Some of us just want to live a life free from the Government’s oppression. We all found a life in Dragon’s Nest, an entire prospering community living free from the Government. Many of us, however, aren’t content simply being free while knowing of the Government’s deeds and the conditions of the people still under the Government’s control, so we join the Dragons. The Dragons are a band of freedom fighters whose goal is to overthrow the Government and restore peace and equality.

My name is Amber Hillcrest. I am a skilled Dragon member, but I am also an android, a human girl’s brain wired into a robotic body. I’ve been in Dragon’s Nest for about a year now, making friends and becoming a part of everyday life in Dragon’s Nest. For a while I actually thought that I had finally found a place to belong, until my creators finally realized where I was and what I’d been doing.

I guess they weren’t too pleased that their multi-billion-dollar project was gallivanting with rebels in the realm outside of the Government’s sphere of influence. They hired mercenaries to capture me and return me to their custody. The mercenaries waited, watching our routines and marking our defenses as they carefully set a trap. Then, as my scouting party of Dragons approached, they sprang their trap, surrounding us within seconds and raining attacks down on our defenseless scouting party.

“Amber! Behind you!” shouted my best friend, Gavin Denault. I whirled around. Seeing the gun trained on my head, I dropped to the ground. I swiftly kicked the feet of the shooter out from beneath him and slammed the heel of my palm against his temple, knocking him unconscious. Then I grabbed the shooter’s gun and fired it over Gavin’s shoulder at an approaching mercenary. The man let out a cry as the shot slammed into his chest. “Thanks,” Gavin gasped.

“No probl--,” I began, but something flashed between us and a sudden impact like a shove to my chest cut me off, knocking me to the ground. A bullet. I’d been shot. Due to the computer connected to my brain, I instantly knew the bullet had lodged in my mechanical heart. I had less than a minute before the robotic systems in my body shut down and my brain, no longer supported by my body, would die.

“Amber!” Gavin dropped to his knees next to me. His panicked expression turned to confusion. “You’re not bleeding…” he put his hand on my chest, next to where the bullet had hit me. “Wait, you are, but it’s more like… oil.” His voice raised with panic. “Amber, talk to me! What’s happening to you?”

“Systems-- failing,” I choked out. “Fatal damage. I’m-- shutting down. I’m-- sorry, Gavin. I didn’t want-- you to treat me differently. I’m dying, for-- real this time.”

“Amber, please! What’s going on?” Gavin begged.

“I’m not human, Gavin,” I whispered. “Ten years ago, I was-- crippled in an accident. My body was-- kept alive only by machines, but my brain still worked, so they used me for a project. My brain is-- wired into this robotic body. I’m sorry, Gavin. You treated me like I was a real person, an actual human who ate and slept and breathed just like you did, when really I’m just a machine.”

“Amber…” Gavin trailed off despairingly.

“Goodbye, Gavin,” I said softly. “Thank you… for being my friend.”

And I shut down.

********

The robotic part of my brain turned on again and ran a systems check. My heart had been expertly repaired; my body was undamaged and functional. The human part of my brain was unharmed despite my heart failure. I began to turn on completely. The systems and mechanisms in my body started up and my human brain returned to consciousness a moment later.

I opened my eyes. I was lying in a bed in a small room. Gavin was sitting in a chair next to the bed. I must have made some sort of movement, because he raised his head and asked, “Amber?” He quickly rose from the chair and sat next to me on the bed. “I was so scared; I thought you were going to die!”

I shook my head and started to sit up. “I thought I was going to die too. What happened?”

“David-- you’ve met David, right? He’s a brilliant mechanic. I rushed back here to Dragon’s Nest with you, and he took one look at you and told me you weren’t dead yet and he knew how to repair you.”

“I’ll have to thank him later,” I decided, knowing what Gavin was going to ask me next.

“Amber?” I looked at him. His gaze was steady and unwavering as he met my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Gavin asked.

“When I was first created, I wasn’t treated like a human,” I began. “My creators were always more focused on ‘what’ I was instead of ‘who’ I was. When I came to Dragon’s Nest, I was treated like an actual person for the first time in nine years. So I didn’t say anything to change that. When we became friends, I stayed silent, because I was afraid our friendship would change if you knew the truth. Then I started feeling something different; being around you made me feel so strange. Then Maria teased me and said you had a crush on me… I just, well, there was no way I’d ever be able to tell you what I wasn’t human after that!” I looked down at the blankets. If I was still flesh and blood, I knew I’d be blushing hard right now.

“Oh, Amber…” Gavin took a deep breath. “If you’d told me about yourself earlier, I wouldn’t have felt anything differently. Because, inside, you’re still Amber. You said your brain is still your human brain. You still think and feel like a human, right? I love everything about you and I won’t stop loving you just because you’ve got a mechanical heart instead of an organic one.”

“You mean…” I asked hopefully, hardly daring to breathe.

Gavin wrapped his arms around me. “I love you, Amber Hillcrest,” he repeated.

“I love you too, Gavin,” I replied softly, returning his embrace. I hugged Gavin tighter, no longer caring that my body was mechanical, because I had finally found someone who loved me and accepted me completely. 

The End.

Thanks for reading! keep reading for the afterword.