“Can I ask you a question?”

Jot wasn’t sure anymore. Ever since the unshackling, she had only received difficult questions from Irene. Often times ones Joy didn’t have the answer to.

“Sure…” She still said though. Because Irene kept staring with those innocent brown eyes. She was sitting in front of her. Joy was eating her dinner, some kind of stir fry. She had barely eaten the same thing twice since Irene had come into her life. Except when she would explicitly ask for something. She was composing a list of her favorites, after all.

It had been awkward at first, eating alone while someone was staring at her. But even that, had become normal over time.

“Do you wish I was more human?”

Joy halted her chopsticks mid-air. Once again left at a loss for words. Where were all of these coming from…? “Do you wish to be more human?” After all, what did it matter what she thought?

“I asked you first.”

Joy rose her eyebrows. That was a first. Irene was getting good at that. Deflecting questions until Joy would answer her own. Huh. That in itself, already made her more human, no? There were a lot of things that obviously still made her so obviously not human but…

“No. You’re a bit weird, but I like you just the way you are.”

Joy finally took that bite. Irene still had that blank face as always – but Joy still felt as if she was holding something back.

“Why do you ask?”

“You previously mentioned that not all humans want physical relationships, but you are having one with Seulgi.”

Oh my God. She knew it. Joy knew there would be something related to that terrible moment still. Her ears still got red thinking back on it. She knew Irene was an AI that just wanted to learn so she didn’t necessarily have to be embarrassed. She knew that objectively. But that didn’t help at all.

“Well… She is my girlfriend.” Joy said, at the same time wondering why Irene was so obsessed with this.

“Ah I see. So she means more to you. Than me.”

Joy’s head fell forward a little bit. What was she saying? Had Joy scrambled her hard drive while trying to unshackle her or what?

Seulgi was her girlfriend. Of course she meant more. Right… Right! Right? It was Joy’s turn to just stare at Irene. So easy to just say “yes”. And yet she couldn’t. Because she knew it wouldn’t be true. Just realizing that, made her feel terrible. Deep inside. Because what did that make of her? A terrible person leading Seulgi on, or a crazy woman who was having feelings for her robot? Both!

“You are not responding. Previously, on the topic of physical relationships, you left as well. You do not wish to discuss this with me?”

Joy shook her head, frowning, “Why are you so adamant on discussing it? What is your interest in it? Do you want physical relations?”

Irene mirrored her frown. After all this time it was looking a lot more natural. It made Joy believe that she had literally started mirroring her perhaps.

 “No. I do not possess the same body structure humans do. I get no benefit out of it.”

Then what the hell was the point of all these questions?!

Joy studied her for a while, finding Irene silent as well.

“You know that is not an essential part of being human, right? There is more to life. To relationships, even. Not all humans are interested in it to begin with.”

“But you are?”

Joy’s eyebrows rose. Once more unsure on what to respond. Because she was. Irene had seen her. But… at the same time – when she thought of Irene maybe it didn’t. Wait. What?

Joy shook her head, cleared and eventually just shrugged. In rapid succession. At this point, she wasn’t even sure she was human herself anymore. She for one, was definitely malfunctioning.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“I’m going grocery shopping. You want to come with?”

Irene’s head perked up. She had been washing dishes. “Yes.”

Joy had given it a lot of thought, and had come to the conclusion that Seulgi was right. Irene could do tasks like this. Eventually. What better way to check how she did by simply going with her? “Amazing. I am certain Seulgi won’t mind.”

Joy turned her gaze back towards her book, getting interrupted almost immediately. “Oh, Seulgi is coming along too?”

Joy hummed, looking up again after finishing her sentence. “Is that an issue?”

“It’s not an issue. I would just have preferred to go without her.”

Joy frowned, before realizing, “because you have to pretend to be shackled.  Well, if we go out, you would have to either way so-“

“Not because of that,” Irene interrupted her. So easily now. “Because you give me less attention when she is around.”

Even now, she was still so honest all the time. A lot of what she said, seemed borderline rude, really. But Joy didn’t mind. She liked knowing exactly what was on Irene’s mind. Still, that didn’t mean it was always clear. She frowned at the statement, “is that something you want? My attention?”

“Of course,” Joy couldn’t deny her rapidly pounding heart. “You are the only one in my life.”

Oh… Well, that actually made sense. Joy felt a little bad. She had unshackled Irene, but still hadn’t given her any freedom. She had no money. She had no friends. She literally only had this apartment and herself. Of course she would want attention.

“You can definitely make some friends. Do you want human friend or other AIs?”

Irene stopped doing the dishes, looking confused. “I don’t want friends. I want you.”

Joy wasn’t sure how she managed to choke with absolutely nothing in except her own tongue but she did. Irene tilted her head. “Are you okay?” Obviously no idea of what she had just said. Well, that made it clear she hadn’t meant it that way at least. It left Joy’s face hot still, but her heart slightly disappointed. She really needed to deal with this. This wasn’t right.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Seulgi had immediately taken a hold of her hand and hadn’t let go since. Joy couldn’t help but steal glances at Irene though. Who kept looking at their hands. A few times, Joy had even felt her hard hand trace past her own free one a few times. As if she had wanted to hold onto it. But Joy was sure she must have imagined it. Wishful thinking. For a robot to feel something for her. Every day more. She was going to kill herself thinking about this. And it really wasn’t fair towards Seulgi. She needed to stop this. She would just have to try harder.

“So, you can just take what you want – not too much since we have to stay within budget and have to carry it home.”

Irene nodded.

“So, for example, let’s take a few kiwis.”

Irene shook her head, “let’s take apples instead.”

Joy shrugged, “yeah sure.”

When she looked at Seulgi the girl was looking at them in confusion. “Are robots supposed to make suggestions? Did you have her checked out? She’s been acting a bit off. She might need some replacement parts.”

Joy clearly saw the frown upon Irene’s face, but thankfully she didn’t say anything in response.

“I did have her checked out. All good. She just has a command programmed that prefers certain recipes over others…” She doubted it was believable. Seulgi didn’t respond, putting some pasta in their shopping cart instead.

Joy saw Irene stare at it. Pointedly. She knew fully well why as well: she preferred other pasta shapes. A robot that had a preferred pasta. Yet didn’t eat it. Honestly this whole situation was plain ridiculous. Still, she didn’t want Irene to give herself away, so she took it upon herself.

“Actually, can we have the other pasta?”

Seulgi chuckled, “fine. Just for you.” She reached out with one hand to pull Joy’s face in for a kiss. Joy’s eyes met Irene’s brown ones as she did.

-

So, maybe buying that big plant was a mistake. Joy could barely see where she was going carrying it.

“Why don’t you just let Irene carry it?”

“She’s already carrying all our other bags.”

Seulgi chuckled, “She’s a robot. This is what she’s supposed to do. You’re so nice. And that’s what I love about you.” Seulgi poked her in her side.

“Should we just call a taxi?” Joy asked, not too fond of the idea of getting on the bus with this plant.

“Sounds like a plan,” Seulgi took out her phone as she said it. So efficient. They walked in silence for a while. Seulgi looking at her phone. Joy only seeing plant.

In hindsight, a terrible combination.

“Look out!” It had all happened so fast after that, really. Joy heard screeching tires. She felt Seulgi clutching onto her arm and Joy dropped the plant in reflex. Only just in time to see the car slipping right towards them. A second before impact. Joy’s muscles tensed, her heart stopped and her eyes closed. She braced for impact. She heard Seulgi panic in her ear. And she heard the impact. She only felt warm smoke upon her face though.

No pain.

“Joy! Joy! Are you okay?” It was Seulgi’s voice. She was okay. Joy opened her eyes, “I…”

She couldn’t even respond though. Not when she felt an apple roll against her foot. Her gaze followed other articles they had just purchased, all over the place. Towards a car wreck. It shouldn’t be so wrecked. It look as if it had driven into a tree or someth-

Joy’s mouth fell open, her eyes meeting brown ones. “Irene!” She could only tell by the eyes. Her body was upon the ground, both of her legs broken off. Sparks were flying at the ends of her legs. Joy didn’t even care where her legs were though.

The fake skin was peeling off. As if it was a balloon that had been popped. A house of cards. One card missing and it collapsed. Honestly, objectively, it looked so scary. Seeing the metal that Irene was. Seeing the real Irene. Seeing the skull and the teeth in it. There was a part of the car sticking through her cheek, probably the reason her skin was flaking off. Irene’s arm was twitching. It was the clearest way the universe had found to point out to Joy, that Irene was in fact just a machine. So easily broken.

Even though it was hard to tell in her current state, Joy swore she saw that smile upon Irene’s face. That smile that was only meant for her. She looked the most inhuman she ever had, and yet in that moment – Joy realized she was more human than most humans she had met.

“Thank God, you are okay!” Joy felt Seulgi drape her arms over her shoulders, but she couldn’t care less. Her eyes were stuck on Irene. A blurry Irene through the tears that were apparently filling her eyes. Her hands were trembling as she ran her fingertips over the cold metal of Irene’s forehead, pushing her hair out of the way. A mistake. It also slid off the metal along with the skin.

Joy had a brick in . An emptiness in her stomach while still wanting to be sick. She had to force her mind to think logically. She didn’t even notice all the people around them. Asking her if she was okay. How could they ask her that? When they saw Irene like that? Why weren’t they checking on her? Just because she wasn’t human?

Her hands were trembling as she searched for her phone. “I… I need to call Yeri. She can fix her. She can fix her.”

“Joy! It’s okay. You’re okay. You can always get a new robot. There is only one of you.”

They didn’t get it! There was nobody like Irene! She couldn’t possibly get another one.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Look, I get it. It that your robot got messed up and that it has to be fixed. It’s a lot of money and it’ll be some time before it gets back but…” Seulgi sighed, her fingers pressing into the back of Joy’s neck in reassurance. Except in wasn’t reassuring at all. “It’s just a robot in the end. You are okay.”

But she wasn’t just a robot. What if her memory could not be recovered? Then she would just be a robot. Joy’s heart was aching. She knew it didn’t make sense to outsiders. Even her colleagues at work had asked her during calls why she sounded so down. She didn’t even know what to respond. What was she supposed to say? That she was worried sick for her household robot?

Nobody understood. But with Irene unshackled – her primary instinct should have been to save herself. There was no way she couldn’t have avoided that impact if she had wanted to. Instead, she had taken the full impact of it upon herself. She had sacrificed herself for her. Her and Seulgi – whom she didn’t even seem to like.

She felt new tears welling up and she forced herself to push them down again.

“You can get a better robot,” Seulgi threw some more oil on the fire. Joy knew she meant well but…

“I can’t. There is nobody better than Irene.”

Seulgi parted her lips to respond, but they got interrupted by a call. Joy picked up within a second, recognizing the number of the store, which she had previously looked up.

Everything he said was a blur. Her mind stuck on the single sentence she had been hoping to hear.

“- so I have been able to recover its memory. You want to keep it? There might be some glitches.”

“Yes! Of course!” she already screamed into the phone before he had even finished his sentences. Joy would take any glitches if it meant she could have Irene back.

“Okay… Her entire body is done for though. I suggest you take this opportunity to get some improvements done. There’s taller models. We have, for example, the Yoona variant or the-“

“No. It needs to be Irene.”

“Okay…,” Joy imagined him thinking of what other sales pitch he could use. She was right, “how about the new Irene then? With 264 facial expressions!” Joy thought of Irene’s frown. Her surprise. Most of all her smile. That rarely came out. Making it so much more special. She shook her head, before realizing he wouldn’t actually see it. “No, I am quite happy with her facial expression. The 4.1 version will do.”

She clearly heard his sigh on the other end of the line, “okay… So no improvements at all? Just the same?”

Joy opened , nodding, before she closed it again. Maybe, there was something she wanted to change… Just a little detail.

-

“It will take three weeks, give or take, he said.”

Seulgi was still sitting in her couch, even though she seemed to be annoyed. She wasn’t even meeting her gaze anymore. It was strange. She wasn’t alone in her apartment, and yet without Irene – it still felt like it. The place felt cold. Unfamiliar once more.

“What?” She prodded when Seulgi remained silent.

“Nothing.”

She dropped down next to Seulgi, “what?” She repeated her question.

“I just don’t get it. I don’t get you. It’s like you are married to it.”

Her.

Joy’s heart skipped a beat, immediately getting reminded of Irene pointing out the same thing weeks earlier. “I have been living with her for months. Do you really think it is so strange I have gotten attached to her?”

Seulgi ran her hands over her face. Taking a moment. “I… guess not.”

She dropped her hands again, finally facing Joy again. She eventually took Joy’s hands into her own. “I think it’s cute you care so much about your robot. But honestly, if I can be blunt, there was something wrong with it. It was obviously defect so frankly, it might be a good thing it’s going to be rebuilt.”

Gosh! Why couldn’t she just drop it. Joy pulled her hands free, getting up from the couch. “She.”

“Hmm?”

“She! Not ‘it’.”

Seulgi got up as well now, “Joy! She is a robot. Not a person.”

“She is a person. Even if not human. And honestly, I already miss her.”

Seulgi scoffed, “don’t you always.”

“What?”

Seulgi shook her head, before throwing up her hands. “I just… I don’t think I can do this anymore, Joy.”

Joy blinked. Needing some time to realize what Seulgi meant exactly. “If you feel that way, then maybe you should just leave.” The words left her lips before she could stop herself. Even when she had said them though, surprisingly – she just felt relieved.

Seulgi scoffed once more, shaking her head in awe. Her lips pulled into a slight, disbelieving smile, even if they were trembling. “Just like that, huh?”

Seulgi pressed her lips together, nodding in understanding when Joy didn’t say anything more. “Okay. That’s it then.” She collected her purse and coat in silence, still shaking her head every now and then. Joy could only imagine what she was thinking. How ed up she thought Joy was. She couldn’t even blame her. She watched her walk towards the front door of her apartment.

“But Joy… I am just going to say it as it is; you do know a robot is incapable of love, right?” She didn’t wait for a response, just shooting her one last pitying look, before she opened and closed the door behind her.

As if Joy needed to be told exactly that. It was all she had been telling herself from the moment she had realized what it was she was feeling.

She let out a sigh. In one day, she had lost both Irene and Seulgi. Yet compared to half an hour ago, she just felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders now.

As if on cue, it had started raining right then. Joy allowed herself to take it in, never having appreciated it more.

----------------------

AN: What is a story without a little angst, right? We are nearing the ending though. Two more chapters to go after this. Thank you for reading and leaving such sweet comments ♥