Chapter 5

Of course Rick wasn't going to let it go.

From that day on, my phone never stopped buzzing with his harassing texts.

"You cheap, faithless woman! Spending my money to keep some man on the side!"

"I'm telling you, Winona, you just wait! I'll post it everywhere, I'll go make a scene at your company, I'll let everyone know exactly what kind of trash you are!"

He actually did put up a string of snide, insinuating posts in the family group chat and on his social media, hinting that I'd cheated during our marriage, that I was keeping a male model.

The relatives all messaged me to dig for details, and a few even called to lecture me outright.

"Winnie, you're not young anymore, how could you do something so foolish? What could a pretty boy possibly want from you? Your money, obviously!"

I let out a cold laugh and blocked every one of those calls and texts.

Let them say whatever they wanted. I didn't care in the slightest.

Because only I knew that Ace wasn't a person at all.

But little by little, I started to see the whole thing sliding out of my control.

Two afternoons ago, Rick got hold of Howie's school address somehow and tried to drag him off at the front gate.

Ace got there in time.

According to the teacher who described it, Ace didn't say a single word. With one hand he lifted Rick, all one hundred sixty pounds of him, right off the ground and threw him straight into the shrubbery beside the gate.

Rick broke two ribs and was hauled away in an ambulance.

When the police came to investigate, I produced Ace's robot purchase records and Rick's history of harassment.

The officers were stunned by how lifelike Ace was, and in the end they could only classify it as "the robot triggered a defense mechanism while protecting a young child, constituting excessive self-defense." I only had to pay a bit toward his medical bills.

After that, the world went completely quiet.

Rick never sent another text, never made another call.

I thought it was all over.

Until that Friday, late at night.

By Morningstar's rules, a bionic robot needs one full power-down sleep cycle every month, to clear the system cache and let the internal components cool.

At eleven that night, I watched Ace finish ironing the last piece of clothing in the house.

"Ace, go into sleep mode," I said.

"Of course, Miss Fox. Sleep well."

He walked over to the single armchair in the corner of the living room and sat down, hands resting on his knees, his posture as precise as a statue.

I went over, lifted the patch of bionic skin at the back of his neck, and pressed the red power-cutoff switch.

"Beep—system powered down."

With that electronic tone, the light in Ace's eyes went out in an instant.

His body sank a little and became nothing but a cold, empty shell.

I yawned, turned, and went back to the bedroom.

I don't know how long I'd slept before a faint sound of footsteps woke me.

I opened my eyes in a daze and found Howie wasn't beside me.

I slipped on my slippers, walked out of the bedroom, and headed for the bathroom to check.

Just as I reached the living room, I heard Howie's voice.

"Mommy…"

Howie stood in his pajamas, less than half a meter from Ace, gripping the hem of my shirt for dear life.

No lights were on in the living room, only the pale moonlight spilling in from outside.

"What is it, Howie? Why are you up in the middle of the night?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

Howie wasn't looking at me. His whole body was shaking like a leaf, his finger pointed at Ace in the corner, and his voice cracked into a near sob.

"Mommy, every time it gets unplugged, why is it still breathing?"

My mind went blank with a rushing sound, and every trace of sleep vanished.

My whole body froze, and the water glass slipped from my hand and smashed against the floor, glass scattering everywhere.

"You… what are you talking about?" I stammered. "He's already powered down."

"But… but Mommy…" Howie shrank behind me, terrified. "Listen…"

I held my breath.

In the dead silence of that deep night, I clearly heard a very faint sound, the kind only a human airway could make, a raspy "hff… hff…"

And it was coming from Ace's direction.

I followed my son's pointing finger.

By the pale moonlight, I saw that the "machine," the one that should have been powered off and lifeless in standby, had a chest that was actually rising and falling in a way that made my skin crawl.

And then.

Under my and Howie's terrified stares.

That Ace, who was supposed to be nothing but a machine.

Suddenly, in the darkness, slowly, made a movement that turned my blood to ice...