sterling and aurelie futuristic cyberpunk au
They’re not meant to be able to feel so much, to form such attachments, and isn’t that the root of all of their problems? Here they sit, clinging onto the hand of their closest friend, a human, someone they care for as if she was their family, as if they were flesh and blood. It’s why their model was discontinued within the first five years of production, it’s why they’re one of the last ones left.
It’s why they live their life as a lie, hiding among humans, as if they are one themself.
It’s why they fear moments like this.
A glitch. Something that should be easy to take care of, would be easy to take care of if they were still allowed to exist, if they knew that going to a roboticist wouldn’t lead to them being dissembled. But as it is, it’s a death sentence of sorts, the mark that their time as a human is coming to an end.
It hurts.
They cannot feel pain, but it hurts so much, because they know it will hurt her. They’ve memorized all of her expressions, her inflections, every little movement she makes when she’s feeling every little emotion. They know that she’s formed the same attachment to them that they’ve formed to her. She knows something is happening. All of their artificial life, they have spent protecting her, being there for her in ways no one else could, just as they had promised her mother. They can’t leave her behind.
But it’s not their choice.
“Aurelie. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do this much longer. Someone’s going to notice, and you know what will happen if someone suspects.”
There’s a long pause, she looks at them with sad eyes, but there’s another emotion there, one that they don’t know how to identify properly for a long moment, the glitch making recall difficult.
It’s determination.
“You have me, Sterling. And I’m not going to let them take you. We’ll find a way.”
There’s a warmth in their chest cavity that they’re not meant to feel, a hope in their wiring that shouldn’t be possible. But it is.
Because of her.
