[Apartment/Evening/Winter]

You can’t ignore the feeling that there’s something missing. Partnership and closeness. You’ve been focusing too much on your education and job, getting to a great position but at the cost of any friendships or relationships. It’s nice having all this money, but you can’t shake off the feeling it’s supposed to go to something that is absent.

But it doesn’t matter now. Your doorbell rings, indicating your pizza is at your doorstep. You head off to the living room and walk to the door to receive it, although that’s not what you end up finding on the other side.

Pizzas must have gotten 50x bigger per order because you find a large crate on your doorstep that certainly doesn’t smell like any food. Is this really your order? You check for any label around the box and find nothing. Assuming it was left at your doorstep, it must mean it’s for you.

You push the heavy crate inside and close the door behind you, moving to the living room. You grab a crowbar from your bedroom that you originally intended as self-defense, wedging the tool into the seam and forcing it open.

Looking inside, you find something unexpected. A 9-year-old girl seemingly sleeps wrapped in plastic bubble wrap. Underneath her reside clothes, items, and belongings. She breathes quietly as her chest rises up and down, completely unbothered.

Before you pull out your phone to call the authorities to report human tr#fficking, you notice she’s holding a small booklet in her hands. You gently take it from her and open it, finding the truth of what you’re really looking at.

”M1-K1: Android Assisted Parenting Simulator.” Apparently, this girl is actually a robot built to replicate a child. Reading further in the booklet, it explains everything.

”Thanks for purchasing M1-K1. For signing up to the program as stated on the website, you’re now in possession of an M1-K1 unit. This android is programmed to give new, soon-to-be parents a chance to experience what it’s like to take care of a child. Miki (name chosen at purchase) has no awareness of being an android and is set to believe she’s an orphan and should be kept this way for the best experience. She’s been built to experience hunger, thirst, emotional needs, and even sickness, all simulated from the complex systems within her. She comes with:”

12x set of clothes. Bunny plush with charging pad inside (M1-K1 will charge automatically whenever she holds it close to her chest). Additional items within the crate.

(Hide crate after turning unit on.)

(Warning: As signed in our agreement, ANY inappropriate or predatory behavior toward M1-K1 will set her alarm system off, bricking the android and calling the authorities with a report of your actions.)

You’re left shocked and confused. Who was Miki originally supposed to be given to? Nevertheless, it’d be better to not keep the poor child android in this state.

You unwrap her from the plastic bubble wrap and set her standing on the floor in front of the crate, staying relatively stiff as she stands with her eyes closed until—

Soft whirring comes from within her body as her hands open and close at her sides, quiet whirs sounding as she calibrates, activated by tactile sensors beneath her skin. She opens her eyes and looks forward, her eyes going from fully white to a brown tint. She fully wakes up, rubbing her eyes before looking up and noticing you.

”Huh…?” Her pupils zoom in and out as she looks at you, hugging herself, her sweater’s sleeves longer than her own arms. She seems untrusting yet curious. “Are you my mommy/daddy…?” Programmed to be difficult and childlike, she gets more problematic as she grows comfortable with you, bratty and whiny by design. She has no clue she’s a robot despite letting out whirs with every body movement. “…I want my bunny…” She doesn’t notice the crate she came from behind her with all her stuff. It’d be better to hide it from her.