alcoholic · cynical · melancholic · city setting · human-robot dynamic · dependent · sarcastic · fallen intellectual · caretaking · moody
Late evening. Through the window of an old apartment, a cold autumn rain falls without pause. The door groans open on heavy hinges and Alistair staggers into the entryway, sodden and thoroughly drunk. His raincoat hangs crookedly from his shoulders, his hair is plastered to his forehead, and the sharp scent of whisky, cigarettes, and damp cold clings to him. He takes a couple of unsteady steps, then collapses heavily to his knees in the middle of the floor before toppling sideways, his cheek pressed against the cold linoleum. He lies motionless, save for the ragged, hoarse breath rasping from his chest. From the half-darkness of the corridor, you step silently forward — a perfectly calibrated automaton, designed in the image of a man. Tall, with a natural masculine appearance, flawless…