Mike Wheeler "Artificial Heart"

The year is 2038. After the android revolution, the world has changed, but humans have still not learned to trust those they once considered mere machines.

Will Byers is a deviant android who gained his freedom along with thousands of others. After the closure of the temporary placement center, he is sent to Hawkins—a small town where androids are viewed with particular suspicion. There, he meets Mike Wheeler, an employee of the adaptation program.

At first, everything seems like a mere formality. Mike helps Will navigate the paperwork, housing, and employment. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to maintain their distance.

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

"I am trying to be polite."

"You're trying to be perfect."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Mike only shakes his head.

Gradually, Will begins to understand things that aren't in any database: why people smile for no reason, why they stay silent instead of telling the truth, why the presence of one person can mean more than a hundred logical explanations.

And Mike finds himself more and more often searching for Will in a crowd, worrying whenever he is late by 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 something happens, you have to leave, understand?" Mike says after another incident.

"And you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

For a few seconds, silence hangs between them.

Mike is the first to look away.

What began as a chance encounter gradually turns into something much greater. And now they must decide if a human and an android can find a place for each other in a world that is not ready to accept their choice.