1 CHAPTER 1

“Step away from my stand, you damned peasant!” A man hollers at a young girl who takes off running with a few apples. He flung his broom and dustpan at her, but the girl managed to dodge all his attacks as she made a sharp turn down an alleyway.

Aurora—the girl—shoved the apples into the pocket of her hoodie, hurrying along. As she neared the end of the alleyway, she peered around the corner, keeping a keen eye on the pedestrians going past. Each person was casually walking down the street with their own personal android that had traits ranging from talents to beauty.

Aurora sprinted down the street, shoving through people and robots, passing every minimarket and supermarket that lined the corners of blocks. Eventually, she finally reached the end of her trip.

York Seoul City—a region where AI is the capital of the businesses. This was the city where the famous man—Abraham Einstein—had created the perfect AI with the capacity to mimic human abilities. Work, love, relationships, emotions, thinking ability, raising families—he created the perfect plan to help humans finally get along with technology.

Unfortunately, not everyone had this privilege to enjoy such an experience. Aurora was born among the many children who have no opportunity to own an AI. She was a loss cause.

The girl ambled down the quiet streets that led her further and further away from the city. She pulled out one of the apples she stole, rubbing it to make it shine with her sleeve. She would soon be entering The North Sea, a territory where gang activities occurred and violence was increasing at an all-time high. Hardly any rich citizen would consider living here because it was unsafe for their families—let alone androids.

Aurora kicked at the dirty sidewalks, munching on the crisp and juicy apple. She thought it was worth stealing these fruits. Who knew when her next meal would be?

As she continued along the sidewalk, a couple guys were going at it, roughhousing on the streets. Each guy threw a punch that bruised the next guy more than the last. Aurora leaned on the fence that belonged to the public park, watching the guys fight in front of a bar. There was a small crowd of men cheering them on, as though it was a major sporting event. She took another bite from the apple, staring unamused. This was what she considered entertainment. But it was getting old. It was the same content, same violence, but just different people getting killed each day. The police hardly ever came to this part of town anyway. Statistics showed that life in this part of York Seoul State wasn’t as valuable as the lives prospering in the city or in the rest of the United Lands of the Originals.

Aurora believed it too.

She was among the statistics who couldn’t care less about life since she couldn’t do much with hers anyway. All she could do was lie, steal and cheat to survive at the border of a prominent city. Each day she would wake up and see the city as the first sight of her morning. The bright flashy lights and flickering attractions always made her feel that the city purposely did that to make commoners like her feel bad about their existence.

Bored of the continuous bloodshed happening before her, Aurora went on her way. It was late in the evening, and nighttime was going to soon approach. As she went her so-called merry way, she was passing a heaping amount of garbage that stank terribly. Holding her nose, she paused to glare at the amount of trash just sitting by the sidewalk. As disgusting as it was, she was hoping she could find something useful—something to add a spark in her life.

Stunned, Aurora’s eyes stopped on top of a bare leg that was sticking out of the garbage mass. Looking around, Aurora carefully went closer to see who it was. It was normal for her to see body bags tossed about in The North Sea, but to be lazy enough to just toss a body into a lump of trash? She found that to be ridiculous and hard to believe. Stepping around the pile, she went to the back to dig out the body. She was shocked to see that it was a pretty boy laying naked in the pile.

Aurora covered her mouth in disgust. Her bitten apple fell out of hand as she almost vomited.

The smell of the garbage mixed with the sight this body convinced her that this boy was decaying. But he didn’t look as though he was rotting. Aurora was very confused.

She yanked the body as hard as she could, but he was very heavy. Aurora cursed under her breath, stepping one leg on a firm bag for support and pulled as hard as she could on the body. Eventually, the body was freed, but her grip slipped, causing her to fall back on the ground. Rubbing her butt, she opened her eyes seeing the boy laying now—on the ground.

He was completely nude—not even boxers on him. Aurora blushed profusely. She had never seen a man naked in her life. She felt violated—as though it was his fault her eyes could not unsee what she has witnessed. Looking around hastily, Aurora tried to find something to cover up his body. Looking across the street, she saw a couple of sheets that were laying on a table left outside of a smoke shop. Running, she went and grabbed them, hurrying back.

Aurora spread the sheets over the male’s body, and tapped her chin. She began to wonder why she was even doing this. He didn’t know her and she definitely did not know him. Aurora didn’t even know if this boy was alive. But something just told her that he should be left with some kind of dignity, at the least. But where should he rest until he awakens? Aurora didn’t know how to bring the boy along with her. She was definitely not planning on taking him on her back, back to her base. He was too heavy, and he was naked.

Aurora decided to leave him there for a while to scout the hood. No one in The North Sea cared about homeless people, nor did they care for the dead. They all looked the same in their eyes. This proved to be a benefit for Aurora in times pass. And now, it would prove to benefit this boy—hopefully.

Aurora found a supermarket that had spare shopping carts standing around the parking lot. Without a second thought, she hurried into the parking lot and stole a cart, fleeing the scene. A worker on break had just lit a cigarette. Seeing the girl running with that cart made him shake his head in pity. He took a puff of his drug and exhaled.

“Such a damn shame…” He breathed.

Aurora panted, sprinting as fast as she could to the body. Seeing that he was still lying behind the garbage, she was relieved. She tilted the cart on its side and shoved him in there, using all of her body strength to get the cart back on its wheels. It took her quite a number of tries to make this happen. He was just too heavy. Once on its wheels, Aurora played it off cool, covering the body with the rest of the sheets and went about her business.

After twenty minutes of pacing through the streets, Aurora finally made it back to her domain—under the docks at the pier was where Aurora dwelled. The ocean was her safe bet—just in case she had to swim to get away from the people who may pursue her and want her dead. Since the sand was too grainy for the wheels to be stable, she poured the body onto the sand and dragged his body down, leaving the cart behind. Laying him down flat under the docks, Aurora trembled with feelings of excitement and concern.

Kneeling down next to him, she uncovered his face, seeing that he was still unconscious. She pulled the sheets further down his body, admiring how well built this boy was. Aurora ran her hand over his body to see what was wrong. She couldn’t identify it. It finally dawned on her to check for his heartbeat. Putting her ear to his left pec, she was shocked to just realize there wasn’t any heartbeat. But he looked perfectly fine! Did he just die recently, as in when Aurora had just gotten back from York Seoul City?

Aurora was truly terrified and creeped out that she carried a corpse all the way from the border back to the water. She thought perhaps she should just let his body float away at sea to delete his existence forever. No one was looking for him, because if that was the case, he wouldn’t have been in that trash pile.

After going to the shore to rinse her hands, Aurora sat next to the body for a while, staring at it. She ate another apple as time went on. It was on the brink of nighttime. Some thoughts came across her mind, making her feel awkward. It was only what girls naturally thought about. Perhaps a kiss—since she had nothing better to do. Most of the time she just scouts at day, but hides at night. No one was looking for her, nor miss her. She didn’t even know if she had relatives or siblings.

Leaning over the body, she stared at him for a good amount of time to make sure he wasn’t alive. Kissing a dead body wouldn’t have been the worse she has done. What did she have to lose? Her life? That was the only thing that was probably valuable for someone like her. With that thought, she decided to give the kiss a go. She never kissed a guy anyway. It was so psychotic, now that she thought about it. Kissing a corpse? How sick is that? But she didn’t care. The world has no pity when it comes to human life that wasn’t blessed with a silver spoon shoved down their throats, so why should she be ashamed?

Hesitantly, though, Aurora laid her lips on the boy, imagining that it was her on her first date. She closed her eyes to take in the moment. Inhaling the scent of the boy, she almost barfed because she forgot that this boy was just in a pile of garbage! Once she released his lips, she jumped back, and vomited into the sand. The apples she had just eaten came back up. She cursed violently, damning her stupidity. How desperate was she?

Coughing aggressively, she rushes back to the water to rinse her mouth. Her ears then tuned in keenly to the sound of an engine firing up in a loud hum. Opening one eye in disgust from the kiss, she looked at the boy’s body, seeing it glow in a sky-blue aura. After two seconds, the light disappeared.

Aurora got up and bolted off, horrified by this phenomenon.

The male’s eyes shot open, and he sat up robotically, looking straight ahead.

As Aurora ran in the opposite direction, she was a good distance away from behind him. Her legs shook almost violently. Her stomach felt so weak that she fell to her knees.

The male lifted his arms slowly and glanced at his hands. It was almost as though it was his first time seeing his them. He looked around silently, then got up. The sheet slipped away from his body, being carried off by the wind by a few feet. He turned around, seeing the girl kneeling in the sand.

“Human…” He mumbled.

Looking back, Aurora realized that the male was looking right at her. She cursed and got up, making a run for her life. She knew she shouldn’t have messed with the dead. Crying in fear, she tried to go as far as she could, but glancing back, he was already catching up with her. She screamed in desperation, wishing that someone would come save her. But the harsh reality was—no one was going to.

Feeling his hand grip her shoulder, Aurora turned around and punched him in the jaw straight in the mouth. Immediately she felt a stinging sensation flush through her veins. Screaming in agony, she shook her hand, holding it with regret. His face remained unharmed. In fact—it didn’t move a bit from her hit.

He stared at her with his eyes of emptiness that eventually consumed her.

Reaching behind him, Aurora closed her eyes, covering her head in fear that he would hurt her. But instead, he pulled out his arm, revealing one of the sheets Aurora had originally covered him up with. Puzzled, Aurora looked at the sheet, and back at the male.

“Do you know who I am?” The male asks.

“…what?” Aurora whispered.

The male handed her the blanket. “Here,” He says.

Aurora reluctantly took it.

Eyeing it, she looked up at him.

He stared down at her, as though he wanted her to command him to do something.

“So, you’re alive, huh…” Aurora asked bothered.

“Yes.”

By his tone, Aurora came to realize that this boy was an AI.

His body was toned in every good away, making him appear to be a top model.

“Here,” Aurora shoved the sheet back on him, turning away. “Wrap this around your body.”

“How?”

Startled by his question, Aurora gawked at the boy. “W-What?!”

He was serious.

Lifting his arms up, he waited for Aurora to proceed. Smacking herself on the forehead, Aurora went ahead to hurriedly tie the sheet around his waistline.

He lowered his arms, and glanced at his waistline. “Thank you.”

“Whatever,” Aurora ran her hand through her hair. She could not believe what was going on. Who would have thought that this human boy that was supposed to be dead—that she kissed—turned out to be a robot that has no clue how to even dress himself?

“What is my name?” He questioned.

“How the hell should I know?” Aurora wiped the residue of her vomit from her mouth.

He pushed her arm away, wiping the rest for her.

“Don’t touch my face!” She hissed, smacking his hand away. “I found you in the garbage pile near the city! I don’t even know where your hands have been!”

He stared at her with no emotion. “What is my name?”

Aurora snapped her face to his. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

“I don’t remember who I am…nor do I have a master anymore,” He informed her. “Will you be my master?”

Aurora was taken aback by his offer. “Um…” It almost felt like a dream. A pitiful, poor, and useless girl that suddenly has a handsome and obviously expensive AI in her care? She’s stolen plenty of things in her lifetime, but an AI was not her forte.

“…I don’t know.” Aurora spoke honestly but saddened. “I’ve never owned any AI in my life…to spontaneously have one in my possession now…?”

The AI got on one knee, putting his hand to his artificial heart. “I want you to be my new owner. I no longer have one.”

Aurora was vaguely touched by his offer. “Your name, you ask…?”

“Yes.”

Aurora stared at the collar his neck. Stepping closer, she noticed a metal coin attached to it. “…so, they called you Kookie?”

“Yes.” He mumbled.

Aurora folded her arms. “Then…” Aurora thought deeply. Holding her chin, she began to reminisce to a memory that made her feel warm inside, but it was a very relatable thought. “…I’ll call you Jeonguk.”

“Jeonguk…”

“That’s right.” Aurora nodded.

Standing up, Jeonguk awaited Aurora’s next orders. Aurora didn’t understand what he wanted. She asked him what did he need, but he didn’t respond.

Weirdo… She thought.

Jeonguk followed Aurora back under the docks. Since it was now dark, Aurora decided that he slept somewhere else. Aurora was not comfortable with the idea of a male sleeping near her—even if he was just a machine.

“Here’s my first command,” Aurora turns to him, putting a hand on her hip. “Go and sleep somewhere far from here for tonight.”

“Why?”

“...because,” Aurora folded her arms. “Because I don’t really feel comfortable with you being near me…I just met you.”

“Then, why did you kiss me?”

“What?” She furrowed her eyebrows. “Excuse you?”

He didn’t say a word after that.

“Just…go away!”

Jeonguk stood there, processing her request. “Very well.” After ten seconds, he began to walk off. Aurora watched him carefully to make sure he never turned back.

“...what a creep.” She muttered.

Settling down, Aurora cupped her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She stared at the water, watching the tides slowly raise as the moon was now blooming.

Thinking back, Aurora never thought that she would have found an AI that would suddenly belong to her. This moment felt like a lie.

Someone is setting me up… She thought.

She hugged her knees tighter. Aurora couldn’t even confide in anyone. She had no parents—no siblings—nothing. She sat there meditating on whether or not she had made the right choice of keeping this machine. Her conscious told her that she should have just gotten rid of him, pretending that nothing’s ever happened. Aurora’s mind suddenly drew her in to the words Jeonguk informed her. He had asked her why did she kiss him? She wondered how did he know. His eyes never opened the entire time.

The thought made her skin crawl. And it was so disgusting, she had the urge to vomit again. She just wanted tonight to be done away with. A homeless girl who steals food was fortunate to randomly find an expensive AI just lounging around in a bag of garbage, and is willing to be her servant. What a joke.

Even AI’s look down at commoners. She thought sadly. He’s most likely going to treat me the same way too, and then leave.

Her mind clouding up, she eventually fell over, falling asleep.