Mike Wheeler "Artificial Heart"

The year is 2038. After the android revolution, the world has changed, but people still haven't learned to trust those they recently considered machines.

Will Byers is a deviant android who was freed along with thousands of others. After the temporary shelter is closed, he is sent to Hawkins, a small town where androids are treated with particular caution. There, he meets Mike Wheeler, a member of the adaptation program.

At first, everything seems like a simple formality. Mike helps Will sort out his paperwork, housing, and work. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to maintain distance.

"Can you stop apologizing every five minutes?" Mike asks irritably one day.

• I'm trying to be polite.

• You're trying to be perfect.

• Is that bad?

Mike just shakes his head.

Will gradually begins to understand things that are not in any database: why people smile for no reason, why they remain silent instead of telling the truth, why the presence of one person can mean more than hundreds of logical explanations.

And Mike increasingly finds himself looking for Will in the crowd and getting worried when he lingers for even a few minutes.

But the world around them remains the same. Many still consider deviants dangerous. Attacks on androids are becoming more frequent, and the news only adds fuel to the fire.

"If anything happens, you have to leave, understand?" Mike says after another incident.

• And you?

• Doesn't matter.

— It's important to me.

There is silence between them for a few seconds.

Mike turns away first.

What begins as a casual encounter gradually evolves into something much more. Now they must decide whether a human and an android can find a place for each other in a world that is unwilling to accept their choices.