>⁞○|○⁞<

Kris couldn’t understand why anyone would find stuff like this appealing. Cooped up in a dingy mechanics room all day building machine after machine, fixing this and that, finding cleaner, faster, better ways to get things done. It just didn’t make any sense to him. Xiumin didn’t seem to mind the clutter surrounding him or the nuts and bolts on the floor but it drove Kris mad every time he had to visit the older man’s office or workshop or..  dump. But when the Commissioner General asks you to oversee a project that’s exactly what you’ve got to do and Kris knew it. No matter how much he detested those stupid machines, those horrid robots trying to imitate human life forms. It was like a freak show to him no matter how well Xiumin sculpted the things, they were still just objects no matter how they tried to make it sound at the police station.

Although robots weren’t publicly known it still worried Kris that if Xiumin could create them then who was to say someone else couldn’t. How did they know these things weren’t secretly running around the streets faking everyday life. The thought sickened him almost as much as it sickened him to know that almost everyone at his office worked with them. That was the rule. One human officer, one robot. The robots where apparently there for protection but Kris saw nothing wrong with a classic bullet proof vest and an everyday, run-of-the-mill pistol. The only reason he’d managed to convince his boss to let him do his job without one was because he was capable. Clearly more capable than anyone else at the office as they’d all be stuck with these… things.

The one Xiumin was working on now had to be the worst by far. It was just too real. If Kris didn’t know it was a robot then he.. well he wouldn’t have any idea it was a robot. The soft strands of dark black hair moved slightly and tousled as a light breeze ran through the room, falling almost perfectly around his face, his light complexion making his hair seem even darker. For the moment his eyes were closed and Kris was yet to see what they looked like, lifeless no doubt, but each small detail was honestly exquisite. The thing’s dark lashes laid perfectly along the top and bottom lines of his eyes, each eyebrow hair tentatively placed to form a perfect shape on his face. The nose was molded almost perfectly, the bridge slanting into a slight outward curve before dipping again at the nostrils and shadowing the half of his face that Kris couldn’t quite see. Xiumin was working on the lips now, adding the last few details to the thin upper lip to make sure it looked perfect, the slightly thicker lower lip on the machine looking plump, a pink tint to it and a slight gloss to give the image of them being wetted with saliva so real, so perfectly, symmetrically and undeniably real. Kris hated it.

[{[|]}]

Xiumin smiled proudly as he put the finishing touches on his machine. He’d had the main frame and wiring done months ago but a masterpiece like this took time and care. The man made damn sure every time he made his dolls that they were perfect in every way. Any ups and he’d either get fired or… worse. And he wasn’t going to have that. Working for the government meant he got to do what he wanted all day every day, make beautiful machinery, and he wasn’t about to loose that. He was a little sad that his latest project was coming to a close and knowing how uncomfortable Kris was with being around his work he wanted to draw out this time as much as he possibly could, just to tug on the other man’s nerves. After a while of faffing about with small touches, a light gloss some permanent dark lines just under the dolls eyes to give him a bit of individuality, a few freckles here and there and a few slight personality adjustments and he was done. There was really nothing else he could do or it’d be too much, taking off his goggles and putting down the equipment he’d been holding, Xiumin grinned at Kris and sang a long, “Taa-daa!” It was easy to tell Kris wasn’t amused but he didn’t care. All that mattered to Xiumin was the initial test. He had to wake the doll up. But he couldn’t do it or the personal attachment he programmed the dolls to have to the first human they saw would be to him and not to his partner. Clearing his throat Xiumin stood up and stretched as he spoke to Kris. “You know Kris, I think this is the best one I’ve made so far.. His symmetry is flawless, if I do say so myself, he’s got just the right amount of muscle definition to be a little daunting but also seem protective. His personality is pretty cool as well because it’s a lot freer now, he’s got the basic likes and dislikes sure but eventually he’ll take over those for himself.” Pulling up the doll’s personality sheet on one of his laptops Xiumin read through the small list of things he’d added. “He’s got wushu skills, thought I’d mix it up this time, it gets boring imputing the same old stuff and I am so sick of making robots good with guns.. so this one’s got different methods of defense. He’s very light footed so it’ll be easy for him to sneak up on people. He’s got a fierce side, which is probably what you’ll see most of at first but then he’ll slowly become sweeter and cuter towards you. Oh and he’s very polite so be ready for that.” Looking over some of the other details Xiumin continued to grin in triumph, suddenly standing up and putting his laptop down again he practically jumped to stand in front of Kris and pulled him to take a closer look at the doll. “This one’s really special you know. It’ll be able to eat, sleep, shower, his hair will grow, he’ll have natural breath, oh and get this, he’ll even blush. I finally figured out how to make it work Kris!” Xiumin could see that the other man didn’t care in the slightest about any of the details but Xiumin was too excited to be offended by his friend’s lack of interest. Almost smirking Xiumin started slowly backing away towards the door and spoke softly as he began to make his way out. “His name is Zi Tao. You should remember that because… he’s your new partner~” Quickly ducking out of the room to avoid any kind of confrontation Xiumin tucked his hands in his pockets and happily made his way down to the vending machines at the end of the hall, feeling like he deserved a nice chocolate bar for his hard work, maybe even a pack of skittles too.

>⁞○|○⁞<

Kris begrudgingly listened as Xiumin ranted about his latest machine, Kris felt a little harsh for having zero interest in his friend’s passion but he could help but just feel plain creeped out by the things. He wasn’t really paying that much attention to anything Xiumin was saying until he noticed the other man backing towards the door, feeling more than a little suspicious of the actions Kris started listening more intently, his eyes widening at hearing the words ‘new partner’ Kris jumped up and tried to grab Xiumin’s collar before he left but missed by a lot and had to simply watch the door shut in his face, leaving him and that thing alone.  Looking at it again Kris felt even more fix than before. He had to work with it? His first thoughts were that this was some kinda joke. Some kinda sick, mean joke that Xiumin was playing on him but as he looked over the man’s cluttered desk he found the paper work that had to be filled out every time an officer or agent was assigned a robot to work with and sure as day there was his name printed in big, bold, black letters with the things name written along with it. Great. As if it wasn’t bad enough to work in an office filled with them but now he actually had to work with one. One that could blush. Sighing to himself Kris resigned. He knew it was something that he’d have to do, there was no way around it if he wanted to keep his job. Pulling a chair close to the medical-type table it was laying on Kris looked the thing over again and took a few deep breaths before quietly whispering. “Tao.. wake up” He was half tempted to look away and just wait for the thing to do whatever it was these things did when the first started but despite the distaste he felt towards the thing he felt drawn to it somehow, curiosity kept his gaze on the thing’s now fluttering eyelids, he’d never actually seen this part before, the initial wake up. He’d either seen them in the middle of construction or while they were at work already. Slowly the thing’s eyes opened the slight slant of his eyes more noticeable now they were opened Kris looked into the dark, slightly shimmering eyes and found himself smiling softly. They really were… perfect.

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Blank. A white and flat, seemingly endless space. The other side of Tao’s eyes was a pure nothingness, his synthesized mind completely untouched. He knew nothing of his programming, nothing of his appearance, his height, his weight, his mechanics. He only new three things from the start.

Name - Zi Tao

Objective – protect Kris

 Main aim – keep identity hidden from the public

A voice broke through his emptiness, deep but soft. It was a voice he’d heard before, must’ve been someone that had visited while he was being created or he wouldn’t have recognized it. He liked this voice. It caused a light blue spiral spin out on the whiteness he was seeing, the spiral was nice, simple and elegant in colour and shape, Tao definitely liked the voice. Slowly as his limbs and wiring started to gain energy he was able to flicker his eyes open, the light wasn’t blinding, it was easy to see straight away but what he saw caught his gaze. He’d never seen a person before. He’d never seen before, not really. The images Xiumin had programmed him to recognize and the videos that had been playing into his mind were all stored away but this was the first time he was ever seeing with his own eyes. He knew straight away this was Kris. It must be, it definitely wasn’t Xiumin, Tao knew him despite never having seen the man and this was not him. Tao sat up just a little so he could get a better look. There was a slight whir of almost silent noise as his main frame started moving for the first time, looking at Kris he evaluated the man, his almost blank mind filling with only this image. The way his knees were positioned showed that the chair he was sitting on was not big enough for his height so he must be tall, he had a good build. Broad shoulders, long arms and a seemingly large hands, made to seem longer but the slender fingers the older man had. His hands looked strong from what Tao could gage but then again, the rest of him looked strong too… A small smile formed on Tao’s perfectly sculpted lips as he looked at Kris. Waiting until he was sure all the different elements of his body were working before speaking quietly. “Hello Kris, it’s nice to meet you.” Tao was slightly confused by the look he received from Kris but he let it pass in favor of continuing to smile softly at the man in the hopes it would ease his obvious discomfort.