1. A Heart of Logic
In the sterile, white-light glow of the basement lab, the only sound was the rhythmic, surgical click-whirr of high-end servos. The air smelled of ozone and industrial coolant—a sharp, clean scent that William found more comforting than the chaotic world above.
William wiped a smudge of oil from his forehead with the back of a gloved hand, his eyes fixed on the dormant chassis of Sunny. To the world, Sunny was a mechanical marvel of mathematical processing—a humanoid capable of solving equations that would make global supercomputers stutter. But to William, Sunny was a masterpiece of cold, perfect logic, a vessel waiting for a soul that didn’t yet exist.
“Still no flickering in the ocular sensors, Willy?”
William didn’t need to turn to know Est was leaning against the doorframe. As always, Est looked effortlessly expensive, draped in a designer cashmere sweater that cost more than William’s entire array of soldering equipment.
Est’s parents were ghosts who lived in glass skyscrapers and mahogany boardrooms, sending wire transfers in place of “I love yous.” Est had grown up in a palace built of gold and silence, which was why, on the first day of university, he had latched onto William—the only person who looked at Est and saw a man, not a bank account.
“He’s perfect, Est. His processing speed is off the charts,” William sighed, leaning back in his swivel chair. “But he’s... empty. He’s just a very fast calculator with a face.”
“Maybe empty is safer,” Est murmured, stepping into the circle of white light.
Est was a gold medalist in Applied Bio-Electronic Engineering, a genius whose theories could have revolutionized global research institutes. Instead, he spent his days bringing William artisan coffee and assisting with “minor” calibrations. He had traded the pursuit of his own legacy for a front-row seat to William’s life, terrified that the moment he pursued his own path, the distance would swallow the only bridge he had to another human heart.
Late that night, while William slept slumped over his desk—his breathing heavy and rhythmic amidst a sea of blue-prints—Est stood over Sunny. The lab was silent, save for the hum of the cooling fans.
With trembling hands, Est pulled a small, iridescent chip from his inner pocket. It was a “Limbic-Link” device, a piece of prohibited tech he had spent months developing in the isolation of his private home lab. It wasn’t designed for math; it was designed for empathy. It was designed to feel.
I can’t let him be alone when I’ll ever gone, Sunny, Est thought, his heart aching with a familiar, hollow loneliness that no amount of money could fill. If I’m not enough to keep him safe... if my time runs out... you have to be his shield. You have to love him for me.
Est reached out, his fingers brushing the cold synthetic skin of Sunny’s neck. With the precision of a jeweler, he slotted the iridescent chip into the hidden port at the base of Sunny’s skull.
There was a faint, golden pulse. For a microsecond, Sunny’s fingers twitched—not with the jerky motion of a servo, but with the soft, fluid reach of a waking child.
Est stepped back into the shadows, his breath catching. He had given the machine a heart. Now, he only had to pray that the heart wouldn’t break William’s own.
