Without Artifice

Rina Hart, latest celebrity singer and actress-to-be, is on top of the world. All the guys want her, all the girls want to be her, and everyone's eyes are on her. But after an incident at a party where Rina got stabbed by a crazed fan, both her parents and agent realise that she needs better protection, and decide to take up the offer of a robot bodyguard for her to protect her 24/7. After a little customisation, she boots him up and calls him Kai.

Everything became routine, easy... until one day, when a routine upgrade seems to change Kai in an unexpected way. Rina notices little things that Kai does that he shouldn't, like getting curious about the outside world and others, asking questions without prompting or command, and the fact that his artificial emotions are getting steadily less artificial by the day. Rina realises that her robot is gaining his own will, but unfortunately she isn't the only one to spot that Kai is becoming more human...

Cover by sinkingsmile