Imperium

Chapter 4: Built on Trust

Colin finishes a load of laundry and carries the full basket out to the living room while Connor starts preparing dinner for when Lucian gets home.

The SRL sets the basket down and makes his way into the kitchen. "Hey, is there someway I can help?" he asks which gets Connor to turn his head back to see his eager gaze.

Connor chuckles. "You know you're allowed to relax too, right? You've been here for about a day already and you haven't even sat down once," he says with a smile.

Colin shrugs. Maybe it's the fact that he's an older model SRL and thus he doesn't need sleep as much as a Bio does, but he knows that he's not fooling anyone. He's still anxious about Edith but he doesn't know why. At first, it was the excitement of knowing that she's pregnant. But now it feels more like that uncertainty he was feeling before but he just can't place why he's feeling it. Edith is safe and asleep in the other room, as she has been all day. He has nothing to worry about.

"Remember, I'm not human. I only need rest after I've taken damage to my emotional energy. I can keep going for a while," Colin says.

Connor eyes him with a lost look in his eyes. "What does that mean?"

Colin chuckles. "To put it plainly, if I have an emotional breakdown, I'll need to take a nap after."

Connor laughs a little and shrugs. "I'll just have to take your word for it. It still blows my mind that machines are people where you're from," he says and starts boiling a pot of water on the stove.

Colin sighs and slowly nods. "SRL. I know we're still a new concept to you, but be careful to not throw the term 'machine' around too much. For us, that's basically a slur," he explains and grabs the box of spaghetti noodles that Connor had set out on the counter.

Connor lets out a small gasp and covers his mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you..." he stops when Colin smiles and shakes his head.

"It's alright, you didn't know. Just make sure to be careful about it, especially with Edith. She might still be a bit sensitive about being an SRL since it was only a year ago that she found out about it," he says and pours the box into the pot of boiling water.

Connor tilts his head at him in question. "Wait... Edith is an SRL, too? I couldn't even tell," he says. Colin chuckles emptily.

"Yeah... Neither could she at first. She's unique in how 'human' she appears. No other SRL was made with the same design as I made her."

"You... built her?" Connor asks.

The SRL sighs and nods. "Yeah... Well, a part of me did. I told you before about where we came from and a bit of what happened, so you know that I used to be a soul split into two separate entities. My heart and my mind. Well, it was my mind that created her and my heart made sure I couldn't make any more SRL like her. And for good reason," he sighs.

Connor slowly nods his small fraction of understanding. "So... Let me get this straight... Your mind, which was living as its own sentient being, built Edith. What about your heart?"

Colin cocks a brow. "What about it?"

"If your heart was a sentient person before and is now fueling your emotions... I mean, you seem pretty attached to Edith emotionally. Did your heart have some hand in making her?" Connor asks and Colin shakes his head.

"No... That attachment is nothing more than my emotions reminding me of my love for her. As if I'd ever forget," he looks down the hall at the door to the spare room with a longing gaze.

Connor slowly turns back to start stirring the noodles. "You love her?"

Colin simply nods without looking away from the door. "I do. More than anything," the noir accent slips through again.