I remained rooted to my spot, unsure of how to get someone to help. It wasn’t that I was scared of him, I knew Kboys had been built with a strong understanding that all humans were to be treated with respect and to never hurt them. However, it was the first time to ever see one alone without its owner or a bunch of doctors nearby.

He smiled, and I noted it appeared sad. Lowering my guard a little, I cleared my throat. “How did you get in here?”

“I escaped.”

“You, you what?!”

He sighed heavily, and I was confused to see the reaction. Were the dynamics of their human responses now more in-depth? I eyed him more carefully, to ensure that I hadn’t made a mistake in my recognition of a robot.

There would be no reason for Leo of VIXX to be standing here otherwise though.

“Why was I created?” he asked, though I wasn’t sure if he was expecting me to answer. His eyes went back to his hand holding my drink and then finally handed it over. “Was it for this reason?”

“Perhaps we should go find a doctor to ask?” I took the drink slowly, my hands shaking ever so slightly when his finger grazed mine.

“No.”

“No? But surely you-”

“The doctor said this one is for the scrap. Does that mean I’m faulty?” His eyes dropped to the ground then, broodingly.

I couldn’t help but wonder why. He seemed perfectly fine to me, he was not malfunctioning in an obvious way at all. For a moment, I felt empathy towards his confused mind.

And then I remembered I was talking to a cyborg. Glancing up at his neck, I could almost see his silver button sticking out from the plain shirt he was wearing. If I reached up I would probably be able to reset him and call in someone from diagnostics to collect him.

His gaze followed mine and then a hand grabbed my lower arm, guiding it up there. I squeaked at the sudden touch, making no attempt to save the bottle of water again. This time it fell to the floor and water pooled out around us, his eyes searching mine in an unsettling way. “Is this what you want to do to me? This button resets my mode right?”

“I-it would be best if we found someone to help you.”

“Help? You mean destroy. Fine, maybe then I will no longer be in constant war with why I am like this. Press it.”

His words were affecting me again and I glanced at his face that was now closer to mine before back at my hand. It wasn’t like this was my first robot experience. All staff had been trained for an entire month on robot interface, as well as had practical assessments regularly. If we didn’t have a deep level of understanding on how the product worked, we wouldn’t be able to assist the customers effectively.

Further, our department’s leader had an affinity for Kang Daniel from WANNA ONE. Unlike the other staff members who kept their bots at home, her Daniel came to work with her daily. We were used to seeing him help around the office, his efficiency in filing becoming a major help with month-end reports.

But Daniel’s way of speaking and manners made it clear he was a Kboy. This Leo bot was unlike any other I had faced. Racking my brain for the types of Kboys I had been assessed on, I tried to search for if I had ever been paired with a Leo before. Shaking my head in conclusion, I looked up at him again, wondering if this was a specific characteristic to him or if he was truly faulty.

“Will you?” Leo asked and I wrestled with my thoughts to find clarification.

“We need to get you to where you belong,” I said softly, his curt nod accepting my sentence. His own hand guided mine closer to the button, but then let go of me entirely, his fingers reaching and pressing it himself. I was shocked, knowing no robot had ever pushed their own reset before. I watched, waiting to see him shut down momentarily.

Nothing happened.

He smiled knowingly, albeit still maintaining his broody stare on me. “Am I reset yet? Should I push it again? I read the manual, shouldn’t this have worked?”

He gestured to the book on the table and I was surprised he had done so. All Kboys were fitted with expanse knowledge on their own bionomics. The only thing we had been taught was they could not reset themselves as it was up to their owner to be in charge of that. My own hand shifted back to his neck and onto the cool button, slipping under his fingers, and pressed it. The feeling was unlike any I had ever experienced around a robot before. As I held my hand there, I was intensely aware of his attention on me, his hand gently running down my arm until it dropped to hang by his side. He turned his head then and the close proximity threw me off, making me jump back as if he had zapped me.

“I’m still online,” he announced and I nodded distantly. “So am I faulty then, Choi Yerin-ssi?”

My head snapped up to look at him, a small smirk crossing his features as he pointed to my name badge. Relaxing, I then shook my head. “You should be disarmed.”

“What will you do with me then?”

Chewing my lip, I wondered what to do myself. I almost felt pity for the machine, his own frustrations seemed so organic to me. But I had to come back to my senses. I was dealing with a rogue bot who clearly had a fundamental issue in his functions to not shut off when requested.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and dialled a number. The call connected and I desperately began to speak. “I need your help!”

“How did you get in here?!”

Leo eyed the newcomer apprehensively and then looked at me for some kind of reasoning. “You called a doctor here?”

“He talks like that to you?!” The tall man stopped beside me and gaped. “What is your mode, bot?”

Leo glanced at him and then shrugged, moving over to a chair and taking a seat heavily. A small sound of shock was emitted from beside me and I grabbed onto the doctor’s arm, trying to calm him down.

“Gunhee, he’s not exactly working how he should.”

“He should at least know his mode!” Gunhee moved away from me and then paced the room. “Why would you not know your mode?!”

“Am I meant to?” Leo questioned and we both nodded our heads in response, Gunhee’s moving more rapidly. “Oh.”

“Oh?!”

“Calm down,” I instructed to my friend and Gunhee’s eyes barely connected with mine before he walked off again.

“Calm down?! Yerin-ah, I’ve worked in robotics for five years now, this isn’t normal!”

“So I am faulty then,” Leo surmised, his eyes darkening again as he lowered his head.

I pursed my lips together exasperatedly, not knowing how to take his reaction. Turning to Gunhee again, I grabbed his arm once more. “Help him.”

“How? We’ll need to take him to the lab. How do I explain this?! Oh, I was just out walking the corridors and stumbled against a wild Leo from VIXX. Let’s see how well that will go down huh?!”

“Surely they’ll know he’s missing by now!”

“It’s been ninety-six hours,” Leo mentioned casually, and I let go of Gunhee’s arm in shock.

“FOUR DAYS?!” Gunhee paced rapidly again. “How did you not shut down, all robots need charging after seventy-two hours!”

Leo frowned. “I did what humans do and charged naturally yesterday. Battery levels are functioning at forty-seven percent.”

“H-how does… a robot knows to sleep?! Aish, if I bring him in there is going to be so much trouble.”

“We can’t not help him though, I’ll do it. I’ll take him in.”

Leo eyed me again, his expression softening. He got up and moved towards me, his eyes not leaving mine once. I swallowed roughly and then broke the stare by looking towards my friend. Gunhee rubbed his face roughly and then nodded once.

“Let’s try that. Give me two hours, I’ll think of a way to help you.”