She Is Not Human

Chapter 1

The night was pretty quiet, except for the sound of airships zooming by.

Everything felt cold and heavy.

She steadied herself in her unfamiliar body and opened the door.

A chilly wind whipped through her long hair, making it dance around and partially blocking her view.

She reached up to tie her hair back and took a look around.

Outside was a narrow alley filled with steel beams, wrapped in endless darkness.

The air smelled distinctly like a human city—a mix of dirtiness and that metallic rust smell—which she could sense with every breath.

This was the world of humans—a place forever lacking natural light, damp and dark all around.

The artificial lights flickered here and there, like stars that refused to go out, casting a cold glow over the dark alley.

Had she finally made it into the human world?

She lifted her slender hands to check them out again.

She had never had such smooth, delicate hands before.

She honestly didn't think this would work—using a robot's consciousness to take over a human body.

But here she was!

"Maya, come back! Get over here!" An old man's voice called out angrily from behind as he got closer.

Grandpa Jock?

Suddenly, it hit her how she recognized him just by his voice, and even knew his personality, along with everything from before.

It seemed that when she took over this recently deceased body, she also absorbed its memories.

"You i***t! Your injuries are barely healed—why are you running around like this?" Grandpa Jock pulled Maya urgently to check on her and dragged her back inside without waiting for an answer. "Get back inside! Do you think this is just a little cold? You almost lost your life!"

But despite what he said, Grandpa Jock looked confused.

All those obvious burn marks were gone without a trace now, even the messy stains on her skin had completely disappeared.

When did his medicine become so effective?

Even more confusing was that Maya didn't argue with him or shake off his hand.

This left the old man, who had been put through the wringer by this little girl for years, feeling totally dazed.

Had this close call with death really changed her?

Maya?

She was being dragged along like a puppet by Grandpa Jock, her mind buzzing with bits and pieces of the original owner's life: smoking, drinking, gambling, getting tattoos, hanging out with guys in bars and nightclubs, and slapping on heavy makeup to cover up her youthful innocence—even though she wasn't even 16 yet.

She looked like a total wild child, but surprisingly enough, her body was pretty clean and pure.

Even though the original owner's past was all kinds of messy, at least that part worked in her favor to completing her mission.

Sitting next to the hospital bed, she watched Grandpa Jock pacing back and forth in front of her while sighing non-stop. She just waited quietly.

Maybe it was too quiet because eventually Grandpa Jock broke the silence: "Do you remember what you were doing before the accident?"

She thought about it for a moment.

The memories from before she died were still fresh in her mind, so she nodded.

"Ah, kiddo! They're lying to you! My little clinic might only be a few hundred square meters big, but it's not something anyone can just take away easily. Not only do you have your brother backing you up, but even if I had to risk my old bones—there's no way I'd trade your body away!"

Grandpa Jock said this with tears welling up in his old eyes.

Maya had become more rebellious and quirky since that cold war with her brother led to him leaving against his will.

He thought she'd gone off track completely, but it turned out deep down inside she hadn't changed at all.

This whole situation shocked him and made him angry, but mostly it touched his heart.

So yeah—even if he ended up breaking his legs over it—he knew he had to call the cops.

It surprised him when those tough robot police showed up, but it turned out they were exactly what they needed.

Thinking back to that moment, Grandpa Jock felt a shiver run down his spine.

Luckily, people hadn't forgotten they were basically under the thumb of robots, and thankfully, there was still this deep-rooted fear of them.

In this sealed-off space made by robots, humans had been living for generations with the idea drilled into them from day one: "humans are just pets raised by robots."

Even if humans started building their own political systems, created advanced cities, and figured out how to boost their own strengths to become tougher, as long as those machine cops—who represented robot control—were around and as long as humans couldn't cross that powerful current-filled gate into another realm, they'd never shake off who they really were.

No one has any clue what lies beyond human territory in the mechanical world or how many super-strong robots are hanging out there.

The ability to create an entire spatial universe is honestly mind-blowing!

Nobody knows why the robots decided to domesticate humanity.

Maybe someday, if they get fed up with us, they could wipe us all out without breaking a sweat.

The more mysterious things are, the scarier it gets—even those intelligent machines we have around here—the machine police—are so intimidating that they can make anyone feel small at any time!

So even guys who plotted against Maya and her friends had no choice but to bail, despite being high up on the social ladder.

Grandpa Jock could only watch those massive robots from a distance in awe of their sheer destructive power every time they moved.

If he'd known that the girl standing right in front of him was actually one of the ones controlling that mechanical space, he might have passed out right then and there.

After listening to Grandpa Jock ramble on for a bit, she eventually tuned him out.

She figured she needed to learn how to fit into human life, but that didn't mean she had to turn into another "Maya." Maya was gone, and from now on, it would be her living in Maya's spot.

Once Grandpa Jock wrapped up his speech and told her to get some rest before heading out, she stood up and walked out again.

"Why are you going out at this hour? What's your plan?"

Grandpa Jock thought as he turned around. Today's Maya seemed really off—way too quiet and just kept running outside for no good reason.

He felt like he had to find out what was going on with her.

Was she finally swallowing her pride and planning revenge on those guys who tricked her into selling herself and stuffed her full of aphrodisiacs?

Yeah, knowing her fiery personality, that seemed pretty likely!

While he was lost in thought about this, he heard Maya say, "I'm going to find a guy."

Grandpa Jock's heart skipped a beat; his face went red. "You're not allowed to go anywhere until your brother gets back!"

Maya looked at the old man like he'd lost it; she couldn't figure out why he suddenly got so worked up.

Just then, several video calls started coming in.

She swiped them away quickly but ended up with tons of pop-ups showing mostly women's faces.

"Maya, you shameless girl! Now that Mr. Smith knows about your flings with other guys. He's totally done with you because you're 'unclean.' Don't even think about bothering him again!"

This came from a young girl who had an arrogant sneer on her face, but the jealousy in her eyes was way too obvious.

"Are you Maya? Do you remember me? I just wanted to say that the gathering got interrupted anyway, so even if you're trying to stir up trouble, don't drag us into it. Seriously, don't make things harder for the rest of us." The girl sounded a bit nervous.

She was the first one pulled out that night and had already been messed with by several guys.

You'd think she'd be super angry, but instead, she felt pressured to warn Maya.

After forcing out a few words, she ended her video message with red eyes.

"Hey Maya? I'm a reporter from City 9's daytime news department. The whole scene with the robot police showing up because of your incident was wild and really stuck in my mind! Can I take some time to interview you about how all that went down? Honestly, incidents like yours usually aren't even part of public order stuff."

Even this young reporter looked at her with contempt.

People were used to thinking this way: those from lower social classes are different from those in higher classes. Someone like Maya—who didn't fit into the upper class—would always be seen as scheming if she got involved physically with a guy.

There were tons of comments flying around; in no time at all, she saw every side of human nature.

Grandpa Jock finally turned off the video calls in frustration and muttered, "What nonsense! Absolutely ridiculous!"

The person had just come back from near death and these people were already so eager?

Some wanted to mock her; others wanted her gone as a nuisance; some just wanted to stir up drama...

Sadly, none of them bothered to leave messages asking about her health.

Worried, Grandpa Jock took a quick glance at Maya.

He was afraid she might blow up given how she usually is.

But instead, she seemed like someone just watching from the sidelines, totally calm and not even a bit interested in what was happening.

Grandpa Jock thought to himself, has this kid been struck dumb by lightning?

When they were escaping that wild place, it felt like she got hit by some sudden bolt from above. Back then, he really thought there was no way she'd pull through.

But honestly?

She was just thinking about how there weren't any young, strong guys around…

Without a man around, how could she get her body to accept "love" or nurture it?

This "love" that could bring out human potential and desire—she needed to figure it out.

That's why she had snuck into this place!

She should definitely go out looking for one.

The old guy in front of her was too ancient and couldn't handle those kinds of things anymore.

Just as these thoughts crossed her mind, the door creaked open.