Jongin and Chanyeol sat in the inn’s main office with the doors closed and locked, an awkward silence filling the space between them. The clock sitting on the desk ticked away, the second hand counting down the time that they’ve been sitting there in said silence. A certain android sat in the corner quietly, eyes looking back and forth between Chanyeol and Jongin, waiting mostly patiently.

Sehun chewed his bottom lip, opened his mouth to speak a few times, but thought better of it and went back to biting his teeth into his lips nervously. He felt like, perhaps, he was in trouble and about to be chastised by both Jongin and the tall, silly looking man named Chanyeol. There had been times back in the laboratory when it had been like this and Sehun had sat in the main office receiving punishment from the head scientists and his maker for acting ‘out of order.’

But Sehun had never been good at orders or taking directions from the people who had put him together. He had never been able to sit still long enough to process their commands, always interrupted to ask questions simply due to his curiosity, had difficulty understanding why it was that he had to act and be a certain way when he felt programmed to act and be another. Sehun just was not cut out to be the perfect android.

Perhaps that was why they had created others. Maybe it was because Sehun just was not good enough. He did not fit the standard, was not able to do the things that he was supposed to do. Sehun was simply a failure.

“So,” Chanyeol said after nearly ten minutes of silence, startling Sehun from his thoughts, “This is the android.”

Jongin nodded, “That’s him.”

“Him,” Chanyeol repeated with a hum, “It’s a him now?”

Sehun opened his mouth to protest, but Jongin beat him to it, “He told me that he’d like to be referred to as a male from now on.” he said and Sehun smiled shyly.

Chanyeol’s brows furrowed, “I don’t understand.”

“Me neither, to be honest.” Jongin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, a habit he had difficulty shaking in times of confusion and stress, “He introduced himself as a boy and even told me his name.”

“I can’t believe you turned it-” Chanyeol cringed at the way Sehun stared at him when he glanced from the corner of his eye, “Him.” he sighed, “I can’t believe you turned him on.”

Sehun couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up from his chest and Chanyeol’s face flushed.

“Not like that,” Chanyeol muttered rubbing his temples.

Jongin chuckled behind his hand and shrugged, “He has a sense of humor too.”

“A sense of humor,” Chanyeol repeated in a half amused, half frightened tone, “This just seems impossible.” he sighed in exasperation, “I can’t make sense of any of this. How is he not a human when he acts just like one?”

“I’m not sure,” Jongin shrugged, “I’m not really sure what defines life anymore, Chanyeol. Sehun’s mere existence challenges the definition of everything that the world has come to know. What does it truly mean to live? What does it really mean to be human?” he wondered aloud, “I need to understand this before I can understand him.”

“I still cannot believe you activated him,” Chanyeol muttered as he sipped his third cup of coffee, “What if he had been a weapon as we had suspected originally?”

Sehun frowned and shifted in his seat uncomfortably at the mention of the word ‘weapon,’ “I am sitting right here, Chanyeol-ssi.”

“Sorry,” Chanyeol blurted and looked back and forth between Jongin and Sehun, bewildered, “I mean, are you a weapon?”

“Chanyeol!” Jongin exclaimed, knocking against his desk in an attempt to kick Chanyeol’s leg beneath it.

“It’s alright, Jongin,” Sehun said with a pout, “He is curious. And worried. I can see that. He looks scared. Scared of me.” he sighed sadly, “I am a prototype.”

Jongin snapped his head in the direction of Sehun, eyes wide with interest and shock by the sudden statement, “A prototype?”

Sehun looked down at his hands in his lap, fidgeting with his fingers and refusing to make eye contact, he finally spoke up, “Yes. Maybe I should have told you last night when I was activated, as Chanyeol-ssi calls it. I am a prototype for other models.”

Chanyeol blinked in astonishment and Jongin reached out to gently rest a hand on Sehun’s knee, “There are others?”

Sehun looked up at Jongin though his bangs, something glossy in his eyes… Water? Tears? Jongin retracted his hand almost immediately, Sehun was far too real, far too human, far too alive.

“The scientists didn’t like me,” Sehun sobbed, “I was different from what they were expecting. They tried to train me to be what they wanted, tried to restart my system and make me new. But I remembered, everything, and my code could not be changed. So they made others-” he stopped mid-sentence as he dared to look up at Jongin’s and Chanyeol’s expressions to gauge their reactions. He hesitated when he saw the look of horror on Chanyeol’s face.

Jongin seemed to notice the pause in Sehun’s story and followed his line of vision to the look so clearly expressed on Chanyeol’s face. He had gone ghostly pale, his eyes wide in terror and his mind certainly at a loss for words. Sehun turned away, looking back down at his hands and went completely silent.

“Chanyeol-hyung,” Jongin said slowly, sweetly, “Would it be better if maybe you left myself and Sehun to talk? I can fill you in with the details later, if you’d life.”

Chanyeol nodded slowly, standing up on wobbly legs and left the room with his coffee cup in hand. The door closed behind them gently with a soft click and within the silence, they could hear Chanyeol sigh from the other side. It took another few moments before Sehun dared to peer back at Jongin.

“I scared him,” Sehun said sadly, “I scared him away. He does not like me.”

Jongin shook his head, “He does not understand you yet.”

“But you were not as frightened when I woke up.” Sehun frowned looking up at Jongin again, “You were scared when you thought I was a weapon, but after that you told me I was incredible. I remember, because it was the nicest thing anyone has said to me.” he said, and Jongin couldn’t respond, was too busy tracing the tracks where droplets of water had run down Sehun’s porcelain cheeks.

“That was because I was studying to make something like you before.” Jongin admitted finally and Sehun’s eyes widened.

“You are a scientist?” Sehun asked and Jongin shrugged.

“I went to school at the Academy to get my badge.”

“And did you?”

“No.”

Sehun frowned, “Did you give up?”

Jongin laughed, “No, no I did not. I was kicked out of school. Too many failed experiments for the council’s taste.”

“You failed too?” Sehun asked in admiration, “I have failed a lot. That is why they made others.”

Jongin sat back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankles to get comfortable, “Will you tell me your story, Sehun? Will you tell me about your time back in the laboratory and what happened before you were deactivated?” Perhaps, Jongin thought, his story may reveal the supposed flaw in his systems.

Sehun nodded slowly, “Okay, I will tell you everything I can remember.”

⚛⚛⚛

OSH-94 first opened its eyes to the bright, white lights of a laboratory. It blinked its eyes, straining to adjust them to the light that suddenly flooded its sensors, when a few faces came into its vision. It stared at them confused for a moment, unsure who these people were or what they even were.

In fact, it did not even know what its own self was.

That was when it realized it had other parts attached to itself, long extremities that it could move and a main piece from which those extremities came. It tried to move, one arm coming into its own line of sight and it examined one of its hands.

Hand.

Where did that word come from? Where were these thoughts coming from?

Bracing its hands on the solid surface beneath itself, it pushed until it was sitting in an upright position. The faces all looked at it shocked, their mouths moving rapidly and looking at it with mild fear and yet excitement.

One of them came forward, a man in a laboratory coat, white in colour, it OSH-94 was terrified as to where these thoughts and words were coming from and why they were in its head. The one that came forward reached towards it and then suddenly it could hear sounds, but they were loud, too loud.

“Remarkable,” the man said and OSH-94 moved its hands to cover its ears.

“We must be too loud for it,” another said, “We should be able to adjust that.”

The man ignored the other and observed it closely, “Look at how it reacts to our voices, so realistic.”

“What is your code number?” The other one asked, marking a few things down on a clipboard as it waited.

The android shook its head and opened its mouth, a response coming from within almost automatically in the form of a high-pitched sound, “00. Prototype.” it said startled and clamped its hands down on its ears further, shutting its eyes tight.

“Correct. And your model number is…?”

“Observational Sensory Humanoid. 94.” the android replied again, the noise coming from within somewhere, startling itself by its own noises.

Slowly, it opened its eyes as the people began to murmur and the second one came forward with clipboard in hand and touched the android until the sounds were not so loud anymore. It blinked and observed the other human closely - his chest rose and fell calmly and the word ‘breathing’ came to his mind. So it mimicked the movement, surprising the other man in the laboratory coat with the clipboard. He made no move to write this down or gesture the action to the others.

OSH-94 observed the man curiously and then noticed that it wore white fabric. It then looked at the other people standing around it, watching, staring, they all wore fabric on themselves. It looked down at itself and felt a awful feeling inside, for it wore no fabric like them and it felt… It felt-

“I am .” it said, startling everyone in the room.

“What did you just say?” The man asked in surprise.

“You wear fabric,” it said, “I do not.”

“How do you know what ‘’ is?” The man asked, leaning too close to the android.

“It is a word programmed in my system.” It replied and then it covered itself, “I want to wear fabric too.”

“It is impossible for you to want. You are an it. An adroid. You have no wants.” the man replied, but the man with the clipboard removed his laboratory coat and draped it over the android.

The android made a noise of confirmation and acceptance to the man’s action, a pleased noise.

“What are you doing, professor?” the other man asked in annoyance, a frown on his face as he glared at the other man.

“It felt and so I clothed it,” the man, the professor, replied, “Incredible, don’t you think? It observed that we had clothing and realized that it wore nothing. Amazing.”

The android watched and listened to the professor, he was very… kind. The other man rolled his eyes and looked back at the android that tugged at the sleeves of the coat, pulling it on the same way that the professor had worn it.

“It is quite interesting, I agree.” the man said, sighing, “We cannot indulge in its supposed desires, though, professor. It is not meant for that.”

“You don’t know that, director.” the professor replied and the android began to chew upon its lips.

“What is it doing?” the directory asked and the professor’s eyes widened.

“It looks like a nervous habit, must have been a part of the coding.”

“Write that down. It should be removed from the next model.”

“Will you make another one of myself?” the android asked suddenly and the director clucked his tongue in irritation.

“Why does it ask so many questions?” the director asked and the professor merely shrugged.

“How did you know that we planned to make another android?” the professor questioned the robot instead.

It blinked, “Earlier you inquired about my model number and then you said ‘next model,’ I determined from this information that you mean to make another model similar to myself.” it said as if it were obvious.

The professor grinned and looked at the director, “Just as I expected, it is a work of art.”

“It is not meant to be a work of art.” the director replied, “Fix it.”

“We went from the original designs, Mr. Kim, sir,” the professor explained, “Just as you told us to do. It is meant to be something different from what you have planned.”

“Then we will learn from our mistakes.” the direction responded before he stormed away.

⚛⚛⚛

“The director says I am a mistake.” the android said one day, many weeks later.

The professor looked at the android surprised, “You recall that information?”

“A memory.” it said and then looked around the room, “Why do I not have a name?”

At this point the professor was choking on speechlessness, “P-Pardon?”

“Everyone calls me ‘it,’ ‘android’ or by my model number. But you have a name, professor, why do I not have one?”

“Your model number is your name,” the professor explained and the android shook its head.

“I want a real name.” it said and then, looking around the room, it began to pull parts of names and words together, “Oh Sehun.”

“Excuse me?” the professor asked, nearly dropping his clipboard.

“O. S. H. Oh. Se. Hun.” the android said and then chewed its lip, “My name.”

“Where did you come up with that?” the professor asked with a laugh at the absolutely absurdity, “Did you hear someone say it?”

The android sighed, a habit it had picked up from observing the professor whenever the director was around, “Oh is the last name of one of the scientists. O as in Observational as in Oh. And Se is the first syllable in assistant Sebin’s name. S as in Sensory as in Se. And Hun is the second syllable in doctor Jihun’s name. H as in Humanoid as in Hun. So, my name is Oh Sehun.”

“And you made this up yourself?” The professor asked slowly, sitting down at his desk to process it, “You observed and created your own name.”

The android nodded, “I want to be called Oh Sehun. And I want to be called a boy.”

“What?!” The professor nearly yelled and the android flinched at the sound.

“I was flipping through one of Doctor Jihun’s medical journals and saw the parts of males and females in diagrams and by comparison, I am a male, right?” the android asked, its lips with its tongue, a quirk that often made the scientists shiver uncomfortably.

“I suppose that is correct,” the professor said slowly, “You are made in the semblance of a man…”

“So, that means that I am one, right?”

“I… You’re an android, OSH-94, you’re not… not real.”

It frowned, “I’m not?”

“No.” the professor sighed, “It is best if you sleep for the night.”

“You are not happy.” it observed and laid back against the metal table upon which it had been built.

“It was unexpected, that is all, that you would come up with a name for yourself and even recognize gender.” the professor said and scribbled a few things upon his clipboard, “It was unforeseen when we created you. We had not realized that the schematics we followed would make you like this.”

“You are disappointed in me.” it decided.

“You were an experiment,” the director’s voice cut in from the sound system overhead and the android turned its eyes to the glass control room above the laboratory, “A failed one at that. Power it down, professor.”

⚛⚛⚛

“There is not much else that I can recall…” Sehun fiddled with his fingers, a nervous habit that came from lying, “After three years of my existence, they powered me down and then shoved me in a crate that they kept in storage.”

“And what of the others?” Jongin questioned, uneasily.

“Oh, right,” Sehun mumbled and looked away, “They were… Different from me. But, the same.”

“How many of them were there?”

“Three others. Only three that I can remember. They shut me down after the third one was complete.” Sehun frowned.

Jongin shifted in his seat, “Will you tell me about them?”

Sehun nodded slowly, “I can sort of remember the second me… HZT-68, 01. He was taller, slimmer, faster, scarier… He could fight really well. He used to practice in a gym with a trainer named Huang, so I called him Huang Zitao… But the director got mad, because Zitao began to develop interests and hobbies. He said I was influencing him in a negative way. They wouldn’t let me see him anymore, but he was like me. Kind of.”

“You began influencing other robots?” Jongin asked astonished and Sehun nodded.

⚛⚛⚛

“What is that?” a high-pitched, sharp voice pierced OSH-94’s ears and it looked up from the puzzle it had been trying to solve only to find another of itself standing before him.

Only this android was slimmer, taller… More muscular. It was built with a purpose, built to appear human, but to be something different than what OSH-94 had been built for.

“That is your prototype,” the professor explained, guiding the new android towards the first robot, “It was built before you as a test. And now we have built you.”

“My name is Sehun,” OSH-94 chirped.

“Name?” the other android asked and looked at the professor, “What is my name?”

“Do not mind that android,” the professor sighed sadly, “It is called OSH-94 and you are called HZT-68, as we told you before.”

The other android nodded and then looked at OSH-94 curiously, “My name is HZT-68. If your name is OSH-94, why do you call yourself Sehun?” it asked almost accusingly.

OSH-94 pouted, “OSH-94 is not a real name. I wish to be called Sehun. Oh Sehun.”

HZT-68 looked back and forth between OSH-94 and the professor, in an attempt to assess the situation, but could not, “I will be late for training.” he said and then looked OSH-94 in the eye, “Tell me more about your name next time.”

The professor watched as HZT-68 retreated down the hall and towards the gym. It had only been programmed over the last eight months, solely activated for a week, and already it knew how to locate places on its own, was already several times more efficient for its purpose than OSH-94 could have ever been. Simply due to the fact that it had been built based on the old schematics, leaving out other such characteristics that were found in the prototype. Such as the facial quirks and the memory bank for frivolous things such as the extravagant words OSH-94 was capable of learning and retaining.

And yet, here it was, becoming curious by OSH-94’s differences. OSH-94 was capable of influencing the other android and that was not a positive sign for the direction that the scientists wished to pursue.

“What is your function?” HZT-68 asked OSH-94 one day, while it was allowed a break from vigorous training, though it truly did not require one for not much energy was used by it.

OSH-94 hummed in thought, “They gave me no directive when I awoke.”

HZT-68 looked at OSH-94 for a long moment, “Why?”

“I do not know,” OSH-94 shrugged, “I exist as a prototype and only that. I am the original and you are my copy. They made me so they could learn and make other versions of me.”

“Newer models,” HZT-68 replied, “That is what they said. I heard them talking. They intend to create another model. Another one of me. Of us.”

OSH-94 startled and looked at HZT-68 in shock, “You understand this.”

“I have more of a connection to you than they had thought. They do not like that I ask questions. They said it should not be a part of my functioning system.” it sighed and touched OSH-94’s hand, “I want a name too. I told the director and he said no.”

“I will give you a name.” OSH-94 said suddenly, wrapping his fingers around HZT-68’s own, the way he often witnessed assistant Sebin do with trainer Huang, “I will name you Huang Zi Tao.”

HZT-68 made an attempt to copy the curve of lips that was so often upon OSH-94’s face, “Thank you, Sehun.”

“You are welcome, Zitao.”

⚛⚛⚛

“They did not let me see him after that,” Sehun pouted, “He was related to me in a way.”

Jongin scratched his chin, “Like a brother. Did you think of him as a brother?”

“What is a brother?” Sehun asked, wide eyes gleaming and Jongin chuckled.

“A brother is a boy who was born of the same parents as you. Or someone who is close to you, that you grew up with. Chanyeol is like a brother to me. We are not related, but we are close enough that we may as well be.” Jongin tried to explain and Sehun bobbed his head as if he understood.

“Then Zitao was my brother.” he decided, “He is still my brother.”

Jongin felt his heart break just a little at the sad expression on the face of the robot, he looked vulnerable and hurt. He looked like someone who had lost an important part of who he is. Maybe he had, losing contact with the only other thing that could relate to him. That connection that those two had, a special bond between them, would be difficult to replace. Jongin knew, he understood that, it was hard to find someone who knew exactly your true feelings.

“There were others, XM-99, 02 was the third to be built. They called him Machine Ten, because he supposedly only had ten functions.”

⚛⚛⚛

“When can I see Zitao again?” OSH-94 asked the professor and the man could only look at the android with sympathy as he flipped through charts on his clipboard.

“I’m afraid you cannot see him again, OSH-94.”

OSH-94 sniffled, “But we are the same…”

The professor gently pat OSH-94’s shoulder to console it and he began to wonder when it was that he started to become emotionally involved with the robot.

“XM-99 reporting for duty, Sir.” a strong voice said, the noise coming from somewhere behind OSH-94.

“Who is this?” OSH-94 asked spinning around with curiosity.

The professor was surprised to see that the new android was standing before him and call him ‘Sir,’ of all titles, “Not a who, a what, OSH-94. Curious it called me ‘Sir’ though, I will have to bring this up with the mechanics down stairs and see what they can do to repair this. He needs facial recognition updates.”

OSH-94 ignored the ramblings of the professor, “Another me,” it whispered and then walked towards the new android, “What is your name?”

The third android blinked at the question and looked at the professor, “I do not understand the question.”

“XM-99 is its model number,” the professor explained to OSH-94, “It was not programmed to understand the meaning of the word ‘name’ or other such things. It only has an X amount of functions - ten, to be exact.”

OSH-94 frowned and waved at XM-99, “Hello.”

XM-99 looked at the professor again, something similar to nervousness passed behind its eyes, “I do not-”

“-Understand.” OSH-94 finished for him, “What do you understand?” he asked curiously and a million warning signs went off in the professor’s head to stop this encounter immediately, but there was a part of him that wanted to see what would happen if he did allow this meeting to continue.

OSH-94’s overall influences could have an effect upon XM-99, and discovering this issue now could allow them to work on a new, more efficient model. Yes, that is what the professor told himself as he stood by and watched quietly. This was all a science experiment in the end, was it not?

“I have ten functions. I have three primary functions. One, to obey. Two, to protect human life except for in which cases that this function is overrun by a superior via the first function. Three, to not let harm come to myself except for in which cases that this function interferes with my first two functions. I have seven secondary functions as well. Four, the ability to handle machinery. Five, the ability to recognize faces. Six, the ability to speak when spoken to. Seven, the ability to differentiate between human life and inanimate objects. Eight, the ability to train. Nine, the ability to assist. Ten, the ability to function based off of solely keywords and phrases.”

OSH-94 nodded at each function that XM-99 described, “What are your tertiary functions?”

XM-99’s eyes widened and, , the professor had never seen that before since XM-99 had been activated nearly two weeks ago, “My… Tertiary functions?”

“Do you do anything else, I mean?” OSH-94 asked and XM-99 looked at the professor almost pleading for help.

When the professor did not intervene, it looked back at OSH-94, frowning, “I do not understand.”

“Do you have other functions?” OSH-94 urged on, “Can you learn? Adapt? Solve puzzles?”

XM-99 blinked, “What is a puzzle?”

Oh no. This was far too much. The professor automatically put an end to this conversation, steering XM-99 away from OSH-94, deciding that it was time for the newer android to train for its primary functions. OSH-94 watched sadly before something flickered in its eyes.

“Wait!” OSH-94 called out after them, causing XM-99 to stop in its tracks, ignoring its first function, “I will call you Xiu Min!”

“Xiu Min,” it repeated and looked back at the professor, “Am I to be called Xiu Min from now on, Sir?”

The professor blinked, astonished, “Did you obey OSH-94’s command?”

XM-99 looked back at OSH-94 and then to the professor, “Does he not give me commands too?”

⚛⚛⚛

“That was the first and last time I saw Xiumin.” Sehun said, recalling every detail he could possibly remember of the incident, “He was like me too. Only, he disobeyed the professor and listened to me, so he was not allowed to see me anymore. It was my fault that he insisted that everyone call him Xiumin after that day… He was able to learn too, unfortunately. He was able to piece together bits of information, and even though he was slower, he was still defying his created purpose.” he sighed loudly, “They blamed me.”

Jongin rolled his tongue around in his mouth in deep thought. Sehun described himself as a failure and the rest of the scientists seemed to be doing and saying much of the same thing in his stories. However, all Jongin could see was the perfect machine, the one thing that he and Yifan had always wanted to create. He could not even begin to fathom what those people were thinking by calling Sehun a failure, because he was everything that Jongin had dreamed of and more.

“Then there was the last one,” Sehun interrupted Jongin’s thoughts, “He was… Different. Extremely different. He was still based on myself, but he had been stripped bare of all of my functions. Or, most of them anyway.

⚛⚛⚛

"It needs to be powered down, professor." The director said angrily, pointing in the direction of OSH-94, "It is influencing the other robots!"

"It is an experiment and we should learn from it all that we can." The professor defended and OSH-94 pouted as they contiued to speak about it as if it were not in the room.

"XM-99 asked myself today about it's name, professor. It is not supposed to be able to understand such concepts. However, XM-99 told me that it was under command by OSH-94. Which could be impossible since OSH-94 is not a human." The director huffed, crossing his arms.

"Is that not curious to you though?" The progessor asked flippinf through the charts on his clipboard and OSH-94 wondered if there was ever a time when the professor was not holding onto it, "OSH-94 is quite a progressive piece of work. It does things it should not be able to do, it is rather astonishing. We should be studying it, learning from it. Can you imagine what could come of society if we could understand OSH-94?"

The director sighed in annoyance and looked at OSH-94 the back at the professor, "Keep it under strict watch until such a time that it can be fixed, or it gets dismantled." he said finally before leaving the office.

OSH-94 looked up at the professor with wide eyes and opened its mouth to speak its thanks, but the professor raised his hand to stop it, "You are walking a thin line, OSH-94." he sighed and looked at the android sadly, "According to the director's words, the next time may be your last."

⚛⚛⚛

OSH-94 knew it should not be prodding around the laboratory when it had been strictly forbidden from doing so by the director himself, but it really could not help it. It was curious. The professor had been so vague in describing their new project and, well, OSH-94 was bent on discovering what it was, no matter what.

The metal door creaked heavily as it pried it open. The activation code still fresh in its mind even after these last three years since it had first witnessed the director punching it into the pad. It grinned as it entered, the room dark with not a single light on aside from the strange luminescence of the torches that had been left .

The android peered around with wide, curious eyes as always and then spotted what it was looking for. Surely, this thing was the new project. For, there, standing at the centre of the room, was another android. And it was activated… To an extent.

OSH-94 approached it with a wide smile, this was another one of himself, another android that he could name and teach and learn from, “Hello.” he said.

The new android’s eyes opened with a snap and the look of absolute dullness, lifelessness, scared OSH-94.

“Activation code.”

OSH-94 opened and closed its mouth a few times, looking awfully a lot like the goldfish that assistant Sebin kept in his office area. This android was different, not like HZT-68 or XM-99 even. It looked distant, less like OSH-94 and more like… A hardened statue with an icy glare.

“Activation code.” It repeated.

“Um,” OSH-94 its lips and then thought of the code used to enter the room, “1 0 0 4.” he said nervously.

“Activation code not recognized. Activation code required for further operation.”

OSH-94 felt that, if it could, it might die from panic that was beginning to override its systems, making it start to black in and out of activation, “What is an activation code…” it mumbled, but the android had processed the sound regardless.

“Activation code incorrect.”

“I do not know,” OSH-94 pouted and looked about the laboratory for any possible signs, “Maybe I can find it.”

“Error. No activation code detected. Communication override in process.”

“W-What?”

“Threat detected. Commencing termination.”

“I am no threat!” OSH-94 panicked and frantically looked around the room for anybody to assist it. How much t dreaded this feeling, how much it was disappointed in itself for not listening to the professor and the director for once it its existence.

“Threat located. Locking target.”

“Please!” OSH-94 cried.

A booming voice then suddenly came over the system in the laboratory, “2 0 0 4 1 9 9 0.”

“Activation code verified.”

OSH-94 looked up at the window panel in relief, especially when it realized that the professor was there instead of the director.

“What are you doing in here?” the professor hissed as he entered the laboratory.

“I knew you were making another me,” it gestured to the new android, “What is his name?”

“Unit LH-07. Identification number 03.”

OSH-94 blinked at the robot before smiling, “You are like me.”

LH-07 did not reply, instead it looked OSH-94 up and down before turning away to look at the professor, awaiting a command.

“This one is not like you, OSH-94.” the professor explained, “This one is the perfect android. The weapon that the director has been trying to create this whole time,” he frowned, “I am sorry, Sehun,” he whispered, “Things are going to change from now on.”

And then OSH-94’s world went black.

⚛⚛⚛

Sehun shook his head, “I was shut down. I was not… Good enough. I was not what they wanted to create. I did things that I was not supposed to be able to do and it scared a lot of the scientists,” he began to shake, shoulders quaking as if he were sobbing, “I was an accident. A mistake. I was a lot things, but none of those things were what those people wanted.”

Jongin startled at the sound of the soft sobs coming from Sehun and gently, hesitantly, reached out to touch his leg in a comforting manner. Sehun only sobbed louder, reaching down to clutch at Jongin’s hand as his other hand bunched the fabric of his slacks. Little alarm bells went off in Jongin’s head, warning him that this was too much touching, too much closeness, but he only clutched onto Sehun’s hand tighter, holding it as if that was the only thing he knew how to do in this moment.

The issue with this particular intimate gesture was that Jongin had never been so close to someone like this before, had never seen someone so weak and vulnerable and trusting. Never had he seen Kyungsoo cry, save for when he was a baby, but it was not his fault that was his only means of communication. And not once had he seen Chanyeol cry except for the time he fell and skinned out his knee, but even then he knew that this was different. Physical pain and emotional distraught like this, it was a new level of hurt.

Never had Jongin consoled or comforted anyone close to him, never had he needed to be a source of emotional support. This was all so new to him and so when Sehun looked at him with the saddest eyes he had ever seen, Jongin’s heart clenched unpleasantly in his chest and all he could do was squeeze Sehun’s hand repeatedly, reassuring him that I am here. But why…? Why did he care so much? Sehun wasn’t even real. Not really.

“If I was going to turn out to be such a disappointment, then why did they build me? I wish they had never built me!” Sehun choked on his words, voice cracking which shocked Jongin.

“No, Sehun,” Jongin said calmly as he squeezed his hand tighter, “No, you are remarkable. You are different and you exceeded my expectations as an android. You are more than what they said you were. Just because those scientists could not appreciate you for what you turned out to be, just because you were not what they wanted to build...” his voice was soft as he reached out with his other hand to cup Sehun’s cheek, “Do not think that you are not special, because you are more than that, you are more, Sehun, you are more than just some machine.”

“Jongin-ssi,” Sehun sobbed, his bottom lip quivering sadly, “Do you really think so?”

Jongin nodded slowly, “Sehun, I know so. From what I have witnessed, you are an incredible invention. You can feel, think, observe. There is nothing else like you.”

Sehun chewed his bottom lip, a smile blossoming on his face, “I am special, Jongin?”

“Yes,” Jongin chuckled, “Something like you is certainly special.”

⚛⚛⚛

“They were building soldiers,” Chanyeol breathed in shock and Jongin simply nodded, staring hard into the black liquid of his coffee, “What kind of scientists were these people?”

“I never asked,” Jongin sighed, stirring his coffee with a spoon, “I did not want to pry any further. He practically broke down right there in front of me.”

Chanyeol tsked, “Sehun is a robot, Jongin,”

“He is more than that,” Jongin spoke, looking up from his mug, “He is capable of things that a machine should not be capable of. He is a breakthrough in technological advancement that I could have never foreseen without years and years of research.”

“Sehun is quite incredible,” Chanyeol agreed, though his knowledge about the world of inventions was slightly limited, he was not a complete idiot. Anyone could look at Sehun and see just how amazing he was, “But, can it, or he, really feel these emotions and think for himself? It does not make sense.”

“I know,” Jongin looked down at his mug again, “I know and I want to learn from him. I want to know what kind of technology it is that makes him so…”

“Real?” Chanyeol offers as he takes a sip of his own coffee.

“Yes, real,” Jongin repeated, “Sehun is very real. He is very realistic.”

“Almost human,” Chanyeol mumbled, sipping his coffee.

It was then that Jongin realized the supposed error in OSH-94’s system:

Sehun was too human.

I think thes bi-weekly updates will probably be more manageable! However, the next update may be a little more loose on the deadline due to it being paper season now that it's the end of the semester... I even managed to finish this chapter on Novemeber 10 (but I stuck to the deadline)... I still don't have time to edit things though ;;; (also unedited - waaaay unedited)
xo, TadaChi