Chapter Two
1264 Words
I froze when I first saw her. A woman… no, a machine. She was standing there, smiling faintly, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe.
I reached out with my baton, tapping her arm.
“You’re… really a robot?”
Her smile didn’t falter.
“You may touch me. I won’t break.”
Against my better judgment, I pulled off my gloves. My fingers trembled as they brushed against her skin—warm, soft, too real.
“What is he doing?” I heard someone whisper from the shadows, but their voices felt far away.
“The robot is exactly like a human,” I muttered, awe and fear curling in my chest.
“My battery sits near my heart,” she explained calmly, placing her hand just above her chest. “Once fully charged, I can run for three hours.”
Three hours. That was all the time she had before collapsing. I didn’t know whether to pity her… or envy her simplicity.
Later, I sat across from Dr. Victor in his dim office. He spoke of numbers, deadlines, and replacements. I only half-listened. My eyes kept drifting back to the schematics of her face.
“I’ll pay later,” I said absently. “But I need to see for myself first.”
Victor hesitated, as though there was something he wasn’t telling me.
At the company, my name traveled before I did. Workers scrambled the moment word spread that I was coming. I liked it that way—order, fear, silence.
The manager’s phone rang.
“I’ll join the meeting later. I’m on my way,” I said.
The moment the line went dead, chaos erupted in the office. Chairs screeched. Files shuffled. Masks slipped back into place.
Stepping out of my car, I caught sight of an employee emerging from the elevator. Too close. Too casual.
I dialed.
“Cut his salary.”
No one was allowed near me. No one.
June’s POV
“It worked! It actually worked!” My heart soared as I pressed my palm against the glowing heart bulb.
But then… nothing. The second bulb stayed dead.
“Why isn’t this one lighting up?” I muttered, frustrated.
“Ta-da!” the shop owner cheered as another light flickered on.
“That’s not what I asked for!” I snapped. My stomach twisted with disappointment.
“If you’re that frustrated, make it yourself!” he shot back, trying to storm off.
“Wait, look at this,” I grabbed his sleeve, flipping open my book. “See? One person touches this bulb, and no matter where the other is—in Korea, in Africa, wherever—its pair lights up too. Instantly. Connected by WiFi. That’s the point.”
He scoffed, but I didn’t care. My pulse quickened as I said it out loud:
“If this prototype wins… I’ll be President Jo, the finalist. First place means $100,000.”
Even he went pale at that number.
That night, laughter and clinking glasses filled Dr. Victor’s lab. I wasn’t there, but later I’d hear what happened. A careless worker, Dennis, tossed a beer can, spilling liquid across T–3’s open chest. Sparks erupted. The smell of burning metal. A scream.
T–3 convulsed, and something in her changed.
When I came home, Mandy and Audrey were frozen in the hallway, eyes wide.
“Why are you both standing there?” I asked.
“Dad’s home,” Audrey whispered.
My blood ran cold.
Justin stood up the moment he saw me. His glare pierced straight through.
“Justin, let me explain first…”
“Come here!” he barked, pulling off his shoe as if he’d actually throw it at me.
“Justin!” My voice cracked, fear surging in my chest.
He chased me, yelling, “Didn’t I say I’d kick you out if you started another business? You borrowed ten thousand from Mandy, for what? Another one of your failures?”
“I’m sorry! Please stop running, you’ll ruin your lungs again,” I pleaded.
Finally, he cornered me. His eyes were wet, furious, broken.
“When will you grow up, June?”
I lowered my voice, trying to soothe him. “Let’s talk after dinner. It’s your birthday today. I… I bought your favorite cake.”
But the cake splattered across the floor as he struck it from my hands.
“Can’t you just cheer me on?” I sobbed. “Dad cheered for you. You studied, you became a lawyer, you built your perfect life. Me? All I wanted was one thing of my own…”
His tears finally spilled over.
“You think my life is perfect? Then take it. Take it all.” His voice broke.
We cried together, two broken siblings bound by disappointments neither of us chose.
But the world didn’t stop for us.
Dr. Victor called Swift that night.
“Two more days,” he begged.
“Tomorrow,” Swift said coldly. “That’s all you get. The Bold Group takes over the day after. Their owner’s a patent hunter. He’ll carve her up for parts.”
Victor froze, his breath hitching. He stared at T–3’s face and whispered, “I won’t let that happen.”
Hours later, drunk and desperate, I slammed my phone against the bar counter. “If you want to lend me money, make it ten thousand!”
A familiar voice answered.
“It’s been a while.”
I frowned. “Who… who is this?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot. It’s me, Victor.”The Fungus guy, remember?”
I laughed bitterly. “If you’ve got fungus, bleach is what you need.”
I later sent my location to him and when he found me, standing outside in the rain, holding an umbrella over my head… my chest clenched.
We argued. We laughed. We fell silent. And then…
“Ten thousand dollars. Three hours. Work for me tomorrow,” he said.
“Three hours? For that much?” My throat went dry. “What are you planning to sell—my organs?”
“No. Just… be yourself.”
When I stepped into his lab, jaws dropped.
“She’s awake?!” one worker gasped, staring at me. “Wait—different wig, bigger chest? Did the battery expand?”
Victor cut him off. “This is June. The model for T–3.”
I turned and saw her.
Saw me.
Same eyes. Same lips. Same every detail down to the scar on my chin.
My knees buckled. “Why… why am I over there?”
Later, Lily laughed over drinks. “Your ex built a robot in your image? Girl, he’s still in love with you.”
But her joke lodged like glass in my chest.
Victor fitted me with contact lenses, a camera, and a transmitter. “You’re T–3’s avatar,” he said softly.
For a moment, I felt powerful. Untouchable. Alive.
We set out to deliver T–3.
But fate doesn’t let you play with fire without getting burned.
Swift’s necklace vanished. He thought of me. He called again. I snapped, “Call me one more time and I’ll call the police.”
I hung up, not knowing what waited for me.
When T–3’s box was opened, Swift stepped closer, smiling.
“Hello, T–3.”
Her eyes opened. My eyes.
And in that instant, she froze, lips trembling, gaze locked on Swift.
“My God…” Her voice was small, horrified. “It’s you…” she thought to herself.
- Writer
