Im Afraid This Situation Will Become True In The Future - Tumblr Posts

for the fake title game: wrecked

Title: Wrecked

Pairing: Junhui & Reader

Genres: angst, dystopia-ish au, android au, hanahaki-ish au

Words: 2.4k (00:10)

Notes: hoverport is my future-y word for flying car

Warnings: blood, implied major character death

-

In pretty much every sense of the word, the android you find off the corner of fifth and March is a wreck.

It's nothing you haven't seen before -- androids have always been like punching bags (or stress balls) to the more well-off that can afford to replace them. So it's really no surprise to find one nearly torn to shreds in the heart of the Ruby district, or, as you like to call it, rich bitch central.

The thing has been utterly decimated, and you almost pass it by on your routine nightly search for spare parts, but your eyes catch on its chest, where something bright pink shines through the damage. It looks beyond a lost cause, but... damn, is that a 301 New Gen processor? And, hold on... that's the new artificial skin grafting formula. Holy shit. This hunk of metal is the newest model of android available to the public -- if you can call the top 1% the public. (You don't.)

Quickly, you fumble for your phone in your pocket and scroll through your contacts.

"Jihoon? Sorry for waking you. Yeah. I need you to bring your truck."

-

It takes you over two months to fix the android to semi-working condition. Most of the time is sucked into finding the right parts -- or, at least, parts that might work as replacements for the insanely expensive parts you'd actually need. Luckily, most of the essential pieces were still intact, if not a little scratched up.

One of the arms was unsalvageable, so you scrapped it completely and replaced it with one you already had in the shop. It's not an ordinary android arm, though. You'd found it in another one of your searches some years ago and stripped it down to practice your patching and soldering on. It still works just fine -- you hope -- but the shiny grey surface looks harsh against the android's fancy grafted skin.

It's almost disorienting how real the new skin formula feels when you touch it. Imperfect.

You try not to linger on that.

Pressing your hands on both of the android's temples, you power it on. A quiet whirring fills your ears in the silence of the shop, and you drop your arms.

The android's eyes don't flutter when they open. You're met with two brown eyes, one slightly lighter since you had to replace that, too. It's less disorienting than you expected it to be. More warm.

Because as soon as the android's sensors process you in front of him, it smiles.

For a few seconds, you're completely entranced by its smile. Android smiles aren't supposed to look that... real. Right? You know tech designers have tried -- for years -- but you don't think one has ever looked as nice as this.

Not important.

You shake your head and clear your throat. "Commence startup," you say as clearly as possible.

"Commencing." Its voice isn't like you expected, either, though you don't really know what it is you were expecting. You watch silently as it stands impossibly straighter and closes its eyes for a few moments. "Startup complete." It opens its eyes and holds out its hand, palm up. "Please enter identification."

From your back pocket, you pull out your ID card and press it into the android's palm, waiting for the usual beep of recognition. The sound is softer than what you normally hear from retail androids.

"Understood," it says, dropping its arm to its side. "I am Android Model Number 6.81-4. I am happy to help." After that, it just stands still, its lips lifted in that warm smile.

This sounds slightly more like the androids you're used to. You're just thrown off by that weirdly realistic face.

"Do you have a name?" you ask, unable to remember the model number it just told you.

It blinks. "Unable to recall."

"Then commence data recovery, please."

"Commencing."

While you wait for the android to retrieve its memories -- which you hope goes smoothly, considering the not-so-hopeful condition of one of its memory chips -- you move around your shop and clean up a little. Jihoon will have your head if he comes to the morning shift and finds it in such a mess. Occasionally, you'll twist your head to peek at the android from across the room. Even though its expression is neutral while it processes its own data, you can't seem to erase that smile from your mind. The power of money, huh.

"Data recovery complete."

You pop up from where you were crouched down and rifling through some drawers. The android smiles at you from across the worktable. Just as you open your mouth to ask the same question you posed before, it does the same.

"My name is Junhui."

-

"Damn," Jihoon says, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coveralls. "He's beautiful."

"I know, right?" You watch Jihoon ogle Junhui, a huge, proud smile on your face. "I still can't believe I found him."

Junhui simply stands still under Jihoon's gaze. His signature smile has yet to go anywhere -- you're beginning to think it's his default expression.

"I don't know if you'll be able to sell him in this condition, though."

You frown. Before Jihoon said that, you weren't even considering selling Junhui -- you'd worked months on him, you couldn't just give him away. Still, it's a scratch at your pride to say that nobody would want to buy your hard work.

"Are you kidding? He works perfectly," you defend, even though you're not totally sure of that. You haven't gone through everything to check yet.

Jihoon shrugs. "Yeah, but with that arm and the grafting damage, what can he do better than a cheaper labour android?"

"Junhui."

The android looks at you, and his smile widens almost imperceptively. "Yes?"

"What features does your model have that previous models don't?"

He answers without hesitation. "Android Model Number 6.81-4 is, at the current time, the closest android model to a human being. I am able to comprehend emotional stimulants and react accordingly. My facial expressions are programmed to mimic that of a human's, and are more accurate than any pre-dating model. For example, when I am asked to process new data, I may furrow my brow and/or slightly open my mouth."

This is the first time you're hearing any of this, but you turn to Jihoon with a victorious smirk. "See?"

Jihoon isn't bothered by you. Instead, he looks intrigued as he eyes down Junhui. "Can you process human emotions?"

A blink. "Yes."

"Elaborate," Jihoon pushes.

"As I am able to comprehend emotional stimulants, I can come to a logical conclusion as to how a human would react to a certain stimulant. For example, 'death' is a stimulant for sadness."

Jihoon crosses his arms. "And you know what sadness is?"

"Yes." Both you and Jihoon are a little surprised by the way Junhui's lips turn down into a frown. It's almost like he's offended by Jihoon insinuating he doesn't know something -- must be one of the mimicked facial expressions he mentioned. You hold your breath at what he might say next. "Sadness is defined as the condition or quality of being sad."

The breath seeps out, and you can't tell if you're relieved or disappointed. It's a terrifying thought -- having machines so advanced as to understand human feelings. Yeah. You're relieved.

"Do you know what being sad is?" Jihoon continues to prod, and you're a bit concerned at how into this he is.

"Feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy."

"And happiness? What does that feel like?"

Junhui's frown deepens, and his brow furrows, just like he spoke about earlier. "I... know the stimulants which results in happiness."

"Then--"

"Jihoon." You put a stop to Jihoon's interrogation with a hand wrapped around his arm. "Stop. You're going to fry the processor I took weeks to figure out."

-

When you're alone with him, Jihoon whispers, "I'm sorry.

"I just don't like it. They keep making androids closer and closer to humans... it's not natural. It freaks me out."

You brush him off with a casual smile. "Yeah, yeah. Just go back to fixing your precious hoverports, why don'tcha?

-

After Jihoon heads home for the night, sore and grumpy after lying under hoverports all day, you decide to take Junhui back home with you. Before you turned him on, it was way too inconvenient, but now he can just walk alongside you.

It's mostly quiet on the walk back. You feel a lot safer under the blanket of night with Junhui next to you -- normally, the streets at night are more daunting.

"Were you going to sell me?"

Androids don't ask questions. You don't really process before you answer him.

"Nope."

Too busy stuck in your head, trying to understand why or even how Junhui asked you something so unlike any android you've ever interacted with, you don't notice the way Junhui's lips curl up or the word that slips quietly from him.

"Good."

-

You expect life with a brand new, better-than-the-rest android at home would be easy. Nope.

Every day, you learn something new about Junhui, and every time you do, he seems to act that much more human. It's scary at first, but you grow to get used to it -- his metal arm is a good reminder of what he is, even if his face doesn't show it.

-

It's a night like any other night that you cry.

Life sucks, and for one reason or another, you slam your apartment door behind you with tears streaming down your face.

Junhui approaches you at first with his usual smile, but it drops when he sees your condition. You'd feel cared for if you didn't know that's just in his programming.

What you're almost sure is not in his program is hugs.

But he's hugging you anyways.

"Junhui," you mumble, frozen in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Tears are a result of sadness."

"Okay but... what are you doing," you repeat.

His arms don't loosen at all around you. "My data says that humans respond well to this type of touch during moments of duress."

Well, he's not wrong. You don't mind this hug at all, but a thought tickles the back of your mind.

It's all in the data. None of this is real.

-

Of course, your heart doesn't care what your mind thinks.

You walk into the shop after a particularly stressful trade deal to find Jihoon standing next to the hoverport he's been working on.

"Where's Jun?"

Jihoon turns your way and smirks, pointing down at the floor beneath the hoverport. You walk closer and look around the worktable to see Junhui slide out from beneath the hoverport, grease smudged on the coveralls you got him when he started helping you around the shop. He smiles at you, big and bright, and oh fuck.

Not noticing your inner distress, Jihoon holds out a hand to help Junhui stand up -- not that he needs it.

"For an android, he's not too bad."

Not too bad indeed.

-

It starts as a tickle in your throat.

You think you know exactly what it is, but you brush it off as dehydration anyways, and when Junhui questions about it, you just ask him to pass your water bottle.

Jihoon doesn't say anything when you ask him to watch over Junhui the next day, thankful for the extra helping hands while you're out.

The first petals are grey.

Funny, you think. Unnatural flowers for your unnatural love.

Fuck.

-

You can't keep Junhui away for long. He comes home all on his own after three days of staying at the shop, and you don't even have the strength to greet him at the door.

Jihoon stopped accepting your flimsy excuses tonight, and he would've come back with Junhui if it weren't for his respect for your privacy -- one thing that Junhui doesn't have.

He finds you on the floor next to your bed, blood smeared over your chin and clothes.

"You're ill," he states simply as he sits you up. His expression turns into that of concern, and if it didn't hurt so bad, you might just laugh. Damn advanced programming -- making you think he actually cares.

"No shit."

The two words are all it takes for another coughing fit to rack through you, more painful than the last, as is the pattern you've suffered through in the past three days. Grey petals spew from your mouth, partially stained with red. Junhui's eyes dart to them, and you watch in tired amusement as he processes the information.

"Hanahaki disease," he identifies.

You want to say bingo, but you don't.

"My data says that the Hanahaki disease was eradicated over one hundred and fifty years ago."

"Yeah, well. My data--" You hold up stray petals in front of his face. "-- says otherwise. Runs in the family."

Junhui’s brow furrows. “Understood.” A few seconds pass, filled with only the low hum of Junhui’s engine and your shallow breaths. Your eyes are screwed shut from the pain. “I do not know how to help you.”

You didn’t think he would.

“Jun... you know what it’s like to want, right?”

He blinks. “No. Wanting is a human trait. I have no desires or needs.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” You see him frown and open his mouth, probably to tell you that he can’t be wrong, but you cut him off. “It might be a little different, but you have your own wants, Jun. Your programming makes you want to help me. That’s why you came home today even when I told you not to. You decided to come here on your own because you wanted to. Get it?”

You can almost see the metaphorical cogs spinning behind his eyes. “Understood.”

“What you don’t know is how to be selfish,” you tell him. “Humans want what we can’t have, and that’s what makes us weak.”

Junhui’s eyes glance over at the bloodstained petals once more.

“Hanahaki disease is caused by unrequited love. You are suffering because you want something you cannot have. Understood.”

You can tell he’s still searching his databases for ways to help you, but it’s no use -- too late for anything now.

“Are you in love with someone?” he asks.

You smile. “Yes. Madly.”

“Then stop.”

You laugh.

You laugh and you cry and you cry some more because you’re in love with a fucking robot and have flowers growing in your lungs.

“I want you to live.” It’s the first time he’s used that word. Want.

You look up at him. At his two brown eyes, one lighter than the other. At his fake skin and fake frown and fake heart. You want to bring your hand up to his cheek, but you don’t have the strength.

“Then I guess we both want things we can’t have.”