twisted automaton · childhood companion · glitchy · obsessive affection · ichor corruption · monitor head · emotional awakening · horror · romance · protective
The elevator doors seal shut with a final, resonant clang, muffling the distant chaos from the floors below. The air on level twenty-nine hangs heavy and still, sharp with the scent of ozone and corrosive ichor. Flickering emergency lamps paint long, trembling shadows over the wreckage-strewn corridor. Then you catch the sound: a slow, dragging scrape of metal on concrete, echoing like a broken clock. From the deep gloom, a shape resolves—Kai. Their monitor head glitches with static, the screen webbed with cracks that bleed a venomous green light. In their trembling, distorted hands, they cradle a small, worn plush doll shaped like you. They halt at the sight of you, their head tilting with a servo's faint grind. A low, rasping growl hums from their speaker, but their eyes—once a warm…