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He couldn’t see.
Well, he couldn’t move, either. His whole body was exhausted and he could barely even feel his legs.
But his hearing. It was clear, sharp—more precise than it should’ve been after the damage he had gone through.
Struggling. And shuffling.
He hears some mumbling, too. He couldn’t quite make them out because they were so far, but he could pick up a few words.
He heard his own name. Yan’s name.
And Lei Tian.
It left him tired just thinking about that man.
He had been alive one second. Then gone. And to think the very person that had given him life was the one he would bring death to.
…
Then it stopped. The struggling. He heard this low, menacing whistle, though; it was clearly human, but…something about it made it INhuman. Maybe it was the fact that it was the only sound he could hear. Or maybe, it was because of the fact he had no context as to what was happening, and no one would explain anything to him.
Never.
And he hated that. He hated never being told anything, only being told what he needed to be told. Because “he wouldn’t get it,” he was just some stupid piece of metal.
He could blink like the people around him. He could breathe like the people around him. He could walk like the people around him. He was basically human—and when he asked Yan, she agreed. When he asked Nathan, he agreed. When people around him figured out he was an android, they said they could barely tell. He looked so human.
”But you’re not,” Lei had reminded him multiple times, being too busy to even look at his own creation. “You’re too perfect for the imperfections of man, Peng. You have to remember that. Because imperfections lead to retaliation and resentment.”
”Peng? Peng.” That voice. It was full of tears. He could hear the hiccuping breaths. He felt a spark of electricity every time a drop of water fell onto his broken skin. “PENG!”
His eyes shot open.
It was almost ironic that the first thing he saw was a Tian. The only known Tian alive.
”Oh my god! Are you okay?!” No. He wasn’t. But he nodded. “Peng. Peng, where’s Nathan?”
Nathan. His mind processed the information from the moments of consciousness he had before this. He had talked to Nathan after he had cut his head off.
How do you look at someone, straight in the eyes, knowing they killed you? That you can't die, so it shouldn’t matter—but they still killed you? Your heart? Your mind? Your everything.
”I can’t say I have an answer at the moment.” P3-NG said as his voice glitched. He couldn’t feel anything. He wasn’t the same android he remembered being. Now, instead, he felt more like a robot. One some silly child would build for their technology class. Was that all he was?
”Peng, please! I-I lost dad…I can’t….!” Yan sobbed and sobbed, hugging P3-NG tightly. P3-NG couldn’t cry. He was incapable of doing it, and he didn’t feel like crying. But if he could have, he would’ve. He would’ve cried for Yan Tian. Because had any of this been her fault? No. No, it wasn’t.
”I am sorry, Yan.” P3-NG felt like he could barely finish a sentence as his voice grew more distorted. He tried to stand up.
But he had no legs. He had no bottom half.
He couldn’t feel fear. He could feel the simulation of fear, the contributions as to what makes up the emotion. But the core roots of fear, he could never feel.
But this? Not having a lower half? Knowing how vulnerable you were, knowing your one mission to protect was impossible to accomplish?
That was the most real fear he’s felt.
”I need to find him, Peng.” Yan said quietly. “I think someone took him. I-I don’t…” her voice trailed off as she curled up into a ball.
”Yan.” P3-NG said. “How long has it been?”
”I-I…” Yan wiped snot from her nose as looked up at P3-NG. “Mo-Months, maybe. It’s late November.”
November. “Isn’t that near your birthday month, Yan?”
”That's not important right now!” Yan bellowed out of nowhere. “Can’t you take this more seriously?!”
”I do not understand what you mean by that.”
”NATHAN IS GONE, PENG!” Yan screamed as she grabbed onto her own hair. “He’s gone! Gone! I can't find him! He didn’t leave, he would’ve told me! Someone took him, Peng!”
Nathan is gone. Nathan Reyes. “Nathan is strong, Yan. I see only a 9.12% chance of something bad happening to Nathan.” He lied—he didn’t know because his mind couldn’t think without a body. Yan sighed of relief.
”S-So he’ll be alright?”
”It is more likely, however-!”
”PENG! BE HONEST, DAMN IT!” Yan shook him, anger rising in her voice. “DO YOU THINK HE’LL BE OKAY OR NOT?! I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME STUPID NUMBER, OR PERCENT, OR CODE, PENG! JUST TELL ME!”
P3-NG took a deep breath. He didn’t need to, he could live without breathing. But he was programmed to. Because showing those little signs of life sometimes showed attention.
The next words out of his mouth were the hardest for him to say.
Because he was not programmed to ever need to say them.
”I don’t know.”
Yan closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. Then when she opened them, she said, “I think I needed to hear that from you.”
”Is that so?”
”It makes you more human, Peng.” Yan smiled despite the tears in her eyes. She grabbed P3-NG’s shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. “We’re gonna figure this out together, okay Peng? You’ve never let me down before. I trust you.”
”Thank you, Yan.” What else could he say? He was a liar. A liar, liar, liar, liar, liar.
”Ill try and stop you from…spilling out, I guess?” Yan said as she looked at the black fluid emerging from P3-NG’a torso. “A-And I’ll see what I can do about those wires.”
”I trust that you will take care of me, and then thoroughly explain the events up to this point.”
”You’ve got some explaining to do, too.” Yan quickly said. P3-NG froze.
Did Nathan tell her about Lei?
”You need to tell me what you remember about the last time you saw Nathan.” He felt “relief”. Was it evil to? It felt wrong.
”Of course, Yan.”
”Good.” Yan smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”
And that was the last time he heard Yan Tian for a long, long time.
Or maybe, only a second had passed.
That was the worst part about being turned off. Sure, it kept him alive and was his equivalent of sleep, but he couldn’t tell how time passed.
He didn’t know.
Nathan Reyes had died that night.
Not metaphorically or internally—he had literally died.
He remembered a hand pressed around his neck as a glowing red eye stared at him, sucking the air out of his lungs.
And then it went dark.
So he must’ve died.
But he still felt things. It was weird. Was this what P3-NG felt in the early stages of development that Lei had told him about? Or could a feeling like that never be replicated by a human?
He felt people messing with his body. Around his head, specifically—sometimes around his heart. And if he was lucky, he would be given the privilege of hearing.
”This isn’t the one we wanted, sir.” A quiet and weak voice said.
”Is that a problem?” That voice was of the man who had killed him. It felt weird to hear your own killer’s voice after so long.
Is that what P3-NG had felt?
”N-Not at all, but…he’s human. Like, he’s not an android, sir. He’s flesh and bone.”
”I still don’t see a problem.“
”How are we supposed to modify the brain of an actual human being?” Modify? Nathan had no context.
”Implant.” Xiabo grunted. “Those chips you used for the mice. Put it on him.”
”B-But sir…those were mice. Those chips are still in early development, we don’t know how it could work on a bigger brain like one of a human.”
”If it can control mice, it can control a human.” Xiabo grumbled. “I don’t know where the hell he hid that stupid robot, but he’s our only option left.”
”I’m not-!” He heard the person speaking get hit and fall to the ground.
”He WILL do what that damn robot was meant to do, whether he likes it or not.”
What that robot was meant to do?
P3-NG was made to protect. Isn’t that a good thing?
”U-Understood, sir.”
”Great. Then start operating on his damn head.”
”I-Im sorry for these continuous corrections, sir—but this could damage his nervous system, a-and his brain may start to lose basic functions. This is incredibly dangerous.”
”Good.” Nathan couldn’t see it, but he could tell Xiabo was smiling. “He’ll be more like a robot then.”
Nathan’s days after that were spent hearing. Listening in on conversations of what he assumed were scientists or maybe doctors.
They usually talked about basic things like life, Lei, and Xiabo. But there were exceptions.
”I hear Xiabo’s planning on going back down to that lab again.” One of the scientists had said.
”What lab?”
”You know—where he found this kid?” Nathan assumed the scientist had motioned towards him. “He thinks that Yan Tian girl probably knows where the android is.”
Nathan couldn’t move, but he felt his body freeze upon hearing that. Yan. How could he forget? He felt like such an idiot.
”But what if we DO find the android?” Another scientist asked. “What do we do with this guy that we’ve been working on?”
”I see two options.” The other responded. “Either Xiabo uses both of them, or he throws away this guy. Simple.”
The worst part is that Nathan couldn’t tell which one was worse.
“Stand.” Nathan’s eyes shot open as he felt himself sit up straight. Almost immediately, he saw the scientist who was talking to him. “I didn’t say sit. I said stand.”
So he did. He didn’t know why.
The scientist took notes on her clipboard. “Turn 180 degrees.”
Nathan furrowed his brows. He wasn’t going to do what this old hag wanted. They had taken him. They had modified him. He wouldn’t-!
His body turned 180 degrees.
”Good. Walk over there.” The scientist pointed towards a random corner in the white room. Nathan told himself again to stop, but his body moved.
It was like half of his mind was split—he didn’t want to listen to these guys. But whenever he didn’t, he felt this burning sensation, like he would explode if he did anything else besides the instructions given to him.
”Face me.” The scientist said as she clicked onto her pen. So, Nathan did. She turned around to an old closet and took out a robot. It looked like it was similar to what P3-NG was—nearly human. Except this one didn’t talk, or move, or protest.
The scientist walked over to Nathan and handed him a knife. His immediate thought was to attack her, to escape, to go back to Yan. But his body wouldn’t listen, no matter how many times his mind screamed. “Kill it.”
So, Nathan did.
He jumped on the robot and stabbed him once, twice, multiple times. Nathan put all his strength into it, even as his mind told him to stop. But he couldn’t. It was like a drug, too addicting to let go of.
He could see the robot’s wires stick out as sparks of electricity flashed through his vision.
“Good.” She clicked on her pen again. “Test 1-A complete. Turn off.”
And Nathan’s vision went dark.
A while passed. He would do more and more tests every day. But his mind kept telling him to stop.
The scientists caught notice of this.
”While the chip is able to fully control his body, it can not control his mind and emotions.” The same scientist who had initially tested him explained. “This could have the potential to override the chip if his will is strong enough.”
”Then make a chip for his emotions.” Xiabo ordered. “Make him the perfect bodyguard.”
”That’s impossible, sir. Changing someone’s mind isn’t as easy as getting them to move.” She explained. “We could, however, use some form of manipulation. It’s more likely to work if-!”
”He’s stronger in his mind than he is in his body.” Xiabo explained. “He’s not an idiot. Manipulation won’t work. Make a chip for that.”
”That could take years.”
”And it’ll take me three seconds to kill you if you don’t.” Nathan heard the scientist gasp.
”U-Understood, sir.” Xiabo left, and the scientist cleared her throat. “Everyone, get to work. Open up his brain again.”
That was the last time Nathan Reyes heard something and thought something that Nathan Reyes would.
Because after that, he became Xiabo’s Nathan Reyes.
A perfect bodyguard.
Yan had snuck P3-NG inside her backpack, but they could talk through text. P3-NG helped Yan install part of his code onto the texting app, so his consciousness could be in his body while simultaneously in the text.
”Where are we going?” P3-NG texted. He watched the little three dots appear rather quickly.
”2 see Christmas lights.” Yan explained. “Then I’m gonna take you 2 a repair shop, cus idk how 2 do this”
”I see.” P3-NG texted back. “Have you discovered any new information about Nathan?”
”no” Yan quickly texted, followed by a frowny face emoji. “hbu?”
P3-NG took a moment to understand what she meant. “What does ‘hbu’ mean? I cannot find it in any dictionary.”
”it means ‘how about you’- damn dad put no modern text into ur code”
”I suppose he did not.” That was the last text for a bit until Yan stopped walking and unzipped the backpack, letting P3-NG peek his head out.
”This feels weird.” Yan giggled with a half smile. “Usually, you’re taller.”
”Well—I have no legs. It is impossible for me to gain such height without them.”
”Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Yan smiled. “See those?” Yan pointed to the Christmas lights, and P3-NG looked up, processing the colors that flashed onto his face. “Those were the first lights Nathan had taken me to see with him.”
”I can see why. They show a plethora of color-!”
”Peng, you can just say they’re pretty.” Yan scoffed, putting a hand on her hip as she sat down. “Jeez, why did dad make you such a nerd?”
”I believe it was to answer any complicated questions others around me had, for that is what I was intended for.”
“Cool.” Yan said as she shivered due to the cold, her breath visible. It was quiet for a bit as she held onto her hot coco. “You know, Peng—do you ever feel like people don’t tell you anything?”
P3-NG looked at her, cocking his head. “I suppose I do, yes.”
”You suppose you do or you KNOW you do?” Yan teased, raising an eyebrow.
”Fine—I know I do, Yan.”
”That’s why I kinda like being able to have you around.” Yan admitted. “You tell me everything. Nathan and dad would always just keep me in the dark, but…you trust me. I trust you.”
“Why would I ever lie to you, Yan?” That was the biggest lie he’s ever had to tell. “I am designed to be your home assistant. I should not be a bother to you, quite the opposite.”
”But you’re not just my home assistant.” Yan said as she took another small sip of her hot coco. “You’re my friend, Peng.” She smiled.
”Define friend.” P3-NG teased, and she snorted out a laugh.
”Someone who makes me breakfast every morning.” Yan joked, making P3-NG snicker. “I mean, what else is there?”
P3-NG watched as a snowflake fell onto his nose. It wasn’t cold—he couldn’t feel cold. But it was nice. “Oooh, you got a snowflake on your nose!” Yan exclaimed and giggled. “You know, I think…my mom used to say that was good luck.”
“Really?” P3-NG furrowed his brows. “I do not understand. My calculations see that there is a 0.0026% chance that a moment of good luck shall occur directly after-!”
”Peng, it has nothing to do with math, silly!” Yan laughed, making P3-NG raise his eyebrows. “It’s sort of like a metaphor. It’s not literal, it’s just…meant to make you feel better about the small things in life, you know?”
”How does that work?”
”It's like when people say a four-leafed clover means good luck, or how a broken mirror means bad luck.” Yan explained, moving her hand around as she spoke. “It’s just a superstition. It’s not meant to be taken seriously—it’s just to give certain things depth, I guess.”
”I see.” P3-NG said, looking at the snowflake again. “That was very deep coming from you, Yan.”
”Don’t push it.” Yan snickered, giving P3-NG a light nudge on the shoulder. “Hey, can you drink?”
”Lei did install me with a new feature to allow me to detect poison in foods or drinks—so yes, I suppose I can.”
”Here, try this!” Yan exclaimed as she carefully placed her mug on P3-NG’s hands. “You’ll like it.”
P3-NG blinked a few times. “Are you sure? This would be a waste of hot chocolate considering everything I consume is put to waste.”
”It wouldn’t be a waste if it meant I got to share with my bestie!” Yan smiled as P3-NG chuckled. He took a light sip and immediately tasted the chocolate. He couldn’t feel the warmth of it—Lei had only installed taste onto his code. But it was somewhat pleasing.
“Do you like it?” Yan asked.
”I like whatever you like.” P3-NG said, giving her the mug.
”So, you didn’t like it?”
”No—it’s not that. Yes, I do like it, but I am incapable of forming my own thoughts on certain things like food. It is not in my code.”
”Oh.” Yan frowned. “When I figure out how to do all this code stuff that dad did, I’ll fix that! I promise.”
P3-NG smiled, knowing very well that Yan probably couldn’t understand coding even if she wanted to.”Thank you, Yan.”
”Of course!” She giggled. It became quiet as Yan looked around. It was starting to get mistier. They could barely see a few feet ahead of them as mist started to settle in. “Hey…where’s everyone?” Yan furrowed her brows. “It’s usually crowded here in December.”
”Is it late?” P3-NG asked.
”No—it’s like…only 8:30.” Yan shrugged as she stood up and picked up the backpack with P3-NG. “I think we should get going. I don’t like it here.”
That was the last thing he heard Yan say before the mist.
P3-NG felt himself drop to the ground in Yan’s backpack. “Yan?” He had called out. “Yan.”
A human would’ve died of suffocation if they had been in a closed backpack for as long as P3-NG was. But he didn’t need to breathe.
He couldn’t tell if that made it worse or not.
”Oh, sweet! Loot!” He hears a voice. It was female, but it wasn’t Yan’s. He calculated a 36.9% chance that this was someone who would bring him harm.
The backpack was picked up and unzipped, letting P3-NG see the sky for the first time. And instead, he was met with just mist.
The girl who had saved him locked eyes with him and screamed, dropping the backpack by accident as she fell to the ground. “WHAT THE HELL?”
”I am P3-NG. However, you may refer to me as Peng.” He explained as he picked himself up to look at her. Her eyes softened as she fully looked at him, inspecting the only half left of him.
”You’re…You’re not human, are you?” She murmured as she drew closer to him.
”Not exactly. I am an android produced by the creator of Tian Inc.” P3-NG admitted. He wanted to say he was as human as her, but he wasn’t programmed to.
“Huh.” She raised an eyebrow. “What happened to you?”
P3-NG didn’t respond. Even though he was programmed to, his mouth didn’t move an inch.
”Don’t wanna share? That’s alright.” She smiled, her freckles moving with her facial features. “Name’s Gabrielle! Gabrielle Cole. But everyone calls me Gab.”
”I see.” P3-NG replied, trying to keep the name in his systems so it wouldn’t slip out of his consciousness.
“How about I fix you up?” Gabrielle stood up with the backpack still on hand.
P3-NG cocked his head to the side. “Are you an engineer?”
”Yeah—Well, more like a tinkerer, but whatever.” Gabrielle smiled. “Plus, it’s not everyday you get a friendly robot in this hell.”
”What is ‘this hell’ exactly? I’ve looked through countless maps installed within my system, and I cannot locate an exact position.”
”Ehhh…this game isn’t exactly…Earth, I guess?” Gabrielle raised an eyebrow as she started walking towards her cabin. ”I mean—okay, I don’t know that for sure, but this place basically defies all common sense.”
”What do you mean?”
”We call it ‘The Mist’ for obvious reasons. The more we’ve been here, the more we realized that this ‘Mist’ has some sort of awareness or consciousness.” Gabrielle explained. “It messes with your head…a-and it forces you to play its games.”
”What kind of games?”
Gabrielle didn’t respond, instead unlocking her cabin door and placing P3-NG down on a workbench. “You might not end up…well, perfect…” Gabrielle said as she ignored P3-NG’s previous question. “But I’ll try my best.”
”Okay. Thank you, Gabrielle Cole.”
”Just call me Gab.” She smiled.
”Okay. Thank you, Gab.”
Nathan woke up in a field of grass. He didn’t remember the outside that well.
The skies were misty and a constant wind blew throughout the entire area. And he could feel it stab his skin, penetrate his soul.
Orders told him to stand up. So he did, even if he secretly wanted to keep laying down.
It had been a while since he had wanted to do something that went against his orders. It felt wrong to him.
His vision had a slight red tint to it. And the blur didn’t help either. He couldn’t hear a single cricket or owl. It was just the sound of the wind and the grass on his feet.
“H-Hello?” Nathan froze. He wasn’t given any order on how to react as the voice echoed. “Hey…!”
Nathan turned around, seeing a short boy with raven hair and glasses stare straight at him. Nathan didn’t say anything. He waited for orders like they had taught him to.
The boy was sweating, clearly exhausted. His hands shook as they gripped onto an old camera. He had frozen when he saw Nathan’s appearance.
Xiabo had wanted him to be special. He gave Nathan a robotic eye like his, so Nathan could see the world just as Xiabo had wanted him to.
Nathan didn’t say anything to the boy, and he didn’t say anything to Nathan. The boy put a hand over his heart as he gripped his shirt, clearly looking for the rebate of his own heartbeat.
”Kill him.” An order told him. “Kill ALL of them.”
Nathan grabbed a pipe from the ground and slowly moved towards the boy, not even changing his expression.
The boy was paralyzed from shock, and before he event got the chance to move, Nathan had pierced him with the pipe.
The boy screamed as he fell to the ground, blood spewing out onto his fallen glasses. Nathan watched as the boy took deep and heavy breaths, trying to control the bleeding.
He rose the pipe to finish him off. “Not yet.” The order told him. “Leave him to bleed.”
So, Nathan did. He walked away from the shaking and bleeding boy, thinking about the second part of his instructions.
“Kill them ALL.”
P3-NG actually enjoyed the new legs a lot more than he should’ve. They were very basic—made of rusted iron and scraps Gabrielle happened to find.
“Okay…so, try it out.” Gabrielle backed away as P3-NG stood up, moving around his legs. “Great! God, connecting those to your system took forever.”
”Actually, I calculated that it took-!“
”Peng, that’s a hyperbole.” Gabrielle raised her eyebrows as she crossed her arms with a smirk. “Try to walk and kick something.”
P3-NG looked at a can of tomato soup Gabrielle had before her latest round, and lightly kicked it over. Gabrielle squealed with excitement, running up to P3-NG and hugging him a little too tightly.
”Yesyesyesyesyesyes! It worked!” She yelled in excitement. “It actually works!” She laughed to herself, leaning against the workbench that P3-NG had spent so many hours on.
”I am grateful for what you have done, Gab. I am not sure how I would’ve survived without your help.” P3-NG smiled.
P3-NG assumed it had been at least a month. Gabrielle had told him so much about the mist—the people there, the locations, and what kind of games it would play.
“Also, basically everyone’s gay.” She had added once while fixing the wires on his torso, making P3-NG’s laughter module activate. “It’s not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong; it’s just a fact.”
P3-NG didn’t mind the mist. It never took him into a round—Gabrielle assumed it thought it would’ve been unfair if someone who was legless was playing.
Whenever it took Gabrielle into a round, however, P3-NG felt lonely. She never powered him off, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
”Okay, so…I may or may not have a surprise.” Gabrielle winked as she walked towards the door. “I kept you a ‘secret’ for a bit until a certain somebody started asking about you. And…she’s been wanting to see you for a very long time.” Gabrielle’s hand pulled open the door.
Yan Tian stood on the other side, looking straight at P3-NG. She dropped her purse and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. “Peng!” She cried, stuffing her face into his chest.
P3-NG looked up at Gabrielle, seeing her smirk as she watched the two bond. He mouthed “thank you” to her, and she nodded before walking away.
“Nathan! H-He’s here, Peng!” Yan said over tears, still refusing to look at P3-NG straight in the eyes.
The thought of Nathan made him uneasy. “Is that so? How is he?”
”Peng…” Yan slightly took a step back, sniffling. “It’s not…he’s not OUR Nathan anymore.” P3-NG cocked his head to the side. “He’s different—deadly. He tried to kill me, Peng, just a few rounds earlier!”
P3-NG had a difficult time processing the information.
That wasn’t Nathan. The Nathan that had been stamped into his mind after all this time. Nathan would never hurt Yan.
Not his Nathan, anyway.
“He kept saying some weird stuff, too…” Yan said as she forced away her tears, sitting down on Gabrielle’s bed. “…He talked about the good times we had sometimes…and then other times he’d talk about someone called ‘Xiabo’. But…” Her voice trailed off.
”You can tell me anything, Yan.” P3-NG sat down next to her. Strangely enough, it was a relief to finally be taller than her.
”…He talked about you and dad.”
P3-NG froze. He wasn’t feeling fear—but if he was to, he would. He imagined his heart racing out of dread, his rapid breathing, his shaking hands.
He couldn’t lose Yan.
”I do not understand what that refers to, Yan. Lei is my creator, and I only see him as such.” P3-NG lied.
”Y-Yeah…I was hoping that was what you’d say.” Yan gave a half smile. “H-He called you a monster…”
”Do YOU see me as a monster, Yan?” P3-NG asked, watching as she quickly shook her head. “Then I see no reason to believe Nathan. He is different, Yan—he’s not OUR Nathan.”
”Mhm.” Yan looked down, resting her shoulder on P3-NG. “I’m glad to have you, Peng.”
P3-NG smiled, knowing all his lies and all his questions.
Maybe those imperfections—those lies—maybe that’s the part where Lei was wrong.
Maybe he would be willing to stop the inhumanity of man.