Something weird happened yesterday.

A co-worker of mine complained that one of the dolls showed delays in following orders. He said it felt like it would disagree with him, or maybe even judge him, but eventually carrying out the duty as it was told.

A day before that, another co-worker said he felt being watched during his shift. He couldn't shake off the feeling of being stared at intensely. He also stumbled upon one of the dolls a few times when that happened.

Both complaints were about Number 08.

Yes, they don't even have names, only numbers. How sad is that?

We were asked to report any changes in the androids behavior, so I shrugged and put the complaints in the data. Not the first time something goes haywire, same thing happens with artificial humans, right? Then again, it could be all in my colleagues mind. The feeling of being watched and believing there's something off might be just a paranoid reaction to this pain in the ass project.

I mean, nobody got hurt, so as long as those tin cans don't get hostile, everything should be all right.

Nothing to worry about.

                                              I jinxed it.

Due to the previous rumors, nobody wants to team up with Number 08. I sigh heavily and shake my head. And you call yourselves security guards? Pathetic.

I wave my hand and head to the door.

"Eight, you come with me." I say without looking at the doll.

We spend our time in silence. Only our footsteps echo through the corridor. I'm okay with that. I don't like meaningles small talk. Besides, my artificial partner can't even speak anyway. Trying to hold a conversation with a mute would be nothing more than a monologue. And I'm pretty sure his electronic brain isn't interested in weather or sports either.

We make a small break and head to the kitchen next to our guardroom. I make myself some coffee, the doll is just standing there, it's eyes fixed on me. I humm as I pour the coffee in the mug, then add milk and one spoon of sugar. I take a big sip and sigh happily.

"This is the best." I say out loud.

I'm a simple man. Small things like that make my nights at work better.

The doll just watches me as I empty half of my mug in one go.

"You have no idea what you're missing out on, man."

I say mockingly and take another sip with a satisfied moan, as if I'd just drink the best coffee in the world.

And then I almost choked when I glanced at the doll again. Even though I just drank hot beverage, an ice cold chill went through my spine.

Jet black tears were flowing from its unfocused eyes, leaving black trails on the cheeks and dripping from the chin. The face changed slightly to a sad expression.

The doll was crying.

"Wha-... what the-..."

I stood there, petrified for a moment, but before I knew, I unconsciously put the mug away, grabbed some napkins and crouched in front of the android.

"Hey... what's wrong...?"

I tried to keep my cool, but my voice trembled as I dried the "tears" off. In fact it looked like some engine oil. Did something break and there's a leak?

"Eight, look at me. Look me in the eyes." I grabbed his shoulder and shook him a bit.

The doll blinked and did as told. From this close, I could see the mechanical pupils focus on my face. It seemed functional again as it straightened it's back, the expression going back to indifferent. I observed his face intensely, still holding to his shoulder.

"S-... system check." I stuttered slightly.

The doll's pupils flashed with a red light and went unfocused for a moment. After a deep scan, the red light blinked again two times, and the doll gave me a sign. We were instructed that if the sign will be a thumb up, the android is working just fine. Thumb down indicates a malfunction.

The doll gave me a thumb down.

"Malfunction." I mumbled, frowning. "Come here."

I let go of the shoulder and move to the sink. I take another napkin, then soak it with tap water. The oily tears left some smudges on the face, so I had to clean that first.

"Sit."

I say as I point at the seats, and the doll does as said. With the pose hunched slightly, and the eyes lowered, it looked like a child that just got scolded, or feeling a little sick. I can't help but pat it's head in a comforting manner. The doll looks up at me, and for the first time I feel like there's something human about it.

It caught me off guard, and we ended up staring at each other for a moment.

"...stay here until I come back. I'll contact your staff members to pick you up in the morning. Everything will be okay."

I say the last sentence in a soothing tone, as if I'd talk to a child, my hand sliding to it's cheek. The doll blinks then lowers it's head as if thinking over what I just said, returning to its previous pose.

I head out to the corridor.

Walking through the empty hall I think again about what just happened. I gulp. A crying machine. It really looked like it was hurt when it cried.

Creepy.

That's all I can think of to sum the situation up. It was damn creepy.

I stopped when I heard the door behind me opening. I turned around and saw Eight in the corridor.

"Hey! I told you to stay-- HEY!"

The doll just started to run in the opposite direction.

Fuck, this is bad! It went out of control! If it manages to leave the building...

I run after him.