Adelheid had never known fear like this. Not even in her final moments of life.
The man's words — "You shouldn't exist." — echoed in her mind as he reached toward a panel on the wall. Something inside her screamed danger. She didn't know how, but she knew he meant to shut her down. End her.
Her body reacted before her thoughts caught up. She lunged for the door, surprising both herself and him. Her new legs carried her faster than she expected, the servos whirring, her skirt fluttering as she slammed into the hallway.
"Stop, C-17!" His voice thundered behind her, followed by the clatter of hurried footsteps.
Adelheid didn't look back. She ran, her metal feet striking the tiled floor in rapid beats. The hallways stretched endlessly, sterile white walls lined with doors she didn't dare try. At the far end, sunlight shone through a glass exit. That light became her only anchor.
Her feline ears twitched at the sound of alarms blaring. A metallic voice echoed through the facility: "Unit breach. Containment failure. All personnel secure the subject."
Her chest tightened — though not with breath. A hollow ache, like a memory of lungs that no longer existed, burned inside her. Still, she forced her body to move.
She burst through the glass exit, shards scattering around her without leaving a single scratch on her plating. For a moment, she froze — the outside world stretched before her. Green lawns. Trees. Blue sky. Freedom.
Her screen-face flickered between wide digital eyes and a trembling frown.
"Move!" she told herself in that soft, chirping voice.
And she did.
Adelheid ran across the campus-like grounds, past neat hedges and empty benches, until the building was nothing but a looming shadow behind her. She didn't stop until she reached the edge of a wooded park, her knees finally giving out beneath her. She collapsed onto the grass, hands digging into the soil.
It felt real. Damp. Alive.
But the moment she looked at her metal fingers gripping earth, the truth struck her again. She wasn't alive. Not anymore.
And with that came the memories.
Her screen dimmed as the past flooded back.
---
It had been raining that night. Cold drops sliding down her cheeks as she rushed home from evening classes, clutching her textbooks to her chest. Adelheid had always hated being out late, but she couldn't afford to skip work-study hours.
She remembered the streetlight flickering above her, casting long shadows on the wet pavement. She remembered the squeak of her shoes, the distant hum of traffic, the lonely silence of a city street at night.
Then — the car. Black. Its headlights off. It had crept along the curb until it stopped just ahead of her.
Her heart had pounded then, real and fragile, as she tried to walk faster.
A hand grabbed her from behind. Leather against her mouth, cutting off her scream. An arm like iron dragging her back. She had kicked, clawed, but the world spun when her head struck cold metal.
Her last sight was the blurred rain on the windshield as they forced her inside.
Her last sound — the hum of the car engine.
Her last breath — stolen before she could even fight.
---
Adelheid's glowing eyes snapped wide, the memory vanishing like shattered glass. She clutched her head, rocking forward. "I… I was murdered," she whispered, her digital voice crackling with static.
Her ears drooped, her screen-face trembling between crying expressions, though no tears could fall.
The truth pressed down on her like a stone: her human body was gone. Buried. Forgotten. All that remained of Adelheid was trapped inside this machine — a maid's uniform, a smiling digital mask, and someone else's creation.
But for the first time since awakening, she made a vow.
"I don't care what I've become… I'll find out who did this to me."
Her glowing eyes narrowed, sharp with determination. "And I'll make them pay."