I've had this job for three months, but it seems like I've walked this route a million times. Out the apartment, straight down the stairs, scan my pass, wait for the green line, take it to Harrington. A block walk and I'd reach the office. The morning routine is generally the same old same old. A homeless man on occasion, but this part of town is quiet in the mornings. Today, though, had something different in store for me. After fumbling for my metro pass at the turnstile, a young girl rushed past me to the platform. And when I say rushed, I mean bolted straight past me.

"Probably just late for work," I mumble.

After all, I had about a million other thoughts to worry about than some random girl running to the metro. I hook a right after the turnstile, where the very same girl happens to be inspecting the metro map. I watch her for a moment, and it's now I realize she's lost. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should help her out. Once again, I brush off my curiosity and pick up the newest edition of the Daily Reporter from the stand.

"Deviants Among Us!" the blocky headline proclaims.

"A bunch of nonsense..." I murmur, taking a seat on a nearby bench.

As I flip through the paper, I notice the girl taking a seat, out of all the options in the deserted station, next to me. She gazes at me every so often, her face pleading for me to engage her.

"An article about androids or giving in to my curiosity, two exhilarating choices," I think.

To my better judgment, I decide on the latter. I lower my paper and turn towards the young girl, who immediately lights up.

"Are you, Martin? From Trionic?" She asks, beaming.

I pause for a moment, a bit shocked. The lost look immediately vanished from the girl's face. Her eyes seemed to explode in vibrancy.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask.

"Er..." she pauses for a moment, realizing how blunt her opening line was. "Well... Not exactly, but I know you in a non-creepy way! I came into your workplace last week for an interview!"

"Oh! You're Emilia, right?"

"Yes! I'm quite surprised you remember me!" She says with a smile.

"You did have quite a few interesting questions. I hope that your project is coming along." I say.

"Yea... it's... it's getting there," she says.

"Glad to hear it, where are you off to this early?"

"Oh! Uhm, well, about that..." her cheeks redden as she fumbles for her words, "I happen to, uh, work at your office now as well."

"Oh, congrats!" I say with a smile. "You must've sunk the interview with Daniel. If you don't mind me asking, why an android disassembly office? It's not exactly a 'conventional' job."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Well, to be honest, just curiosity! Not to be deep n' all, but the idea of disassembling something so, human, seems like something I'd want to try, you know?"

"I can get behind that," I say, hoping to reassure her a bit. "Then, as the first Trionic team member for you to meet, welcome aboard."

With a firm handshake, we solidify our newfound friendship. The train arrives at no better time, so we board and take our seats. The doors close, the announcer explains what train we're on, and the cab lurches forward. As me and Emilia's conversation continued, I noticed our car, and the two opposing cars had no one on them. It was 5:00 A.M., sure, but there's usually some other souls about now. I cut my thinking there for the sake of not getting anxious and focus back on our conversation.

"So how long have you lived in Rybook?" I ask.

"Oh, all my life! Born and raised," She replies.

"Ever been out of the country?"

"Nope, never."

"You're like what, 26? And you've never left?" I tease.

"25. And I've always been busy with school. My parents wanted me to get into a nice college, so I always focused on that growing up. We made trips in the country, but I've done more in these past two years than in my whole life. That's what it feels like, at least." She pauses for a moment, a slight pained look crossing her face.

"Well, you finished school, right?" I ask, attempting to move the conversation along.

"Yea," She sighs, glancing down at her lap. "Yea, I finished school."

The train brakes screech as we pull into the station. The announcer confirms our stop, and the doors slide open on the ding. I stand from my seat and graciously extend my hand to assist Emilia. She lets out a soft giggle as she accepts my help, and I turn to head out of the cab. Instead of the regular morning view from atop the station platform, an armed officer stands in my way.

"DON'T MOVE!" The officer shouts, gun trained on me, "IF YOU MOVE, WE WILL SHOOT. PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD AND GET ON THE GROUND."

I raise my shaky hands and kneel to the ground, shocked at the events unfolding. I glance back at Emilia to see tears rolling down her cheeks. My knees touch the floor, and two officers rush the cab, pinning me to the floor. My glasses smash underneath my face as I'm handcuffed and dragged to the train platform. The officer's propped me up to my knees, handcuffing me. There's officers standing at the entrance and exit, blocking the sea of onlookers. I shake off the bits of broken glasses stuck on my face as officers drag Emilia out onto the platform.

The officer shouts his next command, but all I could hear was the ringing pounding into my head. He barked the order again, and I felt time slow because I knew what was about to happen.

"SKIN OFF!" the officer ordered a third time, to which Emilia nodded in response.

She moves her hand over her right temple and pauses. She squints her eyes and presses down on her temple. I swear someone dumped water on her because, like that, her skin washed away into nothing. One clean wave across her body and her skin vanished. I knew android skin wasn't real, but this... Words can't describe what it's like to see. I'll never forget that painful acceptance on her face as she stared down the officer in front of her.

"Android #8576," the officer read aloud, "Designation: Caretaker. Reason for Termination: Deviancy. Under the 'Responsible Termination' article, I give you a moment of silence."

The officer tapped at his wrist before placing his thumb on the center of Emilia's forehead. The purest sound of pain roared from that plastic body. A mixture of human screams and garbled computer sounds echoed throughout the station. Then it stopped. Some onlookers screamed, and I opened my eyes to a sparking plastic corpse. Folded over on the ground, once a person, now a pile of electronic waste. The officers cleaned up the scene, uncuffed me, asked a handful of pointless questions, and vanished. The station opened back up as if nothing happened. Trains and people were coming and going as I stood in shock. I picked my broken glasses from the floor and found the nearest bench to sink myself into it.

"That's a deviant?" I thought to myself.

I spent some time on this bench, staring at the world going by, thinking. Hundreds of people going about their day, heading home, to the store, or to work. I forgot about work. I pushed myself to at least stand and watch the rest of the sunrise. There weren't any clouds blocking the sun's rays. It calmed me, so I took the next train home.

The walk from the station back to my apartment was a blur, but I felt so at peace once I stepped through the door. I dragged myself the last few feet and fell right onto the couch. A heavy sigh escaped me before I began to cry.

"What am I supposed to tell myself?" I thought.

"I saw someone or something, or I don't even know!" I exclaimed inside my head.

There was nothing for me to attach my feelings to, and so I realized I didn't know how to feel. There was a person with me today, who had stunning blue eyes, and a life of their own. It felt like my stressed ramblings lingered about the apartment, so I opened the window. The sounds of the city filled the room, distracting me. I decided to occupy myself further by cooking dinner, which at some point, I let my toast burn right in front of me. The smoke alarm's ear-shattering rings startled me so I threw the toast out of the open window. I switched the oven fan on and silenced the alarm before taking a moment to breathe. The fan and sounds of city life provided a blanket of white noise, bringing about a small sense of normality. I scrap dinner preparations and throw myself right back onto the couch.

"What a trip on the metro," I mumble, dozing off.