“Alright, open your eyes” it heard voices. It didn’t know who they were, but it understood what they asked it to do. So, it opened its eyes, the world around it a blinding white before everything came into picture. Two faces were before it, bows furrowed in anticipation and relaxed when they realized it was awake.

“Incredible” the one on the left with the long white coat and a clip board says, jotting down notes about its awakening, it assumed. The other to the right just stares at it with wonder, a curl on his lips twitches back and forth to a straight face to a smile. It couldn’t comprehend what it wanted to say. Perhaps that person was overwhelmed. But by what?

Soon after, there was a crowd of other people in long white coats surrounding it all with the same awed and baffled expressions. It couldn’t comprehend much why they all had water in their eyes, why others jaws were dropping and why others tried to reach but couldn’t bring themselves to. What are they look at?

 They were looking at…me?

“Oh my god…” another man in a long white coat, a handsome man, one it deduced to be the boss of these people around him appeared. They took turns look at the handsome man and back, not knowing where to look first, trying to embed in their minds his reaction.

The handsome man stops, his eyes bulging, mouth agape and face flushing. His lips were quivering, his eyes too were watering but it sensed it was holding back the tears. It sensed that this handsome man wanted to reach him – and so, he felt two warm hands cupping his face. The palms of a human. The palms of someone…familiar…

“What likeness…” the handsome man whispers, his hands roaming freely on its face, its hair until he settles on the tip of its chin. “Brown cat-like eyes, soft pink lips and even the brown hair…”

The handsome man kept whispering to himself. He seemed to be checking off an invisible list in his head the more he stared at it.

“He truly looks like the late Dr. Kim Minseok…oh what likeness Dr. Kim Junmyeon” one says from behind the handsome man.

“Mi…Mi…?” it started to open its mouth. Astounded, the people around him started creeping closer.

“Min” Junmyeon jumped in to help.

“Min” it followed.

“Seok”

“Minseok” it finishes. A familiar tinge electrifies his lips. Minseok.

“He even sounds like him!” the voices around whispered in amazement. “The voice recordings transferred very well. Whoever encrypted the voice is amazing” everyone was beyond impressed.

“Jun-myeon” Junmyeon points to himself.

“Junmyeon” it points to him.

The scientist nods happily, but the smile on his face wavers when it points to itself and utters: “Minseok?”

“Cognitive thinking and comprehension seems to be working” a woman says, jotting down notes. “He thinks he’s Minseok”

“Am I not Minseok?” slowly, it starts to form questions. The same surge of familiarity surges across its lips – now, it crossed the circuits all over its body.

“No” Junmyeon says quietly.

It was normal for artificial intelligence to develop this in an early stage as it was the goal, but something about this particular model seemed so intriguing to everyone. Junmyeon knows it is because of their newly developed core model.

A blue crystal-like ball glows in the center of the robot’s mechanical ribcage; The Blue Core. The newest and most advanced technology created by him. The key to his life’s research and of life’s purpose. The key to life’s greatest mystery, now living and blinking and talking in front of him, in the form of his late colleague.

“You name is…”

Project X.

“Xiumin”

The newly born artificial intelligence blink twice, a small smile curves on his lips. It seemed unsure what to feel, but it felt like it could rejoice just knowing it has a name; an identity.

The scientists all asked him questions, trying to see if he was responding well and to check if there were any impurities in his programming. Without hesitation, Xiumin replies smoothly and fast, slowly picking up his tone of voice and quickly develops a sense of personality based on the questions thrown at him.

“Can you wiggle your fingers?” one question raised.

His fingers started dancing on its own, his eyes widens at the sight of it. Purely in awe as the synthetic skin crept fast to coat his silver metal fingers.

"Take a step, can you do that?" Junmyeon invites Xiumin, a gentleness to his voice seduced the robot to step down from his pedestal. "Good"

Watching a newborn artificial intelligence never fails to fascinate even the oldest of scientists who had worked in the field for a long time. It was like watching a full grown person acting as toddler who can quickly adapt to the environment around them. Calculating, observing, learning faster than the speed of light. Curious man-made beings.

“Pick a picture” one of the scientist flashes on a hologram three photos: a picture of a lake in the middle of the woods and mountains, a scenery of the city lights in the entertainment square of the Capitol and a picture of the beach.

Xiumin examines them for a moment. The lake seems tranquil, but he was unsure of the depth of the lake and what lurked in the deep and darkest parts of the forest. It seemed to be filled with secrets. He went to look at the city lights and thought it looked pretty, but too blinding and all over the place. The colors were crazy, he couldn’t feel any harmony nor peace with such loud colors. Finally, he stared to the beach. The yellow sun seemed warm, the periwinkle, reds and violet of the skies seemed cozy and dreamy, the sand as white as pearls, the palm trees breezy. He found it quite nice. He liked it.

“The beach” he says in finality.

There were more questions and photos flashed for his preference, all he took in, all he embedded in his program – his identity. Until another photo flashed.

Junmyeon was watching Xiumin from the corner of his eyes, waiting for a certain reaction. Junmyeon seemed to be amazed to see Xiumin taking a long time processing who this was. What was this magnificent robot thinking? Did he recognize him? What did he think of the man in the picture?

A picture of a beautiful young man with oval puppy eyes stared right at him. His face was kind, approachable. Xiumin thought he looked really nice like the beach. His blonde hair looked like the sun, shining and warm, his skin as white as the sand but soft. There was a natural charm to this man, he processed. But the more he looked into this man, the more he could see behind his eyes, there was an underlying unsureness to them for some reason. He seemed…lonely.

“Do you know him Xiumin?” Junmyeon asks, hands behind his back.

“I…” Xiumin squints as if it could help him answer that question. There was a faint familiarity with the person on the picture, he couldn’t pinpoint it. “I am not sure…?”

“He is Byun Baekhyun” Junmyeon walks in front, just a little not to block the holographic photo behind him. “Can you say Baekhyun?”

“Baekhyun” Xiumin says with no difficulty. “Baekhyun” he repeats to which he found shockingly pleasant. “Baekhyun” he stops finally.

“You seem to feel delighted to say his name”

“Who is he? He seems familiar” Xiumin approaches the hologram, his fingers passes through the lights.

“Who do you think he is?” Junmyeon takes in a deep breath in curiosity. “Can you guess?”

Xiumin looks at Baekhyun’s image again…he shooks his head in negation.

Footsteps behind Xiumin stopped as a hand was placed on his shoulder. Junmyeon signals the person controlling the holograms to change the picture in front of them. The hologram transitions to a video of Baekhyun slicing a cake in a garden party, a pointed party hat strapped on top of his head. Someone was holding the camera as they approached Baekhyun, he smiles and bashfully reacts.

“Minseok-ah, what are you doing?” Baekhyun says as he clumsily places the cake on his orange paper plate.

The camera playfully pushes closer to his face, almost knocking Baekhyun over. The latter laughs, pretending to give irritated growls before –

“YAH! STOP MINSEOK-AH!” he screams as the icing was rubbed on his nose.

Then, a voice similar to Xiumin speaks, “I could just eat you up!”

Baekhyun’s face turned a deep red, his face frozen in both disbelief and amusement. The video cuts off after Baekhyun screams and catches the camera holder, the camera spins to face the camera man to reveal the exact face he has.

This person on the camera…this person Baekhyun was embracing tightly behind…this was Minseok?

Xiumin blinks rapidly, his neurosensory chips and cognitive thinking chips trying to comprehend and take in this new observation and information. And then…something hits him just on his chest. Xiumin puts a hand over his heart, where the blue core rests. It was pumping irregularly. He sensed instability in his program and wondered, was it supposed to do that? What is this strange familiarity he could sense?

Junmyeon sees this, amused to see how Xiumin’s hands found itself above his chest. With the silent questions on his face boggling it, he grabs the robot to face him. “What is it Xiumin?”

“I don’t know…I feel…”

“You feel?” interest flashes in Junmyeon’s eyes.

“I feel like I want to meet him – need to meet him” he confesses, voice barely a whisper. He meets Junmyeon’s eyes, an uncertain plead, begging him to answer why he wanted to meet this Baekhyun so much.

“Do you feel obligated to meet him after you watched him and Minseok in the video together?”

He chews on his lips, indeterminate. He wasn’t even sure if it was obligation driving his whole being to run and look for this person he has never even met before. How could it have an effect on him like this when he was just born? How can he seem to know Baekhyun for a long time?

Programmed. Perhaps it was because he was programmed this way, he told himself. But why program him to meet him? See him? Want him?

“I can take you to him” the handsome scientist offers his hand. “It won’t be easy once you meet him”

“Why?” Xiumin was being inquisitive – good.

“He doesn’t like robots” Junmyeon snorts. “He never did”

“And?”

“And?” Junmyeon was surprised at the follow-up question.

“I don’t know, you sounded like you still had something to say” so, this robot seems to sense more than just emotions. He seems to detect something in the weight of a person’s words. Interesting.

“You’ll…hear it from himself soon enough…” Junmyeon sighs as he shrugs his shoulders. “I’ll take you to him in a while. For now, let’s finish your tests, alright?”

Junmyeon commands his scientists to direct Xiumin to his next round of questions, locomotor movements and hearing. In a millisecond they were once again upon him, asking him to stand here, stand there and say this and that, determine which sound made this and that, but his eyes kept going back and forth to where Junmyeon went and to the still video of Minseok and Baekhyun up in display.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  AN UPDATE??? YES! I hope everyone is safe from the COVID virus. Please wash your hands, keep safe indoors and outdoors and please, please take care of your family and yourselves <3