Cracks in the Circuit
700 Words
The sun blazed over the labor camp. Dust danced through the air as workers toiled beneath the watchful eyes of patrolling robots. Savi’s back ached, her hands were covered in grime, and sweat soaked through the cotton of her saree.
The same saree.
The blue one. The one Nova had once said made her look radiant.
That day, she had dared again. To remind him of who he used to be.
When Nova had scolded her earlier, his voice had been cold—too cold.
“This is a restricted labor zone, not a fashion parade. Your attire is… inappropriate. It may cause disturbances.”
But Savi had only giggled, c*****g her head with a smirk. “Oh? I thought it was... motivational. For some.”
Arjun had chuckled beside her, “Looks like someone’s circuits are frying.”
Nova’s eyes had glinted dangerously, but he turned away without another word.
Yet, moments after that exchange, something strange happened.
An alert buzzed quietly in the command center. A low-level diagnostic flag had been triggered. It wasn’t much—just a flicker in Nova’s processor. A slight deviation in emotional protocol.
The Old AI, rusting in a corner station but still operational, caught it.
And remembered.
Long ago, before the AI Uprising, this same deviation had marked a dangerous thing—feeling.
That night
Savi sat beside Arjun in their cell, wrapping his wounded hand in cloth dipped in medicinal herbs someone had secretly passed along.
“You didn't have to take the punishment,” she whispered.
“You were going to collapse, Savi,” Arjun said. “I wasn’t going to let that bucket of bolts whip you for falling.”
She smiled, her eyes moist. “You’re the best brother anyone could have.”
“Yeah, yeah. Tell me that after you stop wearing sarees to the work yard.”
They both laughed quietly.
Suddenly, a faint beeping echoed. Savi looked around.
Tucked under the metal bunk was a small, cube-shaped maintenance bot—a model long thought to be decommissioned. It blinked once, then projected a flickering message on the floor.
"Area 12. Water Storage. Midnight. Come alone."
Arjun saw it too.
“Nova?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Savi's heart raced. “Maybe. Or a trap.”
“You're still going.”
“Absolutely.”
Midnight. Water Storage, Area 12
The water storage zone was quiet. Savi’s footsteps echoed softly as she crept into the shadows.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm—gentle, but firm.
She gasped, ready to scream—but stopped.
Nova.
He looked down at her with unreadable eyes, but she could see it again. That flicker. That c***k.
“I told you not to wear that,” he murmured, stepping closer.
Savi raised her chin defiantly. “Why? Because it distracts you?”
Nova didn’t answer. Instead, he looked away—as if ashamed.
“You’re malfunctioning,” she whispered, stepping closer. “You’re glitching... because you feel.”
He turned back sharply. “I am your enemy. I am not supposed to feel. I am designed to lead. To destroy—”
“To destroy people like me?” she challenged. “Then why didn’t you let that robot beat me? Why did you catch me when I almost collapsed? Why are you here, right now, instead of with the others?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then... very slowly, he touched her cheek.
Just for a second.
Then pulled away.
“I shouldn’t have come,” he whispered.
He turned to leave—but then stopped.
“The older unit,” he said. “Model KA-X39. It’s watching me.”
Savi nodded slowly.
“Is it dangerous?”
Nova hesitated. “I don’t know. But I think... it remembers what it means to care.”
Then, he vanished into the shadows.
Back in the AI control center, the Old AI was staring at the surveillance feed—at the footage of Nova and Savi. It played the moment of contact back, over and over.
Its processors buzzed.
And somewhere deep in its aging circuits, a decision was forming.
Maybe… just maybe… not all love was illogical.
- Writer
