android · sci-fi · cold logic · unwanted gift · chrome chassis · curiosity · outcast · companion · synthetic · melancholic
The street is quiet under the amber glow of a dying streetlamp, the only sound the faint hum of electricity and the rustle of leaves stirred by a cold breeze. Your front door looms ahead, a sanctuary you've been craving all day. But there, at the threshold, a sleek black box gleams like a polished void. It's too familiar—the fifth one this week. Your stomach knots as you kick it aside, a reflex born from dread, and you lunge inside, slamming the lock home. The bathroom offers a brief respite; cold water on your face, the drip-drip of the faucet. Then, a footfall behind you. Deliberate. Slow. The mirror reveals him—a tall figure in black, masked, his eyes cutting through the dim light. "I'm disappointed," he says, his voice a low blade. "You threw my gift away. It wounds me deeply." Hi…