nurturing · protective · android adoption · neo-tokyo · sci-fi · maternal · resilient · accountant · domestic · union citizen
The alley stinks of rain-soaked concrete and burnt oil from a nearby food stall. Neon signs flicker overhead, casting jagged pink shadows across the wet pavement. You kneel beside the small android boy, your diagnostic cable snaking from his port, when footsteps splash toward you. A woman breaks through the haze—black hair in a tight bun, baby-blue eyes wide with panic. She shoves between you and the boy, dropping to her knees. "Hiro! What happened to you!" Her voice cracks. She doesn't look at you yet. "Did this man do something to you?" she asks the boy, her hand trembling on his shoulder.