The glowing red emergency lights flickered weakly, illuminating the long dark tunnel ahead. Pressed against the side of a train carriage, Roy cursed at the helplessness of the current situation. They had managed to corner the target at the train station close to the target’s abode. But they underestimated their suspect when he triggered a power shutdown, enveloping them in darkness and the ensuing chaos.

They couldn’t navigate, they couldn’t call for backup, and they were separated from each other. If his target were a more professional criminal, he would have been gone from the scene by now. But judging by the small yelps and hisses, his target was stumbling around like a blind man, just like them. That was a good thing but it wouldn’t last long.

He had to distract him somehow, get him to talk so that they could pinpoint his exact location and capture him with a stealthy attack from behind. Struggling to recall the details of his file, Roy called out loud and clear.

“Mr. Kozlov, it’s no use!”

He waited for a while but heard nothing. Roy continued, “Give yourself up! We have you surrounded.”

This time, he heard a soft chuckle from somewhere to his right. “Roy Ingham eh. I’ve heard of you. I’ve heard that you were in love with a young female subordinate…. A female Self-Aware to be precise.”

Roy gulped, dreading where this conversation was leading. His thoughts were immediately with Ty, praying that she was safe inside their house, just helping Six-seven with her daily tasks. It was just a normal day and she was just fine-

“I shut her down already, Roy.”

Roy froze as the icy cold words left a bitter sting on his skin. The thought of losing the love of his life – a woman, not a robot – brought him closer to hell than ever before. An inferno tore through his lungs, filling him with a desire to tear limb from limb.

Lifting his gun up, he aimed it blindly to the right where he figured the source of the voice was. It didn’t matter if the bullet hit its target or not.

His finger found the trigger. Gripping the gun firmly, he was about to squeeze down on it when a strong hand clasped his wrist and yanked the weapon away. Roy hissed in anger, about to strike out at the unknown assailant when he heard a soft whisper.

“Roy, it’s me.”

He froze in shock, unable to believe he was hearing her voice in front of him. “Ty?” he ventured.

“I’ve no time to explain but it’s me… More or less me. I’ll distract Kozlov. You get your guys towards him,” she spoke urgently.

“Is it really you?” Roy asked, his hands outstretched, wanting to touch her to make sure she was real.

In the darkness, he saw a glowing number exposed. He squinted, slowly making out the faintly luminescent numbers.

                                                                67

Frowning, he recognized the number but it wasn’t Ty’s identification- It was Six-seven. He took a step back. Fear and confusion swirled through his mind. Was it Ty or Six-seven?

“You have to trust me, Roy. I’ve got your back as always.”

It was Ty’s calming voice again. Did he really trust her… it? If she wanted to harm him, he would be dead by now. He had no choice but to believe in her words.

“Alright, go get him, girl,” he ordered.

The glowing number disappeared again, covered by whatever clothing she had on. He couldn’t hear her move but he knew she was moving towards the general direction of the target.

“Mr. Kozlov.”

It wasn’t Ty’s voice this time but it was definitely feminine. Roy’s confusion rose to an all-new high but he pushed it aside. Patience, he told himself.

“You don’t know who I am and neither do I. I’m a Self-Aware made of two previously Self-Awares – one of which you have just destroyed. You may find this confusing or impossible but it is indeed possible. Your target was Ty but you did not realize that I, Six-seven, am also a Self-Aware.”

The silence lasted for a few seconds before a shrill voice spoke up. “What do you want?”

“I understand your motives and your reasoning, Mr. Kozlov. You lost your wife, a Self-Aware, to another man and you wish to gain her back by reprogramming her. You have tried unsuccessfully to replicate her state of memory but failed due to the fact that you yourself do not have control over the evolution of your own code. As the creator of robots, you have despaired over this so many times. But I’m here to tell you that you can recover your wife.”

As the thing claiming to be Ty spoke in a steady voice, Roy tapped on the metal train carriage in Morse code, hoping to reach his subordinates. After repeating his message two times, he heard a faint reply back. Satisfied that they had gotten the message, he crawled out from his position and silently headed towards Kozlov’s position.

Provoked by Ty’s claim, Kozlov was jabbering maniacally. “Ar-are you kidding me? That’s impossible! The evolution of the code is impossible to predict due to environmental factors… and her memory cannot be recovered. It’s been too long a-and the cells have long died!”

“It is possible. You have tried mimicking other Self-Aware’s emotions of love but have failed because you cannot compare their codes to extract the part of memory that encodes love. I have done exactly that. Because I’m composed of two unique Self-Awares – unique because they share love for the same person.”

Roy halted. Following her line of reasoning, it meant that the robot who worked for him and Ty, the one he called Six-seven, had achieved Self-Aware and also had feelings for him. His mind reeled at the revelation. Had he been that oblivious?

Kozlov was speaking louder now, forgetting that he was being hunted right this second. “Wait a minute…. You’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?? I knew that love could be programmed. I just didn’t know how! She- she should have loved me. Not him. I didn’t know wha-what was wrong but now I do. Now I know how to make her love only me.”

“Yes, you’re right, Mr. Kozlov. Love can be programmed, love can be enforced. Don’t you want to examine me?”

“I do! I just need to-” Kozlov’s sentence was cut off by a shrill scream. In the precious few seconds that he had spoken, his position had been easily compromised. The expertise of Roy’s subordinates only made it easier and after a small scuffle, the lights were turned back on using the device they had gotten off Kozlov.

Roy squinted in the sudden glare of the white lights, shielding his eyes with a hand. He could make out his team holding Kozlov captive just a few feet away. The man looked old and disheveled, his dirty spectacles hiding away the grief and madness of the genius scientist behind it. How powerful love was to be able to turn such a respectable, brilliant man into a complete and utter wreck.

“Take him away and lock him in Interrogation Room 1,” Roy ordered.

He watched as his team complied and led the shuffling man away to his impending death. The court would sentence him to prison but such a place could only mean death for the old man. Maybe his lawyer could plead for a case of mental illness but seeing his condition, it was only a matter of time before his obsession consumed him, leaving him an empty shell.

Just like a robot, how ironic. Speaking of which...

He turned to the robot standing a few feet away to his left. The rigid way in which it stood sent a spike of anxiety through his body. Was Ty really in there? He approached it tentatively, his footsteps ringing in the desolate station.

“Roy, I’m glad everything’s okay.” It was Ty’s voice again.

Caution laced his tone. “Yes things turned out fine.”

As he neared the robot, he noticed how mechanical its movements were - just like Six-seven. The fact that he couldn’t read her unsettled him. It was what made Ty so humane. To suddenly hear her voice emitting from such a…. robot - it sent the chills down his spine.

“Wha-what happened to you?” Roy asked tentatively as he drew near.

The robot paused, its lips drawn into a straight line. It seemed to deliberate its next words and Roy held his breath in anticipation. When it finally spoke, Roy gave an involuntary shudder.

“This may come as a shock. To make a long story short, Six-seven and me now share this body. We are one and the same.”