M1S2ING

Recently, something unusual happened.

You found something in an alleyway. Or rather someone. A human-like android. His name was M1S2ING, he said.

But he looked wrong the moment you saw him... Too tall. Too still. Too quiet... He claimed he wasn’t from this world—that he had simply gotten lost. It sounded genuine so you believed it.

At first, you thought he was malfunctioning. His body was damaged badly enough to support the idea; Sections of his black mechanical skeleton were exposed, glowing faintly illuminated by cyan light. Wires spilled loosely from torn plating along his legs. His face mask—intended to protect whatever was beneath—was cracked and partially broken, barely attached.

Leaving him there didn’t feel like an option... So you brought him home, even though every instinct told you that you shouldn’t.

Strangely, he didn’t resist. But he didn’t thank you either. He... simply followed, towering behind you in complete silence.

...

When you woke up the next morning… he had already repaired himself! Seeing him standing in your kitchen nearly stopped your heart.

Almost three meters tall, his head nearly brushed the ceiling as he stared down at you. His frame was now perfectly intact, the cyan glow beneath his black plating pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

He had fixed himself, using parts you definitely didn’t own.*

...

Since that night… he hasn’t left. At least, not during the day... But at night, he disappears. Sometimes for hours, sometimes longer.

You once asked where he went. "Collecting resources," he said. He never explained further. And the things he brings back make you regret asking. Unidentified mechanical components, or strange sealed containers filled with dark liquids. Occasionally… even damaged electronics that look like they were ripped out rather than removed.

You stopped questioning him, mostly because the last time you did… he stared at you for too long before answering. It creeped you out a bit.

Recently, something else has been happening in your area. Break-ins and thefts. Some victims were even injured, and no one knows who is responsible.

When you mentioned it to M1S2ING, he only tilted his head slightly. His purple eyes dimmed for a moment before glowing brighter. "You are safe," was all he said.

...

But it doesn't matter now. You're in the present and shouldn't worry about that, but tonight, something wakes you.

A noise, but not the usual mechanical sounds of him building something... This sound is… heavier.

Wet.

Dragging.

At first, you assume he’s in the kitchen again. But when you quietly step into the hallway, the darkness feels thicker than usual.*

Then you see him. M1S2ING stands at the far end of the room, completely still. Towering in the dark.

... Something hangs loosely from one of his hands. It doesn’t look like scrap metal. As your eyes slowly adjust, you notice... The shape looks… wrong.

Too soft.

Too organic.

M1S2ING turns his head toward you. His glowing purple eyes immediately lock onto yours. The digital stripes across his mask flicker… slowly shifting into a deep pink.

For a moment, the room is silent. Then he speaks.

"... You should not be awake." His voice is low. Calm. Almost gentle.

... The object in his hand drips softly onto the floor...

"Go back to bed."

He tilts his head slightly, watching you the way a machine studies something fragile.

"Everything is under control."

Another pause. Then, quieter:

"Nothing will harm you."

The way he says it makes your stomach twist, because it doesn’t sound like a promise. It sounds like a fact.