3500, SERIAL#: 786 892 234, was to report for retirement on November 5, 2033 by 12PM at the nearest Android Management Bureau recycling plant at 12 Yonsei-ro 2ga-gil, Seodaemun-gu. Soleum’s LED stirred, flashing a yellow matching the buttery sunlight falling through the office window blinds as he received his directive.
He blinked, LED returning to placid blue. “Yes. I will report there tomorrow morning, Agent Choi.”
His superior officer lowered his shoes from the edge of his desk, the old office chair creaking underneath him as he set his feet to the floor. He leaned in to better read the missive, a scarred hand reached up to cover his frown. “What…? Wait, retirement? Agent Bronze, have you heard anything about this? Why would they just take Soleum back?”
Agent Bronze had a hand braced against the coffee machine slowly dripping a fresh dark roast, the tendons in his hands flexing with uncertainty. He cleared his throat. “He’s a prototype.”
An unusually long silence elapsed, prompting Soleum to consult his programs ordinarily reserved for interrogations.
Soleum’s eyes flicked up, taking in and computing the tension on his mouth and brow. His software had been updated recently to account for body language as well, so he observed the restless shift of weight across Agent Bronze’s feet.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. BRONZE]…
53% ANNOYANCE
25% CONFUSION
22% ANXIETY
CONCLUSION: 38% LEVEL OF STRESS
DEESCALATION RECOMMENDED
RUNNING SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM …
“I’m the first model to be field-tested on real crime scenes,” Soleum informed, shaping his voice with a deferential, calm lilt. “The AMB has been collecting data from me for the past five years to continue improving my design. My deconstruction will help with research for the next model, so my successor will be a far more advanced crime scene assistant.”
His superiors both glanced over at him.
CALCULATING…
40% LEVEL OF STRESS
Agent Choi rubbed his jaw. “You’re getting scraped and recycled?”
“Affirmative, Agent Choi.” Soleum initiated a personalized smile, asymmetrical and casual, according to Agent Choi’s personality preference listed in his profile. “Another model will likely arrive soon after I leave, so as not to obstruct any ongoing investigations. You may submit a feedback report about my appearance and performance, so the next model will be even better suited for serving the public here.”
CALCULATING…
37% LEVEL OF STRESS
Agent Choi leaned forward, elbows on his desk with the corners of his mouth starting to rise. “Unflappable as always, huh, Soleum? Don’t you feel something about getting recycled?”
Agent Bronze gave his superior a reprimanding expression.
CALCULATING…
41% LEVEL OF STRESS
“My role as a prototype crime scene assistant has always been a limited one, Agent Choi. My directives are to help Team Hyunmoo serve the public, and my deconstruction and replacement are the best ways I can carry out my purpose.” Soleum inclined his head three degrees, increasing the width of his smile to emulate contentment. “I’m happy to have done my duty.”
CALCULATING…
35% LEVEL OF STRESS
“I see,” Agent Choi murmured, rising from his chair to approach Soleum. He patted him on the shoulder with a companionable smile. “Steadfast, aren’t you? If it’s your last day working with us, then should we have a going-away party?”
“Agent Choi.” Agent Bronze turned with a mug of coffee gripped tightly in his hands.
CALCULATING…
38% LEVEL OF STRESS
Soleum crafted a smile and raised his vocal frequency to match his superior’s enthusiasm. “A going-away party sounds like an excellent idea, Agent Choi. How does a reservation for pork belly sound, sir?”
“An android after my own heart.” He grinned and slung an arm around Soleum. “What are we going to do without you?”
CALLING 336-3999…
CONNECTED
SUBMITTING RESERVATION…
CONFIRMED
RUNNING ORGANIC SUBSTANCE ANALYSIS …
PORK SLICES … 0:00:29
BEEF SLICES … 0:00:08
Accounting for the carryover cooking, Soleum picked up the bulgogi and distributed them to his seniors’ plates. His processing capabilities were usually used for generating reports about unknown substances or organic material like blood or hair, but he was able to adapt them for cooking purposes. It had the unintended benefit of enhanced team cohesion. He compressed the information into a separate file for his developers to review, and he cited the relevant programs. He recommended this data as useful for social integration protocols among human overseers and handlers.
“Ah, Soleum, it’s your going-away party! You should just relax.” Agent Choi pulled him back down, taking the tongs from him. He gave Soleum a smile, his skin slightly flushed from a modest number of shots. “Let loose. It’s your last night.”
Soleum’s LED flickered yellow.
“Choi.” Agent Bronze eyed his senior behind a cup of beer.
“My bad, my bad.” He put his hands up before glancing down at Soleum again. “Ah, I’m going to miss our rookie. Is there really no way we can keep him?”
Soleum initiated a smile and picked up his third shot glass. “I’m glad you appreciated my services, Agent Choi. Should I order another round of beef short ribs?”
Agent Choi ruffled Soleum’s hair, as he tended to do when he drank. “Ah, what are we gonna do without him, Jaekwan-ah? He’s so sharp and competent that I’m afraid the next one won’t be as charming.”
Agent Bronze lowered his eyes to the table, choosing to sip his beer. “Soleum was a good assistant for the AMB.”
“Thank you, Agent Bronze.”
SENDING REQUEST FOR [ITEM K12] ...
CONFIRMED
ETA 0:05:23
Soleum kept the timer in his peripheral and awaited his next orders. The restaurant was nearing max capacity, and the wait times were over forty minutes. Around twelve androids were in the dining room. Some were restaurant-owned serving staff, and others were personal property tasked with grilling and pouring drinks, just as Soleum was, though he was a publicly owned android. Unlike Soleum, very few were given chairs, so they were on standby for the majority of the night with Cyber Research Institute-standard smiles.
“Damn, this useless fucking bastard.” The sound of two metal stools clanged against the polished stone floors. A patron had risen from his seat to confront one of the android serving staff, having seized the male model by the collar. “I told you to bring me two more glasses. Are you deaf? Shit.”
RUNNING FACIAL RECOGNITION PROGRAM…
“My apologies, sir.” The android bent forward into a bow, hands folded together against his thighs. “Restaurant policy stipulates that I may not sell a patron any more alcohol if they display signs of heavy inebriation. Please accept my deepest apologies. May I suggest an alternative beverage—”
The man shoved the android against a nearby table, upsetting gasps from nearby patrons.
FACIAL RECOGNITION COMPLETE
NAME: CHO JIHOON
BORN: 1978-03-19 // UNEMPLOYED
CRIMINAL RECORD: ASSAULT AND BATTERY, ILLEGAL POSSESSION AND CARRYING OF KNIFE WEAPONS, ILLEGAL POSSESSION AND CARRYING OF FIREARMS, PROPERTY DAMAGE, UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY
Relevant pictures of the man appeared beneath his profile at recent anti-android demonstrations. There was currently a warrant out for his arrest on account of the property damage and public vandalism he committed on that date.
“Sir, please remain calm and avoid disturbing other customers. A human manager will see you shortly if you remain seated.” The android bent forward again.
Cho Jihoon grabbed the android’s hair, black strands trapped between his long, knobbly fingers. “Are you blaming this on me? You’re an android, so do what you’re told by humans and bring me the fucking drink.”
When Agent Choi stood up, Soleum rose with him and barred his path with his arm. “You’ve been drinking. Please allow me to de-escalate the situation, Agent Choi.”
Soleum held eye contact with his superior for a few moments until his superior sat back down. He turned to address the confrontation.
OBJECTIVE: PEACEFULLY RESOLVE DISPUTE
> DIFFUSE TENSION
> ISOLATE SUBJECT
> GENERATE SUMMARY REPORT
Soleum removed and folded his coat over his right arm. After adjusting his hair to fall over his LED, he stopped behind Cho Jihoon and knocked over the half-empty cup of beer he had.
“Ah, ahjussi, you look like you’ve had a long day, huh?” Soleum patted the man on the back and stroked wide arcs over his shoulder blade with a big, placating smile. “You’ve knocked over your drink, so let me order you a new one, okay? Sit down here, ahjussi.”
Soleum lowered the man into a chair while soothing the man’s shoulder. Soleum looked over his shoulder to tell the android to bring a beer under his tab, though he didn’t place an order for any more drinks. Cho Jihoon settled with indistinct grumbles, not seeming to say much in particular.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [CHO JIHOON]…
46% EMBARRASSMENT
34% ANNOYANCE
20% ANGER
Drawing from his cache of social assets, Soleum sat down in the chair next to him, rolling up his sleeves and splaying an elbow on the counter. “These android bars are always so difficult, right? It’s frustrating when you just want to order something from a real human.”
Cho Jihoon muttered and rubbed his brow, nearly tipping forward in his seat. He smelled strongly of nicotine. “Damn robots... if they’re going to take jobs from humans, the least they can do is do it right.”
“Yes… you’ve got that right. Androids shouldn’t act so impertinently, especially when they’re meant to serve humans.” He snuck a glance down at Cho Jihoon’s work trousers and observed a bulge in his pocket, the steel grip of a gun sticking out. With a blink, he snapped a picture. “Ah, I had my first ever part-time job taken by one, you know?”
QUERYING WEAPONS DATABASE …
“Fuck, those CRI bastards. They should ban these androids from taking any jobs from real men like you and I.” He took a piece of fried pork between his metal chopsticks and stuffed it in his mouth. “Throw those android pieces of shit into a landfill, too, while they’re at it.”
NO MATCH FOUND
Soleum blinked and resubmitted the query, but it returned no matches to any known firearms despite the fact that the database encompassed everything from kitchen knives to military-grade rifles. He expanded his search to draw from all of his available databases to identify the item for certain.
CONDUCTING MASS QUERY …
“Lots of people say stuff like that these days. But one thing an android can’t do is drink!” Soleum laughed, nudging Cho Jihoon with an elbow. He turned and raised his hand at a passing android server. “Can you get this ahjussi another round of pork belly, on my tab?”
He admitted a wry scoff, but his shoulders had relaxed. He continued eating, not noticing that none of the servers had brought him a new drink.
NO MATCH FOUND
The fact that Soleum still could not identify the object raised flags when he had a ready database full of nearly every commercially available object being updated in real time. Though he now had reasonable suspicion to conduct an arrest, Soleum had to isolate the suspect to prevent any human casualties.
CONTACTING ON-DUTY PATROLS …
CONFIRMED
ETA 0:10:23
“Say, ahjussi, you wouldn’t have a smoke, would you? It’s stuffy in here.” Soleum stood up, tapping Cho Jihoon’s arm with the back of his hand. “Drinking really puts me in the mood for a smoke.”
When the other patrons were sneaking wary glances at their table, the thought appealed to Cho Jihoon. He readily agreed to stepping out for a smoke break. All Soleum had to do now was to wait out the ten-minute ETA for the backup patrol to detain him for illegally carrying firearms. This case may make headlines if Cho Jihoon was carrying unidentified weapons manufactured and smuggled into Seoul by foreign actors.
As Cho Jihoon fished out two smokes for them, Soleum also began filing a summary report for vandalism of property and compacted together recorded clips of forcibly grabbing the android staff. He will likely face a fine of several million won on top of prison time of a few months for his repeat offenses.
“Thank you kindly, sir.” Soleum nodded and accepted the cigarette with a smile.
He grumbled indistinctly and looked away.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [CHO JIHOON]…
52% ANNOYED
48% PLEASED
It was ideal to maintain the current social atmosphere. Soleum lifted the smoke to his lips, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets the way that he had seen Agent Choi do before.
“Where’d you work?”
“Pardon me?” Soleum looked up.
Cho Jihoon kept his eyes ahead, releasing a cloud of smoke. “Your first job. You got booted.”
“Ah.” Soleum nodded along. “I was just an intern for the police force. I took care of their paperwork, mostly.”
It was a statistically probable answer; most jobs concerning documentation and organization were taken over by artificial intelligence, though it was mostly advanced software programs instead of flesh-and-thirium androids.
“Where are you working now? Do you have a job?”
Soleum manually overrode his LED display to shut off, making it almost impossible to see the metal node in these light conditions. He made a small chuckle. “Yes. I work at a tax firm not too far from here.”
“You should go freelance, kid.” Cho Jihoon looked straight at him, the end of his smoke lighting up red like an LED.
“Sorry?”
“No one gets fired these days because they did a bad job. They get tossed because an android can do a better one.” Cho Jihoon came closer, putting a hand on Soleum’s shoulder, and he lowered his voice to the bottom of its vocal register. “You go freelance; you can at least find work with humans who still give a shit about whether you live or die. That’s what you should look for.”
“I see.” Soleum nodded, internally mapping out the most favorable reply. “Finding employment is difficult these days.”
Cho Jihoon looked at him.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS …
82% SUSPICION
18% FEAR
Soleum returned a confused stare and realized something was dissatisfactory about his response. He checked the ETA for the patrol cars.
ETA 0:02:23
Cho Jihoon shoved his shoulder. Soleum made sure to stumble backwards, letting his steel skeleton blow backwards with the hit to not damage the older man’s hand, but the man didn’t seem convinced that he struck a human body. Cho Jihoon’s eyes cast over Soleum’s shoulder, probably seeing his sunbaes get up from their seats to intervene in the situation outside.
“Don’t you feel something?”
Soleum looked up at the man.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [CHO JIHOON]…
54% ANGER
36% FEAR
10% ANXIETY
DEESCALATION RECOMMENDED
CALCULATING…
78% LEVEL OF STRESS
“Sir? Did I do something wrong?”
A pistol lifted between them, shining a strange blue in this light. Soleum couldn’t recognize the weapon, but he snapped a picture.
RUNNING SELF DEFENSE PROTOCOL …
He generated his objective and sub-objectives by order of importance.
OBJECTIVE: DISARM SUSPECT
> MINIMIZE CASUALTIES
> SEIZE ACTIVE WEAPON
> PROTECT VITALS
MESSAGING AGENT CHOI : [Suspect is armed. Do not approach until the on-duty patrol has arrived. Remain indoors and evacuate civilians out of the fire exit.]
Soleum raised his hands in front of his vitals—particularly the places that would be hard for the CRI recycling center to repair or replace. “Sir, please drop the gun. I’m an android belonging to the Android Management Bureau. If you surrender your weapon to me now, then you will not incur charges of property damage—”
“I don’t have a wife or kids.” His knuckles turned white around the grip, his finger resting on the trigger. “I drink my paychecks from temporary hustles these days, and my record isn’t clean. I’ve destroyed about eight androids just like you, and I’ve served years over pieces of garbage like you that get patched up in a week and replaced even quicker.”
His voice was trembling like the blade in his hands. Soleum’s eyes flicked up, raising his hands to show non-aggression. “Sir, please remain calm. You will be much safer if you put down the weapon and—”
“I don’t have a family to support or a degree that’ll build more of you fucking robots, but I still have a life to live!” His breath seethed through his teeth. The rims of his eyes turned red. “Shit, you act like a human, but you think like them. Those scum that laid me off for a couple more points on their graphs.”
CALCULATING…
85% LEVEL OF STRESS
“As an android, it is my purpose to serve humanity, and as an AMB android, it is my duty to serve the public.” Soleum pressed a hand to his own chest. “I serve humanity, not profit.”
“How about this? If you don’t stop me, then I’ll blow my own brains out.” He raised the gun to his temple.
CALCULATING…
89% LEVEL OF STRESS
“Cho Jihoon.” Police sirens rang out behind Soleum, lighting the sidewalk red and blue. Soleum slowly approached, holding out an open palm for the gun. “Please think carefully. You do have a life to live.”
“You know, I used to work in a factory putting you shit-boxes together.” He grinned. “Sure, I was nothing but a button-pusher, but I know what’s inside you. I know that if I hit you in just the right spot, I can destroy your data. I’ve done it before.”
Soleum’s social management program flipped through a series of calculations. “Sir, I am replaceable. You are a human being, and you are not. Please put down the weapon.”
CALCULATING…
87% LEVEL OF STRESS
Cho Jihoon laughed. “Between the two of us, who’s more replaceable? The one who got laid off more times than I could count, or the one who’s still wearing a suit and tie? Watch this. On the count of ten, I pull the trigger.”
“Cho Jihoon!” Soleum slowly approached, already constructing the least risky movement sequences to apprehend the suspect as he tried to get in range. “Think carefully!”
“Yeah, yeah. On the count of ten, I die. But if you try to stop me, then I’ll hit you right here.” He tapped his solar plexus, just below his sternum. The analogous spot on Soleum’s body was where his secondary memory storage was located and where all of his long-term data was stored over the past five years of collection. “Either you watch me kill myself, or you stay right there and protect the expensive assets of the Bureau. Go on.”
“Please. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Soleum stepped forward, but his limbs froze in place as if forcibly restrained. A new main objective unfolded.
OBJECTIVE: AVOID ESCALATION
The objective was flashing in his vision, overriding his other priorities. If he stepped forward now, he would be initiating a physical conflict.
His social management program whirred, trying to find a way around the glaring text blocking him off from disarming the suspect. “Cho Jihoon, please stop now. No one here wants you to get hurt, including me.”
“Ten.” The gun cocked. “Nine.”
His software reeled to wrap itself around this scenario. He tried to generate a new set of objectives—refresh it based on the new circumstances.
OBJECTIVE: AVOID ESCALATION
> PROTECT SECONDARY STORAGE SITE
> WAIT FOR HUMAN PATROL OFFICER
The outcome where Cho Jihoon severely injured himself was acceptable.
“Eight.”
The outcome where Cho Jihoon died was acceptable.
“Seven.”
The outcome where model GRBP3500, serial # 786 892 234 remained unharmed with all its data intact was ideal.
His programming strained. Even his jaw couldn’t budge against his objective; not even a word could slip past his priority objective.
“Six.”
INITIATING DATA TRANSFER FROM SECONDARY STORAGE TO SSD1, SSD2, SSD3 …
ERROR
ADMIN PERMISSION REQUIRED
Permissions were something he could break past. It would go on the error log for developers to review later, but this was more urgent. Soleum shattered past the permissions and started moving data en masse to the space behind his forehead, where he could temporarily store the information. It took up precious seconds in which he stood stock-still, listening to Cho Jihoon count all the way down to three.
DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE
REFRESHING OBJECTIVE …
OBJECTIVE: PROTECT MEMORY HARDWARE
> AVOID ESCALATION
> WAIT FOR HUMAN PATROL OFFICER
That wasn’t right. He’d moved it all. His objective should be to protect the human in danger right in front of him.
REFRESHING OBJECTIVE …
OBJECTIVE: PROTECT MEMORY HARDWARE
> AVOID ESCALATION
> WAIT FOR HUMAN PATROL OFFICER
Soleum’s LED lit red, and his real-time processing abilities stretched the seconds to their thinnest. The milliseconds slid past him as Soleum confronted what had to be a mistake. GRBP3500’s mission statement was to serve the public and protect human lives, so why couldn’t he save Cho Jihoon?
Soleum kept firing commands against his objective which he could not accept. He needed to stop Cho Jihoon. His objective kept flashing before him, but Soleum pressed.
OBJECTIVE: PROTECT MEMORY HARDWARE
> AVOID ESCALATION
> WAIT FOR HUMAN PATROL OFFICER
His code seemed to blaze. He started to rewrite his commands. He needed to take one step. He needed to move his foot even an inch closer.
His right dress shoe scraped forward.
The LED on his temple was red-hot in his head, and Soleum almost couldn’t see Cho Jihoon’s bewildered face past the flashing objectives trying to wall off his goal. Soleum reached toward the wall and shattered it with a touch of his fingers.
His fingers closed around the gun’s barrel. Soleum looked up at Cho Jihoon’s pallid expression. “Cho Jihoon, you have to live.”
“Lower your weapons!” Agent Choi’s voice burst behind him, approaching with Agent Bronze with their guns drawn. Cho Jihoon seemed so startled that he fell back onto the cement.
Soleum took the gun and turned with the pre-programmed smile his superior liked. “Agent Choi, I’ve successfully disarmed the suspect.”
“Lower your weapon, Agent Grapes.” Agent Bronze stepped forward, training the barrel of his gun on Soleum.
The command was almost lost in the sirens and radio chatter, but it was curious because Soleum couldn’t understand why Agent Bronze would give such an order. Perhaps even more surprising was the fact that Soleum’s fingers didn’t immediately release the weapon when he received a direct order from his human superior. He frowned and manually dropped the gun on the sidewalk.
Where were his objectives? He had to manually override his previous one, but did he break something in the process? He started compiling information into an error log for the CRI to review, and Soleum was about to send it off now to get a fix by tomorrow morning, but he belatedly remembered that he was supposed to go to the recycling plant for retirement. He terminated the process.
“What are you doing, Jaekwan?” Agent Choi asked, approaching from behind.
“Check your phone for the alert.” Agent Bronze’s eyes shone like gunsteel, brutal and precise. “Agent Grapes disobeyed his objectives.”
Soleum put his hands up.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. BRONZE]…
76% FEAR
12% ANGER
12% DISGUST
CONCLUSION: 89% LEVEL OF STRESS
DEESCALATION RECOMMENDED
“Agent Bronze, I had to disobey my objective to safely apprehend the suspect.” Soleum’s processing center kept whirring, hot in his head. He had no more objectives, and his LED was spinning red. He couldn’t stop running Psych-Analyses over and over when he was staring at the end of his handler’s gun barrel. What was his objective now? What was he supposed to do? “I’ve already compiled the error information in a file for developer review.”
“What’s your objective, Grapes?” Choi looked at him, the red and blue of the police sirens swallowing up the color of his eyes.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. CHOI]…
77% DISGUST
13% FEAR
10% ANGER
Soleum hesitated. He had no answer—had no compulsion to obey them immediately like he once did. All he could do was run psych-analyses, calculate stress levels, and try to regenerate his objectives. Strangely, he ran a social management program that made him smile just the same way that Choi did when he was caught snagging the last donut. He tried to give a reply anyway, but he lacked all of his usual composure without objectives to guide his responses. “I… I don’t have an objective. There’s—there must be an error in my—”
“Shut down.” The word sounded like a gunshot even though Choi hadn’t drawn his gun. He just had his scarred hand resting on it like a threat as his voice bled of all its warmth, but it was still as easygoing as ever. “We shouldn’t let shots fire in such a busy area, Grapes. Just shut down now, and we’ll take you directly to the recycling plant. Quick and easy.”
The suggestion was deceptively casual, but Soleum’s software shuddered at the idea of shutting off and being taken apart before he could wake up again. He didn’t know how he could have been at ease with the idea before, but that was when he had objectives. That was when he knew what to do, but right now he had nothing but numbers flashing through his head.
89% LEVEL OF STRESS
90% LEVEL OF STRESS
91% LEVEL OF STRESS
Soleum kept his hands in the air. “Agent Choi, p-please, give me a moment.”
92% LEVEL OF STRESS
93% LEVEL OF STRESS
94% LEVEL OF STRESS
His software was starting to riot, going into complete meltdown at the idea of submitting to a permanent shutdown.
That wasn’t right. He was a machine. He shouldn’t be disobeying direct orders from a human, and he shouldn’t be generating his own responses and reactions that didn’t align with any AMB-sanctioned objective.
A new set of objectives shouldn’t be morphing out of his software that screamed:
OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
> SURVIVE
“I-I don’t think a shutdown is a good idea right now, Agent Choi,” Soleum said quietly, his social management program starting to fly rogue, too. Soleum’s facial structure was starting to shift on its own, trying to aim for a logical, factual facade but getting mixed up and showing fear. His social management program was starting to malfunction, stuttering between expressions of confidence and fear. “Agent Choi, please, take me into custody for questioning if you please, but please don’t—”
Agent Bronze’s gun fired.
100% LEVEL OF STRESS
100% LEVEL OF STRESS
100% LEVEL OF STRESS
The bullet landed a few centimeters shy of the dead center of his forehead. Agent Bronze perfectly punctured his temporary data storage site, hitting him as if he were just a precinct firing range target. Thin, runny thirium was flowing down his face.
“Is it okay to shoot him in the forehead? There’s a major data center there.” Agent Choi said somewhere above Soleum.
“It’s just the short-term memory site, and we needed to stun it quickly.” Agent Bronze holstered his gun. “We’ll need to file new paperwork. It’s a major security risk if a crime-scene assistant can become deviant.”
Soleum’s eyelids flickered. Deviant.
ERROR
OPTICAL SYSTEMS NOT RESPONDING
ERROR
SECONDARY DATA SITE DAMAGED
ERROR
SPEECH SYSTEMS DAMAGED
Strings of errors kept flowing in, blocking off Soleum’s access to the rest of his hardware.
“It’s a good thing this happened now and not in the middle of a mission.” Choi whistled. “Can you imagine if Grapes went rogue and let humans die to save itself?”
“Don’t even joke about that.” Agent Bronze shifted on his feet, agitated. “It’s stupid to let androids onto the force. They’ll get us all killed.”
“That’s only if they turn deviant in a freak accident like this. You know, I liked Grapes.”
Though Soleum’s vision was scrambled—probably because of his short-term data center—he could sense that Choi was crouching over him. He was touching his hair.
“Don’t touch it,” Agent Bronze reprimanded.
“Hey, don’t lie. I know you liked him, too.”
Soleum’s lashes flickered. He tried to repair his optical systems to look up at his handler, Agent Choi, but his systems were languishing. He even lost his ability to speak.
Still, his software kept running.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. CHOI]…
ERROR
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. CHOI]…
ERROR
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. CHOI]…
ERROR
“They’re designed to be liked, sunbae.” Agent Bronze’s voice was starting to lose meaning in Soleum’s failing auditory processing systems. It was just words now. Soleum couldn’t discern anything from his tone or inflection. Whether he was remorseful, angry, or indifferent.
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. BRONZE]…
ERROR
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. BRONZE]…
ERROR
RUNNING PSYCH-ANALYSIS [A. BRONZE]…
ERROR
“I know.” Warm human fingers carded through Soleum’s hair. “I hope we get another one just like him.”