Chapter 12:

Android

Curiosity Killed The Cat


The dael research room always gave Soline the creeps. She couldn’t wait to be done with this dumb experiment. She didn’t like taking the medicine and she didn’t like staring at that android made to look like her. Recently, they had given it hair and a girl’s uniform like hers. Its skin was just a little too smooth to pass for a human’s and made her uncomfortable.

Soline sat on the white examination table next to the one the android was laying on. Veith was taking her vitals with a most uninterested face. She stared at it. It was just creepy to see it lay there like it was dead or something.

“Veith, why did you have to dress it up like me?”

“It helps with the connection process. What, you don’t think we did a good enough job? The color of your hair was hard to match, you know.”

“It’s not that. I guess I just find it hard to connect with because it looks so much like me.”

“Well, luckily, it’s not your conscious that will connect. It’s a part of your soul.”

Soline gave him a disbelieving look. “Are souls scientific now?”

Veith’s eyes lit up. This made him go on a long spiel. Soline kind of regretted asking. He really seemed to love this sort of thing. “We’ve found that when triggered with dael, the human brain lights up in a way never seen before. We decided to call that new activation a ‘soul’ since it is normally hidden. What’s really interesting is that male and female brains react the same even with the same dosages. Normally you would think females are smaller so they should need a smaller dose to see the same results as in a man, right?” He looked to her, but Soline didn’t know what to say. He continued, albeit less excitedly. “The science was discovered a while ago, but it burned up in the fire. It took a few years to get back to where we are now in the experimentation phase. It’s a shame to think more details are still lost.”

“Ok, I get it.” She really didn’t, but she was fine without hearing more explanation. “But what about the android. How am I going to connect to it?” She asked against her better judgment.

The passion came back to his face. “You see, if two brains are activated with dael at the same time with the same dosages, the two will start to sync. Therefore, it essentially will copy your brainwaves. Until now, it’s all been theoretical; it’s never been actually done before. We don’t know if that means you’ll be able to control it or if the android will be its own person!”

“Weird.” She couldn’t help blurt out.

Veith silently looked at her, offended.


The first few days, there was no reaction from the android no matter how hard she tried to relax or whatever they were telling her. Veith said he would observe from behind some glass window so he wouldn’t get in the way of anything. She and the android would be alone in the small space. It was a bit unsettling for her. Whatever. She didn’t really believe anything would happen anyway. She hoped time would go by uneventful like this until the end of the project.

A week later, she laid down and picked up her arm, just to humor Veith. The ever-sleeping body next to her also moved its hand, surprising everyone. It picked it up its head all on its own. Soline was actually starting to get scared. Maybe it would attack her, no one knows!

It looked at her with a neutral expression, the only one it was capable of making. Veith excitedly encouraged her to communicate with it. Soline cautiously tried to give a smile and wave. It just stared. Looks like she couldn’t control it or anything. After much joyful deliberation, Veith decided it would be best for Soline to interact with it as one would a younger sibling for about 30 minutes a day.

It would take a few more days before it interacted back with her. It even got proficient at talking. It didn’t know much or what to say, but it was a surprisingly quick learner. Soline felt it was weird hearing her own voice back at her, but she felt strangely fond of it after a while.

“Veith has been telling me all sorts of old stories lately to help me understand more about being human.” It looked at its hands, covered in the same fake skin as its face. “I’ve come to the conclusion that I might be an angel.”

“Huh? Why’d you figure that?”

“I was not born from man, I cannot reproduce, but I share the same resemblance as humans. I also carry strength above the normal human.” It clenched her fist.

“Pretty sure you were built, not born. Anyway, there are only a few angels and they live in heaven.”

“It seems hard to believe.”

Soline thought about it. I guess I would be skeptical about how I was born unless I knew and saw women being pregnant. It was even the only one of its kind. Maybe it was lonely. Soline felt a strange thought come up in her head. What color was its blood anyway? Would it feel pain if I broke one of those strange fingers? Her fluffy hair hit the sides of her face as she shook her head. Why was she thinking like this recently?

It bit its own hand. It tore right into it, ripping the fake pale skin to reveal dark machinery. Veith looked distraught at his own creation. He put his hands on the glass while saying something she couldn’t hear. Huh, no blood, Soline thought. Wasn’t that painful?

“Not really.” It said, showing her.


It was another day. Soline wasn’t feeling great. Her head hurt and she felt like she was going crazy. Nevertheless, here in this strange room she showed up again.

“Soline, what are some examples you see that this world was created by the one from the ancient stories?”

Oh, was it talking about heaven and stuff again? It was cute. Her little cousin once asked a similar question. What did she say back then? Something about how Earth is the only planet habitable for life in the known universe.

“I think it’s interesting that there is a specific fatal disease that only occurs with cannibalism when those stories say eating people is evil.”

What did she just say? Why did she say that? Soline put her face in hands. This is enough; I can’t deal with this anymore. I don’t want to see anyone anymore. I can’t even go home like this. I’m not the same person my parents knew me as. I’d rather just die.

It put its face close to Soline’s. Her voice came out quiet as a whisper. She didn’t even know it could do that.

“I can help you with what you’re thinking of.”

Tears formed in Soline’s eyes. She whispered back. “I’m scared.”

“I’ll join you. In death, you will be complete again.”