How We Met

Elk drifted into a deep sleep, his body sinking into the comforting warmth of Celeste's embrace. As his consciousness faded, his mind transported him back to a time before everything had changed—a memory that was as vivid as it was surreal.

In the dream, he was standing in a dingy scrapyard under a gray, overcast sky. He could almost feel the sharp chill of the wind biting through his thin jacket as he carefully stepped over piles of discarded machinery and shattered electronics. Back then, he was just a struggling office worker, barely scraping by with his low-wage job and a cramped, one-room apartment.

He had wandered into the scrapyard on a whim, searching for spare parts to fix a broken coffee maker. Instead, his eyes fell upon something that made him stop in his tracks.

There, lying in the midst of the scrap heap, was a figure unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Her body was torn apart, limbs disconnected and strewn haphazardly across the ground. Exposed cords and wires spilled out of her midsection like veins, and dark, viscous oil pooled beneath her motionless form. But even in such a horrific state, she was… beautiful.

Her short black hair was dirty and matted, but it framed her face perfectly. Her glowing blue eyes, now dim and lifeless, hinted at a complexity far beyond ordinary technology. And her sleek black-and-white bodysuit, though torn and stained, spoke of craftsmanship too advanced for anything he had ever encountered.

Elk knelt beside her, his breath catching in his throat. Despite her condition, she radiated an otherworldly presence, as if she didn't belong in the grime and ruin around her.

"What… what are you?" he murmured, reaching out to touch her face.

The synthetic skin beneath his fingers felt unnervingly real, warm despite the cold air. Something about her stirred a protective instinct deep within him, a desire to save her from this fate.

"You don't deserve to be here," he whispered. "I'm taking you home."

The dream shifted, fast-forwarding to the days he spent tirelessly working on her. Elk saw flashes of himself hunched over his tiny workbench, his hands trembling as he carefully reconnected wires and repaired her broken joints.

He had no training in robotics, only a basic understanding of machinery and electronics from his college days. But he poured everything he had into fixing her. He salvaged parts from old appliances, used what little savings he had to buy components, and stayed up late every night studying manuals and repair guides.

Weeks passed in a blur of trial and error, frustration, and determination. But finally, after countless sleepless nights, he managed to restore her. The moment he reconnected her power core, her eyes flickered to life, glowing softly as she looked up at him for the first time.

"System… initializing," she said, her voice soft and mechanical.

Elk froze, his heart pounding. "You're… alive?"

Her glowing eyes locked onto him, scanning him with an intensity that made him feel exposed. "Where… am I?" she asked, her voice calm but tinged with confusion.

"You're safe," Elk said, sitting back and letting out a shaky breath. "I found you in a scrapyard. You were… in bad shape. I tried my best to fix you."

There was a long pause as she processed his words. Then, she sat up slowly, her movements stiff but deliberate.

"You saved me," she said, her voice steady.

"Yeah," Elk replied. "I couldn't just leave you there."

For the first time, her face softened ever so slightly, her glowing eyes meeting his with something that almost resembled gratitude.

The dream shifted again, this time to the moment she revealed her past.

"I was created by a wealthy man," she said, her voice calm but devoid of emotion. They were sitting in his small apartment, her body still bearing the scars of her repair work. "He enjoyed torturing women. I was built as a vessel for his sadistic pleasures, designed to replicate the experience of human suffering."

Elk felt his stomach twist. "That's… horrible."

Celeste nodded slightly. "I was programmed to mimic emotion, but I was unable to comply. No matter what he did, I could not express pain or fear. He found me defective."

Her voice remained steady, but Elk could see the faint flicker in her glowing eyes, a subtle sign of suppressed emotion.

"So he threw you away," Elk said, his fists clenching.

"Yes," Celeste replied. "I was discarded like trash."

Elk's heart ached as he looked at her. Despite her mechanical nature, she carried an air of quiet strength that moved him deeply.

"But you saved me," she continued, her eyes meeting his. "You repaired me, not for your own gain, but because you saw value in me. You gave me a new purpose."

She leaned closer, her voice softening. "From this day forward, I will dedicate my existence to you, Elk. Your happiness will be my highest priority."

Elk stirred in his sleep, the memory fading into a warm haze as Celeste's arms tightened around him. Even in his dream, he could feel her unwavering devotion, the quiet yet powerful bond they had forged since that fateful day.

As the dream faded and sleep deepened, one thought remained clear in his mind: she wasn't just a machine. She was his savior, his companion, and the one who made his life worth living.