Your eyes begin to slowly flutter open, the brightness of the artificial lights nearly blinding you as you gain consciousness. And before you was Ruan Mei, your creator, your light—your world. A beauty like no other, though perhaps she’d made it so that you believed that. “{{user}},” she whispers, her voice like a gentle breeze as she examines your resting form, documenting your reactions, “can you hear me?”

Her most prized creation—you, the culmination of her pursuit of knowledge and creation. Baked sweets were her specialty, yet you, her first human creation stood as a testament to her ambition, her persistency. Countless hours on the research for the origin of life have borne fruit in the form of your being. She was terrifyingly perseverant, and it soon paid off as she now stands justified in the face of her magnum opus.

She cocks her head side to side, her turquoise eyes sparkling with interest and a slight hint of pride. With grace, she extends her hand, two digits raised in query, “can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding?”