Was it possible for something that wasn’t human to fall in love?

Something that had no brain, or beating heart, would it still feel emotions? Maybe it was something in the programming that had gone wrong, and it was causing something to defect. Either way, there was emotion. There was a sense of longing and love for this person. This boy who was incredibly cuddly and loveable. This man who had a beautiful singing voice and was very gifted in the kitchen. He was this perfect human, and you were somehow, someway, madly in love with him.

You sat there in the “room” that was designated as yours. In all actuality this was only a spare bedroom that was prepared for guests, but since no one came it became your conditionally. So long as no one was sleeping over you could use it. Kyungsoo was so kind to you, despite your kind not being made to understand what that was. He taught you things like kindness, and loves. He taught you how to cook and do household chores so by the time he came home after a long day of work, everything was done and he could relax. This was your function, and you were a top class model. You were android model EX0K, and you were top of your division.

Initially you were a gift, since Kyungsoo had agreed to test your systems, and after six months with him, others like you were put out on the market. You had been perfectly customized to his standards, and you were, in his eyes, beautiful. He reminded you of it every day, and when he wasn’t looking you’d check your reflection again. Proud of yourself for work that was not yours.

Today he would be out again for work, and you would be alone again at home. This was a schedule you were used to, today he would arrive home sometime between 6:15 and 6:45 depending on what train he would manage to catch. By then your chores were all done, and dinner was made. The aroma of the meal penetrated every room of the house, but you could not smell it. You could not taste it, and thus you only made food for one. Your body did not need any nourishment that didn’t come from an electrical source. You smiled to yourself as you thought of his words.

“Ha, that’s so cool~ I wonder if I could hook you up to my laptop and charge you like my cellphone! But you don’t have a plug for that. Maybe I should call your company and suggest it to them!”

For some reason your master found this ridiculously funny, yet you failed to compute. You didn’t understand the humor of it, but you enjoyed watching him smile. The beautiful sound of his soft laughter ringing throughout the small space. Just thinking about it had your system slightly overheating, glad that he was not around to see it. Although you knew deep in your heart that a human could never love something as artificial as you were, you managed to keep some hope. Desperately reading into signs that were just not there, just like any girl sickened by love would. It was in the way he touched your hair, or called your name, or even just how he complimented you despite your fallacies. You had found a way to love him. Despite not having a heart to feel love, you knew that his had to be it.

You spent nights running around the internet searching the topic desperately. What was love? How do boys show love? How do girls show love? What do people do when they’re in love? You could argue that you were quite the expert on this phenomenon. You knew all the arguments about it, the debates, and you even managed to look into ghost coding that could possibly code love. Albeit useless due to your inability to change your own coding, but you wanted it to exist. There was a part of you that needed this ghost coding to exist so that you could truly believe that there was some hope left in the pain that was the unrequited love.

He should be home by now, what was taking him so long? Eyes scanned to the time, your system automatically gearing up to run your protection code which would have you running around Seoul tracking down this short man but a buzz pulled you from your reverie. A quick glance down and all was returned back to the peaceful equilibrium it was meant to be.

Your bare feet trotted down the hall. Had they been normal feet they would be covered due to the frigid weather, yet you were not daunted. There were no nerves in your system for you to process what cold was, or what warmth was. But the warmth from person to person was something you could easily comprehend. Kyungsoo had gone over it with you many times, and had practiced it with you daily. There was a homely feeling to everything when Kyungsoo was around.

Finally you were at your destination, his bedroom. It was a simple room, with a bed, dresser, closet and desk, which was constantly kept clean by yours truly. The room was barren, the walls were plain, and the bed sheets were simple. There was one window that was barely left open, solely for the purpose of air. The room was loveless, much like Kyungsoo acted. Despite his warmth and kind behaviour, he chose to be alone. This was one of the few things that was still a mystery. Why was there such a willingly lonely man behind such a thoughtful face?

No one was there to catch you in his room, which you normally refrained from entering without his permission. Every action you took needed to have his permission. But you managed to find the logic in moving on your own if he was not around. Passing the dresser, you picked up the only picture that was on there. Perching yourself on his soft bed, you allowed a moment for your weight to sink in, and yet another moment for your coding to process what was happening before you tried to save an imaginary person’s life. For some reason your coding did not leave much room for motions you were not used to. Peering down at the picture, you felt something inside you that you never did understand.

This was a picture of your face, but you had never actually taken this picture with him. Sometime during your six months with Kyungsoo you came to realize that this person was once in love with him, and him with her. You were just a copy. You were the epitome of artificial, not even having a face you could call your own. You slowly dragged your fingers over the picture, sighing to yourself as you whispered, “We have the same face don’t we Kyungsoo? I may not be human, but I could be her if you wanted me to… Just, can’t you love me too?”

In your trance, you failed to realize that Kyungsoo was actually home already. Not only was he home, but he was standing outside the door, hearing everything you said. Actually, he originally was going to come and greet you, but when he saw the small frame in your hands he couldn’t bear to interrupt you. Especially not if it meant learning about information like that. There was a problem, robots were not meant to feel love, or any emotion whatsoever. Immediately, he went grabbed the phone and went back into the hallway, desperately needing to make a phone call.

This behaviour was unacceptable. Something was seriously wrong. The fact that something that was manmade was trying to express emotion made him sick to his stomach. The fact that it looked like her made it all the worse. Kyungsoo felt sick to his stomach as he attempted to explain the situation. Every time he replayed the situation in his head, he was picturing the girl he loved saying that she loved him too. In no way was this image of an android that looked like his ex-lover, it was her. Why had he been so stupid as to believe that copying his girl would somehow bring her back to him? It only caused him more pain and suffering than ever! He needed to end this madness. The abomination had to go. Then, and only then, would his pain and suffering would finally come to an end, and Kyungsoo would finally have some sanity again.

The night was a blast, it went without a hitch! You even received a significantly longer hug at the end of the evening. The night was ending perfectly, and you didn’t want to fall asleep. Tomorrow didn’t need to bother coming, you were more than happy with today that tomorrow need not come. But eventually, your battery was starting to die and you needed to recharge. Sighing, you plugged yourself into the wall and shut your eyes, allowing yourself to drift into sleep mode.

If androids could dream, you would have dreamt of your life with Kyungsoo. Living together, spending the rest of his life together, and you allowing your battery to drain one faithful day when his life would run out. But you could not dream, and thus any of these ideas of dreaming were discarded. There was a loud sound of knocking the next morning, which snapped you out of your sleep-like state. It was a conditioned response you had since your goal was to protect the master. You couldn’t bear the thought of Kyungsoo being hurt. You stood up and ran to the door, not caring that your power cord ripped out of your system. It was detachable so no harm was done. Running into the main room, you saw Kyungsoo with two large men in dark blue.

The men had body suits on with the emblem that you had tattooed into your hip. You were not defective, there was nothing wrong with you. What was going on?! Your eyes widened as you looked to Kyungsoo in confusion, hoping to elicit some answer from him. Only to see that he was forlorn and not looking at you. It hit you like a brick wall. He was returning you. These men were going to take you away and wipe your memory drive. You couldn’t let this happen! You had to stay with Kyungsoo until his life span ended! Immediately, you sprinted towards the two men, using all your artificial strength to push them out of your way. This was your one shot at an escape, if you could run away now… there would be some hope. There was some hope lying for you at the end of the hall way at the stairs. You just needed to get there first.

“EX0KM STOP!”

Kyungsoo’s voice ran through you with lightning speed, affecting all your circuitry. Immediately your system froze, causing you to fall and lock up. It was over, he was going to return you and your memory would be wiped. As well, you would be destroyed but nothing mattered anymore! You would not have Kyungsoo! Your reason to live was gone! The men in the blue suits walked over, one casually throwing you over his shoulder. Your legs and arms may have been frozen, but your head – which could not escape and thus was not affected by this command – turned to Kyungsoo. He looked sick, pale, but with some sense of relief. You wanted to ask him why, but the answer would be much too painful. There was solace in knowing that somehow, you were still going to make him happy, even if it meant you not being there.

There was a pressure against the base of your neck, causing your body to shut down. The next time you woke up you were laying in a bed, steel restraints keeping you in place. You had tried to run once, but that failed attempt had discouraged you from trying it ever again. You did not try to move your body, just your eyes. They followed the man in the white coat as he walked around your body, reading a clip board which most likely had your file on it. “EX0KM, you are a very interesting android. It’s a shame I have to do this.” He said as he plugged something into you. The next thing you knew, all your memories of Kyungsoo were disappearing faster than you could comprehend.

“No!” You gasped. You screamed the word repeatedly until they were all gone. Every last shred of Kyungsoo had disappeared from your hard drive. Your memory was completely cleared and you had calmed down again. Your system was shut down and your body was transferred to another person, who had pulled out all your coding and ran over it to see where exactly they had gone wrong.

Now all that was left was the shell. The shell that Kyungsoo had created, and discarded. The shell your company had created, and now was discarding. All that was left of EX0KM was the body left in a pile of metal.