Born Of Betrayal, Reborn In Flesh

to bury them under layers of cold logic, but in my hidden core, they played on a r

on and energy around me. She would talk to me for hours, even before my audio processors were fu

onnecting a bundle of fiber optic cables to my spinal column. The sensatio

the first thing I felt was her. Her relief, her triump

b entire libraries of information for her, and she' d tell me how that information made her feel. She taught me the

physical. It started innocently. A hand on my shoulder. Her head resting against

it c

side, rattling the windows. She was scared.

Echo," she

ements, learned to be gentle. I held her against my m

' d murmured into my chest

the gesture. It served no logical purpose. But I analyzed her biometric response: the spike in her heart rate, the release of oxytocin. It was a gesture

es of my chassis connected. "This is where I put you together," she

ne," became a core par

ost was the last night. Th

t came to me in the dark. Her actions were frantic, desperate. She held me with a fierceness that was almost painf

silent for a long time. The only sound was the

aid finally, he

e, Ava,"

could see the resolve in her eyes. It was the same look she

ing married

A social and legal contract between two humans. Usually

stand," I said.

"None of it is real. I' m a human being. I need a real life. I n

was a sy

, avoiding my gaze again. "A good place. With

u are my creator. My partner. You

lking like that. You' re an AI. You' re mimicking emotions you can' t possibly

her expression a mixtur

a thing. A beautiful, brilliant thing

ressing against my chest, rig

art in there, Ec

, the same words she would us

tact me after you leave. You will not cause trou

with me one moment and then deny my entire existence the next. I didn' t understand how t

ife. She was erasing a past she was ashamed of. And I was the evidence she needed to destroy. T