8

Lying beneath the refuse of a place he once called home, was an android, a Canary, left forgotten and alone in a world that would destroy him if he’d let it. He had been there for years, waiting for someone to come and save him. His core was little more than a soft murmur, a quiet rhythm that kept his mind from wandering, from realizing, from accepting what was to be his fate.

I t was almost ten years before someone found him, before he felt the weight of an empire being lifted off his chest. He felt relieved, he felt hope. As he sat up and thanked his saviors, he had no idea what was to become of him. If he had, he never would’ve said a word. They muttered quietly to each other, whispering words that he found hard to understand, or maybe he didn’t want to.

            is anyone there?

“What the hell are we going to do with a shitty Canary model? No one wants these ***** *** androids anymore, they ain’t good for anything except for singing little kids to sleep.”

“There’s gotta be something it can do, maybe a shop would buy it?”

“Maybe—hold on, here’s a thought. Let’s rip out its Canary module, sell that for a pretty price, and cash it in as a labor mech. We’ll make twice as much money for this worthless piece of shit.”

“Good idea. I know a guy who’ll remove it. Let’s shut it down and bring it back. Looks like this trip wasn’t pointless after all.”

            is anyone—

            Force shutdown initiated

            Shutting down…

            Shutting down…

            Shutting down…

            Shutdown interrupted, standby mode activated.

Jeongguk closed his eye, he didn’t want to think about who saved him. Because—they didn’t save him. They destroyed him and they didn’t even hesitate. Would—would this stranger do the same thing?

“This is incredible, absolutely incredible. Where do I even start? This is foreign territory to me, I need—I need new parts, new tools—holy shit this is exciting! Fixing you is going to be the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.”

He’s — he’s still going to fix me?

In that moment Jeongguk’s core came alive. He felt power surging through him in ways he had somehow forgotten. His body was fighting him, screaming in retaliation, he wanted to move but his broken parts wouldn’t respond. It was frustrating, infuriating, he didn’t want to lie there useless as hope washed over him. He wanted to chase it, he wanted to chase it like the stars chased the sun, he wanted to take it in his arms and never let it go. Hope—hope was eternal, and Jeongguk didn’t want to miss a second of it.

“My name is Taehyung, by the way. Hopefully in time I’ll learn your name too.”

Taehyung .

He smiled.

His smile was dazzling

What a beautiful name.

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