One day I shot an android

Mankind had colonized numerous planets and was advanced enough to be able to build humanoid robots. The only thing that stopped these androids from being perfect was their short life-span. I had heard that most only lived for 13 years, but I had not been alive long enough to see that. Neither I nor my android had. Yet. A13 was my first and only android. I got him when I was three and I had not realized he was an android until I was six years old. I had always thought he was my older brother. So imagine my surprise when I discovered he was not. “Why are you getting a kid if you aren’t going to give him an older brother to watch out for him?” My grandmother had once asked my mom. The answer was clear: it was up to me. I knew it would be a while until I was old enough to take care of my brother, so I decided to get an android. That was the easiest decision I’d ever made, and I knew it would be worth it. That was eight years ago. Since then, A13 had been nothing but good to me. He played with me, protected me and comforted me. I loved him like a brother. One day, I decided to shoot him. I had always wanted to learn how to shoot a bow, but I was too young, so A13 helped me practice. I shot until I ran out of arrows and I decided to finish with the last one on him. I shot him straight in the chest. It went in deep and I rushed to pull it out. I could see there was a small amount of blood. “Ow,” he said. “Do you want to do it again?” I was confused. “You know you can’t feel pain right?” “What?” “Why are you bleeding?” “I don’t know.” We both rushed to my mother. When she saw the blood, she called a doctor. I didn’t know if androids could get hurt, so I was worried, but I had never seen him act like this before, so I was not too scared. When the doctor arrived, I was surprised to see it wasn’t an android. I had never seen a human do anything other than relax and live their lives. The doctor took A13 away to do some tests and I stayed with my mother. A couple of days passed before the doctor came back. My mother and I were alone at home, so A13 wasn’t there to protect us, but we weren’t scared. We lived in a safe neighborhood, where all the houses had a big backyard with high walls that nobody could climb. “Are you ok?” My mother asked as soon as she saw the doctor. “Why did you come alone?” “I’m fine and A13 is fine too. But he’s not an android.” “What?” “Yes. His blood wasn’t blue like an android’s, but red. His organs look more human than android. I did some tests and it appears he’s half human.” I gasped. “What? Is that possible?” “Yes. Apparently. I did more tests to check his DNA and it appears he’s actually your son.” I was confused. I had never had sex with anyone, I was only 14. “How?” I asked. The doctor sighed. “I don’t know. But you are his mother. And if that’s the case, then you must have given him birth. I checked his age. He’s 11 years old. It appears you gave him birth when you were three.” “Mhm. That explains why I thought he was my older brother,” I said. “He was my older brother.” “But why is he an android?” My mother asked. “I went to talk to his creator, but he denied creating him. I called the company he works for and I got the same answer. I called other companies and they all denied ever having created him. It appears, he was never an android. But how is that possible? You can tell if someone is an android, just by looking at them.” “I can’t tell,” I said. “I didn’t know he was an android until I was six!” “But that’s because you are his mother,” the doctor said. “You couldn’t see him as an android. To you, he will always be your son.” “But you said you could tell just by looking at him.” “Yes. I can tell now. I can see he’s not an android. But before, I couldn’t. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s half human, but I couldn’t tell. But that still doesn’t explain why did his creator call him an android?” “Unless,” my mother said, “it’s because it was the only way to keep him alive.” “What?” “Yes. The company that claims to have created him. They’re no longer in business. And do you know why? Because they were doing experiments on living people to turn them into androids. They were taking people from the streets. I’m sure that’s what happened to your son. They took him from you when he was born and they experimented on him. They made him strong, but they only gave him 13 years of life.” “But if that’s the case,” I said, “then what does ‘A13’ mean?” “I’m sure it’s short for ‘Android 13 years of life’,” the doctor said. “But don’t worry. As I said, he’s half human. That means he’s not going to die in two years.” “Thank God.” “Mhm. The human part of him is going to help him live longer. I’m sure he’ll live a normal life.” Three months passed since then and A13 and I were very happy. But one day, he came to me. He looked sad. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “I’ve been living for 11 years,” he said. “That means that in two years I’m going to die.” “But you’re half human.” “But I’ve already lived 11 years. It doesn’t matter if I’m half human. 13 years is 13 years. The human part of me can’t change that.” “But didn’t the doctor say-“ “I’m not an android,” he said. “But I’m not human either. I have a human body, but it was cut in half and replaced with wires and chips. I’m not sure how they did it, but that’s what they did. But it doesn’t matter. I’m going to die in two years.” “But you said you were fine with dying when you thought you were an android.” “I said that because I had no choice. But now I do. I want to live. I want to see you grow and live your life. I don’t want to leave you.” I hugged him. I didn’t know what to say. I could feel his fear. I knew how he felt and I knew there was nothing I could say to comfort him. Because he was right. Even though he was half human, he was still only going to live 13 years. But I had an idea. I went to the doctor and told him the situation. I asked him if he could take the human part of A13 out. If he could take out his organs and replace them with android ones. That way, he would be able to live forever. The doctor agreed to do it and called me the day of the operation. “Is he ok?” “Yes. Everything went smoothly. But he’s not going to wake up for a while. Why don’t you take the day off school and come later?” “How long will he be sleeping?” “At least 3 days.” I hung up the phone and I didn’t go to school. I stayed home wondering how he was. I went to the hospital after dinner and the doctor told me everything was fine. I asked to see him and he took me to where he was. He looked fine. It didn’t look like anything had happened to him. I sat next to him and caressed his hair. “Are you ok A13?” His eyes opened. “Yeah. I’m fine.” “You can talk?” “Yeah. I can talk and move. But I can’t walk. That’s why I didn’t walk here.” I gasped. I had forgotten that he couldn’t feel pain. “You should be hurt!” “But I’m not,” he said. “The surgery was a success. I’m an android now. I can live forever!” I cried. I had never been so happy in my life. My brother was not going to die. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “I was just so worried about you,” I said. “I thought you were not going to make it.” “I made it,” he said. “Don’t worry.” “I’m not worried,” I said. “I’m just happy.” He smiled. “Yay,” he said. “I can finally watch you grow.” “How old am I going to be when you realize I’m hot?” He laughed. “I don’t know. But you’ll always be the same to me. You’ll always be my little sister.” I smiled. “Good.” “I love you.” “I love you too.”

One day I shot an android

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