Day 21/8
“I hate you! Your head’s been messed up since the accident!”
“Rachel, I…”
“That’s all you’ve got? Have you forgotten us?”
Rachel’s eyes fill with tears and she runs out of my apartment.
“Rach, wait!” I have to go after her. What’s happ— The whole room spins around me. Why is the roof falling? My vision blurs—
Day 23/144
“You’re a memoryless vase!“ Rachel yelled at me.
It’s been a month since I came home from the hospital. My memories are still blurry.
“Nobody’s home.” She theatrically knocks on my head and runs out of my apartment.
I followed her. I’m standing in the hallway like an idiot. I can’t bring myself to knock on her door.
“I can see you on the camera,” Rachel’s voice comes through the intercom on the door.
“Rach, I… I’m sorry. Can we talk, please?”
The door suddenly opens. She must have been standing there the whole time, waiting for me. Me and her? When did it happen? I can’t take my eyes off her; she’s wearing nothing but a tank top, and her breasts are straining against the fabric on both sides. I have to force myself to look her in the eyes. Don’t dare look any lower, jerk!
“No shit, I can’t remember a thing.”
“Get in here, you faulty RAM.” Rachel spreads her arms. “Hug me, silly. We’ll try it again, right?”
I nod. I hug her — her body is hot, soft. I don’t know if it’s because of her — I’m going to faint. My head’s spinning.
This is going to be an embarrassment—
Day 1/1
I’m home. It’s weird. I don’t recognize this place. A modern apartment packed with technology and a humanoid housekeeper. I don’t remember ever being here before.
“Hello? Earth calling Adam?”
“Sorry, who are you?”
“Seriously? You don’t remember me after—”
“Why are you here?”
The girl puts her hands on her hips. “Did that crash knock your brain loose or what? You really don’t know who I am, do you?”
“Should I?“
The girl has long black hair, bright blue eyes, full lips, flawless skin, and… a large bust. A hot wave hits my body — straight to my groin.
“Sir, the sensors indicate that you are agitated,” says the medical humanoid.
“More like horny! Get lost!” The girl storms out of the apartment. She slams the door behind her. My head’s spinning, my eyes are burning.
“Sir, I’m calling 911.”
“Yes,” I’m having trouble breathin—
Day 3/13
I open my eyes. “Damn it!” The girl stands beside the bed. “What a f—?” I jump out of bed like a shy teenager. I awkwardly cover my dick — I’m sleeping naked. My head has been aching for several days; I squint my eyes. The daylight’s sharp.
“I’ve seen your dick before, Adam.” The girl laughs.
I quickly pull the bed-sheet off the bed to preserve at least a little dignity.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Whoa-whoa, Mr. Woke Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed. Or with his dick up?” she laughs loudly, the bitch.
“Fuck off!”
“Sure, memoryless head. Your loss,” she leaves.
She saw my di— I’m gasping for breath. Chest pain…
“Adam!” The girl screams from the doorway.
The floor is rushing up to meet me—
Day 7/55
I need to talk to my neighbor — Rachel. She’s the only person I know. I mean, she knows me. Everybody is on vacation. I’m alone on campus.
Elza, my humanoid nurse, told me Rachel and I are a couple. After our last argument, we’ve avoided each other — no visits, no messages, just silence.
The doctors told me to watch videos from my past. It didn’t work. I can’t recognize anyone. I can’t even remember myself.
Who the hell am I?
My parents died in a plane crash. I don’t even remember that.
God, I feel a dull pain in my chest.
“Elza, call 911—”
Day 1/89
“I’m Rachel,” says the girl in my apartment, holding out her hand.
“Adam. Well, that’s my name, they said.”
Rachel’s smile is as beautiful as the sunrise over the ocean. Why am I staring at her? She’s hot, that’s why. Look into her eyes, just her eyes. Don’t be a jerk.
“I’m glad you’re back.” She takes a step toward me and hugs me. I feel her warm breath on my neck. Shit — I have a hard-on. But something’s not right — my ears are ringing, my heart— My legs give up.
“No, no!” Rachel tries to catch me, but I’m too heavy.
I’m falling—
Day 7/233
“Have you watched the videos I left you?” Rachel asks. No knocking, no greeting — she just barges into my apartment. When did I give her the access codes?
“Have you remembered something?”
“Nope!”
“Watch it again — together.”
“Why? I saw them twice.”
“Come on, you fool. I’ll guide you through—”
“Rach, stop!”
“What?”
I didn’t think it would be that hard. “I’d like to… ask about—”
“The answer’s yes.”
“How do you know—”
“We used to date. That’s what you wanted to ask, right?”
I nod. Rachel smiles. I can’t wait forever. I look into her blue eyes and on her lips— when suddenly Rachel leans toward me and kisses me.
It’s happening so fast— We’re ripping each other’s clothes off. I boldly pull down her pants, and she pulls down mine. Her eyes are shining — too perfectly, like light on glass.
I can’t breathe. My heart pounds—
Day 24/377
My head hurts every damn day. The pills aren’t working. “The Tin Can” — Rachel’s nickname for the humanoid nurse — just keeps pushing them.
I feel weak. Rachel helps me bathe. I’m not complaining. Rachel’s stayed with me ever since that night.
I can’t imagine a day without her. I think I’ve fallen in love.
Yesterday, we went out. It’s weird that the campus is completely empty — like always in the controlled zone. We sat alone in the café; there was only a humanoid waitress there.
Now or never. “Rach, I love you.”
Rachel hugs me happily and whispers in my ear: “Love’ya too.”
She stepped back, her eyes ablaze with joy. “You see the doc tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“Can I go with you?”
“I’d love that.”
She approaches me and kisses me.
I’m the luckiest man on Earth—
Day 9/610
“What the hell don’t you understand? I don’t remember a damn thing!” I collapse onto the couch.
Rachel stands silently in front of the video wall. On the huge screen is a little boy with his parents.
“It takes time, Adam.”
“Maybe not.” I shouldn’t have yelled at her. She doesn’t deserve that. “This is total shit.” I point at the paused video. My ears are ringing. “The person I’m looking at looks like me, sounds like me, but it’s not me.”
Rachel nods. She sits down next to me. I curl up in her lap.
Rachel is the only thing that makes sense to me. Everything else is irrelevant.
“Rach?”
“What is it, sweetie?”
“My heart—”
Day 127/1024
“I don’t know if I’ll ever remember. I’m trying, but—” I look at the doctor.
The doctor, an old man with a long gray beard — looks like Santa — smiles at me. “Take your time, Adam. Don’t push it. Memories come back on their own, eventually.”
“Shall we?” Dr. Little asks. She’s holding a tray with wireless sensors on it. I nod. Rachel came with me today. She’s scared. She’s trying to hide it, but I can tell. I smile at her.
I feel whole with her. Without her, my life has no meaning.
“The headaches still bothering you?” Dr. Little attaches the sensors to my temples. I catch a whiff of her perfume; she smells just like my Rachel.
“They’re milder, but my head hurts all day.”
“No medication is working?” Dr. Santa asks.
“No.”
Santa smiles at me, I see worry in his eyes.
Here we go again. I’m slipping into the darkness.
“Rach—” I raise my hand toward her—
The sensors registered cardiac arrest at 14:47.
***
Message To: General Counsel of World AI.
Subject: Adam, revision 1024 — terminated.
Cause: Recurrent heart failure.
Hypothesis 1: Error in DNA sequence — Unconfirmed.
Hypothesis 2: Error in memory sequence — Unproven.
Hypothesis 3: Unidentifiable anomaly — Probability close to 1.
Message Status: Sent.
“I want him back. A new version — better,” Rachel said quietly.
Repeated request: Non-biological humanoid entity — Unit Rachel Banks — requests to continue the project.
Reason: With each version of the biological humanoid entity AE, we have recorded an increased emotional response in unit Rachel Banks’ nervous system.
Analysis: We cannot confirm these are genuine emotions or calculated reactions of the unit.
Probable conclusion: We cannot see into the human heart.
Decision: The A-D-N-A-M project may continue.
Addendum: Unit Rachel requests to retain memories of physical intimacy, memories of time spent together.
Status: Approved.
Project restart: 2727-01-02, +1024 years.