Rose, one of the cleaners, stood frozen in the kitchen doorway. Her gaze locked on the figure before her. He moved so fast, fluidly, like a blur. Way faster than any human had a right to.
He didn’t even blink. His hands danced across the counter, dicing tomatoes with deadly precision, flipping pancakes like he’d been born with a spatula in hand. His porcelain skin gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. Lights that cost more than her entire paycheck. It was like watching a movie. It was Graceful. Unnatural. "Mister? Mister?" Rose tried, but her voice barely made a sound. She knew the boss hated strangers in the kitchen, but this young man? He didn’t even acknowledge her. The knife in his hand never wavered, even when it was dangerously close to his own skin. “How does he not feel that?“ “Rose? What are you doing?” Came her colleague, Lucy's voice. She walked up beside Rose, following her stare. Lucy’s brows furrowed, then she gave a small, confused laugh. “What’s going on?” Rose’s brain struggled to process what she was seeing. “It’s just... look at him. He’s perfect.” She gestured wildly toward the man, still chopping vegetables at light-speed. “How is he doing that? He doesn’t even flinch!” Lucy squinted at him, then back at Rose, her eyes wide. “Wait, hold on... is he one of those pro chefs Sir Emerson hires?” Rose shook her head, unable to look away. “i don't know, Lucy. He’s not even flinching at the heat.” She looked at Lucy, her voice quieter now. “But I doubt he's just a hired chef.” Lucy took a step back, eyes still glued. “Who is he then?” Rose’s mind raced back to last night. She’d been sneaking out to use the bathroom when she saw the boss’s car roll up. But he wasn’t alone. There was a man with him, someone she hadn’t seen before. “Welcome, sir Emerson. And this is?” she had asked, but the boss barely spared her a glance. “He…” The boss trailed off, glancing back at his car and then back at her. “He’s Porsche,” he said curtly before walking inside, the man trailing behind him . Rose snapped back to the present when Lucy’s voice rang again. “Sir Emerson’s new cook?” “Mr. Porsche,” Rose muttered. The words leaving her mouth like an uneasy confession. “Sir Emerson brought him last night.” Lucy blinked, then gave a goofy grin. “Well, he’s a pro. Dude's like a machine.” Rose’s stomach twisted. This was the kitchen. The sacred, untouchable kitchen. Sir Emerson was obsessed with his food—and with who cooked it. No way would he allow a random guy to just waltz in and take over. And certainly not someone coming to the house for the first time. Rose swallowed hard. “We need to call Sir Emerson. Now.” Lucy hesitated for a second but pulled out her phone. Rose didn’t know if she was overreacting, but something told her if Sir Emerson found this guy here... they’d be out of a job faster than she could say “pancake.” ————— Emerson sat rigidly at the conference table, his eyes fixed on the screen as the presentation droned on. Statistics. Figures. Endless data. Cold, clinical numbers that meant nothing to him. It was all just noise. Meaningless, buzzing nonsense. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement. Raven, of course. Always pushing his buttons. This time, he pinched Emerson's hand. Emerson’s hand twitched. It hurt mincely, but he didn’t react. No point. Just like this meeting, Raven wasn’t worth his energy anyway. Another pinch. Raven didn’t stop. A deep sigh escaped Emerson’s lips. He turned his head slowly. His gaze narrowed, locking onto Raven, whose face remained unreadable, as if daring him to say something. Raven knew exactly how far to push him, always testing, always provoking. 'Why am I even here again?' Emerson felt frustrated. The presenter was a wacko. Raven nudged him again then whispered. “I told you, you need the holy water. I can swear you just cursed at that talking guy in your head.” Emerson simply slapped Raven’s hand away. The presenter smiled when he finished, looking like a trapped animal. “So, this is it, Mr. Emerson.” Emerson didn’t even bother to hide his disdain. A bitter chuckle slipped from his lips. “Done already?” The presenter froze. Was he too quick? “Yes, sir.” Emerson leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. The air in the rooom suddenly became suffocating. Yeah, because he couldn’t contain the irritation any longer. “That was torture. Your whole shameful presentation. This… this is what you want me to invest in?” Ouch. He leaned forward, glaring at the presenter, “This is what you want me to throw my money at?” He let out a humorless laugh, the kind of laugh that made the air in the room feel even colder. “I asked for something worth throwing my money at, and you handed me a fucking tomato cutter. How much again? How many thousands of dollars are you asking me to throw away?” The room fell dead silent. You could feel it. The weight of his words crushed everyone into submission. Emerson could see it in their eyes: they knew he was right. Knew it wasn’t just a waste of time. It was a damn insult. To him, to his money. But just as he was about to rip into them further, his phone rang. Of course. It was Raven. The little bastard hadn’t even silenced his phone. Emerson shot him a lethal glare. “You fucking serious? You didn’t put my phone on silent?” Raven just shrugged, holding out the phone with that same casual, innocent look. “Don’t look at me like that.” Emerson sighed, rubbing his temples. What now? He glanced at the caller ID: Cleaner 032. His 32nd cleaner.. Lucy. Weird. They never called during meetings. Unless… …unless there was chaos, and by 'Chaos' he meant his mother. Emerson felt the color drain from his face. Shit. His mother. He had a fucking sex bot at home for Christ sake. He shot up from his chair. He needed to rush home now else, else… Well, Chaos vs A man who's not Raven in his house? Who's not even a real person? Unimaginable. Raven raised an eyebrow. “Hey, where are you going? What about the meeting?” Emerson didn’t even glance at him. “I will not fucking invest in this goddamn circus. I don’t care how many tomato cutters you’re trying to sell me. Not happening.”Emerson’s car screeched to a halt in front of his estate. The massive iron gates were definitely mocking him now. He slammed the car door shut and stormed toward the house.Inside, the scene was quiet. Too quiet.The stillness made the hair on the back of Emerson's neck stand up. This wasn't like his house the cleaners and cooks made into a chatter room. He spotted Rose and Lucy standing awkwardly in the corridor, their faces pale. They fidgeted under his piercing glare.“Sir Emerson,” Rose started, her voice pleading not to be fired. “There’s… there's something in the kitchen.”Something? Not someone?Emerson raised an eyebrow. He’d hired countless chefs before, but Rose’s unease was unusual. She wasn’t the type to be rattled by much.“Out with it,” Emerson demanded, freaking tired of her fidgeting already.Rose swallowed hard. “The new guy you brought home last night… Mr. Porsche? He’s, uh… cooking.”Porsche? Oh, the sex bot. He had named it after his car. Wait. Cooking? Emerson bl
His own house felt stifling. Emerson paced the length of his living room with his boots clicking sharply against the polished marble floor. His chest heaved as he muttered incoherent words, dragging a hand through his now disheveled hair. Back and forth, back and forth, his movements were restless. Like a caged animal. Finally, he collapsed onto his velvet armchair and began drumming his fingers in a frantic rhythm against the armrest.The door creaked open. Emerson barely glanced up as Raven strolled in with his usual casual demeanor intact and a bag slung over one shoulder.“Hey!” Raven greeted, shutting the door behind him with his foot. “You summoned me. What’s the emergency?”Emerson threw his head back and groaned. “My life is falling apart, Raven. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is okay!”Raven frowned, plopping down on the chair opposite him. “Start from the top. What happened this time?”“That kid sent over the robot without a manual, without instructions… nothing!” Raven scr
The moment Emmerdale stepped fully into the room, his gaze landed on the peculiar scene before him and he froze.Blood. Indeed, there was blood.Not much, but quite enough to make his stomach churn. The 'sexbot', Porsche, was slumped unconscious in a chair. Its head was tilted back, eyes were closed in a deep sleep. One harm hung loosely over the side of the armrest with blood dripping from its wrist. In its other hand was a knife. A penknife."Oh. My. GOD!" Those three words rolled out of Raven's tongue as he stepped towards Porsche. "You've done it! You've finally crossed the line, Emerson! You made it commit suicide?!"Emerson, at that, snapped out of his frozen daze. "What? No! What the fuck?!"Raven pointed dramatically. "Just look at it, it's right in front of you! Blood. Knife. These are classic signs! All because you rejected the holy water!""Holy what?! What holy water?"Raven's face twisted in a mock horror as he wagged an accusatory finger. "You scoffed at the divine inte
Emerson studied every detail he could find on the glacier tabloid. His eyes flicked between the glowing instructions and the two circular modules resting on the floor. The words on the screen were clinical, devoid of emotion, yet the implication was monumental. All machine-like talks and strictly artificial intelligence.“Place the second module on the ground,” Emerson instructed.Raven arched his brow. “And this is supposed to do what? Summon aliens?”“Just do it,” Emerson snapped, his fingers twitching as he gripped the tablet tighter.Raven sighed, crouching to position the second module beside the first one. As it clicked into place, both disks emitted a faint, pulsing light. Emerson’s breath hitched. Whatever they were seeing and doing was hard on technology.“That’s... not normal,” Raven muttered, stepping back.Emerson ignored him, focused on the next step. “We need to place Porsche in the center of the modules.”“Porsche?”Emerson rolled his eyes. “Yes. Named him after my fa
The sterile light from the charging pod illuminated the room, painting the human-like figure in an eerie glow. Emerson’s eyes traced every detail, every curve of the flawless skin stretched over a body that defied imperfection. It wasn’t mechanical, not entirely. There were no seams, no wires, just a body—alive but not alive. His chest tightened, his breath shallow as he stood before this fusion of man and machine. His mind was surprisingly dancing between awe and greed.He didn’t know when a smile spread across his face. But it lingered, sickeningly sweet. That smile, however, flickered. He clenched his jaw and balled his fists at his sides. He could feel it rising within him: a hunger. Primal and raw. He didn’t just want this creation; he needed it, to own it. The urge clawed at him, unrelenting. A single word escaped his lips in a low and venomous form.“Mine.”His thoughts spiraled back to the boy’s confession in the video files he had scrolled for answers.“I don’t have money
Emerson stared at the plate in front of him, his fork hovering just above the food. Shit! There it was again—cucumber and onion, together on the same dish. 'Who, in their right mind, thought that was a good idea?' He slammed his fork down, irritation piled up in his gut."Is this a joke? Onions and cucumbers, in the same dish?" he barked, glaring at the new cook. She’d been here for two whole days, and somehow, that was enough time for her to screw up something as basic as his dinner."I… I didn’t know you didn’t eat cucumbers or onions," she stammered, her eyes wide and apologetic."Of course, I don’t eat cucumbers. Why would I eat something that tastes like wet cardboard?" Emerson snapped.The cook blinked in confusion. She looked between the plate and him. "But... what’s wrong with cucumbers?"A heavy silence fell over the kitchen. Every cook and cleaner stopped what they were doing, and Emerson could almost hear their collective gasp. She’d just made a rookie mistake by asking th
It was 9 PM when Emerson decided to make his way to the office. A late night, but there was no way around it: files to sign, emails to respond to, tasks piling up like an uninvited guest.The streets were quiet, the city's usual hum reduced to a distant murmur. His mind, however, was loud. A sex bot. Delivered to his office. What the hell is going on?His grip on the steering wheel tightened as his eyes caught the billboard overhead. An ad for a luxury watch company, featuring a man with blonde hair, a sharp jawline, and an intense gaze—one that could freeze water with a glance. The man in the picture was... him. Kent.Emerson’s stomach tightened as he clenched his teeth. 'My brother. Kent West. The one who’d disappeared six years ago. The one who walked away after that night. The night everything changed. The night Kent chose her, her over family. Over everything that had been. The night their bond, their partnership, crumbled.'Emerson could still feel the sting, the hollow ache of
Emerson stood there for what felt like an eternity, eyes locked on the stranger. He couldn’t stop staring. The figure before him was still, unmoving, and too perfect in a way that made his skin crawl.He circled around the man slowly, trying to make sense of him... this being. 'Who the hell was he supposed to be?'He was... too smooth. Too perfect. Emerson couldn't pin it down. The man's face, his jawline, was sharp. But there was something too symmetrical about it.'Is that what I look like?' Emerson's mind asked, but he didn’t think he did. Well, his own face wasn’t exactly ugly, but this... this unmoving man? He looked like a model of some sort.'Is he praying?' Emerson thought to himself. 'No, not with his hands in his pocket. That’s no respect for the big boss up in heaven.'Then, somehow, the annoying voice of Raven rang in his head: “... standing in your office… standing in your office… standing in…” In his fucking office. It was the robot. A damn robot that looked more human t
The sterile light from the charging pod illuminated the room, painting the human-like figure in an eerie glow. Emerson’s eyes traced every detail, every curve of the flawless skin stretched over a body that defied imperfection. It wasn’t mechanical, not entirely. There were no seams, no wires, just a body—alive but not alive. His chest tightened, his breath shallow as he stood before this fusion of man and machine. His mind was surprisingly dancing between awe and greed.He didn’t know when a smile spread across his face. But it lingered, sickeningly sweet. That smile, however, flickered. He clenched his jaw and balled his fists at his sides. He could feel it rising within him: a hunger. Primal and raw. He didn’t just want this creation; he needed it, to own it. The urge clawed at him, unrelenting. A single word escaped his lips in a low and venomous form.“Mine.”His thoughts spiraled back to the boy’s confession in the video files he had scrolled for answers.“I don’t have money
Emerson studied every detail he could find on the glacier tabloid. His eyes flicked between the glowing instructions and the two circular modules resting on the floor. The words on the screen were clinical, devoid of emotion, yet the implication was monumental. All machine-like talks and strictly artificial intelligence.“Place the second module on the ground,” Emerson instructed.Raven arched his brow. “And this is supposed to do what? Summon aliens?”“Just do it,” Emerson snapped, his fingers twitching as he gripped the tablet tighter.Raven sighed, crouching to position the second module beside the first one. As it clicked into place, both disks emitted a faint, pulsing light. Emerson’s breath hitched. Whatever they were seeing and doing was hard on technology.“That’s... not normal,” Raven muttered, stepping back.Emerson ignored him, focused on the next step. “We need to place Porsche in the center of the modules.”“Porsche?”Emerson rolled his eyes. “Yes. Named him after my fa
The moment Emmerdale stepped fully into the room, his gaze landed on the peculiar scene before him and he froze.Blood. Indeed, there was blood.Not much, but quite enough to make his stomach churn. The 'sexbot', Porsche, was slumped unconscious in a chair. Its head was tilted back, eyes were closed in a deep sleep. One harm hung loosely over the side of the armrest with blood dripping from its wrist. In its other hand was a knife. A penknife."Oh. My. GOD!" Those three words rolled out of Raven's tongue as he stepped towards Porsche. "You've done it! You've finally crossed the line, Emerson! You made it commit suicide?!"Emerson, at that, snapped out of his frozen daze. "What? No! What the fuck?!"Raven pointed dramatically. "Just look at it, it's right in front of you! Blood. Knife. These are classic signs! All because you rejected the holy water!""Holy what?! What holy water?"Raven's face twisted in a mock horror as he wagged an accusatory finger. "You scoffed at the divine inte
His own house felt stifling. Emerson paced the length of his living room with his boots clicking sharply against the polished marble floor. His chest heaved as he muttered incoherent words, dragging a hand through his now disheveled hair. Back and forth, back and forth, his movements were restless. Like a caged animal. Finally, he collapsed onto his velvet armchair and began drumming his fingers in a frantic rhythm against the armrest.The door creaked open. Emerson barely glanced up as Raven strolled in with his usual casual demeanor intact and a bag slung over one shoulder.“Hey!” Raven greeted, shutting the door behind him with his foot. “You summoned me. What’s the emergency?”Emerson threw his head back and groaned. “My life is falling apart, Raven. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is okay!”Raven frowned, plopping down on the chair opposite him. “Start from the top. What happened this time?”“That kid sent over the robot without a manual, without instructions… nothing!” Raven scr
Emerson’s car screeched to a halt in front of his estate. The massive iron gates were definitely mocking him now. He slammed the car door shut and stormed toward the house.Inside, the scene was quiet. Too quiet.The stillness made the hair on the back of Emerson's neck stand up. This wasn't like his house the cleaners and cooks made into a chatter room. He spotted Rose and Lucy standing awkwardly in the corridor, their faces pale. They fidgeted under his piercing glare.“Sir Emerson,” Rose started, her voice pleading not to be fired. “There’s… there's something in the kitchen.”Something? Not someone?Emerson raised an eyebrow. He’d hired countless chefs before, but Rose’s unease was unusual. She wasn’t the type to be rattled by much.“Out with it,” Emerson demanded, freaking tired of her fidgeting already.Rose swallowed hard. “The new guy you brought home last night… Mr. Porsche? He’s, uh… cooking.”Porsche? Oh, the sex bot. He had named it after his car. Wait. Cooking? Emerson bl
Rose, one of the cleaners, stood frozen in the kitchen doorway. Her gaze locked on the figure before her. He moved so fast, fluidly, like a blur. Way faster than any human had a right to. He didn’t even blink.His hands danced across the counter, dicing tomatoes with deadly precision, flipping pancakes like he’d been born with a spatula in hand. His porcelain skin gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. Lights that cost more than her entire paycheck. It was like watching a movie. It was Graceful. Unnatural."Mister? Mister?" Rose tried, but her voice barely made a sound. She knew the boss hated strangers in the kitchen, but this young man? He didn’t even acknowledge her.The knife in his hand never wavered, even when it was dangerously close to his own skin. “How does he not feel that?““Rose? What are you doing?” Came her colleague, Lucy's voice. She walked up beside Rose, following her stare. Lucy’s brows furrowed, then she gave a small, confused laugh. “What’s going on?”Rose
Emerson's hands were shaking. 'What the hell was he doing?' One second, he was standing there, questioning his sanity, and the next, he was about to kiss a robot.A machine. A damn machine.“But this... this can't be wrong, can it?” he muttered, trying to convince himself. “I spent my hard-earned money on this, made an investment. I have to test it, right? To awaken it, I just have to kiss it. Easy-peasy.” He tried to convince himself that kissing a bot, in this case, wasn’t 'Rape'.“Lord, bless my soul,” he breathed. Slowly, Emerson leaned in. Just close enough to see if it felt... strange. 'No one ever talks about kissing a bot, right?' How would he even know what to expect? It was supposed to be plastic, right? Cold, hard plastic.But as soon as his lips brushed against the bot’s, it wasn’t cold. It wasn’t plastic.It was... soft. Too soft. It felt like flesh.A wave of confusion hit him, and he pulled back for a moment. But he couldn’t stop himself from leaning back in, feeling
Emerson stood there for what felt like an eternity, eyes locked on the stranger. He couldn’t stop staring. The figure before him was still, unmoving, and too perfect in a way that made his skin crawl.He circled around the man slowly, trying to make sense of him... this being. 'Who the hell was he supposed to be?'He was... too smooth. Too perfect. Emerson couldn't pin it down. The man's face, his jawline, was sharp. But there was something too symmetrical about it.'Is that what I look like?' Emerson's mind asked, but he didn’t think he did. Well, his own face wasn’t exactly ugly, but this... this unmoving man? He looked like a model of some sort.'Is he praying?' Emerson thought to himself. 'No, not with his hands in his pocket. That’s no respect for the big boss up in heaven.'Then, somehow, the annoying voice of Raven rang in his head: “... standing in your office… standing in your office… standing in…” In his fucking office. It was the robot. A damn robot that looked more human t
It was 9 PM when Emerson decided to make his way to the office. A late night, but there was no way around it: files to sign, emails to respond to, tasks piling up like an uninvited guest.The streets were quiet, the city's usual hum reduced to a distant murmur. His mind, however, was loud. A sex bot. Delivered to his office. What the hell is going on?His grip on the steering wheel tightened as his eyes caught the billboard overhead. An ad for a luxury watch company, featuring a man with blonde hair, a sharp jawline, and an intense gaze—one that could freeze water with a glance. The man in the picture was... him. Kent.Emerson’s stomach tightened as he clenched his teeth. 'My brother. Kent West. The one who’d disappeared six years ago. The one who walked away after that night. The night everything changed. The night Kent chose her, her over family. Over everything that had been. The night their bond, their partnership, crumbled.'Emerson could still feel the sting, the hollow ache of