In the late hours of the night, a feminine figure sat playing a video game in her room, eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to defeat the final boss of her game.

She had practiced this many a time, studied many a walk through and finally...

*BOOM*

She struck the final blow, the monster dropping to the ground, defeated. The young woman huffed happily, and fell back in the bed.

"Finally...It took two days, but I finally won..." She said cheerfully. She laid there for a few moments, celebrating her victory...

*BEEPBEEPBEEP...*

Blinking, she looked over at her alarm clock. Sometimes she just got so into her games she would lose track of time, so her mother had purchased an alarm clock so she would get to school on time.

The girl, quick as a whip, pulled her bag over here shoulder and grabbed her jacket. She calmly left her house, walking to school, being alone with her thoughts...

"Chiaki!" The girl froze at the sound of her mother's voice. She turned, head tilted, frowning.

"Yes, mother?" She asked.

"You forgot your lunch." The older woman held out a bottle of black liquid. Chiaki smiled and accepted the bottle.

"Thank you, mother."

"You need to stop being so forgetful." The older woman said with a smile. "You know you can't keep running without it." She shook her head. "Honestly, so smart in school yet so forgetful... Oh! Did you remember to study for your test? Remember, you need to pass to graduate next week."

Chiaki nodded, a small smile gracing her angular features.

"Of course I did Mother. I wouldn't want to let you down." She replied.

Her mother grinned, hugging her for a moment before kissing her forehead. Chiaki smiled bigger.

"Have a great day at school today Hun."

Chiaki gave her mother a light bow. "Of course, mother. Thank you." She said cheerfully as she moved to continue her walk to school.

'Hmm...I wonder what it's like to be a mother...' Chiaki thought. Her mother always had the strange look when she looked at her... Something that matched Pride and love. She shrugged it off, continuing down the street, observing the humans. She tilted her head quizzically when she saw a child at a park with his mother.

The mother HAD been pushing him on a swing, but the child had fallen off, and was now being cuddled by her and nice things were being said in his ear.

She saw the liquid known as 'tears' had been streaming down the child's face beforehand, noticeable by the streaks on his cheeks. She tilted her head as her mind processed this information.

'Oh...I get it...If they're hurt or crying, hug them and make them feel better.'

With her posture still perfect she continued her path to school, recording the memory in her database. She kept going back to that moment though, feeling desire for something poke through her. She decided it would be fun to have a child. It would be a learning experience.

'Hmm...What other information could I put to use should I take in a child?' Deciding school was unimportant, she searched the city. She decided to check the other parts of the playground. She walked in and began to scan the area. She managed to pick up another mother watching her son playing on the playground equipment. After successfully making it across the monkey bars, the child was picked up by a waiting mother, who spun him around, kissing his face. The child happily laughed and the two "cuddled" for a bit.

'So you reward the child when he or she does something correct..'

She recorded it then went back to scanning the area once more.

She noticed another mother sitting next to a child on a bench. She managed to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation, and it was clear the child had done something wrong. The woman was talking in a calm, even, yet stern tone. At the end of it, the two shared a hug.

'Ah...It's imperitive to let the child know when they've done wrong, but you must show them you still love them afterwards.'

Believing her data to be sufficient she turned towards one more family. A very ugly woman was very violently yelling at a tiny child while a larger child laughed. Chiaki tilted her head, "That is not... Correct." 'Hmm...Perhaps I should contact mother and let her know what I'm seeing right now...'

Pulling out her communications device she contacted her mother,

"Hello? Chiaki what is it?" She asked, worried.

"Mother my research on Mother child relationships has hit a fault. A woman is acting violently with a tiny boy."

When mother was silent Chiaki called out, "Mother?" There was more silence, and Chiaki shifted uncomfortably. "Um...Mother? Are you...still there? Did something happen?"

"Chiaki, please observe the family. I will call the police." She finally responded. Chiaki Nanami turned her attention back to the family, who appeared to be getting ready to leave, much to the protests of the fat boy. Chiaki's feet clacked against the earth as she quickly followed. The fat boy's protests were starting to annoy her... She turned her attention to the littlest child.

His body language was disturbing. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of fear. Trembling, eyes darting back and forth, looking as if he were expecting to be hit at any moment...

Chiaki frowned, not liking the state he was in. Turning her attention to what he was wearing, she found it was an overly large jacket with some MUCH larger jeans. He was tripping and struggling to keep up. And she got a brief glimpse of his face. The swollen purple eyes, the blood clots, the missing front tooth...Those were clear injuries if she ever saw them. Chiaki knew in her circuits that this boy's family were inflicting these injuries. This was unacceptable. Children were not meant to be harmed. She glared at the horse-like woman's back angrily. Children should not be harmed by their families. They were meant to be loved and cherished. Even a machine like her knew that, all because of her mother.

Her mother was a brilliant scientist who had wanted a daughter her entire life. However, she had eventually found that she was unable to conceive. She would not let such a thing prevent her from having the daughter she wanted, so she built her own daughter. Chiaki was an android invented in a laboratory, built to adjust to human customs. And despite technically not even being the same species, Chiaki's mother still treated her with love, kindness and respect.

Why couldn't these people before her do that for this little boy?

Chiaki, now angrily following the horrible people plus one, finally found herself outside a boring household. It was quiet for a few moments before a scream could be heard from the inside. The android clasped her hand over her mouth. It was a child's scream! Something awful was happening to the cute, tiny little boy! She had to do SOMETHING!

She stomped up to the door, kicking it so hard it snapped, allowing her easy access to the house. The yelling stopped and the sound of a door slamming was heard. Much to her shock a gross looking fat man appeared.

If the circumstances had been any different, she would have burst into laughter at seeing such a disgustingly obese man. However, her servos were telling her this was far from the right time for laughter.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN MY HOME!?" The man screamed, making a move to slap her but Chiaki caught his hand, effectively stopping it.

The man struggled, but a strong kick to his belly sent him sprawling.

"Trying to attack me is a bad idea." Chiaki said, an enraged undertone in her voice. "As an android, I'm naturally stronger than you. And to answer your question, I'm here because I wanna save that little boy."

The man couldn't respond, only groan and struggle to move. Chiaki stepped on him as she walked across, finding herself next to some stairs. She picked up some quiet whimpers and knelt down. "Hello?" She called out. "Little boy? Are you here?" She heard a sharp intake of breath, no doubt the child realizing someone else was there, and looked at a small cupboard beneath the stairs, sensing a small presence within.

She pulled open the tiny closet, shocked at the sight. The tiny child was curled up in one corner of a closet covered in puke, blood and other bodily wastes... She turned her attention to the child.

"Hello." She said brightly, trying to ease the tension. "My name is Chiaki Nanami, and I came to get you to safety. What's your name?"

The little one responded, albeit quietly, "H-Harry... I think..."

His tone was scared, and shaky. He looked even worse than the last time she'd seen him.

And now she could see that he wasn't wearing a shirt anymore, and got a good look at the burns, blood, infected wounds and various other injuries matting his tiny fragile body.

Chiaki, stepping outside his comfort zone, snatched him up. He weakly struggled but eventually wasted his energy. Chiaki went outside to hear sirens.

She sighed with relief. "Oh good. The police came to help you." She said to Harry. "There's nothing to be afraid of now." But Harry was still struggling, attempting to escape. Chiaki leaned and whispered, "Little Child I'm here to help you. Please do not be frightened."

Harry finally calmed, falling asleep. Chiaki smiled. "Poor thing...He's so exhausted." She said to herself, approaching a nearby police car. "Officer! I saved the boy!"

The officer, Jackson, directed her to an ambulance. She entered the ambulance and set Harry on the gurney. He let out a small moan and went back to sleep. She frowned down at him. It wasn't right for a little boy to go through such an ordeal...She sighed and decided to call her mother.

After a few seconds her mother answered.

"Chiaki?! Is everything alright?!" Her urgent voice called back

"The boy... He's hurt." Chiaki replied.

The older woman sighed deeply. "I was afraid of that... I'm proud of you for stepping in to help him."

"Mother, how did you know where to send the police?"

"I can monitor your actions, it's a feature I added so I know where you are." She replied.

"Okay. Mother?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes dear?" mother replies

"What do you know about adoption?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. "...Dear...Are...Are you implying..."

"Mother...I want to adopt the little boy."