Vanilla Dusk ✓

Half Part 1

Emir dipped the round head of his long paintbrush into the colour plate, twirling it until the tip was soaked in crimson. He traced the line of the rose petals on the canvas and stopped midway, his gaze shifting between the actual vase of roses placed on the table a meter away and the one in his painting. His hand began to tremble. He looked back and forth, clutching the brush tight in his palm and the tip began to shake, adding an unintended dot of red to the roses. He growled and snapped the brush into two, ripping the canvas off the stand. He tossed the torn canvas aside, right next to a pile of others that suffered the same fate. He threw the colour plate to the ground, watching the paint splash and the plate crack. A few drops splattered onto his pants but he ignored it. He proceeded to shove everything from his work table to the ground. He slumped down next to the rolling brushes. He picked up a few pastel pencils and broke them, flinging the chalk at the wall as he cried in exasperation. When he destroyed everything in sight, he began to smash his own fist at the ground, his cries growing loud and clear.

It was no use. He couldn't paint anymore. Every time he picked up a brush, his mind would drift off. He would be lost in a trance and when his eyes fell back on the canvas, his work was full of blemishes.

If his brother hadn't encouraged him to paint again, he wouldn't have touched any of these tools that had been locked up in the storage room for three years.

A sudden knock from downstairs brought him back to senses. He left the mess behind and slammed the door. He wondered who it was. He hadn't ordered anything and nobody had been around for years. He hadn't allowed anyone to drop by for a visit. He ran his fingers through his dishevelled, slick hair which he hadn't washed for days. His shirt was half buttoned up with his pants tainted with paints. His face was pale and it hurt to go into the light. He hadn't stepped out of his house for almost a year and even the slightest beam filtering into the sitting room discomforted him. Packages, plastic boxes and cans were scattered across the house. When he opened the front door, he blocked the light with his arm and squinted at a parcel on his porch. He peeped around but couldn't catch the deliveryman.

Emir rolled his eyes as he attempted to pick up the parcel, but it was extremely heavy, almost weighing the same as an adult man. Not only was it heavy, but it was also huge, reaching up to his hips. It must have been a grave mistake. He didn't order anything from the Internet.

'Gosh.' Emir quickly dragged the parcel into his house and shut the door, no longer able to endure the light. He squatted down and examined the mystifying item. Just when he was about to open it, it shifted, startling him. Emir staggered back and gasped as the parcel began to shake violently. Whatever inside was struggling to leap out and as expected, within seconds, the package was torn open and out jumped a...

'What on earth is going on?' If Emir hadn't been fully awake, he was now.

Standing in front of him was a boy around his age, with choppy chestnut hair and a pair of chocolate brown eyes that came with long lashes. He had a glamorous, androgynous face with creamy skin, a slender physique that allowed him to wear a black-and-white lace maid dress with some curves.

'Is this a joke?' yelled Emir as he stared flabbergasted at the pair of cat ears on the boy's head.

'Yo! This is Shane 2.0, the latest model from Hirano Technology Ltd.,' said the boy robotically. 'I have been sent here specifically to serve you, my new owner.'

Emir blinked silently at the android, wishing that he had been dreaming. Whoever pulling this prank on him must be sick, downright sick. Even though he hadn't been out for a while, he knew what was going on in the world outside. Androids had been created for a decade and they had been produced in mass to take on jobs abandoned by humans. Some were sent to the labour force as workers; some to households as domestic helpers. All of them had the same gleaming, silvery face, lifeless eyes and mechanical limbs with only a model number on their foreheads distinguishing them from one another. But none, absolutely none of the androids on sale out there, as Emir remembered, possessed a face like this, one so flawless that the eyes could blink naturally, the lips could curve into a smile and the skin was almost as soft as a human one.

Or had he been too detached from the outside world that he didn't notice the emerging trend?

Emir slapped himself hard and the android jumped out of the box briskly. He fell on one knee and grabbed Emir's hand, kissing it. This act was sufficient to send Emir screaming and leaping backwards until he fell on a chair.

'From now on, please give me commands. I shall make your dreams come true.'

Shane 2.0 smiled. It looked so ghostly it sent chills down Emir's spine. How could someone create a thing like this, using Shane's face and voice?

'Don't come near me, you freak,' cried Emir as he moved away from the android. He paced around the house and began to shout, 'Stop joking around! Who are you? Come out at this instant! I'm not amused! Stop pranking me!'

No response.

'You're sickening me!' hollered Emir, balling his hands into fists ready to punch the prankster.

Still no response.

The android tilted his head and walked towards him. 'Do you need some help, Sir?'

'Good gracious, I told you to stop nearing me!' yelled Emir as he raced towards the front door and opened it, pointing it outside. 'Go! Leave my house before I call somebody.'

'Sorry, I can't do that, Sir,' replied the android with a shrug. 'If you kick me out, I will burn down the house.'

And he looked damn serious.

Emir stood at the door speechlessly and decided that it would be best if he just ran out to seek help. The moment he stepped out, the android followed him, only encouraging him to quicken his pace. Belong long, he was basically sprinting down the street but the neighbourhood was so quiet and deserted there was no one he could bump into.

'Where are you going, Sir?' said the android as he chased after him. 'I'm programmed to serve you, Emir Esmark. I shall follow your commands provided that I stay beside you. I cannot leave until the goal is accomplished.'

'Shoot you,' shouted Emir as he ran faster. 'I don't care what your goal is. Leave me alone! Help!'

He now regretted locking himself up inside the house for so long, because the light was starting to daze him. He ran and panted. His head was spinning and he started gasping for air. He slowed down a little and hell, the android was fast. He hadn't gone farther than half a block but he caught up to him in no time.

'Please come back with me, Sir,' said the android, a hint of apprehension in his voice. 'You're low on glucose. If you continue running, you will faint.'

Only then did Emir remember that he hadn't even eaten anything since last night. He felt weak and the heat was suffocating him. The townhomes and bungalows on the street began to whirl in front of him. He blinked hard and saw two overlapping faces of the android.

'Sir, are you okay?'

'Don't...touch me,' wheezed Emir as he collapsed. The android caught him and scooped him up effortlessly.

When Emir regained his consciousness, he was lying on his own sofa with a wet cooling towel folded on his forehead. The android had carried him back to the house and was crouching by his side on the floor.

'Why the heck are you still here?' Emir had thought it was a dream when he passed out, but it clearly wasn't. Shane 2.0 looked dejected for a moment but soon his pout disappeared and he handed Emir a glass of cool water. The boy still felt numb and dozy but he decided to quench his thirst first. He had been out in the sun for too long trying to evade this abnormal machine.

'I know you aren't so keen on seeing me, Sir,' said the android. 'But I cannot leave. I've been programmed to stay beside you and if you kick me out, I will activate self-explosion and burn down this house.'

Emir dropped both his jaw and the glass he was holding.