Edwin didn’t mind the small red light on Rowan’s neck. The mark that only meant one thing: cyborg. The bionic half-humans who had been created to be servants and workers for humans throughout the United States. Automical creatures destined to be inferiors, to be considered as nothing but subordinates. To never be loved.

But Edwin ignored all of that. As he gazed down on Rowan’s sleeping face, drinking in the sight of the cyborg’s clear skin and soft pink lips, he felt a sense of peace wash over his body. Only Rowan had the ability to love and support Edwin. 

“You’re watching me,” Rowan suddenly said, although his eyes were shut. 

Edwin’s mouth curled into a smile as he sat up on the bed. “Am I not allowed to?”

The cyborg’s eyelids fluttered and he turned to look at Edwin with a curious expression. “As your boyfriend, I am programmed to allow you to do anything you want to me, which includes watching me while I reboot.”

A small pause lingered, but was quickly interrupted by the soft laughter from the two men. The side of the bed dipped as Edwin laid back down, situating himself right next to Rowan’s warm body. He wrapped an arm around the cyborg’s muscular torso, curling against him until his face was mere inches from Rowan’s lips.

“I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie tonight,” mumbled Edwin. He pressed a light kiss on Rowan’s broad shoulder. “You’re not busy, are you?”

“My boss is still on her business trip," replied Rowan. "I don’t need to go to work until Sunday.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” said Edwin, just as his phone started buzzing. It was another tiresome reminder that class would start in five minutes. A short sigh escaped Edwin's lips. “I really don’t want to get up.”

Rowan chuckled softly as he pulled Edwin closer towards him, noticing Edwin’s rapidly rising heartbeat as he did so. “Let’s stay like this for just a few more seconds.”

Giggling softly, Edwin brought his fingers up to Rowan’s perfectly shaped cheekbones and began to trace his fingers along the curves. “What movie should we watch tonight? Something scary? Romantic?”

“Something...erotic,” the cyborg teased, raising his eyebrows at his boyfriend.

“Alright, that's enough,” Edwin muttered, earning a laugh from Rowan. He heaved himself up and glanced warily at the time. “Crap, my driver’s gonna be here.” In a frenzy, Edwin began to pull on his socks.

Rowan sat up on the bed, ignoring his constant reminders about the tasks he had to complete once Edwin left. “What should dinner be? Burgers again?”

Edwin shoved multiple papers into his backpack. “Um, how about pasta instead?”

A small note appeared in Rowan’s vision, displaying the recipe he always chose to make Edwin’s favorite pasta. “Got it. I’ll get more noodles at the market later.”

Edwin nodded, pausing to reach over and rest his palm against the cyborg’s cheek. “Thanks, love. Make sure to cover your neck.”

Rowan kissed Edwin quickly. “I know.” He crawled out of the bed and began scouring around the room for clean clothes to wear.

“Damn it,” Edwin muttered when he noticed the time. Opening the door, Edwin stomped his feet into his shoes. “I’ll leave first! Lock the door behind you when you go! I love you!”

Rowan didn’t have time to reply when the door slammed shut. A hush fell into the house, despite the annoying buzzing of electricity coming from Edwin's numerous computers and devices. Sighing, Rowan turned around and headed back to the bedroom, where his shoes and socks still remained. With all the time left until Edwin would return, Rowan decided to busy himself with his chores. 

About half an hour had passed when a soft click from Rowan’s finger caught his attention. He turned off the automated vacuum below him and immediately pressed the pad of his finger onto the miniscule projector implanted into his wrist. A holographic message came up, and it was from Edwin. 

Sorry, I left my pamphlets at home. Can you drop them off at my school? The portfolio’s in the closet. Love you!

Rowan chuckled softly once he read the message. Smiling stupidly to himself, he closed the projector and made his way to Edwin’s walk-in closet. Numerous boxes and papers were stacked along the walls, forming a towering perimeter around Edwin’s luxurious clothes. 

The cyborg spotted the portfolio messily placed between one of the shelves, as if it had been shoved in. He knelt down and gingerly picked it up. Edwin’s personal work was secretive to everyone, even to Rowan. Therefore, the loyal cyborg never pushed any questions. His system didn’t allow it. 

As Rowan turned to leave with the papers, he spotted an open photo book lying near the corner of the closet. Curious, Rowan slowly reached over and peered down, wondering what the photos displayed.

It was a very old album, with printed pictures and old fashioned plastic confinements to keep them in place. Rowan chuckled softly when he saw an adorable photo of Edwin as a younger boy. Here, Edwin stood next to his aunt, both wearing large grins as they posed in front of the White House. Even then, at the age of ten or eleven, Edwin still had the same charming smile that drew everyone’s attention. Rowan gazed at the other photos, flipping through the pages and examining the photos with awe. Edwin never discussed his childhood or adolescent years with Rowan. Now, seeing the pictures, Rowan was almost relieved to know that Edwin once had a different life, one full of youth and innocence. 

The cyborg finally came across the last few pages. Glancing over the images, Rowan frowned when he realized that he wasn't looking at Edwin anymore, but a completely different person. In various angles, backgrounds, and sceneries, the stranger was in the midst of doing something. In one photo, he was walking down the street with another man. In another, he was walking into a VR arcade. In another, he was with Rowan’s boss, having a conversation inside her office.

Rowan studied the images carefully. The man wore simple clothes that looked horribly bland compared to Edwin’s. He looked young and tired, with facial features that made Rowan's heart twist with shock. This person was too familiar, and Rowan believed he'd seen him before. Somewhere, from whatever memory he obtained, Rowan couldn't help but wonder if he knew him.

As he started to study the picture again, sharp pings jabbed at his back irritatingly, signaling that his stress levels were drastically rising. His mind was filling with negative thoughts, but he didn't care. Something inside his heart told him to keep looking, and the cyborg obeyed. 

Rowan froze when he finally came across the last picture. In the photo, the man was getting in one of the hovering Skybuses at a local stop in a city Rowan knew too well. The stranger's face was full of obvious concern, but for a reason Rowan could not decipher. Taking out the picture and turning it over, his eyes focused on a small description scrawled in the center.

November 23rd, 2087.

Three days after Rowan was created.

He started to flip through all the photos again, pulling out multiple and turning them over to see the descriptions. The numbers were all dates, everything from the past, and he could easily recognize Edwin’s scribbled handwriting on all of them. Slowly, an unusual wave of confusion flooded into Rowan’s head. The jabs on his back grew stronger while he dug into his mind, trying to extract any memory of a life from the past. 

As he rummaged through the pictures, multiple bright signs splattered over his vision. They all warned him that his breathing was getting too quick, that his heart rate was going faster and faster. But the cyborg did not stop as he studied the images over and over again, straining against the painful jabs along his spine. Soon, a swarm of yellow hazards mixed in with the same photos all depicting Rowan, only Rowan, screaming at him to stop. Warning, warning, warning, warning—

He suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him and quickly spun around. To his surprise, Edwin stood at the doorway, staring back with a shocked and confused expression. His eyes peered from the photobook lying on the ground, and then at Rowan’s trembling body.

“I thought you went to class,” Rowan said slowly. His heartbeat was abnormally fast.

Edwin nodded, avoiding Rowan’s gaze and staring at the photobook instead. “I had to come back for the folders.”

Rowan's hand, squeezing the pictures, pressed against the small of his back—a feeble attempt to hide what he was holding. “You told me to drop them off at your school.”

Pausing for a moment, Edwin’s eyes followed the cyborg’s movements and he clenched his jaw. Ignoring Rowan’s words, he placed his bag down next to his feet and asked, “What’s that in your hand, love?”

Rowan’s arms twitched. “Pictures.” He quickly held them up. “I’d like to know what they’re about.”

A soft beep echoed in the back of Rowan’s aching head, and he realized that his sensors were indicating Edwin’s increasing temper: racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, twitching fingers. Edwin was hiding something.

“They’re not important,” Edwin lied. He walked over and reached to grab the pictures, but Rowan pulled away. 

“Tell me,” the cyborg whispered hoarsely. There was something wrong with his vocal functions, as if his throat was suddenly closing up. “Tell me why it’s me in those pictures.”

Edwin’s face flushed red. “That’s not you!”

“Really?” Rowan retorted, shoving the pictures up for his partner to see. “This looks exactly like me, Edwin. You told me I was born like this, with no other life before that. Are you hiding something from me? About my past?” He froze for a moment, suddenly filled with the horrid epiphany that he’d been dreading to bring up. “Who...was I?”

Edwin stared at the ground, saying nothing, only increasing Rowan’s indescribable fury. For a moment, Rowan couldn’t detect what his emotions were. There was too much pain, too many uncontrollable emotions that overpowered his intricate mind. The cyborg was frantic now, shaking and trembling like never before. Every system in his body, meant to create him as a graceful, perfect being, felt dirtied and useless. This wasn’t him anymore.

For once, Rowan felt like a human. 

“We were classmates,” Edwin began before Rowan could start throwing any more questions. Edwin’s voice sounded scratched raw. “During our last year of high school, you rejected me after I said I loved you. I never realized that we would meet again, years later at my aunt’s company.”

Rowan couldn’t move. “I really had a life? Before this?”

Edwin nodded miserably. “I...I still loved you too much. I started following you around, waiting for the right moment to approach you. Then, one day, you weren’t looking when you crossed the street and you died, Rowan. I saw you get hit and I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.”

Rowan’s mind went blank. He stared back at Edwin, who began to sniffle and wipe away the tears escaping his eyes. 

“So I did the only thing to rescue you. I took you to my laboratory and brought you back to life. Your organs had failed, but your brain and heart were still functioning. I did everything I could to save you, Rowan, even if it meant erasing your memories. And then...” Edwin stopped. His eyes were still glued to the ground. 

“And then what?” Rowan asked. 

“I created you to become my own cyborg.”

A blazing red suddenly engulfed Rowan’s vision. Loud alarms rang in his ears and he let out a disheveled cry, stumbling to the floor. The jabs became stronger until Rowan thought his spine was coming apart. His mind was screaming that something was wrong, something so horribly wrong that he had no idea of. 

“N-No! Please—” Rowan’s voice sounded different. He gasped in pain, staring up at the red vision of Edwin standing over him. He had no time to fight back, to run from this monster who he thought was his boyfriend. 

Edwin knelt down, pressing a gentle hand onto Rowan’s quivering shoulder. “Don’t worry, love. You’ll understand soon.”

And the world around Rowan melted into darkness.

***

Edwin stood from his spot at the computer, waiting for the chip to complete the transfer. He anxiously peered through the data, confirming that the past events had been erased and there was no sign of negative emotions left. A small beep signaled the completion of the transfer, and Edwin quickly yanked out the chip. He forced himself to focus, despite his shaking fingers. Walking to the bed, he reconnected the newly updated chip into Rowan’s open back, where the small object sank into the spine. Edwin listened to the slow whirs and clicks quietly stirring to life from Rowan's motionless body. 

A familiar red light bloomed at the center of Rowan’s neck. Moments later, his eyelids twitched before he opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling in silent haziness. Then, his gaze lingered to the side, where he saw Edwin, and a smile grew on his perfect lips. 

“Edwin,” Rowan whispered gently, reaching out to grab his shaky hand. “Are you alright?”

Edwin forced himself to kneel beside the bed. Pushing back the immense guilt that swarmed around his head, he smiled reassuringly to Rowan.

“Of course, love,” Edwin replied softly, gripping his boyfriend’s hand. “Everything’s alright.”