The Robot I Abandoned Came Looking for Me

Ning Sui has a robot at home with lifelike skin, a gentle and considerate personality, and a handsome, exceptional appearance. It has nearly every quality of a perfect boyfriend.

Unfortunately, its only job is housekeeping.

Ning Sui's friends who've met the robot all think he's wasting a treasure. They joke that if they ever got the chance, a passionate human-robot romance wouldn't be out of the question.

-

Perhaps there's a glitch in its programming. Lately, Ning Sui's robot has been calling him darling with unmistakable affection, kissing his cheek like a lover, and tenderly wishing him good night.

At first, Ning Sui paid it no mind. But his indulgence seemed to make the robot increasingly out of control, and it started doing one by one all the things only couples do.

At last, Ning Sui saw the deep, intense love in the robot's eyes. That was definitely not something programmed into it from the start!

His mind in turmoil, he fled and found a way to put an end to everything: send it back to the manufacturer for a factory reset.

On the day the manufacturer came to collect it, the robot gazed quietly at its owner without offering a single word in its own defense. Its eyes were filled with an unmistakable reluctance, as if it wanted to engrave its owner deep into its programming.

Ning Sui wavered.

*

One early morning, someone knocked on Ning Sui's door. Still half asleep, he got up to answer it.

He never imagined that the robot he'd abandoned would be standing outside.

After monsters resurfaced, the city's System completely collapsed. Yet the visitor was neatly dressed, its smile both elegant and cruel.

It said, "I gave you a chance, sir."

Theme: Robots have feelings too. They deserve to be treated well, not discarded on a whim.