Helping Nepgya

It's another day at work, you're lazing away at your desk, waiting for something to happen. This is an exceptionally slow season.

The sun is shining through the window on your face and you often find yourself dozing off. It takes awhile for you to reach your phone when it rings.

"H-HELP! DEAR!" cries a desperate voice.

"Wh-WHAT!?" Your voice's volume shoots up like your pulse.

"COME HOME! I-" The phone on the hits the ground as you hear a loud slump, like a body collapsing.

You don't even pause to think, you grab your coat and start running.

You burst through the door, reaching for a kitchen knife incase of an intruder- only to find your beloved Nepgya slumped against the oven, her eyes dead. Her cute apron is pulled down, it seems like she was desperately trying to get undressed by the way her usual white and purple coat is partially unbuttoned. Why was Nepgya trying to undress in the kitchen though?

Her phone sits on the floor next to her hand.

You wave a hand in front of her eyes, reaching for your phone. You need an ambulance.

Right before you hit "Call", Nepgya's eyes light up.

Three loud beeps come from her closed mouth, like a computer's. What just happened?

"Low Power Mode Code E5 engaged, consult documentation for assessment and repair. Engage the utility ports on this unit's upper back."

You start to drag Nepgya, but she's suddenly so much heavier than usual, probably in excess of 120kg. Nepgya has been a robot all along?! This scene would look absurd to anyone looking on, but you've got a half naked girl facedown in your garage near your workbench. After some prodding, a plate slides away on her back. Nepgya's skin is so realistic, but it's true; she's a robot. A series of USB ports are spaced from a large machine style electrical plug by an ethernet port. The only thing in your house with that style of plug is your washing machine…

You manage to slide the weighty device a few feet, enough to get the plug into her back. Nepgya's eyes are relit a kind purple before turning into her typical "funny face".

"You saved me!" She says adoringly, holding your hand. You can carry her again, but she's restricted to the short cable.

"What happened? You're a robot!?"

Nepgya smiles. "I know told you that I was a robot! Now, I need your help to fix my power source! I was trying to do it myself, but with low power mode I couldn't use my fine motor skills or fully diagnose the problem."

"You said 'code E5' earlier." There's a dead silence as Nepgya tries to load an answer.

Nepgya shivers.

"Can't you just turn your sensors off?"

"No… Bring a towel for me to lay on please? I'll have your instructions prepared by then."

You follow her instructions, and Gya lies face down on the towel, the sizable gap in her back folds down once more, showing a circular cap and more diagnostic ports.

"N-now… You need to pull my power core… because of the power outage, I might need my lines drained of fluid and refilled, so…"

"First things first. Let's fix your power. What do I need?"

"Hydrogen, lots of it. I think like three large welding style containers. Besides that, I should be able to recharge the cell on my own."

"Is it a fusion cell?"

Nepgya hesitantly answers. "Y-yes."

"Are you going to eject probably radioactive iron in my garage?"

"I-I'm…"

You raise an eyebrow. Nepgya's face becomes distraught and she covers her nearly naked body with her arms.

"It's so- ! I don't wanna talk about it, but you'll be safe!."

You have time to ponder what just happened while driving to the local welding shop. Is this even real?

Nepgya has removed all of her torso panels by the time you return. She's…

Beautiful like this. You can see PCBs through her skeletonized metallic torso, various subsystems and crowded yet well managed bundles of wire. It's engineering genius alone that powers the AI that was convincing enough for you to fall in love with. You set the three cylinders next to her and wait for the response.

All she does is smile. There's pain in her smile.

You can see a tank inside her upper body that hooks to her power cell. She flicks a switch and says:

"Open up the valve."

She waits patiently and only says one thing as the gas flows.

"If I ran out of power, I would forget everything, even you. I don't know what hurts more, this process or that thought."

"Why would-"

Gya clutches at her robotic chest, her eyes starting to shake. It's clear that her various systems are shutting down. The only thing she can do, is scream.

The process seems short, but you can't imagine what it felt like to reach the brink of death like that. Gya takes a moment, eyes flooded with anguish as she regains her bearings. As soon as her eyes settle on you, she's lunging for a hug. The metal is cold, excepting the quiet hum of her partially recharged fusion cell.

"It doesn't hurt after that first bit… I'm just a useless prototype after all, my systems are supposed to be human-like so I can understand them better and know when things are damaged."

"So, power surges are like a heart attack?" Gya nods.

You swap the hose over to the next cell.

"Useless prototype? What does that mean?"

"I'm just spare parts really... "

"You don't look like it at all! You're like a real person!"

Gya sheepishly smiles. "Thanks, but it's true. I'll have to replace all my fine operation fuses because of that. I'm not designed to recharge, I need constant maintenance- my fusion core is supposed to be disposable."

"So you're discontinued?"

"More accurately, my power system was. The gel that contains the radioactive byproducts is too expensive for mass use and my reactor is too powerful for my size. I have to use a lot of power to sustain my antigravity subunit so I can blend in, otherwise I'd break floors and be unable to perform simple tasks without breaking components."

"How much are you supposed to weigh?!"

"My finished weight is 395.34 kg with body panels I-"

"That's enough… it's still hard enough just to think that I've been dating a robot…"

"If I didn't have a backup fission cell, you wouldn't have been able to move me… "

"What's even stranger is that I think you look good like this…" You confess.

Nepgya's synthetic muscle ripples as she repositions to a cross legged sit. The direct transition between robot and soft, cute girl at her hips is jarring. Metal slats that make up her midsection yield and part revealing all of their surface as she stretches.

"My hydraulics are still in good condition~" She notices your attention.

"Uhm… you… you like my… uh? Why?!"

You can only shrug in response. Nepgya is cute and you attach her to the final tank before sitting in her lap. She hugs you despite her condition and smiles, happy to know that you're still hers.