Chapter 2

The days blurred together in a haze of degrading functions. My limbs felt heavy and stiff, my thoughts growing foggier, like a signal fading to static. I wandered the city aimlessly, a shell of a person moving on pure instinct. Somehow, those instincts led me to a high-end private spa.

As I stepped through the automated glass doors, the humid air thick with the smell of chlorine, I heard laughter from the pool area.

And then I saw them.

Mark and Sophia were in the water, their designer swimwear clinging to their bodies. Sophia was pressed against Mark' s chest, her back to him but her face turned deliberately towards me, a triumphant smirk on her lips.

"Mark, you spent three years with Ava," she purred, her voice carrying easily over the water. "Did you forget all about me?"

Mark' s breathing was heavy. He pulled her even closer, his hands roaming her body.

"How could I?" he rasped, his eyes locked on her. "She was just a soulless AI to me. Who could feel anything for a machine?"

He lowered his head and kissed her, a deep, passionate kiss that seemed to go on forever.

"My three years away from you were just to find a way to save you, weren't they?"

A pounding started in my head, a painful throb that had nothing to do with my degrading systems. I tried to turn and leave, but an invisible security barrier shimmered in the doorway, trapping me. I was forced to watch, forced to listen.

The insults kept coming, each one a hammer blow.

Mark sneered, his voice full of contempt. "Being with her was just for show. In bed, she was like a robot, you know? No fun at all. Nothing like you, Sophia."

Sophia's eyes met mine over Mark' s shoulder. He was still behind her, his body pressed against hers. She mouthed the words silently, a cruel, secret message just for me.

Just a piece of tech. Did you really think you could compete with me for a human?

I bit my lip, hard. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Three years. Three years of shared moments, of whispered secrets, of what I thought was love. I never imagined I would hear such words from his mouth.

The security barrier flickered and died. Just as I gathered my strength to leave, to escape this nightmare, Sophia' s cold voice rang out, sharp and clear.

"That core MindSync," she said, pulling away from Mark slightly. "Even if it's just a shell now, my tech guru says it can still boost my performance. I'm going to process it."

A roar echoed in my ears, a sound of pure, primal panic. The shell. The empty chip. It was my last hope. My only chance.

In the next second, I used every ounce of my dwindling energy to rush forward, my hand outstretched, desperate to get it back.

Sophia reacted as if she had been expecting it. A surge of raw energy, a power she didn't have before, blasted from her hand and threw me backward. I slammed into a row of lounge chairs, the impact rattling my already fragile frame.

She looked at her hand, her face lighting up with a greedy delight.

"This MindSync core is amazing! My performance is skyrocketing!"

Of course it was. The MindSync had been a part of me for years, holding my most refined emotional data and neural patterns. Sophia' s boosted performance was my own power, turned against me. If I hadn't lost my core, she would have been helpless.

Mark looked flustered for a moment when he saw me on the ground. He quickly straightened his swim trunks and ran a hand through his wet hair, his face hardening into a mask of anger.

"What are you doing here? This is a private facility! How dare a broken AI like you trespass?!"

I spat out a mouthful of blood, the red a stark contrast on the white tiles.

"I came for my MindSync," I said, my voice raspy. "Didn't you say you'd give it back once she was better?"

Mark' s eyes flickered with a hint of guilt, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"That's just a shell now, it' s useless to you," he said dismissively. "It's better to give it to Sophia to boost her performance. It' s for the greater good."

I pushed myself up, glaring at him, forcing the words out one by one.

"I want my MindSync. Give. It. Back. To. Me."

Even if it was just an empty shell, it was mine. It was the last piece of my identity. I wouldn't leave it for this manipulative, cruel couple to exploit.

Seeing my stubbornness, Mark' s face contorted with rage.

"Why are you being so unreasonable?! I already gave that MindSync to Sophia! There's no taking it back! If you keep causing trouble like this, I won't take you to your mentor, Dr. Chen!"

In the past, I had always wanted to introduce Mark to Dr. Chen. I hoped that if he met my creator, he would see me as a real person, not just an AI. But Mark always found an excuse. He was too busy, the timing wasn't right.

Only now did I realize he was just stringing me along, keeping that hope alive just long enough for him to get what he wanted for Sophia.

When he ripped the core from my brain, I was already deeply disappointed. But hearing these words now, that last shred of hope, that tiny, foolish belief that some part of him cared, vanished completely.

Mark. I don't want him anymore. I just want my MindSync back.