Chapter 98: Don't meet the last of his kind

Xi Zirui is stunned silent for a full minute.

"What do you mean he's the cargo?"

With two simple words, Xi Zirui's illusion of a fun romp through the stars is completely shattered.

"Uhm, why doesn't Host go to the cargo hull and see for himself? It's a little hard to explain," Ni Ni says, sending the alarm bells in Xi Zirui's mind blaring.

One day he's going to kill that Shopkeeper.

He makes his way through the ship's winding corridors, following Ni Ni's instructions because the sameness of the floor plant confuses him. Each corner looks like the one before it, metal appliances and storage bins from floor to ceiling, all looking far past their prime, in every direction.

He can tell it's going to take him a long time to stop getting lost in this ship.

Finally, he reaches the cargo hull.

It's a bare, ample area, deep in the guts of the ship, with a few metal crates here and there all varying in size.

Xi Zirui expected it to be filled to bursting, and the cargo to be similar in size, but there's everything here. From large containers bigger than a person, to tiny little parcels and everything in between.

All of it haphazard, without any company's identifying logo or an obvious shipping address.

Xi Zirui closes his eyes and inhales deeply. "Ni Ni, just what kind of deliveryman is the original?"

He hears Ni Ni's chime, and this time instead of coming from inside his head, or the bracelet around his wrist, it seems to be coming out of the ship's own PA system.

"Uhm, officially the original works for a well-known company, based in one of mankind's largest space stations, currently orbiting Jupiter."

"Uh, uh, and unofficially?"

"Unofficially the original is a smuggler who delivers contraband goods across the solar system to the farthest recesses of humanity's colonies and space stations."

Now that, sounds more like the unrepentant asshole who shares Xi Zirui's face.

"How dangerous is that, usually?"

"The penalty for smugglers is spacing: that is, being thrown out of a ship or station to die in the vacuum of space," Ni Ni says, disturbingly unconcerned. "But Host shouldn't worry, the human settlements in the solar system are very decentralized, and there's little policing of ships. Most of the resources are redirected to enforcing the law aboard the stations and on planetside colonies."

That is not reassuring in the least, because in Xi Zirui's experience anything that can go wrong will go wrong and in the most fucked up way possible.

There's no point in bemoaning the original's unfortunate career choice, however.

Now he has to find Han Yu, which is worrying considering that none of the crates in the cargo hull look like they're fit for a human being.

Ni Ni anticipates his question. "He's in the second largest one."

She means a crate a little bigger than a person, lying horizontally on the floor a few paces away from Xi Zirui.

He kneels in front of it, running his fingers over the rough metal surface gingerly.

It looks scuffed and scratched, as if it has been dragged and dropped countless times before.

How can Han Yu be inside of it? It doesn't even look like it has any openings for him to breathe through.

He looks for a way to open it, but the crate seems sealed shut. That is until he runs his hands down the sides and feels a smooth surface; a palm reader.

His palm print is apparently able to unlock the crate, making the top slide down to the middle, clanking loudly with disuse.

Han Yu lies on his back inside the crate's padded interior, his hair falling in smooth waves around his face. His glossy magazine looks seem even sharper somehow, as if all of him has been polished to perfection. Every minute imperfection done away with, even his pores look perfectly symmetrical.

His eyes are closed, his thick lashes curling over his high cheekbones in a mockery of sleep.

Xi Zirui reaches inside to touch his face. It feels smooth to the touch, but deathly cold.

He takes his fingers as if shocked. "Ni Ni what's going on? What happened to Han Yu? What-"

What is he?

"Don't panic, Host, but he's an Android."

An Android?

Xi Zirui braces against the crate, bringing his face closer to Han Yu's. 

The sheer perfection of his features makes sense now, an Android wouldn't have any of the imperfections of a real human.

From what Xi Zirui can see, Han Yu is naked except for a white pair of briefs, everything seems anatomically correct, but that's not his biggest issue.

"Is he...alive? Is he a person, at all?" he asks, his heart beating fiercely against his ribcage.

"That moral and ethical dilemma is what led to Androids being outlawed 60 years ago," Ni Ni chimes. "They were created to help humanity with their efforts in establishing themselves in space stations across the solar system, after Earth became inhabitable, but it wasn't long until questions started being raised regarding the ethics of owning one, and their role in human society."

Xi Zirui looks down at Han Yu's tranquil face. Is he aware of what's happening around him?

Does he know that his existence is a crime?

"Why were they outlawed?" Xi Zirui asks.

"When it became clear that some people really saw Androids as another type of human, there was widespread fear that they could replace humanity, that slowly they could substitute humanity. It's easier to make more androids than it is to make more humans."

She pauses. "All the active Androids were decommissioned, and the factories producing them were shut down."

So, is Han Yu the last of his kind? 

Xi Zirui runs his fingers over his hair, no different in texture than the hair of the Han Yu's he has met in other worlds.

What does this all mean for both of them?

"How can I switch him on?" he asks, running the pad of his thumb over Han Yu's smooth cheek.

Ni Ni tells him there's a button under Han Yu's arm. A failsafe in case he malfunctioned somehow. Since Androids have been decommissioned, the apps that monitored their motor functions no longer exist, and the failsafe is the only way to activate a dormant unit.

Carefully, Xi Zirui runs his fingers along his side, pressing down into the wiry hair of his underarm until he feels something click under the soft, artificial skin.

He lets go of him and stands back.

A faint whirring hums under Han Yu's skin, breathing life into his artificial body.

After a few moments, his eyelids flutter open, as if he's coming out of a long, restful sleep.

He sits up on the crate, his slender arms hanging gracefully over the edge.

"Are you my owner?" he asks Xi Zirui, giving him a curiously guileless look.

Xi Zirui balks. "I...no. I'm your friend. My name is Xi Zirui"

Han Yu seems to accept that easily. "My name is Han Yu. I can help with most household chores, I can cook, and I can sync all of the house's systems and operate them remotely. I can also take care of any budget needs and order food. Whatever Xi Zirui wants me to do I will gladly oblige."

That's perhaps the most horrifying string of sentences Xi Zirui has ever heard. Hearing Han Yu talk so cheerily about his own dehumanization is awful.

But then again, he isn't a human, is he?

Xi Zirui sets his jaw. Whether he's made of skin and bones or fiberglass and plastic, Han Yu is Han Yu.

He gets up to his feet and extends a hand towards Han Yu, who examines it for a moment before wrapping his fingers around Xi Zirui's.

Now that he's been switched on, his skin no longer feels cold to the touch, which is an immense relief.

Xi Zirui pulls him up and he climbs gracefully out of the crate, stepping over the edge and remaining in place when Xi Zirui lets go of him.

"We need to get you some clothes," Xi Zirui says. 

As much as Xi Zirui appreciates the view, it's one thing for Han Yu to walk around in his underwear because he wants to, another to do so because he doesn't have a choice.

Han Yu nods pleasantly, and follows after him.

---

All the way to his private quarters in the ship, Ni Ni tells him more about Han Yu.

He's one of the last models to be fabricated before production became illegal. Created to help with domestic tasks in the houses of rich stationers. A sort of futurist live-in maid.

"Of course, there were also other uses," Ni Ni says, and doesn't elaborate further.

By then Xi Zirui has reached his room. It's small, with a bed built into a nook in a wall of yet more storage compartments, a desk, and a few lockers. 

All of it in the same dinged up alloy that the rest of the ship seems to be made of. 

Xi Zirui is no specialist but he thinks this ship might have seen better days.

"Host's ship is called the 'Irregular', and has had 10 previous owners before the original bought it," Ni Ni says.

Xi Zirui can't get over the fact that an illegal smuggler named his ship the "Irregular". Like shining a giant beacon into the kind of business he conducts.

He really is the only Xi Zirui in the entire multiverse with two braincells to rub together, uh?

Han Yu inspects the sparse room with an inquisitive look, dragging a fingertip over the desk. "Dirty. I can help with that," he says, showing Xi Zirui the grime on his skin.

Nodding distractedly, Xi Zirui rummages through the locker, looking for something Han Yu can wear.

He mostly finds slightly different versions of the same jumpsuit he's already wearing. A zipper all down the front, cargo pockets everywhere, slim fitting legs shoved inside black steel toe combat boots.

"Here, wear this," he says, handing Han Yu a grey jumpsuit, in every way similar to the black one he's currently wearing.

Han Yu inspects the jumpsuit for a moment before getting dressed, one leg at the time, and then each arm. He pulls the zipper all the way up his neck, and then smiles at Xi Zirui.

It's such a disarmingly honest smile that Xi Zirui can't help smiling back.

"Thanks for the clothes, but just to remind Xi Zirui, as a third generation model Android from ZunIndustries, I can perform regular household tasks, as well as provide sexual gratification. I feel no shame and have no modesty. Xi Zirui doesn't need to be mindful of me."

Perhaps mistaking the horror rising up in Xi Zirui's eyes for something else, Han Yu crosses the distance between them, and wraps his hand around Xi Zirui's wrist, looking into his eyes as he says:

"Xi Zirui can make use of me as he sees fit."