A/N: ShuAke Icey AU! I’m going to treat this crack game seriously, so uhm, angst here we go? You don’t need to play the game to understand anything of the story, but I do recommend it for laughters.

“Just defeat him!! Are you that dumb?! You didn’t listen to my instructions again and again and it just slowed all of us down, make you die several times and just wasted our time!”

Ren sighed, stubbornly looking at that door. All his training and his journey led him to this. The world was vast, even though he’ve seen small parts of it. There was no human alive, narrator claimed it was because of Akechi but Ren wasn’t sure what to believe.

He didn’t see Akechi destroying the world. It’s what he was told by the narrator since he first opened his eyes in the laboratory.

He has a choice in this, right? He can just not fight, right?

He fought Akechi for countless of times and always came back to the very beginning as if nothing happened. It didn’t matter if he won or lost, he always replayed the same stage. Now he was more powerful, with commands to help him control further of the world. He could just transport to battle Akechi until the promised world peace will arrive.

But now? He didn’t believe any of this. So, his best solution is to just stand in front of that door, until the narrator will get bored.

If only he could mercy Akechi like he did with that sleeping girl to save time. No matter how much he explored his freedom of choice, the result was always the same.

“Game transport finalboss”

Loading final boss …

Ren just ignored all feelings as usual as he took out his sword.

“You can kill me if you want. It’ll just end up the same,” Ren said.

“Very heroic of you,” Akechi was sarcastic as usual.

“My only aim is to kill you.”

“Yet you give me permission to finish you? Where’s the fun in that?”

“My only aim is to kill you.”

A battle begun. The details didn’t matter. Akechi was too predictable after battling him so many times. He’ll just finish this quick before starting this again. Perhaps he could find different ways to go torment the narrator.

“M-mom!! It’s not the time right now!! I’m working–What do you mean there’s dinner? I finally polished this boss fight–“

Ren’s eyes widen, he has several minutes of silent and freedom! Perhaps he could break this cycle!

”Fine!! I’m coming!! Don’t shut down electricity please!”

“W-what are you doing?!” Akechi shrieked as Ren grabbed his hand.

Game transport Outskirts

Loading Outskirts …

“…What are you doing? What is this place?” Akechi asked, noticing Ren’s eyes were still blank. It felt as if he was in a different space outside their own. Ren’s hands were cold, Akechi guessed Androids had no warmth to them.

Game delete Ren.EXE

Are you sure you want to delete the game? You won’t be able to regain the files again. (y/n)

Y

Deleting game files, it might take a few minutes. …

It was the hardest minutes of Ren’s life, but finally, he didn’t hear the white noise. He was sure he won’t hear the narrator again.

“I’m free…” Ren sighed in relief.

“Did you hit that mechanic head of yours before coming to my area?!” Akechi pouted, quickly taking out his hand from Ren’s grasp.

Silence from Ren’s side, Akechi felt much more annoyed.

“You can go, or kill me. I don’t have to kill you anymore.”

“Who do you think you are to boss me around?”

A shrug, “do what you want.”

“Don’t you want to save the world?” - “No.”

Akechi sighed, “I’m wasting my time… From what are you freed, then?”

“My creator, the god of this place.”

Akechi could swear Ren was lying. After all, he did nothing but stare into space. Still, his mechanic expression didn’t show any form of a joke or a lie. It was cold as usual. Whatever, if he doesn’t have to fight Ren, he can focus on the important things—

“Dad!!! I looked for you everywhere!” A ginger girl hugged Akechi’s waist.

“I’m surprised you arrived here that fast,” he carried the girl on his back. More surprised she wasn’t killed when Ren raided his area.

“T~e~l~e~p~o~r~t~a~t~i~o~n”

“I get it, no need to sing it.”

“Umm… Dad? Is an android supposed to fall like that?”

Akechi groaned, seeing Ren unconscious on the grass. Perhaps Ren acted lunatic because of lack of charging. Perhaps he needed a restart to clear his hardware.

Still, it would be uncomfortable to leave him on the grass, android or not.

“There’s a cabin nearby. Let’s go Futaba.” Somehow Akechi carried both an Android and his little sister to the cabin. They’ve lost their parents when Futaba was a baby, so she was more comfortable calling him dad. Akechi didn’t mind it. They were the few human survivors of the world. A bit of comfort in a dystopian world shouldn’t hurt, right?

32.4 MB of update is downloading, please wait a few …

Please add a new aim.

Null

You can’t leave objective empty. Please add a new aim.

Random

New aim selected: restore the world to the state before the disaster.

***Update is now downloading, please wait … ***

Ren had all the time in the world to wait. He enjoyed the darkness and silence. It felt like his body could relax after a long time.

Update is finished. System will be rebooted once battery is full.

Can I die?

We encrypt and store your memories in a cloud. You can transfer them to a newer model if this one gets damaged or outdated. We also schedule security updates and automatic restarts for you. To avoid malware, we schedule security updates and automatic restarts every so often. Outsiders can only download files into your software once you’re turned on and giving permission. When not turned on, your data is encrypted with no access to it from outsiders.

Ren sighed, deciding to just keep silent for now. His terminal will stimulate dreaming after a while of silence. He didn’t enjoy dreaming; it was always frightening. Much more scary than the monsters he battled in loops.

Ren’s body never felt this heavy or warm. It took him several moments to realise something was on his body.

He slapped away the blanket from his body before he shifted his gaze to the body beside him. Ren felt threatened and baffled. What kind of strategy is that to trap him?

He saw that girl he spared sleeping beside him. She clenched his body. He wasn’t sure this girl tried to kill him, trap him, or just enjoy his presence.

“You never slept in a bed before?”

Ren shifted his murderous intent in the direction of the voice.

“It would’ve been smarter if you killed me in my sleep instead of trapping me.”

Akechi stared at Ren with such confusion and shock that Ren felt guilty.

“Ren, what were your living conditions at home?”

Ren raised a brow. “I’m not human, if you couldn’t tell.”

“Even a toddler could tell you’re an Android, Ren.”

“Should I tell you androids only need a charger? Or that you can run them until they’ll break, since they’re replaceable and in 15 minutes max you’ll have a new one?”

Akechi sighed, “why do you think the world was destructed.”

“You, of course. That’s why I was assigned to kill you.”

“No. I guess they created you after that disaster… Androids killed their ‘masters’ as they were fed up with the way they were being treated, causing them great stress.”

The monsters he killed all throughout the way were Android…? They were weaker and more foolish than him. They also didn’t look humans, they looked robots.

Akechi was lost in thoughts, did his silence give him food for thought?

“I’ll go make dinner.” Akechi stood from his chair, before he put back the blanket on Ren and Futaba.

“Are you trying to trap me again?”

“No, it’s keeping both of you cozy. If you feel uncomfortable, you can take it off.”

Cozy… He did not need such a thing. Still, he felt warm with this girl cuddling him and with the blanket on top of him. He didn’t need to feel those feelings. He only needs to kill. Perhaps he should learn how to heal if his aim is to save the world, though.

“You don’t look uncomfortable. That’s good. Just enjoy yourself. I’ll turn on the TV, watch something while dinner is getting prepared.”

Passive white noise, it didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as the sounds from the narrator. Perhaps he can enjoy himself. It would be easier for Akechi to kill him off that way. Perhaps Akechi gained Ren’s trust in order to kill him when he’d least expect it.

All of this would be stupid if it’s not the case. Even a charger he didn’t need anymore, he could charge himself when being shut down. That battery that charged him was rechargeable, too.

“There’re more ingredients here than I thought,” Akechi was thinking out loud. Ren used to do it when he was still fighting dummies on the lab. It felt lonely back then, having nobody to talk to and just hearing orders. How silly, Ren long discarded those feelings. The only thing that mattered was his aim, but now, nothing mattered.

He was out of his misery, out of his repeatable life, out of the constant insults and noise from the narrator, his creator. Yet, he didn’t feel as relieved as he thought he would. Nothing mattered to him. Even the view of the world he used to enjoy was too familiar.

He can’t die unless he’ll delete his files from the cloud, but that was way out of his reach inside the terminal. They should have saved access to the game in the cloud. That would have been helpful.. His creator was a fool.

There’s nothing he can do but shut himself down forever. He doubted Akechi won’t turn him on, though. He didn’t want to suffer any of those dreams either. Ren had limited capabilities within the terminal, such as getting stronger, updating, teleporting, and making minor changes.

A warm, unfamiliar scent hit Ren’s senses. His body instantly relaxed. He could only assume it’s the smell of Akechi’s dinner. The scent of food had an effect he didn’t know could be caused. He only drank medicine when his HP was low or he needed a temporary stat boost.

Eating wouldn’t harm his body, but it was mostly pointless. Medicine worked in battle, but he could easily restore everything by connecting to the terminal in a safer area..

“Food…” the girl muttered beside him, holding him tighter.

“Too comfortable to wake up…”

Ren raised a brow. “Aren’t you awake though?”

Light snores replied to him, he guessed not. Still, her grasp felt suffocating. Whatever, he dealt with stronger enemies.

After a while in the warmth, Ren’s eyes gradually closed. Strange, he never acted like that unless he needed a charge. His body felt tired, heavy and warm.

…Dad, are you sure he’s alright?

Shh, don’t wake him. He’s resting.

Food is warm, though.

I’ll warm it again once he’s awake.…

…A nap? No, it was stupid. One of his system must have malfunctioned.

Your system is perfectly fine. You are fatigued.

He can’t feel fatigue, he’s an Android. He can fight until his battery dies or his body falls apart.

He blinked any remains of sleep away. It was already dark.

How much time has passed since sleep mode?

2 hours, 10 minutes and 30 seconds.

Was I attacked during that time?

No. That girl touched your nose several times while saying: “boop”, though.

Any poison?

No.

Any drugs?

It’s the same question.

Any way I was harmed during sleep mode?

No.

Where is Akechi? Ren asked when he noticed no other energy in the room.

He left 30 minutes ago to tug ‘Futaba’ to bed.

Can I leave?

Yes.

How can the terminal know? Perhaps the lock was jerked up.

You can unlock the door from the inside.

Ren sighed. His best option would be to leave and plan his next actions. He doesn’t know what might happen in the future. He can run and fight, he’ll be fine.

He went out of the bed, grabbing his sword. Then he left the cabin. Nothing was too dangerous to him.

Akechi sighed as he gazed at the sleeping girl. He tried to keep a kind of daily routine despite his hard work.

“I hope he’s okay… His creator needs to pay for his crimes of abuse. Abusing Androids was long against the law. As the ruler of the world, he had to assure it so no one will die again. If Ren’s creator called himself a god, he might’ve been the true culprit of the disaster. The one who’s responsible for his parents’ death.

If that is the case, he sent Ren to kill him off in order to kill all humans and rule the world as a God. He can’t allow it. Ren said he was freed from his creator, but it didn’t mean he was paying for his crimes.

“I didn’t meet an Android in such a terrible shape before…” Ren was so tired, for a good reason, if he dedicated all his life to finish Akechi off. Still, what worried him more was how paranoid Ren was. He perceived the world as a place where you either kill or get killed.. He didn’t trust Akechi at all and took any act of kindness as means to finish him.

The amount of times Ren has mentioned Akechi killing him or indirectly asking him to kill him was concerning. Ren had no regards for his life. It was clear since the first moment they’ve met.

No one should feel like that, human or android.

“I should go to sleep myself…” He knew he’ll wake up tomorrow to Futaba clenching him. She was like a little duckling, always following him around. It surprised him she trusted and liked Ren as easily. She didn’t enjoy strangers at all.

It felt more and more right to take care of him. Androids needed love and care, despite what Ren’s creator believed. Brainwashing them won’t change that fact. Akechi went to his room and prepared to turn in for the night.

Finding the central computer was easy. He just went back to his laboratory, went down a couple floors and fought deadly monsters. Easy peasy, done it before.

His HP was low, but it didn’t matter. He’ll put an end to his suffering.

He opened the primary terminal before he got to work.

Cloud disable

Please enter a password in order to do admin commands. For your security, password won’t be viewable.

Ren scoffed. His creator was an idiot and used the same password everywhere. Easy peasy.

1134

Disabling cloud …

Ren then prepared his sword. Finally, it’ll be game over for good. No more trying to save the world, no more defeating monsters, no more having no freedom. He can finally feel relief.

“I knew you would be here…”

Maybe Akechi was his true nemesis after all.

“No one knows the existence of this lab.”

“No, but seeing traces of neon blue all the way here is enough.” Akechi pointed at Ren’s weapon. Whoever decided monsters will bleed neon blue liquid was an idiot. It made his sword shiny and cool, though.

“What are you doing, Ren?”

“Killing myself.”

Akechi had gotten closer to the Android, “I can’t allow it.”

“You can kill me yourself. I don’t mind as long as I’ll die.”

“That won’t happen either.”

“Still trying to gain my trust?”

Goro sighed, “Ren, put down your weapon. I don’t want to use force on you.”

“I don’t have to listen to anyone’s orders anymore.”

“Ren, please put down your weapon.” Akechi was mere centimetres away from him, radiating warmth. It shouldn’t be this way, Akechi should be deadly cold. For the first time in his life, Ren trembled. His weapon fell down from his hold and he trembled.

He was never afraid. He was a killing machine, after all. Ren’s purpose is not to have emotions, but to kill for a better future.

“S-stay a-away from m-me!” Ren had lost his cool. It never happened to him before. He always remained calm and knew what his next move would be.

Akechi took Ren’s weapon, confiscated it. He saw the Android malfunctioning before his eyes. All trembling from panic and repeating the same killing nonsense. There won’t be any self harm tonight, so things should be fine.

He saw the log of Ren’s on the vast screen. His system was preparing for a restart. Alright, that’s a good idea. Akechi prepared to catch Ren when he’ll fall. He should ask Futaba how to deal with a panic attack once they’ll get home.

“Feeling better now?”

“No.”

“What will help you feel better? Anything except dying.”

“You said you’ll warm me food once I’m up…”

Akechi smiled slightly. “Sure, I can do it.”

Akechi witness several androids eat in his life, but none of them were as cute as Ren. Not that he’ll say it out loud.

Ren’s shoulders relaxed just by smelling the rice porridge he heat. There was no microwave, so it was much slower warming it up on a pot.

Ren’s eyes sparkled as he ate. He always seemed dull of any emotion. Akechi was relieved to see Ren happy. Midnight snacks weren’t healthy, but he can make the exception for Ren if he won’t die.

“Is your HP back up?” Akechi asked.

“Yes. It takes slower than usual, though.”

“It’s not medicine… Let me guess, it’s your first time eating something that isn’t a pill.”

“I don’t need life luxuries. I just need medicine in case I’m in a dangerous situation and a safe place to shut down and charge.”

“You’re not a killing machine anymore, Ren.”

Ren was silent. It felt suffocating for Akechi. Akechi couldn’t do much, but give Ren time and patience.

“What am I supposed to do, then?”

“What do you like doing?”

“I have no such a thing. I do things because I must to.”

“You don’t want to listen to anyone’s orders, right? Then you don’t have to do anything.”

“I enjoy experiencing new things… Learning about everything the world offers.”

Akechi nodded. “We can do this together, if you want to, of course.”

“Are you that lonely after I killed 3 of your androids?”

“No, although you would’ve gone to jail if someone else did not orchestrate it.”

“I don’t think the law works like that.”

“I am the law here.”

Ren sighed, “My creator is gone. You won’t be able to find him.”

“Try me, Ren.”

“I’m too tired for that, Akechi.”

“My first name is Goro.”

Ren nodded. “I didn’t know that. Thanks.”

After a good meal and a long time of fighting, Ren felt drowsy. Sure, his HP was now full, but it doesn’t mean his battery was.

Battery state.

20%, entering power save mode. Certain features will be limited until you recharge.

Geez, did his battery was that weak? He was already shut down way too much today. It’s not like he can replace his body now.

You were running 1,000 hours without a break, Ren. Most of it was in power save mode

“… En… Ren? Ren?? Are you listening?” Ren blinked as Akechi waved his hand in front of his eyes.

“My sensors aren’t working when in the terminal.”

“Your eyes aren’t glowing anymore.”

“I’m in power save mode. Certain features are turned off, such as seamless connection to the network and optimised sensors. My eyes usually glow during dark places in order to see.”

“In order words, you need rest to charge.”

“I’m… Fine, Goro.” Apparently his speech module was limited during power save mode too. He didn’t know, since he battled in silence.

“Uh, huh. Okay, Ren, from now on you’re living with me. Your past doesn’t excuse you for acting recklessly and irresponsibly. You clearly need someone to take care of you, so I’m going to be that person.”

Ren felt fear again. Once again, someone is going to control him. He was in no state to fight. His weapon was gone. What will Goro force him to do? Would he live an endless life of labour? No, the cloud data was disabled. He’ll be fine. Once he’ll die, it’s game over.

“I will do nothing of what you’re thinking right now. I will not imprison you.”

Ren nodded. He felt those warm arms carrying him again. He felt butterflies in his stomach. What a strange phenomenon.

“You were created right after the war, right?”

A nod.

“It means you’re five. Around the same age as my sister. Sure, your artificial intelligence is much more developed, but technically, you’re a child.”

Silence.

“Let’s go to my place. I’m sure you’re familiar. Everything is still a bit of a mess after your raid, after all.”

Akechi held Ren tightly as he left to his place. Ren gradually closed his eyes, finally shutting down for the 3rd time today.

“Sweet dreams, Ren.”

A child… Ren wasn’t a child. His system was close to its end of life. It was possible to upgrade him and do security updates, but developers usually got tired and wanted to move into the next thing.

He’s lucky he got a limited amount of control in the terminal so he can make modifications. He only did those things for battle stats, though.

He didn’t think of his next stage in life. Sure, he had an aim, but it’s not like he desired it. He still thinks death will be his best course of action. He won’t feel like shit anymore.

OwAlibabawO would like to access your files, allow? (y/n)

n

OwAlibabawO would like to access your files, allow? (y/n)

n

OwAlibabawO would like to access your files, allow? (y/n)

… OwO?

Ren opened one of his eyes. “I don’t know who you are, but try to access my sources again and I’ll cut your throat.”

He heard a loud wail nearby and tears. … He might’ve threatened a five years old who just wanted to play around.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to threat you.” To be clear, Ren felt threatened, so of course he’ll do what he knows best, killing.

That didn’t help to soothe the younger girl. Perhaps allowing her access might help…?

y

…(⁠｡⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

“Y-you w-won’t kill me?”

“I have no weapon.” He showed the girl his hands.

“Besides, you have access to my code. You can disable any fighting abilities of skills you want.”

“By the way, Ren. Your code sucks. It’s not optimised at all,” the girl smirked.

“I know my developer is incompetent.”

“Off I go to optimise you!!”

“Hold up, you can’t do it while I’m turned on, it’ll break me apart–“

“What’s the password?” - “1134.”

Futaba frowned, “Ren in numbers? Really?”

“My developer is an idiot, I know.”

“Alright! Cloud is enabled again! Off we update!”

“Please disable.” - “Huh? Why??”

“Disable.” - “W-what if y-you’ll get d-damaged? Ó⁠╭⁠╮⁠Ò”

“That’s the point.”

“Don’t die!! I’ll cry if you’ll die!”

Ren has gotten silent. Someone would cry over him? That’s unexpected and saddening.

“Cloud has been updated! You can’t die now!”

“Update my software once the code is correct and optimised, I don’t want to malfunction.”

Futaba pouted, “I know how debug works!”

“By the way, why are you here?”

“Dad asked me to stay with you while he has meetings!! Then I saw I can connect you to my computer through NFC and I couldn’t hold myself, hehe!~”

“Terminal isn’t a child play, you can delete your entire boot in an accident.” - “I got a bootable flash drive! No issues!”

“Well, it’s not like you can break me more than my idiotic creator.”

More like Ren didn’t mind if a five-year-old would break him. It would be a rather hilarious way to die. The glorious hero, or killing machine, Ren, got himself destroyed by a child.

“Can you turn on the TV? Working in silence is boring!”

Ren shrugged as he grabbed what he assumed was a remote, “sure, who knows, maybe my End of Life will reach to 10 years.”

“Are you a soldier? Why do you have so many combat scripts? Do you have laser eyes?”

“No. It’s because my aim was to kill your father and save the world. No.”

“So you’re the one who hurt all our staff–Hold up, it means you’ve failed, no?”

“I’ve failed and succeed many times. I just ended the loop. After all, the script won’t play back if I won’t kill Akechi and he won’t kill me.”

“A-A t-time l-loop script?! No chance your developer p-pulled that off!”

Ren shrugged. His developers used to be a team of people until everyone gave up because of his major developer’s ridiculous requests. He always thought his access to the terminal and teleporting back in time was a work of one of the previous devs.

Game teleport

Game does not exist.

“Hey!! Stop bothering me when I’m coding!!”

Ren shrugged.

“May I add some features?” Futaba asked as she looked at Ren in the eye.

“Depends on the feature. I do not desire to become a toy.”

“… No gaming mode, then. It would’ve been cool having an Android companion on Minetest. It’ll make that crap game much better.”

Ren tilted his head. “Minetest?” He hated how the unknown made him feel.

“It’s a FOSS version of Minecraft. Really sucks compared to the original. We gotta play Minecraft together! I’m sure you’ll like it!”

“It’s fine. I’ll search the web after.”

Futaba stared at Ren with large and round eyes. They even had tears drop. She did the puppy eyes, right? It’s fine, Ren can stand it. He survived worse components.

“Pretty please? UmU” - “Fine, just stop crying.” Ren added a mental note to upgrade himself if he’s too weak for the umu.

“Are you sure you don’t want a gaming mode? It’ll be mega mega cooler than VR and AR combined!! It’ll be a whole simulation!~~”

“… Add whatever you wish.”

“Cooking mode too?” - “Sure.”

“Ooh!!! What about swimming mode?? Hella cool!~~”

Ren chuckled. He doesn’t remember ever doing such a thing. “My inner components will fall apart when exposed to that amount of water. Unfortunately, only the surface is waterproof.”

Futaba raised a brow, unsatisfied, “… Yet you can triple jump?”

“I upgraded it to quarter jump several runs ago.”

“We must test your combat abilities once I’ll optimise you!”

“Convince your dad to return me my weapon, and I’ll show you.”

“You won’t hurt yourself?”

How should he approach that question? She was a kid. Honesty won’t work well with her. Yet, lying wasn’t an option either. He had a moral compass.

“I’ll try. I have a sufficient healing system, so don’t worry too much.”

Futaba nodded. “I think I cleaned and optimised all the junk. It could be a good foundation to build on.”

“That’s fast. It took years on end to develop me,” years of sufferings and training. Being in a dark and cold place, just battling monsters until his components couldn’t. He was gradually being exposed to broader areas, but it was the same painful process.

“It’s my specialty, but continue to praise me please!~”

“Good job, then. I hope nothing will fall apart once you’ll push the update.”

Futaba giggled, feeling all too proud of herself. Whatever, she was five, that’s what five-year-olds are doing.

“I’m shutting you down before pushing the update, okay? Don’t worry, I have a local backup of your former version if something will go wrong!”

“… Don’t break my Wi-Fi—“

She could’ve counted to five before shutting him down. A shut down wasn’t a pleasant experience, especially when sudden.

2.3GB of update is downloading, please wait …

Estimated time, 40 minutes. Downloading …

”All you gotta do is go there, fight that boss and proceed towards the next area."

There was an unexplored area. Ren couldn’t leave it behind, even if it’s a waste of time, even if it’s against his rules. He can’t leave an unexplored area behind.

“Are you an idiot?! What are you doing?! The way is there!! Are you trying to waste my time?? Don’t you want to defeat Akechi?!”

It was an empty street, showing remains of the lively town it used to be. There was a safe place to access the terminal there. He could power up before the boss.

“Boo hoo! Ren is wasting time! Ren is thinking he’s a big boy now, making his own decisions!! You have no purpose Ren, besides killing Akechi. Just finish that boss already and proceed to the next area!!”

Game Upgrade

What would you like to upgrade?

Ren took a very long time to decide before picking one of his skills.

Ren gasped, turning into nothing but paranoia and instincts.

His weapon… Where is his weapon…?

He can’t do anything without his weapon. Self-shielding was his only option, providing him with about five seconds of safety. He activated it. Those 5 seconds were enough to figure out he’d just had a dream.

Screwed this useless feature.

He felt much lighter and faster. He assumed the optimisation Futaba did worked.

“Ren, Ren!! I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean to break you!! Are you okay?? I’m so sorry!!” Futaba just sobbed as she held the Android tightly. Ren was confused.

Ren tilted his head. “Break? Your update went smoothly, don’t worry.”

“You were twitching and turning as if you were in pain for around an hour. You didn’t react to anything. It scared Futaba that she accidentally hurt you and called me.” Goro stared at Ren with what Ren called a bitchy concern.

“When I’ll not active for a bit, dreaming starts. It merely happened while the update was downloading.”

Akechi raised a brow. “you mean you had a nightmare.”

“Nightmare?” - “the opposite of dreams. As the name suggests, you experience terrors in your sleep instead of the usual pleasant dreams.”

“If you suffer from nightmares, you can come to dad’s room and sleep with him! 100% happiness guaranteed!~”

Ren glared at the child beside him. “I’m not a child.”

“Someone is skeptical of cuddle powers! Let me hug you till you’re not!!”

… Oh no, not the cuddles.

Akechi tried to suppress a laughter, jerk.

“Well, I need to return to a meeting. After that, we’ll have lunch.”

Jerk. Mega jerk. Fucking jerk.

In the end, Ren was stuck between Futaba’s arms. Even talking with her about working on his extensions didn’t stop her.

“Soft skin!~”

He’ll ignore that comment.

“Are you half biological?” - “Vinyl.”

“Hmm?” - “my outer shell is made of vinyl.”

“No wonder you didn’t want me to make you a toy! You’re a human-sized breathing and walking doll!” Futaba could barely suppress her laughter.

“My body costs 2,144 dollars alone. It doesn’t include my machine learning module or my program.”

“What’s a dollar?”

Ren sighed, “nevermind.”

Ren prayed he won’t get out of the room with stickers throughout his entire body. He still couldn’t win the power of the umu.

It was hard getting used to this aimless life. Ren was waiting for a catch that just didn’t come. He stopped resisting Akechi’s taking care of him, since that didn’t work and he wasn’t an idiot.

… Still, his hair, really? He wasn’t human and despite Futaba’s claims, not a doll either.

“My hair doesn’t need a wash. Besides, there’s a chance you’ll break my body and I won’t like it.”

“Your hair is made of human hair, so yes, it needs a wash. Don’t worry, it’s just a spray. Unless you’re a cat and hate water that much.”

“Mreow.”

Akechi scoffed, “nice try Ren, it won’t help you.”

“Mreow?…?! Ow ow, geez, that’s cold.”

Akechi just ignored Ren’s complaint as he sprayed the mixture of water and soap. Then, he just combed Ren’s hair, which was more pleasing that the Android assumed it would be.

“That should smell good for a while. See? Not that bad.”

“My scalp was freezing to death!” Ren pouted.

“Stop being overdramatic. You see how your curls are holding up nicely now?”

“I don’t value those kinds of aesthetics.”

“Well, I do. Let’s dry you up so you won’t catch a cold.”

Ren raised a brow. “Catch a cold? Really?”

Akechi simply got a towel. Perhaps shower times were the catch. Humans are strange. It’s not that he didn’t like it, though.

It’s been more than a month when Ren experienced another nightmare. Countless of deaths and loops just for god’s entertainment. Seeing Goro die again and again in front of his eyes gave him more terror than it did before.

He remembered what Futaba said the last time he experience a nightmare. His sleep deprived self thought it’ll be okay to pay Goro a visit. Perhaps Futaba was right and cuddles will solve tonight’s night terrors.

He knocked gently before he opened the door. It was then when he regretted his choice. He can’t disturb Goro’s sleep just because of his own lack of sleep. Since when he turned that selfish? That greedy?

“…Ren? Are you sick?”

Cute. Goro knew Ren can’t get sick unless he suddenly had a bug. Which was unlikely.

“I had a nightmare.”

… Now what? That was stupid. Maybe he had a bug. Goro didn’t shoo him away, or laugh at him, so Ren took it as a yes.

He entered the empty side of the bed, leaning close to Goro’s warmth. Perhaps things will be fine. He doesn’t have to kill anyone anymore.

“You’re trembling…”

“Sorry.” - “What for?”

Ren held Goro’s close, trying to stabilise his shaking breath. Goro held Ren’s back, covering the both of them in a blanket.

“It’s fine, Ren. I’ll protect you.”

“… Heh.” An Android with endless physical strength like him didn’t need protection. But perhaps Goro could protect him from his emotional turmoil.

For now, Ren closed his eyes, just feeling Goro’s warmth. He let the warmth surround him like a blanket as he gradually drifted to dreamland.

Perhaps Futaba was right, and it was 100% happiness guaranteed.