He could still smell her sillage around the house. Meeting her was a numinous serendipity because he had no plans to attend that party last night. 26 minutes... 26 minutes is what it took for his mind to develop a hankering for her company. Was his loneliness this bad that he wanted to connect with a bot? Where will these emotions lead to? He was already contemplating sneaking into his parents' bedroom to try and find something that will help him locate her whereabouts.
"Damn it!" He cursed.
He was incensed because he is supposed to execrate her instead of being on the verge of deifying her; for her kind are just a representation of modern decadence. Another attempt for humans to feel as close as they can to be gods.
But he cannot stop brooding over his need to see her again. After just one night, she became the protagonist of his dreams. Last night he dreamed that he was playing a lyre, and that her painted pink lips were playing a requiem; lamenting over all the dead possibilities that could have happened to them had she been a human.
Her entity has possessed the depths of his sanity without permission. Their love has commenced a via dolorosa before it even began. Whatever they had, was like a flower bud that cannot wait to bloom. Shall he also wait seasons for his inamorata to become real? If that's the case, then he shall count every raindrop that the winter brings until spring finally comes and make that flower blossom.
Love? He chortled at his own thoughts. The alcohol must still be present in his system because this uncontrollable idiocy refused to vanish. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to impede his curiosity by drinking more booze, he surrendered and went to search for the bill.
Although his parents were not home, he walked stealthily to their bedroom in fear of being caught by one of the Robutlers. He tried to search in the drawers first, but the handle scanner kept beeping every time he would touch it. After two tries, he stopped because he knew that a third attempt will trigger the security system and send a notification to his parents' phone.
He ran his fingers back and forth through his hair, then rubbed his face while pondering about a plan B.
But just as he was about to leave, he noticed a green envelope near his mother's fragrance atomizers from the Northridge Hospital Medical Center. He smirked. The Northridge is famous for their behavioral center— and she did inform him that she was paid to monitor his alcohol consumption.
He quickly opened the envelope and took all the papers that were inside and sprinted back to his bedroom once he heard metallic footsteps approaching. With paper edges poking out against his chest, he leaned against the wall and implored Jehovah for the second time that week to help him reach her.
He slowly unfolded the paper and his colorless face was dyed by solace once he read the following:
Invoice no. 187598
Invoice date: July 15th, 2056
Name of the rented Automaton: Éloa
Model: XS
Automaton rented by: Rachel Cohen
Automaton rented for: Yoel Cohen
Amount due: $1439.11
Address: Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center
18300 Roscoe Boulevard
YOU ARE READING
Automatons ✔
Science-FictionIn a world populated by soulless robots and humans who forgot their humanity- Yoel Cohen, a morose poet falls in love with Éloa, an Automaton ingénue who helps him overcome his alcohol addiction. Like a hapless victim, their love is trapped between...
