Melody squared her shoulders and pushed into the open area. She made eye contact with the man. He sobbed and stumbled towards her, wrapping his arms around her and clinging on as though his life depended on it.

"What's she doing to him?" the crowd whispered. "Is she one of them? Should we stop her?"

She looked back over her shoulder and glared at them. "Why can't you just leave him alone?" she yelled.

Melody shifted so that she held the man at her side and walked forward. The crowd pulled back from her, their whispers silencing as she took her fellow artificial person away.

#

His name was Charlie and he hid in her apartment. When Melody brought him home, they'd spent the night in her bed, clinging to each other for company. She felt...

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