"Grandfather, do I eat?" I asked as we approached a small food stand. The scent of hot dogs gathered around my nostrils. When I spoke, my breath came out of my mouth as a puff of steam. I compared it to a dragon's breath - a fictional animal. Grandfather had been right when he said it was cold. The weather outside made the cold metal chair against my skin back in the lab seem like nothing. It was the height of winter, so of course it would be, but even that knowledge didn't prepare me for the sudden drop in temperature as we stepped outside the house. As we walked, though, it didn't feel so bad anymore. My internal core was keeping me from freezing solid.

"No, you don't. You don't ever have to worry about eating." Grandfather answered. "You can intake food, of course, if you wish to. But you don't need it to survive."

"I see." I said. If I didn't need food to survive, did that mean I could stop breathing as well? Did I need air to survive, or was that programmed to make me seem more human? For reasons I couldn't say, I did not ask. I tilted my head up to stare at the sky. Clouds. More darkness. No matter where I went, it seemed darkness lingered. It had followed me out when I first booted up, lingering in the corners. Reminding me that it would be so easy for me to go back.

What if the nothingness is actually hiding inside me?

I quickly looked away from the clouds. Ridiculous. The darkness didn't have a hold on me any longer, I broke out of it. I was alive now. My system did not crash. The sun peeped out a little, a small ray shined down, and I wondered if it would snow today. My first time seeing snow. All I knew was that it was white and cold, the frozen form of water, but perhaps actually seeing it was different. My data said that humans often referred snow as "romantic" and "magical".

"I suppose not eating will save some time in the future." I added for Grandfather's benefit, sensing he had been expecting me to say something. My eyes shifted over to the small food stand again, and I stopped walking when one of the customers caught my attention. He was in the middle of eating, if you could call what he was doing actually eating. He ate so fast that it was like he was just inhaling the food into his mouth. I wondered how he didn't choke. A piece of rice was stuck in the blonde hair that stopped just above his amber-like eyes. He shoved what was left on his plate in his mouth with expert ease and swallowed hard. Did all humans eat with such gusto? I couldn't imagine Grandfather eating like that. The man held out his now empty plate and asked the vendor for more.

"More?" The owner replied, stepping up next to the frazzled-looking employee, almost outraged. "You already had three!"

"It's not a problem as long as you get paid, right?" The blond asked. He dug into his pocket and slammed money onto the counter, looking annoyed. "See? I have money. I can pay for it. I ain't some bum or anything. What's the big deal?"

"We'll run out of food before you're finished!" The owner said, red-faced. I changed course and started walking over to them. Maybe I was more human than Grandfather and I thought, or maybe it was simply because I was programmed to not tolerate injustice.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there a motto that says 'The customer is always right'?" I asked the owner. Even I knew what was fair and what wasn't. If the blond had money for the food, then there really wasn't any problem. If the owner got paid, then he could just go buy more food supplies. Problem solved. Grandfather's hand suddenly closed around my arm and he pulled me back gently.

"You shouldn't poke your nose in other people's business." He warned me, a slight smile on his lips. "It's considered rude and can get you into trouble. Please be careful."

Even though it went against all my programming, I argued back for the first time. "But, Grandfather, it is unreasonable—"

"Oh, hey!" The blonde looked at Grandfather, recognition showing on his face. "Gramps! How've you been?" He suddenly stood up, his little tiff with the owner already forgotten. Was he dim-witted? As he came over to us, I stepped between him and Grandfather. Was he a threat? Probably not. He didn't look mean or threatening, really. The blonde saw my movement and he stopped a couple feet from us, grinning in amusement.

"Who's the kid?" He commented, nodding to me.

"My name is Atem." I answered. "I am not a child."

"Jounouchi." Grandfather intervened, smiling widely. Seeing that they knew each other, I stepped aside, allowing Grandfather to approach the man. "How have you been? Still a bottomless pit, I see."

The man, Jounouchi, grinned and patted his stomach.
"I've been good. Really good. I got accepted into a community college. Can you believe it?"

"I can, actually." Grandfather replied. "I always told you that you were smart—you just don't apply yourself."

Jou shot me a curious look. "So what was up with that earlier, man? How old are you?"

"Five hours, thirty-nine minutes, and fifteen seconds." I replied immediately. That was the time my internal clock told me, and I knew it was correct because it was synced to a satellite—just like a cellular phone. Jou broke out into loud laughter, causing some people to look over at us curiously. I tilted my head just slightly, not understanding. Had I said something amusing? No, I don't remember saying anything the deserved a laugh. Was this a normal reaction, then?

"This guy is a riot!" Jou managed, placing a hand on Grandfather's shoulder. "I wasn't expecting an answer like that—and he kept such a serious face, too! Priceless!" He looked to me. "But really, man. How old are ya?"

My brows furrowed. "I am five hou—" My repetition was stopped when Grandfather placed a hand on my shoulder. I immediately looked at him, waiting for instructions.

"Jou, this is Atem." Grandfather said to Jou. "I built him."

Jou's grin slowly slipped away, and he looked dumbfounded. Then his head whipped back to me, his eyes going wide. I stared back steadily, coming to believe that this man was, in fact, dim-witted. He opened his mouth and uttered a small sound, closed it, and quickly bent down so we were eye level. A normal reaction would have been to lean away from him, but I didn't move.

"No… You mean…?" He sounded completely astonished. "You actually got one of you're weird experiment things running?" He reached out and poked my cheek. "But…he looks so real!" He placed both his hands on either side of my face squishing my face. Oh, yes. This man was most definitely an idiot. "He feels real!"

"I am real." I said through my squished lips. "Please refrain from touching me." I said, pulling Jou's hands off of me. I wasn't a real human, of course, but it didn't mean I wasn't real. I was alive, just like he was. Jou just ignored my statement. He lifted up my arm, testing my movementability, and dropped it. Then he moved his hand to my head and started mussing up my hair vigorously. "Will you stop it?" I asked. Jou jumped when I spoke, like he'd never heard someone speak before, and took a step back, unable to stop staring at me.

"So…wait. This isn't a dream, right?" Jou finally tore his eyes from me and looked at Grandfather. "I mean…I have to admit, gramps; when you first told me what you were doing, I thought you were going crazy. I thought robots were things of the future, you know? Like, things that were just for movies."

"Well, welcome to the future." Grandfather said with a light chuckle. Jou rubbed the back of his neck, deep in thought. Obviously it was a lot to take in for other people. I saw no importance in the matter. No, I guess it's better to say that I couldn't see the importance, since I was so limited to expressing myself. For me, one man making an artificial intelligence like me was just part of life. As normal as a butterfly drinking nectar from a flower. For others it was probably both shocking and astonishing.

"So…wow. I don't know what to say." Jou managed. "This is amazing. Is he the only one?"

Grandfather nodded. "Yes. He was the only one to boot up without crashing, so far."

"Are you expecting him to break?" Jou asked, reaching over to touch my hair again - gentler this time now that he knew I was completely real. "I remember what you told me a while back - when you first started this project. About why you wanted to make him…" Jou's face became grim. "Is that why he looks sorta like Yug—"

"That's enough." Grandfather said softly. Even with is soft, kind tone, Jou clamped his mouth shut. Something strange passed between the two of them. Something unspeakable. A feeling that could not be described in words - as if they were now having a whole other conversation in their minds. I, in turn, looked at Grandfather's face. His tone had suggested that sadness and loneliness that I had seen lingering deep in his eyes when I first booted.

I look like... what exactly? What about why I was made? How could Jou know more about my existance than I did? I was on the verge of asking Grandfather, but, at the last minute, I thought better of it and stared at the ground. Even if the subject was about me, it wasn't my place to pry into my Grandfather's—my creator's—business. I was sure he had his reasons for making me as I was and why he didn't say anything about it to me. If it was important, he would inform me. But even still, I couldn't stop a small inkling making it's way across my mind. A small—for lack of a better word—feeling. A thought that kept plaguing me since I had first left a world of darkness and awakened in this world of light.

Why was I created?

I thought it was to do whatever my creator wished. But he stopped me at every turn when I tried to treat him as my master. I was no longer so sure about what I was meant to do or be.


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