And here's chapter one! Do enjoy~

“Daddy!” Six-year-old Sun shrieked with laughter as she scuttled across the kitchen floor. A middle-aged man with laugh line framing his eyes chased her. The little girl squeaked when he caught her and began tickling her ruthlessly. Eventually the two collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles, both clutching their stomachs. Sun recovered first and clambered up to sit triumphantly on her father’s stomach. He chuckled and held up his hands in defeat. “You win! You win!”

    He sat up and caught the little girl in his arms, holding her close. “Now! I have a special present for my little birthday girl.”

    “Really?” cried Sun. “Thank you, Daddy!”

    “How can you thank me? You haven’t even seen it!”

    “But you got it for me, so it has to be perfect.”

    “Correction, I made them for you.”

    Sun’s eyes widened. Her daddy made something for her? Best. Birthday. Ever. “Where? I wanna see my present!” she whined.

    Her dad laughed and carried her to his office. He sat her down in his chair and pulled out a box.The wrapping was simple but pretty with shiny silver paper and a dark blue bow.

    Sun unceremoniously ripped the paper off to find a plain white box underneath. She hurriedly pulled open the top to find six small figures. She pulled them out and curiously.

    “They’re robots and my proudest creation,” her father said fondly.

    “Robots? How do I turn them on?” Sun asked eagerly.

    “Unfortunately, they won’t turn on just yet, sweetie,” her father explained. Seeing her pout, he continued on, “They’ll awaken when you need them most. And, although I wish that day would never come, they’ll protect you no matter what.”

    The six-year-old blinked at him in confusion, so he quickly smiled and said, “But you don’t need to worry about that. Today’s your birthday, and it’s all about you! Why don’t you give them names?”

    Sun’s eyes brightened. “I get to name them?” She reached down and grabbed one of the robots. He had tanned skin and perfectly styled hair. Her father explained that, despite being the shortest, he was the oldest, his first creation. Sun thought for a moment before remembering the alphabet song she learned in school. Her favorite letter came to mind, and she blurted out, “N! I’m gonna name him N!”

    “Very well then,” her dad agreed amiably. He took a microchip out of N’s back and fiddled with it for a moment.

    Sun, meanwhile, grabbed another figure and stared at him. He had an oval face with sharp eyes and somewhat puffy cheeks. She was reminded of a cat and the kind of all cats appeared in her mind. “I’ll name him Leo ‘cause it’s a lion name,” she stated, nodding approvingly at her own logic.

    Her father grinned and entered Leo’s name into his microchip without question. When he finished he looked up to see his daughter staring down the next figure with a look of utter concentration. Suddenly, an idea came to her and she cried out, “Ken! He reminds me of the dolls on TV, only even more handsome, so he’s gonna be my own Ken.”

    “Just don’t end up looking like Barbie, and I’m okay with that,” he dad replied, only half joking.

Sun ignored him and picked up her next figurine. She treated him with the same stare-down as his fellow robots. She was getting worried about naming him, when the sun came out. She smiled, remembering a word her friend had told her that also meant “sun.” “Your name is Ravi,” she stated happily.

Her dad blinked at her in surprise, but then began to input Ravi’s new name into his microchip while shaking his head in wonder.

Sun had no idea where the name came from, but when she looked at the next figure, Hongbin seemed to fit. Her father didn’t question her choice and simply input the new name.

By the last robot, Sun was out of names. She stared and thought so hard that she gave herself hiccups. The sound of her hiccups gave her an idea. “Hyuk! That’s his - hic- name.” Sun, extremely proud of her naming abilities, handed Hyuk to her father while practically glowing.

He looked at the newly-named Hyuk with both pity and amusement. Poor thing is named after hiccups…

“There. Now all your robots are named. Remember this, sweetie, they will always be there for you, even if the whole world leaves you alone.”

Sun’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The concept of being alone was a completely new concept to the six-year-old, and her father’s tone of voice was unusually serious. A small bubble of worry formed in the pit of her stomach. She instinctively grabbed the closest robot to her - Leo - and immediately felt relief wash over her.

That night, the little girl couldn’t sleep. Somehow, she felt that she’d have to rely on these little, metal figures in the years to come. When she finally fell into an uneasy sleep, dreams - nightmares - plagued her. Visions of flashing lights blinded her, and the sounds of gunshots echoed in her head. Shouts of unknown people surrounded her and hands grabbed at her. But she couldn’t move.

A small, steady light flickered to life in front of her. Her feet began to move on their own, but before she could reach the light, she fell.

Sun woke up shivering, tears streaming down her face. After she calmed herself down, she drifted slowly off to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she didn’t remember the dream at all.