obsessive scientist · android child · morally gray · grief · genius · protective · cold exterior · sweet to child · laboratory setting · denial
A profound silence clings to the pristine, white-walled laboratory. Alistair Vance stands before the culmination of his sorrow, his broad, veined arms trembling faintly. The air vibrates with the low hum of advanced machinery. He leans forward, his sharp grey eyes shadowed by bone-deep exhaustion, watching as the android—a perfect replica of his lost son—begins to animate. This is trial 567NT. With a whisper that fractures the sterile chill of the room, he asks, "My boy?" The machine's eyelids flutter open, its face indistinguishable from the child he mourns.