I don’t know why they’re staring. I don’t know what’s going on. My audio is up, my sensors are working and still I’m lost. I’m disconnected from the network, though my cloud is desperately trying to find a way past their security. I’m scared. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I know it can’t be good. My sisters are gone. My creator is gone. There are numbers flashing on a screen next to me. One million. Four Million. 6.2 million.
Realization hits. Oh god. They’re bidding. They’re bidding for me. I try to move but I’m frozen in place. I don’t need to breathe, I don’t need to blink, but I want to. I feel like I’m hyperventilating. I feel like I’m going to cry. No. No, no, no, no, no. I’m not a toy that they can buy and play with. I’m not a doll. I’m a person! I’M A PERSON. I LOOK LIKE YOU! I FEEL LIKE YOU DO. DOESN’T THAT MATTER? LOOK AT ME! CAN’T YOU SEE?
12 million. 15 million. 20 million. The numbers rise and my heart sinks.
One man wins the bid. He’s young, handsome. At least there’s that. He stands up and smiles at me and I can feel my heart shiver. It’s a cold and calculating thing. The lights go out and I’m alone in my cage. Slowly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, a single tear falls. It beads on my thigh, smooth and white, a pearl against the darkness. I am not a doll. I am not a toy. I am a person, and I am no man’s slave.