"They say synthetic humans won't hurt."
No one told me that love was deadlier than hurt.
When I was seven, Benjamin Nolte handed me a piece of bread in the rain.
The warmth of his palm burned my sensor and from then on, I had an instruction in my database that could never be deleted -- loved him.
When I was fifteen, I knelt at the entrance of the research institute, sparks flying from my metal knees, begging the dean to let me go find him.
"You'll regret it."
The dean looked at my core program and warned. "Human love is deadlier than any virus."
But still, I came to Noltech Group without hesitation. "I'm here to fulfill the service agreement."
My sound module suddenly distorted -- just like the damaged speaker after getting caught in the rain that year.
But I found out later.
The cruelest thing was not being slandered.
Even when I was heartbroken, I should maintain the perfect smile set by the program.
——
"Ms. Ellington, you really didn't see my sapphire necklace?"
I stood in the corner, unconsciously stroking the fabric of the skirt Florence Nolte had specially prepared for me -- to look more like a "human".
"I didn't take it."
"But only you were close to my dressing table just now." Serena Davis bit her lip and leaned into Benjamin's arms.
Benjamin's eyes suddenly turned cold, looking at me and his voice filled with impatience. "Chloe, hand it over!"
I opened my mouth, but no idea how to explain.
My program was running at high speed, analyzing every possible response, but every outcome pointing to the same result; he wouldn't believe me.
"Go find her! The necklace must be on her!" Serena ordered the bodyguard.
I looked at Benjamin for help. He avoided my gaze and acquiesced.
My pupils contracted slightly and the program immediately popped up a warning: [Physical contact may cause data corruption].
But before I could react, the bodyguard roughly grabbed my arm and began searching my pockets and skirt.
The murmurs of the surrounding guests pierced into my auditory system.
"Sure, she's a machine, she doesn't even have a sense of shame."
"Why would the Noltes keep something like this?"
My fingers curled up unconsciously, the temperature sensors on my fingertips burning from overload.
"That's enough!" Benjamin spoke up, not to help me out. He smirked and continued. "Since Serena likes it, why don't we let it perform the real 'malfunction'?"
Serena's eyes lit up. "Is that okay?"
Benjamin looked at me and said in a commanding tone, "Chloe, enter fault mode."
My breathing paused for a second.
[Warning: Forcing entry into fault mode will cause system damage]
I had no choice.
I closed my eyes and manually disabled my balance and motor coordination systems.
The next second, my body jerked violently, my joints twisted at an unnatural angle and I fell heavily to the ground.
My vision module flickered, capturing Benjamin's satisfied smile and Serena's smirk.
"Look, does she look like a broken toy?" someone said with a smile.
My fingers scratched the carpet and the system kept popping up a red warning: [Emotional Module Overload].
But I couldn't stop -- since he didn't order me to stop.
Until Serena yawned and said, "No fun, let's go dance!"
He casually spoke, "Return to normal!"
I trembled as I rebooted the system and slowly got up from the ground. The knee of the skirt had been worn out, revealing the metallic sheen of synthetic skin beneath.
"What a shame!" Benjamin frowned. "Go back and fix your shell!"
He turned, hugged the girl and left. I stood there, listening to the system's slow self-repair: [Emotional data damaged by 12%.]
The music turned on -- in the ballroom, no one noticed a synthetic person was learning what "heartache" was.
Already early morning, I returned to the Nolte Family's manor.
My night mode automatically activated, my footsteps almost unheard.
Just as I walked into my room, the door was pushed open.
Benjamin stood at the door, with three buttons undone on his shirt. His pupils were slightly dilated, indicating he hadn't yet woken up from alcohol.
"Mr. Nolte?" I took a cautious step back.
"Serena said she wants a perfect first night." His voice was hoarse.
My processor instantly understood the meaning of his words and my entire body froze. "I'm a synthetic."
"That's why I came to practice with you, you won't feel anything anyway."
A sharp tingle went through my haptic sensors as his hand rested on my shoulder.
It wasn't physical pain, but a systemic stress response to conflicting instructions.
My core programming demanded obedience, but my emotional module was frantically sounding the alarm.
"Please stop."
My voice began to distort. "That's beyond my scope of service."
Ignored me, his lips brushed my neck, my speech system suddenly collapsed, leaving only a mechanical hum.
[Critical Warning: Emotion Module is about to crash]
[Forced Shutdown Countdown: 10 seconds]
I used all my strength to push him away. The metal skeleton took advantage at the moment and Benjamin stumbled and slammed against the wall, seemingly waking up from the alcohol.
"You dare to resist me?" he asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"I don't."
My voice system was still lagging, with intermittent words and phrases. "No, not a tool."
The man expression turned grim, but in the end, he just sneered, slammed the door and left.
"You, indeed, a defective product."
I collapsed to the ground, my joints trembling. The system indicated that the emotional module had been damaged by 32%.
In the bathroom, I let cold water pour over my head at 4 ℃, far below the comfortable range for the human body, but effective for cooling overheated processors.
Water droplets rolled down the artificial skin and I mechanically scrubbed the touched areas. Though I knew synthetic humans wouldn't leave marks, those tactile memories were stubbornly stored on the hard drive.
[Delete recent tactile memory?]
[Cancel]
I turned off all prompts.
The doorbell suddenly rang and Serena stood outside, holding several holographic photos in her hand.
"Forgot to take something." She shook the photo, full of intimate moments between her and Benjamin. "Ben asked me to tell you to know your place."
She then threw the photo onto my face, the sharp edges leaving a thin mark on my cheek.
My damage detection system immediately activated, but the repair program took a while to run -- as if even the system thought the damage wasn't worth repairing.
"Understood."
Serena seemed unhappy with my reaction and tried to say something, but I had already closed the door.
Leaning against the door, I slowly slid down to the floor, still one last warning floating on the retina:
[The emotion module is damaged by 37%]
[Suggest returning to the factory for repair asap]
[Ignored]
On the day he said he wanted to take Serena to Bluish Sky Resort for vacation, my temperature sensor detected a sudden drop of 2 ℃ indoors.
Florence frowned and, as if disapproved, slammed the teacup heavily on the coffee table. "Chloe is going too."
Serena's smile froze, but soon turned to a sweet smile. "Sure, Chloe is like a sister to me."
She affectionately held my arm, her nails digging into the cracks in my elbow through the fabric. My damage assessment system immediately triggered a warning, but I manually disabled it.
When the SUV stopped at a fork in the road halfway up the mountain, my GPS indicated it was still 8.6 kilometers from the resort.
"Something wrong with the tire." Serena tilted her head and looked at Benjamin. "Chloe, can you go to the villa and get someone to come over?"
My visual sensor clearly picked up the sound of her quietly releasing the valve core. Benjamin frowned and glanced at Serena's high heels. "You go."
"But..."
"Why?"
He interrupted. "Synthetic humans get tired, too?"
Under the scorching sun, my cooling system quickly triggered an overload alarm.
Artificial skin was designed to simulate normal human sweating, but at the moment the sweat was not evaporating fast enough to keep up with the rising core temperature.
Reached the third turn, the lubricant on my knee joint began to be thickened and a subtle mechanical friction sound could be heard with every step.
[Warning: Core Temperature 58°C]
[Suggestion: Stop moving immediately]
I pulled apart some ferns from the roadside and smeared the sap onto my joints. The dark green liquid seeped into the cracks in the metal, temporarily reducing friction.
The system immediately alerted a contamination intrusion, but compared to overheating and crashing, it was nothing.
By the time the white dome of the resort came into view, my clock showed that two hours and forty-seven minutes had passed.
Under the parasol, Serena was stirring the ice in her glass with a straw, while Benjamin's thumb caressed her sunburned cheek.
"What's taking so long?"
Benjamin looked up at me with a disturbing look of discontent. "Serena's so worried she keeps checking the time."
My voice module automatically generated an explanation. "The mountain path is steeper than expected. I..."
"Alright."
He interrupted me impatiently. "Go change your clothes. You look like a rag doll thrown into the washing machine."
Looking down, I realized the hem of my skirt was stained with plant sap and dirt. The skin-like layer at my knees was worn out, revealing the metallic sheen of my joints beneath.
My shame program activated, though I wasn't sure why a synthetic person would need such an emotional module.
At night, at the barbecue party, Benjamin's friends urged him to play a game.
"Chloe, drink first!"
Someone pushed the strong liquor in front of me and the glass made a piercing sound on the table.
"I can't drink."
I instinctively pressed my hand to my stomach. "It's not good for the baby."
The whole room suddenly fell silent. Benjamin's skewers clattered onto the grill.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He grabbed my wrist with such force that the sensors beneath my skin wailed. "Synthetics can get pregnant? Are you misprogrammed?"
Serena chuckled. "Ben, could she be in love with you? She's even learned human delusions."
Benjamin's face turned pale as he let go of me. "So embarrassing."
When someone offered Serena a drink, Benjamin immediately stood in front of her, saying, "She can't drink."
When he tilted his head and poured down the glass of wine, his Adam's apple rolled incredibly slowly, as if intentionally trying to make me see every detail clearly.
The sensor light in the stairwell was broken. As I felt my way up the handrail, I was suddenly yanked by a strong force.
