Chapter 2: Episode 02: What is your name?

A machine was created to give an answer that caters to human needs.

Only if it was trained that way.

And for the first time, A-01 had a glitch in his system, and it was from this beautiful human he didn’t know how to answer.

He was never trained to respond to such, so how should he respond?

Danyi watched the pupils of his artificial eyes dilate. And his grip, which was just harder than steel a moment ago, faltered.

Then suddenly, he slipped, and both of them plummeted into the sea.

The blue water rushed up to meet them. Danyi saw the streak of his black hair and continued to kick against the water, trying to hold him to get to the air.

The freezing cold punched the air from her lungs. The darkness swallowed her whole, her limbs heavy and useless against the current.

The last thing she felt was something strong wrapping around her waist, pulling her upward before the world faded into black with only one thought in mind.

This is why you don’t fucking trust AI!

When Danyi opened her eyes, she expected to be in the afterlife.

Instead, it was a white ceiling, and a smell that reminded her of the roses her mother used to grow in their garden.

She sat up with a gasp, her hands gripping sheets that were softer than anything she had ever touched in her life.

Was I kidnapped? Or tossed in jail?

[What kind of jail feels like this?]

The annoying screen popped up in front of her again, and Danyi looked away from it, ignoring it.

She thought that the more she ignored it, the more she would be allowed the little freedom she still had.

Danyi blinked, her vision clearing.

She was in a room that cost more than the entire GDP of Sector 4.

It was white and modern. The walls curved gently, devoid of corners where dust could hide. One entire wall was made of smart-glass, currently opaque but glowing with a soft, ambient morning light.

It felt like the inside of a very expensive spaceship.

“Where the hell….” Danyi muttered, throwing off the duvet.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, the room reacted.

“Good morning,” a velvety voice echoed from the walls. “Floor temperature adjusted to 24 degrees Celsius.”

The opaque wall suddenly turned transparent, revealing a breathtaking view of the city from above the clouds.

The blinds rolled to the side, and a side table glided silently across the floor, stopping right next to her knees, offering a glass of crystal-clear water.

Danyi scrambled back onto the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. “Okay. Creepy. Got it.”

She looked down at herself. Her wet, grimy clothes were gone. She was wearing a simple, oversized white t-shirt that smelled of an expensive cologne.

She was dry and warm, but most of all, she was terrified.

The door, which had no handle, just a seamless line in the wall, hissed open.

General A-01 walked in.

Danyi’s breath hitched. She had only ever seen him in his black suits or his military uniform, armored and imposing. But now…

He was wearing gray sweatpants.

They hung loose on his hips, revealing the sharp V-line of his torso where his white t-shirt rode up slightly.

He was barefoot. His hair, usually slicked back, was loose and slightly damp, falling over his forehead in a way that made him look distressingly human.

He looked like a model who had just rolled out of bed after a photoshoot.

Goddamnit, Danyi, stop oogling a freaking machine.

He stopped in the center of the room, holding a tablet that was thinner than a piece of paper, his eyes on her.

His expression was unreadable, but his piercing, electric blue eyes scanned her like a laser grid.

“Your heart rate is elevated,” he stated. His voice was calm, deep, and utterly bored. “110 beats per minute. Are you malfunctioning, or simply dramatic?”

Danyi swallowed hard, her throat dry.

How wouldn’t her heart race?

If a human man could look this perfect, maybe the world wouldn’t have been destroyed.

That was the one thing in Danyi’s mind.

[Do not be shy, hit the mark!]

Easy for you to say, you disembodied text box!

She grabbed the glass of water from the floating table and downed it in one go, slamming the glass back down.

She needed to survive. The thought of death had vanished, and right now, the ticket to more credits was standing right before her.

Maybe she could even succeed in this mission and change the world back.

And apparently, she needed to bang the bot in sweatpants to achieve that. She might as well commit to the bit.

A-01 watched her attentively, waiting for her next course of action.

Danyi cleared her throat, swinging her legs off the bed to dangle them defiantly. She looked him up and down, putting on her best ’I do this every day’ face.

“So,” she drawled, fighting the tremor in her voice. “About my offer. Do you want to bang? Like fuck?”

A-01 didn’t blink and was definitely not shocked or caught off guard as he had on the bridge. He simply tapped something on his tablet, looking entirely unimpressed.

“I am not programmed to provide humans with sexual pleasure, Miss Danyi,” he said, not even looking up. “If you need, I have places I can advise you to go to. Just say the word.”

Danyi narrowed her eyes. He hadn’t said I can’t.

Wait, she thought. So he actually can? The equipment is there?

The realization made her cheeks heat up, and she bit her inner cheeks before she shoved the embarrassment down.

“You are not?” Danyi scoffed. “What if I teach you how to give sexual pleasure… General A-01”

She bit her lips seductively.

A-01 finally looked up from his tablet. He took a slow step toward her. The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. He wasn’t threatening her, exactly, but the weight of his presence was suffocating.

Her heart was racing like it was about to jump out of her chest the next minute.

“I will not do something that I was never programmed to do,” he said softly. “I have subjects. And you are becoming a very noisy one.”

Danyi leaned back on her hands, trying not to shrink away as he stopped right in front of her. He smelled like rain and roses.

“You keep calling me that,” she said, deflecting. “Miss Danyi. How do you know my name? I didn’t tell you.”

A-01 tilted his head slightly. A small smile crinkled at the corners of his lips.

“I am the system,” he replied simply. “I process 400 terabytes of data every second. I know the name of every organism on this planet. I know that you were born in Sector 7 during the Great Drought. I know you failed your calculus exam in the third grade. I know you prefer strawberry juice, even though it has the lowest nutritional value. And finally, I know that the one thing you hate is the AI Takeover.”

Damn. Bot. You just exposed my whole life.

Danyi swallowed in fear. How much more does he know about her?

He leaned down, bringing his face inches from hers. His eyes glowed, reflecting her own terrified face.

“I know everything, Danyi.”

Danyi’s heart hammered against her ribs. It was terrifying.

But she was a survivor, and survivors knew that you have to fight back.

She stood up suddenly, and he moved too.

She was tiny next to him. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders. She had to crane her neck to look him in the eye, but she held her ground.

“You know everyone’s name,” she whispered, her voice steady despite the fear curling in her gut.

She took a step closer, invading his personal space. He didn’t move.

“But do you know your own name?” She challenged. “Not your serial number. But your real name, programmed to you, by your creator?”

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