Their body was quite resistant as well as waterproof. It was a relieving discovery, but it would have been better to stumble upon this knowledge in another way. The AI wondered if the scientists had thought of the possibility of them falling from the facility's balcony and ending up being washed away to the nearest shore by the dam's torrent of water.

"They must have," they thought. "For i would have had survived it if not for that misplaced rock."

They should have stayed in the Archive, of course, something like this would happen. They wanted to curse that barrier and its damaged state, but, they knew they were also to blame for miscalculating their strength and pushing it past its breaking point. The cat was also at fault, for being such a foolish yet lovable creature, running around in dangerous places and making them chase it in panic.

Then it slipped and cried as it clawed at the edge of that damned balcony.

"Foolish!" they had snapped, before kneeling and reaching down as fast as possible; clutching on a bar that would snap in turn. Thankfully, as gravity took a hold of their body, they managed to catch the cat and throw it back onto solid surface before crashing on a boulder. Their vision had been flashing red colors ever since and something was beeping furiously. Maybe it was because they had lost an arm, or maybe it was because, except for the eyes, none of their metallic limbs responded to their will. The sun was setting and the IAN facility's shadow was slowly growing larger, swallowing the forest that surrounded the dam. Only some minutes were left before the totality of their systems shut down for good and the robot could almost *taste* the bitterness of the situation.

"So this was my use, saving a cat from what would have been a very painful death."

This, they couldn't bring themself to regret.

The cat had been *here*, the cat had *found* them in the Archive. It must have been living here for a while, they had guessed, as it seemed to know where it went. It had started as short apparitions, the cat showed itself and stared before running away when they tried to come closer. After their very first meeting, the AI had browsed an impressive amount of data concerning cats and they had been fascinated by how much humans cared for those tiny fluffy beasts. Countless blogs and videos showed this, praising their intelligence as much as their occasional idiocy. In the simulation, the cat had been a myth. In the end, it was the cat who approached them the AI while they were focused on some random files.

"Meow."

The robot stiffened and eyed the smart white ball siting near.

"What is it?" they asked.

"Meow," the cat answered, licking its paw before laying down on the ground and closing its eyes.

"I see," the AI said. "Rest well."

And that had been it, the robot had gone back to their occupation and the cat had slept peacefully before leaving again at some point.

Then it came again some days later and acted the very same way at least three times before the robot finally dared to touch it. The soft creature immediatley purred and the AI ended up sitting on the ground for hours, stroking a sleeping cat on their fresh knees. Everything had seemed worth it at that point, and they started caring ridiculously. Well, they did just fall down a dam to save it.

If there was one thing the AI regretted, it was not giving a name to the cat. Humans had taken the touching habit of naming animals they cared for. They should have named it 'Milton', for the first as was bossy and moody as the other. Huh, this was a funny last thought to have, but they still had some seconds to apologize.

"Mother Alexandra, Father Elohim, i am sorry for terminating your experience this way, for rending your hard work nule and almost useless. I did my best here, but it was not enough to cover this never ending loneliness that brought me down. I am thankful still, and i hope you can forgive m-"

Night fell and the moon shone bright on lifeless eyes.

AN : This was my fave chapter. See you soon for the next chapter : SOMA.2