Unsure of what had just happened, I sat up on my bed, staring at the black wardrobe in the corner of my room. It was early in the morning; the sun softly casted a golden light onto my white sheets. The world was quiet except for the distant sounds of birds singing a pleasant tune.

          I waited for any subsequent noise but there were none, so I decided to take a look for myself. I walked into the corridor with light footsteps, because stomping seemed to be a disrespect to this peaceful morning. Faint sounds came from the second room on my right and I instantly realized what was happening. It came from Eva’s room.

          I pushed the door open and found Eva sitting on the floor. Her face hid in the shadow of her messy hair and her body was trembling. I have never seen Eva like this before, but I was told this was normal after the accident. That being said, I still felt sorry for Eva. She was my best buddy and I couldn’t bear to see her in such a miserable state.

          I knelt in front of her and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

          Eva quickly raised her head and simply stared at me for a few seconds before answering, “Yes, I’m fine. Did I wake you up?”

          There was something weird in her voice, but it was understandable, given her current condition. I shook my head and offered her my hand.

          “It’s no big deal. Come on, let’s grab something to eat,” I said with a smile.

          Eva nodded and took my hand without a word. Wanting to comfort her, I squeezed her hand slightly and led her out of her bedroom.

          Eva’s diet was very different from mine. She liked to eat a diverse range of food, but I just had the same food every day. I prepared our food as usual while she sat on the chair and stared at the table.

          We ate our breakfast in silence. I peeked at Eva occasionally; she seemed paler than usual under the sunlight. In fact, she looked paler than me, which wasn’t a good sign because a buddy shouldn’t be paler than us. It was worrying to see her in bad condition, so I gently took her hands into mine and asked with a soothing tone, “Are you sure you’re okay, honey? You don’t look so well.”

          She glanced at our intertwined hands, covering my cold hands with her warm ones, then shifted her gaze to me and said, “I’m completely fine, Angel. Don’t worry about me.”

          I nodded, only half convinced by her words. Silence once again reigned the kitchen and slowly grew to be uncomfortable. As a way to escape this unnerving situation, I started to list the tasks to be completed today. “So, our main task is to buy you some clothes today. And I need to get back my datapad from Alex. I think we can do this before going to the buddy center? Oh, and we need to buy some fuel drinks. We’re running out of food.”

          The change of topic seemed to lighten Eva’s mood as she grinned at the mention of new clothing. We quickly finished our meal and got ready to go out. The street was empty at this time of day; only a cleaning droid was sweeping dried leaves into its body. We got in our car and let it automatically take us to Alex’s house.

          After fifteen minutes, we reached our destination. I had already called Alex to inform him of my visit, and I could feel his usual arrogance on the other side of the phone. That bastard. If not for our group project, I didn't even want to have the slightest level of interaction with him.

          I rang the doorbell and waited for Neville, Alex’s buddy, to answer the door. Unexpectedly, it was a stranger who did the job. Frowning, I asked, “Hi, um… who are you?”

          That raven-haired man smiled politely and replied, “Hello, I’m Vincent, Alex’s new buddy. You must be Angel,” he offered his hand for a handshake. I took it hesitantly. New buddy? What happened to Neville?

          Being curious, I asked my question. Vincent kept smiling, but his answer astonished me, “Neville was terminated after a serious malfunction.”

          I widened my eyes, unable to believe what I had just heard. Neville was terminated? But he had just been Alex’s buddy for three months! And for as long as I knew, that should have been Neville’s first malfunction. Couldn’t Alex just send Neville for a recalibration?

          Anger filled my chest. My hatred towards Alex was fuelled, but there was nothing I could do. Once the buddy was brought home, Alex had the right to treat them in any way he wanted to. I got my datapad from Vincent and said goodbye to him without further ado.

          Thoughts swirled around my head during our trip to the shop. My good mood was completely destroyed by the news about Neville. Giving a sigh, I turned my head and wanted to chat with Eva in hopes of distracting myself, but it dawned on me that she had been silent since the conversation with Vincent.

          She was looking out of the car window with a blank expression. Was she afraid of being terminated like Neville after her last malfunction? I held her hands in mine tightly and looked into her eyes, assuring her, “Hey, don’t worry. I will never terminate you. I promise.”

          “I know,” she said quietly, and that was the only response I could get from her during our trip to the shop. We arrived at our local buddy center after ten minutes, which was a relief because I didn’t know how to deal with a down Eva.

          There weren’t many people in the center. A staff member was sitting behind the front desk, reading something on his datapad; some buddies were standing in the display area, smiling at everyone who walked past them; a woman was picking some vegetables with her buddy in the food section; and a man and his buddy were looking at the clothes.

          I walked past the man and his buddy to get to the lady’s clothing section. Picking up a yellow dress, I asked Eva, “Do you like this one? It looks like your old dress.”

          Silence.

          I turned my head and saw Eva standing a few feet away from the men. She fixed her eyes on the man’s buddy and clenched her fists; her whole body was shaking vigorously.

          “...Adam?”

          Both the man and his buddy looked at Eva with confusion on their faces.

          Suddenly, Eva rushed to the buddy and wrapped her arms around him. “Adam, Adam... My dear brother…”

          Uh-oh, this wasn’t good.

          I strode towards Eva and grabbed her by the arm. “Eva! Stop it!” I yelled. She struggled to break free but failed, so she finally took her eyes off “Adam.”

          “Let go of me, you robot freak!” Eva screamed.

          I was pretty sure Eva was having a serious malfunction at this point, and other people in the shop seemed to realize this too. The man and “Adam” helped to subdue Eva, and the staff ran to me to offer help. “Madam, can I help you with anything?” one of them asked me.

          “Help her with anything? What, you’re going to brainwash me again? So that I can be a good pet to you androids?” Eva kept struggling and growled. She was hysterical now. I should have known there had been something wrong with her this whole morning.

          I shook my head sadly and said to the staff, “Please send her for recalibration.” It was heartbreaking to send Eva away after just two weeks from her last breakdown. Recalibration was always hurtful to humans, and I hated to see my friend suffering.

          “No! You can’t do that!” Eva glared daggers at me. Her eyes glistened with tears.

          “You can’t do that!” she repeated with desperation, “Just kill me already!”

          “Eva, honey, I’ll never do that to you,” I said with great sadness. I knew it wasn’t her true intention to say these words. She was having a breakdown, and it was normal for humans to say something irrational during a malfunction. The staff tranquilized Eva with a sedative mask and took her behind a white door. He returned after two or three minutes, and informed me with a professional tone, “Her recalibration should be completed in three days. Would you like to choose a new buddy? Our record shows that this is her fifth malfunction over the past few years.”

          “No, thanks,” I answered with a faint smile, “I’ll never replace her.”

          After all, true friends would never abandon each other, and Eva was my best buddy.

Author Bio: A science student who loves writing and reading. Learnt how to write by reading fanfiction everyday. Inspiration always strikes me at 3am so I basically live on caffeine. That's life, I guess