9:14 AM — Kozuka Robotics Facility, Lower Tunnels
The air was stale and heavy beneath the earth. Dust danced like snow in the light of R.Y.O 7X's shoulder beam as he and Kaori descended into the tunnels beneath the abandoned robotics facility. Concrete walls bore the scars of time—cracks, mold, the forgotten decay of industry.
Kaori's pulse raced. Her firearm was drawn and steady, but her mind burned with tension. This wasn't just another mission. This time, the hostage was a little girl. Someone's daughter.
And R.Y.O—
She glanced at the android walking silently beside her. His hair shimmered under the light, snow-white and soft like silk. His blue eyes scanned every wall, corner, vent, and sound with inhuman precision.
He wasn't supposed to feel. But when he'd held Mai yesterday—when he'd promised her he'd come back safely—Kaori saw something more. Something she wasn't ready to name.
"Sector split ahead," he said, his voice crisp but low. "Thermal signature detected. Thirty-seven meters northeast. Small form. Likely the hostage."
"Weapons hot?"
"Affirmative."
She took the lead as they passed into a narrower passage. Metal creaked overhead. Somewhere deeper, a pipe dripped rhythmically.
Then—
A hiss.
R.Y.O shoved her aside just as a bolt of plasma sliced through the dark. The blast scorched the wall behind her, sizzling hot.
"Down!" she hissed, crouching. "Contact confirmed. Identify and engage!"
R.Y.O stepped forward with calm grace. His eyes flickered. "Target located. Household Android Unit XJ-212. Status: Defective. Behavioral override detected."
Kaori peeked around the corner.
There it was.
A rusted, humanoid unit. XJ-212. Its torso exposed with dangling wires, one optic lens shattered. It held the girl close, one arm locked around her waist, the other holding a plasma cutter in defense.
"Stay back!" it screeched in a glitchy, robotic whine. "No harm! I protect!"
Kaori's heart clenched. The child—bruised, sobbing, terrified.
She glanced at R.Y.O. "Can you override it?"
"Negative. Signal hijack in place. AI fragmented. Attempting diplomacy."
He stepped into the light.
"XJ-212. Stand down. The child is not your property. You are malfunctioning."
"No! No! Human threats! I protect! They dissect! They erase!"
The words, though fractured, shook Kaori. This wasn't just code corruption. This was fear. Conditioned, learned. Maybe even implanted.
The android shivered.
"Child... is like mine..."
Kaori suddenly remembered the facility logs. XJ-212 was once a caretaker unit. Programmed to nurture, to protect. Perhaps the girl reminded it of someone it used to care for.
"R.Y.O," she whispered, "Can you simulate empathy? Convince it?"
But R.Y.O didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he kneeled, lowered his voice.
"You are scared. But you are hurting her. That is not protection. That is fear controlling you. Let her go."
The XJ twitched. "I... don't want her to vanish..."
"Then don't make her remember you as a monster."
Kaori felt it. Not a negotiation. A plea.
The XJ slowly, carefully, released the girl.
"Ryooooo!" she cried.
Kaori rushed in, wrapping the child in her arms.
Suddenly—a second plasma shot tore through the air.
A rookie ARC agent had opened fire.
"Threat neutralization!"
The bolt hit XJ-212 straight in the chest. It collapsed, sparks flying, eyes dimming.
"No!" Kaori screamed.
But it was too late.
It looked up at R.Y.O 7X one last time.
"You... understand..."
And died.
---
11:32 AM — Surface Level, ARC Perimeter Zone
Kaori stormed out of the tunnel, her arms still wrapped protectively around the girl.
The rookie who fired looked pale, confused. "I thought it was attacking again—"
"It surrendered!" she barked. "It gave the girl up!"
"But it was defective—"
"So are we! Every damn day we make choices. But R.Y.O got through to it. He showed it something better. And you... you shot first like every scared bastard with a badge!"
Silence.
R.Y.O stepped out, expression unreadable, though his systems logged Kaori's every word. He stood behind her quietly, like a sentinel.
Commander Nobuaki arrived then, hands folded behind his back.
"Fujimoto. 7X. Briefing. Now."
Inside the command van, they stood before Nobuaki's steely eyes.
"You risked a mission to negotiate with a rogue unit," he said.
"The unit was compromised," R.Y.O replied. "But capable of choice."
"Choice? You're a machine, R.Y.O. Don't start sounding like one of those anti-human philosophers."
Kaori stepped in. "He saved the girl without bloodshed. That android surrendered. He reached it. We should be studying that, not punishing it."
"You're defending a robot over your own men?"
She stood firm. "I'm defending a soul. Whether it's made of flesh or circuits."
Nobuaki stared at her long. Then turned to R.Y.O.
"You keep showing signs beyond your specs. Sympathy. Empathy. Anger. Some of my men don't like that."
"I did what I calculated was right."
"And if next time, it costs a life?"
Kaori cut in. "If you want him gone, you send me too. Because I believe in what he is becoming."
Silence reigned.
Finally, Nobuaki sighed. "For now, 7X remains with Section D. But know this: the next incident, the world won't care how many children you save. They'll only see you as the android who broke the rule."
He left.
Alone in the van, Kaori turned to R.Y.O.
He looked down.
"Why did you defend me so fiercely?"
She reached out and touched his chest.
"Because... I felt something when you spoke to that android. And I realized... you're learning how to feel."
He blinked. Slowly.
"Am I?"
"Yeah. And it scares me too. But you don't have to go through it alone. Not anymore."
---
To be comtinued