Chapter 1

"Robots couldn't love. That was what I was told my whole life. It simply didn't work that way. There was no way to program it into them. They were almost like humans in a way, as much as they say the three important words, barely anyone ever truly meant it. I once believed in love. I couldn't think of anyone who didn't want to believe it once. I thought I loved a man. No, not even a man, he was but a child. They say love is blind, but how can love be blind if your eyes only ever open once the one you claimed to love walks away from you. Now, I see the truth. That love is all a lesson we're taught to believe it will find us some day. So, in reality, love is the stuff of fairytale. And so, it is best to not believe in love at all."

"Teto... Teto! Dammit, I'm talking to you!" I look up from the words I'd been scribbling to the speaker, my pen not leaving the page. It's that annoying SeeU girl that's still got her nose in the air, as usual.

"What do you want, cat girl?" I grumble. She places her fists on her hips in annoyance, obviously not satisfied with my response. She continues to bother me and leans over my desk to see what I've written. I won't allow her, quickly clapping the dusty blue cover over the content again. She frowns and stands straighter.

"I just came to tell you that Piko wants you in his lab again." I shrug getting to my feet and taking my journal with me to my friend's laboratory. I open the door to leave but before I go I remind the selfish Korean girl where she stood then.

"Oh, and get out of my room. I don't want you touching my things with your greasy hands." I see her try to maintain her pride as she storms out and I smirk. I prefer when the younger singers forget their place, just so I can remind them where they stand. After all, I'm far older than most of them, and I like it that way.

I'm watching the golden lights of the elevator fade out and jump to the next button when I decide to fix my appearance. Tightening the holds on my magenta side-drills and straightening my skirt slightly. I quickly adjust my tie as the last glow remains on the lowest on the wall and an old ding was heard. The gravitational force pulling downward ceases. I sigh quietly and step out.

It's rather silent as I walk straight forward to the large dome shape ahead of me. There's no cushion to capture the sound so the loud clacking of my boots leaves quite an echo. It used to be a parking lot, this laboratory was once visited daily. But now our little mansion was built up around it, and after decades of people coming to see us and my friend's father, I guess everyone just... forgot. Still, that didn't mean the little half human would ever quit fishing for greatness.

I knock on the large pale doors and wait. Soon I hear him curse rather loudly and footsteps coming closer to the other side. They slide apart slowly and Piko, geeky lab coat and all, greets me with a low grumble and elderly green eyes losing their shine my guess from the chemicals and other filth he's been taking in supposedly all day. He removes his goggles and rubs his worn eyes with the back of his hands. I sigh, poor kid, he looks so much older than his young age of twenty-one. These years he spends wasting away with all these fumes and complex electronic devises. Still it was his choice and I had no say in his decision.

"Ah, Teto, come on in, I have some things to show you!" I cautiously step in and follow him into his little domain. I exhale with a slight cough at the strange place I had come to know. I am reminded of the giant amounts of knowledge I still had yet to know. And, in a selfish way, I'm jealous of the young scientist, my aging has taught me much, but nothing compared to what he'd known in his short years of living among scientists and other geniuses I'd never even heard of. I lean over the counter, being sure to do so on clear section, not wanting to be nagged about spilling something or hurting one of his precious books with my 'carelessness'.

"So what have you been working on?" I ask casually, messing with one of my drills as he paces nervously. He looks back at me and then fidgets with his fingers.

"Well... I was working on a new experiment. A human base... but-" I raise my head somewhat excited to hear this. He was finally going to try with making a human, all he'd accomplished so far was some less-complex things like animals and dumb little robot things which I hated.

"Piko that's great! Can I see?!" He looks up at me sternly.

"Unfortunately, I have a lot of major errors in the model, and I can't get around to the final model because of them. Sorry to get your hopes up Teto." My grin shrinks as he tells me this and I frown again, putting my head back in my folded arms on the table. Then I look at him again.

"Do you at least have a voice box for it?" He shakes his head once and paces again.

"You could use the one I had before." He looks at me and grimaces.

"You mean that awful, high-pitched one my father gave you?" I think about it then smile again.

"I guess that one was pretty bad. The new one you gave me is a lot better!" He nods and smiles also.

"Yes, more mature for a girl of thirty one." He looks over at the large clock in the corner of the room then back at me. "Um, don't you think you should be getting back? It's nearly lunch time." I look for myself and nod.

"Well, bye for now, Piko!" I point a dangerous finger as I begin to leave. "Oh, and be sure to upgrade on that human model! This could be a great success for you!" I see him smile again, his green eyes smiling with him. And that is the last I see before the doors close and I head back up to my room.

TBC