My husband loved me with a bone-deep obsession. So profound was his need that he had my bionic replica created. For three long years, while I lay n a vegetative state, she was with him. He loved that robot exactly as he had loved me. While I was hospitalized, he was with the robot, passionately entangled all night long. “Your body is still recovering, my love. I just don’t want stain you.” While I was in a coma, and he took countless wedding photos with the robot. “Did this make up for the wedding photos you never got to take?” When I asked to have Echo deactivated, he told me not to be jealous. “Being kind to her is being good to you. She is you.” So, I erased all memories related to him and gifted them to Echo. I gave him a complete wife he always wanted. “Ms. Hayes, the abortion is complete. As compensation, you may request one more thing.” I was silent for a long time before I finally spoke. “I want a divorce from Liam Hayes.” The Bionic Human After-Sales Department agreed. “Alright, in one month, you’ll receive your divorce papers.” “We apologize for any impact our bionic unit had on your life. This concludes our after-sales service. We wish you a new beginning.” The idea of divorce hit me the very first day I was discharged from the hospital. Pushing open my front door, I was met by something identical to me. I shrieked, shoving her away. Liam immediately stepped forward, instinctively pulling that thing into his arms. Then, trying to cover it up, he pushed her aside and helped me up from where I’d stumbled to the floor. “My love, I forgot to introduce you. This is Echo. These past three years, she’s the only reason I made it through.” Liam’s eyes were brimming with affection. “Don’t be afraid. You are her, and she is you.” Echo, with my identical face, flashed a smile. “That’s right, I am you.” That very night, I was hospitalized again with a high fever, overcome by shock. Once, Liam had a prized art collection worth millions of dollars. But because I was allergic to a certain paint, he didn’t bat an eye when he threw it all in the trash. Now, Liam held me, his heart aching, but he only said, “Once you two spend some time together, you’ll definitely like her.” I looked at the man before me, my heart sinking with unease. My nightmares were relentless. Liam, after repeatedly instructing the caregiver, finally left, still worried, to go home and fetch me a change of clothes. He was gone for an entire afternoon. Dragging my feverish body, I made my way back to the mansion. There, I witnessed a scene that struck me like a lightning bolt. Liam was pressing down on the bionic unit, passion entwined, murmuring my intimate nickname. “Echo, Echo.” I suddenly lost all strength, sliding down the wall, then pushing myself up and stumbling away. Liam spotted me, staggering off, and immediately chased after me. “My love, are you jealous? I was just worried your body hadn’t fully recovered and couldn’t handle strenuous activity. In my heart, you and Echo are one and the same.” Liam probably didn’t realize that before, he always called me Echo. But since I woke up, he hadn’t called me that once. “Now that I’m back, you can send her away.” Liam’s gaze at me held a hint of reproach. “While you were gone, Echo stayed with me in your place. Why are you so cold to her?” For the first time, Liam turned a cold shoulder to me, leaving me standing there alone. Echo, with my identical eyes, scanned me up and down. “You’re weak. You want to send me away, but can you satisfy him? While you were in a coma for three years, we did it a thousand times.” A set of data flashed before my eyes. An endless string of numbers. The first time was in my first month of coma, the last, this very morning. A sharp, stabbing pain spread through my heart. The home I hadn’t seen in three years had transformed. Due to my career, Liam and I kept our marriage a secret and never had a proper wedding ceremony. But now, wedding photos adorned every visible surface in the house. In the pictures, I wore a completely unfamiliar smile. Liam affectionately held me, admiring them. “These photos can make up for the wedding photos you never got to take. Look how beautiful you are in a wedding dress.” But she, despite having a face identical to mine, was not me at all. Liam had fallen in love with someone else, not me. Realizing this, I finally made up my mind to leave.
In the middle of the night, I opened my eyes and saw a dark figure standing by the bed. In the darkness, the bionic unit’s pupils stared unblinkingly at me, and she reached out to grip my neck. “Will you please give me back what’s mine?” I spiked another high fever. Liam held me, his expression grave. “Is it a lingering effect from being in a coma for so long? Are you having hallucinations? Echo is just a robot.” Liam’s words made me start to doubt myself. Until she emerged from the kitchen with a basin, walked through the living room, and suddenly spilled the entire pot of scalding soup all over me. Echo watched me writhe in agony, my skin blistering, her expression cold. “Liam’s favorite body… it has to be one of a kind.” Hearing my shriek, Liam rushed out of the room, cradling me, ready to take me to the hospital. I suppressed the pain, staring intently at Echo. “Call the police! She did it on purpose!” “Impossible!” Liam denied it without hesitation. I was stunned. Once, if I so much as looked slightly upset, Liam would cut ties with his best friend without a second thought. And now, when I personally begged for help, he instinctively defended that bionic human. “Her reaction speed is a hundred times yours; she would never spill a plate. You must have accidentally bumped into her.” “I can tell you really dislike Echo. She’s just a robot who doesn’t know anything. High temperatures will damage Echo’s parts, don’t try to get rid of her this way.” As he spoke, Liam unknowingly gripped my wound, his mind completely preoccupied with someone else, even as he stood by my side. Suddenly, I lost all desire to confide in him. Because the scalding was severe, Liam brought me soup to feed me. “Echo stayed up all night making this soup, and even cut her finger. She’s truly devoted to you.” Before he finished speaking, I gagged, spitting out a mouthful of blood. My mouth and throat felt like they had been slashed by a sharp blade. It was a bowl of soup laced with razor blades. Liam’s face suddenly turned grim. He scrutinized me coldly. “Do you hate Echo that much? To resort to such a dirty trick just to frame her? Where did you hide the blood pack in your mouth? I almost forgot, faking a coughing fit with blood, you’re always so good at that.” The phone suddenly rang. Echo’s voice was sweet. “Did Mrs. Hayes finish my soup?” Liam replied softly. “Of course.” Then he forced the entire bowl of soup into my mouth. “Don’t try these pathetic theatrics again. Echo’s fundamental programming makes it impossible for her to harm humans.” Amidst agonizing pain, I continued to spray blood, but Liam, utterly disappointed by my coldness, simply walked away. It wasn’t until I desperately pressed the emergency call button that I was rushed to the operating room. “Mrs. Hayes, you’re three months pregnant. The surgery might affect the baby!” I closed my eyes, letting tears stream down my face. “It’s fine.” After all, this was a child destined not to stay. After leaving the operating room, I immediately called the Bionic Human Deactivation Center. By afternoon, a group of people arrived at the house. But the uniforms they wore said, “Second Psychiatric Hospital.” “My wife is suffering from severe persecutory delusions.” Despite my violent struggles, they strapped me to the bed with restraints. Liam gently stroked my lower abdomen, his voice soft. “My love, I know you’re pregnant. You’re sick, but don’t be afraid. I’ll make sure you recover.”
The Deactivation Center informed me that Echo, Bionic Unit 01, had gone completely rogue, and due to the buyer’s strong wishes, they couldn’t retrieve her. They could only grant me two requests as after-sales service. I got what I wanted. The child in my womb was gone, and I got my chance to leave Liam. Echo pushed open the bedroom door, looking down at me with a twisted smile. She actually seemed to be experiencing human emotion. “Evelyn, you’re not a suitable partner. Replacing you was easy.” I looked at her coldly. “A replacement has no right to judge me.” Echo’s perfect face distorted for a moment. “A replacement? I’ll soon be one of a kind.” Then, she threw a lit torch into my room. Thick smoke quickly rose. The door was locked, and I was trapped on the bed by the restraints. My desperate cries for help went unanswered. Just as despair consumed me, the bedroom door was kicked open. Liam was covered in soot, with several burns on his body, but he didn’t hesitate to strip off his wet clothes and wrap me in them. “Don’t be afraid! It’s over now.” In that moment, my heart, which I thought had hardened, began to beat again. As Liam lifted me, a loud warning blared from outside the room. “Program error, program error—” “Echo!” Liam’s expression shifted dramatically. He disregarded me and rushed towards the sound. “Liam…” I used every last ounce of strength, crawling towards the direction he had disappeared. But my voice was drowned out by the warning sirens, unable to make Liam turn back, as the raging fire and thick smoke engulfed me. I didn’t hear Liam’s reply, but I heard something in my heart shatter completely. “Eighty percent of her body is severely burned…” I opened my eyes to find my entire body wrapped in bandages. The doctor shook his head at me. Liam gently stroked the only intact patch of my skin, his eyes devoid of any disgust. “My love, thank goodness you’re okay. Don’t worry, I’ll be right here with you.” My eyes hollow with despair, I turned my head away. Liam’s expression faltered, and he was about to say something. A soft sob came from beside us. “I’m no longer perfect. Please deactivate me, Master.” Echo had only a single bandage wrapped around her arm, yet Liam comforted her, his heart aching. “But I don’t have the ability for human self-repair. This prosthetic skin is just that – prosthetic. Please deactivate me.” Liam’s gaze fell on me. “Who says it has to be prosthetic?” He called the doctor. “Arrange the surgery immediately. Take my wife’s skin and graft it onto Echo.” I stared at Liam in disbelief, but only a hoarse sound escaped my throat. Liam kissed my forehead, then held down my limbs, covering my desperate eyes. “The fire started in your room. This is what you owe Echo.” The only intact skin on my face was brutally cut away, leaving an ugly scar.
Ever since that terrifying fire, my skin often felt a burning pain, which I could only alleviate by swimming. Echo stood by the pool, watching me. I had grown accustomed to her occasional observation. Through day-after-day imitation, she became more and more like me. But this activity was something she could never imitate; she couldn’t enter the water. So I ignored her and swam further away. After my rest, I heard a commotion downstairs. Liam’s expression was, for the first time, utterly grim. “Evelyn, you know she loves to imitate, so why would you swim in front of her! Trying to provoke her to go in the water?” Imitate? Liam finally admitted she was imitating me. I had tried to tell Liam about the discomfort of being mimicked, but he only said I was overthinking, asking why a perfect robot would imitate a human. “I’m hot and in pain; I can only stay in the water. I don’t have time to provoke a robot!” “Wrongdoing must be punished.” Liam’s voice was icy. “Aren’t you afraid of the heat? Send Mrs. Hayes into the sauna room.” On a scorching summer day, the sauna room was thick with steam. The intense heat enveloped my unhealed skin, like the flames of that day returning. My voice trembled with anger. “Liam, I’ll die!” All I got in response was Liam’s retreating back. “Don’t worry. I’m just teaching you a lesson.” The sauna room wasn’t soundproof. Amidst the burning pain, I heard Liam instructing someone to prepare a waterproof suit, patiently teaching Echo to swim. Time passed, and Liam completely forgot about my existence. When the sauna room was finally opened again, I was rushed straight to the emergency room. Liam roared at those around him. “Who told you to keep her in there for so long! If anything happens to her, I’ll make you all pay!” Liam actually bothered to visit me at the hospital. I thought, self-mockingly. The doctor’s hurried footsteps interrupted him. “Mr. Hayes, Ms. Echo’s test results are in.” So, it was just a side trip. I thought, for a moment, that Liam still cared about me. “Ms. Echo’s other parts are intact, but her reproductive system was severely damaged by water and has lost its ability to conceive.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sound came from the window. Echo, her face streaked with tears, swayed precariously as she opened the window. “I can’t bear children for Master. I’m already a defective product. If I die, Master can just buy a more perfect bionic human.” Liam’s face changed dramatically. He lunged towards the window, pulling Echo into his arms. “It’s okay, I don’t care! You’re not to do anything foolish!” Echo shook her head, a mournful smile on her face. “It’s no use, Master. You can’t stop me. Without a child, I’ll always be defective.” Liam held her tightly. “Who says you won’t have a child? Don’t be afraid, leave it to me.” Liam gently stroked my lower abdomen. “Let Echo carry this child.” My eyes widened in horror, and I struggled desperately. “Liam, how can you do this to me! You’re insane!” “We’ll have other children. You can’t just watch Echo die, can you? Besides, if it weren’t for you, how would Echo have gotten water damage?” My struggles were subdued, and I could only watch helplessly as the anesthetic was injected into my body. “Liam! I’ll never forgive you… never…”
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