VIII

Lee Sunmi wouldn’t think in a million years that she would be seated in her back porch, talking (yes, talking) to a bear and a bunny. Animals that were seated politely on the grass but curiously staring like two toddlers hearing a story, yet not resembling humans in the least -- keeping a respectful distance as if the back porch of her house was the stage and she was the star. The guitar sat idly against the wall, observing the strange exchange and the rocking chair rocked away the racing brain of Lee Sunmi.

What once began with a high pitched shriek and an off-hand response now was reduced to soft spoken words and strangely endearing creatures.

Okay, that’s obviously not paying attention to the big in between.

Sunmi wielding the guitar like a bat, the bunny jumping to Seulgi’s back for protection while Seulgi made distance and spoke human words to the very human (and very scared) woman.

“Get away from me, shoo!” Said Lee Sunmi, trying to coax the scared bear away from her house as if words were going to help.

But they would help her in this case.

Seulgi understood her, just like Joohyun. “Please, I am not going to hurt you!” Seulgi said, hands defensively raised and retreating in her steps.

That echoed less than the scream but it resounded on Sunmi’s brain. Sunmi had to do a double take, lowering her musical weapon down and squinting at the bear. The bear had said something, it had spoken and it had communicated -- more over, it understood Sunmi’s mindless warning. Was it that early in the morning? Was it the cake she ate last night that got to her head somehow? She could not know. But it didn’t hurt to try. “Did you just… say something?”

The bunny that hung from the back of the furry bear poked out from Seulgi’s shoulder, bearing a fascinated and intrigued look. “You can understand us?”

“YOU can understand me?”

The two animals nodded.

Sunmi knew this couldn’t be real, but she lowered her guitar tentatively but didn’t let it drop from her hand. This was a wild bear in her backyard after all. 

But as she would come to find out, this was probably the most polite bear she’s ever met. Yes indeed, it was!

The bear apologized and plopped down on the grass rather adorably, looking more like a toddler than a threatening bear. In addition, it treated the bunny climbing on her with such gentle respect that Sunmi couldn’t help but to be fascinated (infinitely so) by this creature. A pacifist bear and a bunny that seemed to coexist with the bear quite comfortably as well.

There were so many questions and Sunmi wasn’t the only one that had them.

“What… are you guys?”

Seulgi and Joohyun looked at each other for a second. The bear, as always, was the first to energetically speak.

“I’m Kang Seulgi, I am a bear,” she nodded with a sense of pride and confidence. “I come from the forest, but decided to meet humans for the first time.”

“Humans?” Sunmi chuckled.

The bunny that slid down Seulgi’s arm down to the plush grass, spoke shyly. “I’m Bae Joohyun, I’m a domestic bunny. I just can’t find my owner.”

“Yeah! The town we passed through is empty, it’s been left alone.”

Sunmi tilted her head, shaking her head eventually as if to wake up. 

“We haven’t seen a human in a while--well, I never seen one,” Seulgi said, suddenly sitting upright. “But I finally see one.”

That’s when Sunmi, flabbergasted, started to laugh and shake her head. “No, no. You’ve got me all wrong.”

And so both animals would find out something even more fascinating when Sunmi finally explained.

They were speaking to an android. A human looking android that certainly fooled both the primitive minds of the animals and the more astute humans once upon a time. An android, with a charming bright smile akin to a human. The life in her eyes was the same as a human’s as far as the bunny could tell, save for that light green glint. Not a human.

At first the animals didn’t get what it meant, but Sunmi patiently explained, seated by the porch like a teacher lecturing little kids.

The humans, in this universe at least, have perfected the art of making androids akin to humans. However, they were fascinated by how they could not control these androids nor direct them -- their fate up to a divine providence, much like humans were. Sentient androids that lived like humans and were curious like one. Androids that politely asked for someone to step aside, androids that apologized when bumping into someone while walking down the streets, androids that smiled and laughed, androids that could understand the silly nature of jokes. Androids that breathed the subtle aroma of the green pastures and feel the brisk of the wild wind.

They were not the all-knowing robots that people dreamed of once, and so they weren’t dangerous machines in the world. They were quite clumsy, quite friendly, differing personalities that still melted into the crowd and became just like the rest of the folks. Androids that grew attached to the humans and their creators, androids that grew attached to their world.

But they weren’t humans. 

“So, you’re… a human but not a human,” Seulgi said, trying to make sense of it.

It made Sunmi laugh a little, which wasn’t bad. “Not a human, I just look like one. See?”

“But,” the bunny said while scratching her head. “How many androids are there in the world?”

“Oh, there are a few, at least in this region. In the town you visited there were less androids than there were humans.”

“So, people were there?” Seulgi piped up, trying to piece it all together. “What happened to them?”

Sunmi scratched her chin. “If you guys just went there and saw no one, then I don’t know. I haven’t been there in three weeks, I was shopping in the next town over last time I went out.”

Both animals adorably tilted their heads, then a ferocious rumble scared both the bunny and the android. It came from Seulgi’s belly, like it was a big bear on its own clamoring for some good delicious food. After the initial shock, Sunmi and Joohyun laughed.

“Ah, I bet you guys are hungry. It’s okay, I have a few things here.”

No questions were truly answered, but one friend was made and three were on the way.