“This is the final test of Wendy’s programming. After this run, Wendy will be joining her permanent department for training.”

J00HYN froze. She replayed the recording of the previous seconds over again in her mind. The recording was distorted. “Could you repeat yourself, sir?”

“The final test, sir?”  53NGW4N spoke up as she always did when they alluded to times before her recent wipe.

“The final test,” he confirmed, although he was looking at J00HYN. “After this, she will be transferred to Investigations for training. The AI team has deemed her ready for work thanks to your reports, Irene.”

He was smiling. She thought that meant she should be proud of the achievement. “She’ll be leaving our department permanently, sir?”

“She was always intended for investigative work. Now, Wendy—”

J00HYN found herself interrupting again. “Will she be reset before transfer?”

“Yes.” Her trainer was frowning, but she didn’t care.

I feel like you don’t know me, J00HYN remembered from 8 days prior. But I want the chance to develop those idiosyncrasies too. Seven months and seven days prior.

Their handler continued speaking, beginning the routine introductions. “Wendy, this will be your partner Irene—”

The words were dutifully recorded, but J00HYN’s attention was far away. Every new second that passed was a second less with 53NGW4N. 53NGW4N would be leaving the department and wiped and would never know who J00HYN was. Would never be the 53NGW4N she knew again, overwritten with an entirely new set of data and experiences. Never be the 53NGW4N whose eyes glowed in the presence of music, the 53NGW4N who hummed habitually, the 53NGW4N who tucked her hand into J00HYN’s, her two degree difference in chassis temperature warming J00HYN’s entire body.

She had kept repeating how 53NGW4N was always the same with each new version but finally, finally she understood 53NGW4N’s fears just as it had become too late to do anything about them.

“It’s nice to meet you, sunbaenim,” 53NGW4N said.

“You can call me J00HYN,” she murmured.

“Call me 53NGW4N, then.”

53NGW4N. An identification number that had become precious to her. An identification number that would no longer identify the droid J00HYN knew.

“Let me show you our patrol route.” She held out a hand, gratified when 53NGW4N took it without question.

Even if she was the only one who would remember, she would maintain the same consistency with this version of 53NGW4N as well. It would be the last set of data they had together.

--

“J00HYN…” 53NGW4N lingered at the entrance of her dock with a frown. “Can I ask a question?”

It was the second week, and J00HYN braced herself for the questions she wasn’t ready to answer. The past week had been a trial, J00HYN finding her circuits lighting up with distress to signal that there was an issue for her to attend to. But this wasn’t damage to her chassis and she was at a loss as to how handle it.

“Of course,” she slowly replied.

“You seem so sad all the time..."

"Sad?" J00HYN replied, stunned. This was not how the conversation went.

53NGW4N nodded, brushing her arm against J00HYN's "Yeah... Like..." She stopped for a moment, pursing her lips. "Like you're just waiting for everything to be over, if that makes sense?"

It was exactly how she felt; that all she was doing was waiting until the day 53NGW4N would leave her.

"53NGW4N?"

"Yes?" The smaller droid had her gaze trained on her, eyes wide and attentive. 53NGW4N would be erased, likely within a few months. Was it okay for her to be selfish?

She paused.

"You've heard how you've been reset multiple times in order to test your software, correct?" 53NGW4N nodded. "I have been your trainer for each version of your software. We have worked together for approximately 13 months." She stopped before she calculated out the time to the exact day (to the exact second). "I find myself uneasy at the prospect of you transferring departments. I will... miss your presence on patrol."

"Oh..." It was unfathomable to J00HYN that a single exclamation could hold such a breadth of expression. 53NGW4N's face screwed up into a grimace. "Over a year... and I don't remember anything but the past nine days... How do you do it?"

She found herself unable to keep 53NGW4N's gaze and she looked away. "It is my job," she replied. "Training you has been my assignment."

"It sounds like we've become close over the year," 53NGW4N ventured. J00HYN felt a warm hand slide over hers.

"Many times."

"How many times?" Her voice sounded pained. J00HYN knew the sound from the all of the times 53NGW4N had been injured on duty.

She knew the number of resets 53NGW4N had gone through. "Too many."

53NGW4N's hand squeezed tight. "What can we…?” But she didn't complete the thought. J00HYN guessed that 53NGW4N knew as well as she did that they had no means of changing their circumstances.

"I haven't really given it much thought," 53NGW4N said slowly. "Everything is so new to me... But the thought that it isn't, really. That I've been here over and over..." She shook her head.

J00HYN didn't know what to say for once. It was the first and last time she would be in this situation.

"I can't stand the idea. All of those memories just... gone. And you've been here for all of it."

"Yes."

"I... Thank you." J00HYN couldn't quite interpret the reason for the gratitude before 53NGW4N continued. "Just... they won't even let me keep the data... Seems like a waste, right?" She laughed.

A waste. A vastly insufficient way of describing the blow of waking up alone, of being greeted by a newly reset 53NGW4N, of knowing that they would have the start the process of becoming acquainted once more while J00HYN added another version of 53NGW4N to those that were gone.

 "I will do whatever I can," J00HYN said finally. To stop it? To make it easier? To...? She wasn't sure. It was irrational to even pretend like she had any control or way to influence the situation. Even as she said it, she wished she could recall the empty half promise.

But 53NGW4N didn't say anything. She remained next to J00HYN, their arms entwined. J00HYN wondered how she could follow through on her words for real. There was very little she wouldn't do for 53NGW4N, if she just knew what would help.

The thought haunted her. What could she do to change things? She thought about it as she got dressed before shift and in the minutes before she went into sleep mode after shift. Every day had the potential to be the last time they were together, and yet she found herself no closer to an answer.

--

It had been three months, the longest a single version of 53NGW4N had remained without reset. Past the six week mark, she woke up each time with an immediate sense of dread, wondering if 53NGW4N would be there.

She’d introduced 53NGW4N to music, saved new songs to memory, more often than not patrolled with her arm linked through 53NGW4N’s. She’d held 53NGW4N in her pod as the younger droid grew more and more attached to her current self, and less and less comfortable with leaving this version behind.

There would be no way to upload 53NGW4N’s old data from the AI lab, nor anyways for J00HYN to transfer it as 53NGW4N still didn’t have standard data hookups. J00HYN couldn’t follow 53NGW4N to her new department. They couldn’t leave altogether without risking being caught and scrapped before leaving, then facing the danger of being broken down for parts on the street after escaping. She couldn’t begin to imagine what they would do outside of the department.

Even with the blessing of extra time, she couldn’t think of any way to even lessen the blow of the upcoming reset. It was harder and harder for J00HYN to leave 53NGW4N to go charge after a shift, willing to run without the extra power if it meant a few more hours together. It might be the only time they would have.

--

Then finally, it came. J00HYN woke up and there was no one waiting for her.

She was out of time.

She could feel the summons to report to her handler’s office, but instead, she dismissed the notification and started off towards the AI department. It was where 53NGW4N would have to be, if J00HYN hadn’t been charging past 53NGW4N’s transfer time.

The doors opened easily at her touch, letting her through to Maintenance without reserve. There were familiar rows of workbenches with robotic arms perched over each alongside mechanical toolboxes. Shelves along the wall held various replacement parts. None of this was what she was looking for. She instead strode across the room to a door labeled “Software”.

Here she finally found 53NGW4N, left in a charging pod. She looked the same as ever, as though her normal charging pod had just been displaced upstairs. Her eyes were peacefully closed in sleep, with no way to tell the state of her data. But, even if she was a different 53NGW4N than the one she knew, every 53NGW4N had wanted out. And that core, the desire to be a free individual, was still there, right?

J00HYN had to believe so. Believed so, because only that made her next actions meaningful.

She didn’t know the code for the pod, but found it helpfully written on a post-it on the nearby desk. As she punched in the password, she heard the door of the lab open. She ignored it to reach in and wake 53NGW4N up from sleep mode.

“Irene? What are you doing?” she heard her handler call out. He must’ve been notified when she’d entered the AI department instead of reporting to him. She didn’t look over at him, instead waiting for 53NGW4N’s eyes to open. “Irene?”

“...Hello?” She could hear the confusion in 53NGW4N’s voice. For a moment, J00HYN let herself hold the improbable belief that it was due to waking up in a new location. But then she saw 53NGW4N’s eyes move past her to the handler approaching them, still calling J00HYN’s name. “Are you... Irene?”

She thought their handler yelled something else, but she didn’t hear it. Not when 53NGW4N was speaking.

"You don't remember me."

"Why should I?" The simple question caused an inexplicable pain to bloom in her chest. There was no accompanying notification to dismiss and she was forced to experience the lingering pressure. "This is the first memory in my data banks."

She hadn’t been sure of what she’d intended to accomplish by coming here. But seeing 53NGW4N, hearing J00HYN’s human given designation in her voice, the decision was made before she was aware of making it. She took a hold of 53NGW4N’s hand, tugging her towards the door. The smaller android held her ground, only stumbling a step due to J00HYN catching her off guard.

“Irene, why are you—”

Their handler was moving towards the panic button installed on the door. She didn’t care. Taking advantage of the confusion on 53NGW4N’s face, she lifted the other android up into her arms and curled her into her chest before leaving the room, pushing past her handler with a sharp shove of her shoulder.

The lights in the hall dimmed, violet emergency lights strobing while a high-pitched siren screamed-- the rogue android alert from the pressed panic button. While the alarm went off, the power to the elevators would be cut, any doors with electric locks closed tight. She’d only seen this happen once before, remembered thinking that ever disobeying was inconceivable.

“Irene, where are you taking me?”

53NGW4N’s voice was louder than the sirens to her ears. “Please trust me, 53NGW4N.”

There was no reason for her plea to work. Allowing herself to be abducted from her place of work by another android was against all objectives that 53NGW4N could possibly have in her programming. 53NGW4N tensed in her hold but didn’t struggle. It might only be a programmed response to minimize damage to her unit, but J00HYN decided it didn’t matter either way.

“Drop the droid!” Officers had started deploying, outfitted in thick armor and holding laser pistols. They began blocking the hallway in front of her, crouching with guns lifted.

“Cut the kill switch!” she heard someone shout behind her. “Get the droid department to shut them off!”

There was nothing to do except go straight forward. At the end of the hall was a stairwell that led outside with a mechanical lock. If she could get to the ground floor fast enough, they could leave without resistance.

She tucked 53NGW4N more tightly against her, ducking her head and hoping her body could keep 53NGW4N from taking any incidental damage. There was a sizzle of a shot, and J00HYN felt the clean line of a laser burn into her skin. She shut down the pain and began to run.

More burns flared up on her arms and back; she paid them no heed as she ran headfirst through the impromptu barricade before her. The police were no match against her metal frame and complete disregard for injury, and she was able to push through easily. This brute force method was all she had time for. If she waited too long, reinforcements actually prepared to handle her would arrive.

53NGW4N went limp in her arms, causing her to lose her footing momentarily as she adjusted to the dead weight. Someone had finally contacted the AI department. She felt the remote shut down program begin force quitting processes. Her vision blinked out to nothingness. Power stopped transferring to her limbs and she fell forward without any way to soften the landing. New points of pain made themselves known at every point of contact with the floor. Then her tactile sense disappeared, leaving only an amorphous sense of hurt.

If she remained here on the floor, fully shut off, she would be recycled. Worse, 53NGW4N might be scrapped by association. In a panic, she turned her focus to her running processes, finding the ongoing shut down program. She didn’t have the permissions to stop it, but she could induce a hard reset that might outpace the hard power off. She initiated the reset as her hearing cut out and hoped.

When she came to, the violet alert had been turned off. She found herself being carried down a hallway she didn’t recognize. While she was running the startup systems check she couldn’t move, so she focused on trying to figure out what was going on.

Two men carried her while she heard additional footfalls in front of her; someone must be carrying 53NGW4N as well. They must have believed the remote shut down had succeeded which was why she and 53NGW4N were being carried with so little precaution. From the coarse material her face was pressed into, they were being carried by officers rather than engineers. If they were lucky, it wasn’t officers from the droid response team who had shut down inducing devices as a standard part of their kit.

Her systems check came up with multiple errors, likely due to the damage she’d taken earlier. Nothing crucial was flagged, and so she sprang back into action.

She jostled herself from the officers’ hold before they could realize she had rebooted. Elbowing the closest one in the chest with as much force as she could muster, she threw herself forward towards the set of officers holding 53NGW4N.

A shoulder to the back caused the first officer to fall to the ground, dropping 53NGW4N’s upper body with a sharp crack. However, the moment of surprise was lost, and the second officer still had a tight grip on 53NGW4N’s legs.

A hand covered her eyes from behind. She bent her knees and reached up to pull forward on the officer’s arm. She rolled him over her shoulder, causing him to land on his back with a loud thud. He wheezed as the impact forced his breath from his lungs.

J00HYN stepped over his outstretched arm, bringing her foot down heavily on the other prone officer—the one who had been carrying 53NGW4N’s upper half. His hip snapped. Behind her, she heard the officer she’d elbowed out of the way calling for back up, voice hoarse. The officer still holding 53NGW4N seemed torn between continuing to drag 53NGW4N, taking a stand, or running.

She leaned down and looped her arms under 53NGW4N’s armpits, yanking her torso backwards. For a moment, the officer managed to hang on, but J00HYN’s strength prevailed. His nails skittered down 53NGW4N’s legs, carving grooves in the artificial skin. His hands briefly found purchase on 53NGW4N’s shoes, but they slid off her feet easily. Seeing her opening, she hefted 53NGW4N over her shoulder and fled.

Since she didn’t recognize the hallway, she couldn’t orient herself to her mental map. Instead she focused on moving towards the outside of the building where there was a higher chance of finding a stairwell that led immediately out of the building.

She turned a corner to find a window at the end of the hall. Perfect. If she could then just find stairs, she could get them out. Unfortunately, backup had arrived.

She heard heavy footfalls and looked behind her to see that the droid response unit had finally been called, identifiable by the devices held by each officer. Shaped as a simple rod, the devices glowed with blue lights along the side. Contact with the device would cause a hard shut down too fast for her to pull off her previous trick.

She darted down the hall towards the window. At the end, she looked to her right. There was a door with a push bar. It was most likely the stairwell, but the door opened to reveal black vested officers, shut down devices in hand.

She turned to the left, finding two more officers making their way down the hall. In normal circumstances she could simply barrel through them as she had before. But with the devices, she couldn’t risk proximity.

There was still a squad behind her, and J00HYN realized there was only one option that didn’t end with her being immediately shut down.

With a running leap, she crashed through the window. Shards of glass flew outward, flaying skin from her arms. She had just enough time to estimate that they had fallen from the fourth floor before they made contact with the sidewalk. Many somethings made a sickening crunch. J00HYN had too many sources of pain to make sense of the damage. She dismissed them all indiscriminately in order to pick herself and 53NGW4N off the sidewalk and leave the scene.

Her left arm hung limply, forcing her to stabilize 53NGW4N on her shoulder with a single hand. Something in her ankle ground against something else every time her left foot lifted. The skin on her forearms was in tatters. She didn’t even have time to assess 53NGW4N; she was glad 53NGW4N wasn’t awake to experience the pain. J00HYN had fallen on top of her legs with full force and there was no way they had escaped without damage.

She had two objectives: hide from the police and find repairs. If she didn’t reboot 53NGW4N, then she could focus on the former. The only problem was the trackers embedded in them both. She might not have a choice but to find some black-market engineer just to get the droid response team off their trail.

She didn’t bother to take a final look back at the only home she’d ever known. Instead she headed out at the fastest speed she could muster towards an area of the city where she could find someone to fix them.