While I was mentally preparing myself for the inevitable fate that awaited me, the car came to a stop.
“Good, we made it just in time.
Let’s go in,” Charlotte said, her hand already on the door.
“Miss, I think the automaton needs to be more presentable,” Lucy cut in, looking me up and down without the slightest tact.
“True, but there’s no time, I have to change my dress.
Can you take care of it, Lucy?”
“As you command, miss.”
“Great, then I’m leaving him to you,” Charlotte said, already heading off down the hallway.
And I, having no say in a moment like that, just stood there, wishing I could scream something, anything, while the maid examined me from head to toe without saying a word.
I don’t have facial features—it’s pure metal from forehead to chin—but if I did, I’m sure they would’ve been trembling under that stare.
“Follow me,” she said at last.
This woman is terrifying, I swear.
I’d bet she’s more machine than I am.
Her face is a permanent expressionless mask; if I didn’t know she was married with two kids, I’d swear she was an automaton like any of us.
Whatever man had the guts to be her husband deserves a medal.
After a good while, I was considerably more presentable, and we were waiting for the young lady in the hallway, outside the door to her room.
It finally opened, and Charlotte came out in a gorgeous white-and-gold dress.
She looked truly lovely.
“Okay, we’re ready,” she announced.
“Yes, miss.”
“Excellent.
Then what are you waiting for?
Let’s go already.”
As I followed the duo through the hallways, I couldn’t stop wondering why they’d brought me along.
Normally they only called me to play with the young lady, but this time felt different, and a whole bunch of ideas started spinning around in my head without landing on any clear conclusion.
I started to hear music and laughter in the background.
A pair of butler automatons opened the doors for us, and what appeared before me was a scene straight out of a society magazine: extremely elegant people chatting, dancing, listening to background music perfectly tuned to the atmosphere.
I’d only ever seen scenes like this on TV, in my previous life, and now there it was in front of me.
Inside, I was nervous: the most important people on the planet were gathered there, the real big shots.
I saw a group of merchants talking with Charlotte’s father, probably about business.
She, for her part, didn’t seem the least bit interested in the adults’ conversation.
She headed straight for a group of kids around her age.
“Hi, Anna!
Happy birthday!” she said, hugging her friend.
“Hee hee hee, thanks.”
“Charlotte, you finally made it.
We’ve been waiting for you for ages.”
“Heh heh, sorry, I ran into a snag.
So, is everyone here?”
“Everyone’s here.
We thought you weren’t going to take part.”
“Well, I don’t know who told you that.
Let’s go.”
She followed the group of kids, and I noticed each of them had brought their own automaton.
We reached another room, and inside we were greeted by more groups of kids, each accompanied by their machine.
“Charlotte, you’re late,” said a boy with black hair and blue eyes, striking the kind of pose you only learn growing up among nobles.
“Heh heh, I know, I just couldn’t find this guy,” she replied, giving my arm a little tap with her hand.
“Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s begin,” someone announced at the front of the hall, and everyone fell silent.
“The event consists of designing a new look for your automatons.
The requirements are simple: use older models as the base and show off your talent in front of everyone present.
No instant design kits, no downloading templates from the net, and no help from outside teams.
The design has to be entirely your own, made by you yourselves.”
A pause, and then, with more emphasis:
“The prize for first place will be an Atlas-class Titan, developed by my family.
Second place will take home a Taurus-class Titan, and third, a Mantis-class Titan.”
Everyone got excited instantly, Charlotte included, her eyes literally sparkling with excitement.
Me, on the other hand, I was stunned: who in their right mind makes a machine capable of flattening an entire mountain the prize for a kids’ contest?
These were definitely people with a lot, and I mean a lot, of money.
“You may use the workshops we’ve prepared for the event.
Good luck, everyone.”
As soon as the speech was over, each kid headed to their assigned workshop.
Wait a second.
Design a new look.
Meaning I was the canvas.
I wanted to run, but Charlotte was already dragging me toward the room before I could fully process what was about to hit me.
And that was how I ended up watching Charlotte hunched over her digital table, trying out design after design for me, and not one of them—not a single one—did I like in the slightest.
The designs themselves weren’t bad, technically speaking.
The problem was the color: too much of it, every possible shade at the same time.
And to top it off, she’d add the odd extra limb here and there, which made me break out in a cold sweat just imagining myself wearing it.
“Ugh, I don’t like it, the design looks really weird.
I want it to be elegant and beautiful.
What do you think, Lucy?
The truth.”
“The truth, miss?”
“Yes, the cruel truth.”
“Well… it’s hideous.”
“Whaaaat?!” Charlotte clutched her head.
“I know I’m not the best artist, but I trust my skills.
I know I can win this.”
“Really?” I asked, with a pang of genuine panic.
“The final result gets shown in front of everyone, at the party?”
“Uhhh… uhhhh… uuuuh…” Charlotte started pacing around the room.
“I don’t know what to do.
Maybe I could download some resources from the net?”
“You can’t, miss,” Lucy cut her off, without raising her voice but leaving no room for argument.
“You’re the daughter of the planet’s regent.
You can’t break the rules.
You have a reputation to protect.”
“Hmmm.
That hurts.
Fine.”
And so Charlotte threw herself completely into redesigning something more elegant and original.
Three of the event’s five hours went by before she called us over again.
“Well?
Which one do you think is better?” she asked, her eyes full of expectation.
“They’re fine, miss,” I said, my voice only barely trembling, not wanting to break my young mistress’s heart.
“Lucy, the truth.”
“The truth, miss?”
“Yes.
The cruel truth.”
“…”
“They’re hideous, aren’t they?”
“I’m sorry, miss.”
Charlotte’s Point of View
Shit.
I didn’t want to go out there.
I didn’t want my mom to see the result, I didn’t want to disappoint her in front of everyone.
I was trying to figure out what to do when a noise caught my attention: it was Samuel, trying to disappear into the darkness at the back of the room.
And for some reason, that cheered me up.
“S-a-m-u-e-l…”
I watched the lights of his eyes shrink, as if that would make him invisible.
“Samuel, do you like the designs I made for you?” I asked him, grinning from ear to ear.
I wasn’t really sure why I liked teasing him so much.
His reactions were almost human, and that was weird and funny at the same time.
“In answer to the question: they’re very nice, miss.
They’re very beautiful.”
“Ooh, really?
Then shall we start the assembly?”
I saw the lights of his eyes blink almost frantically.
“So, yes or no?”
“No,” he answered, in a voice that sounded like his power was running out.
“Okay, then how about this?
Design your own body yourself, however you’d like it to be.
If I like it, we’ll build it.
How’s that?”
“Really, miss?”
“Yes.
While you do your design, I’ll do mine.
Great, right?”
“Yes, miss.”
“Heh heh, good.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”
Samuel’s Point of View
As soon as she finished speaking, she went off to her new worktable.
I, for my part, took another digital table, thinking about which design would suit me best.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I had to make the most of it.
I already had a pretty clear idea of what it would be.
Half an hour went by.
Charlotte finished two designs that, this time, actually looked decent.
“Hmmm, I like these two,” she said, pointing at two blueprints on the monitor.
The first was a knight’s armor design, inlaid with gold and platinum, with a dragon emblem on the chest and more than six bionic eyes spread across the face.
It conveyed elegance and nobility, though it ended up looking more like a suit of medieval armor than an automaton.
The second was a more feminine version, in shades of purple, with four eyes lined up across the forehead and subtle ornaments on the abdomen and shoulders.
This one did convey something different: it looked less like a warrior and more like a dancer.
“Hmmm, which one should I pick?
I like them both.
Lucy, which one do you think is better?”
“Miss, I’d recommend the second one.
It’s more elegant and refined.”
“That’s true, but I feel like the other girls are going to do something similar.
I want something unique, something that really stands out.”
While Charlotte kept dithering, I looked up and realized I’d finished my own sketch.
“Samuel, are you done?
Let’s see what you made,” she said, walking over to my worktable with genuine delight.
When she saw my design, her jaw dropped.
It was simple, yet elegant at the same time, and judging by her expression, she liked it.
She liked it a lot.
My design was an automaton with no pronounced facial features, just a single blue light in the center of the forehead that served as its vision.
The rest of the body was pure white, traced with thin lines of blue light.
“Well done, Samuel.
I love it.
We’re going with this one.”
She downloaded the design straight to her terminal, and they took me to the assembly module for my new body.
The machines began taking me apart piece by piece, until only my neuro-central core was left exposed.
I was scared, I’ll admit it; my senses shut down little by little, but I trusted Charlotte.
The process, they told me, would take about forty-five minutes.
(time skip)
“Assembly complete,” announced a robotic voice, neutral and formal.
When I was finally able to see myself, I’d turned out better than I’d imagined.
I used to be two meters tall, the standard height for my model, but the new design called for a full three meters, and there it was, carried out down to the last detail.
“Samuel, how are you feeling?” Charlotte asked.
“All systems in order, miss,” I replied, in a different voice, deeper than before.
“Heh heh, everyone’s going to be amazed by your new look.”
English is not my native language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes or inconsistencies you may find in the text.
Thank you for your understanding!