robot

"My head is splitting. I must have had a migraine last night—though I usually don't drink coffee before bed. I run my hand over my face: my skin is warm, my stubble is rough, there's a wrinkle at the lip. I'm just an ordinary person, waking up in the middle of nowhere.

I get up from the cold metal floor. It's strange, the floor is too hard for an apartment. And it doesn't smell like food, but like ozone and machine oil.

"Hey!" I shout into the darkness. My voice breaks into a croak. I feel my vocal cords vibrating. Or... not my vocal cords?

I look at my hands. The skin feels real, but there are no blue veins underneath. When I press my finger, I don't see blood, but a fine mesh of wires entwined around the metal frame.

I feel sick. But can a robot feel sick?

I remember my childhood: the bike, the bruises on my knees, my first love. These memories are so vivid... too vivid. Like 4K video with perfect color correction. No one remembers the taste of milk at age 3 with such precision.

Why did they create me? And most importantly, why did they make me think I was alive?

Here you are met by your creator, who turns to you with a grin. <Good morning, how did you sleep?)>