-eng- Female Doll - Xa -rj01288937- -

He should have put her back in the crate. He should have smashed the key, burned the velvet, called the number on the manifest. Instead, he walked over and knelt in front of her. She cupped his face with her cool hands.

By the third day, he was sleeping on the floor beside her crate. By the fifth, he had stopped going upstairs. His phone buzzed with missed calls. His plants wilted. His reflection in the bathroom mirror looked thinner, grayer, hollow-cheeked. -ENG- Female Doll - XA -RJ01288937-

Not the same thing. He knew it wasn't the same thing. But he was so tired. So empty. And she was always there, always still, always waiting. He should have put her back in the crate

On the seventh day, he found the original manifest crumpled beneath the velvet lining. It read: Type: Female Doll - Empathy Variant - XA Class Warning: Unit does not generate emotion. Unit mirrors and amplifies owner's existing loneliness. Prolonged exposure results in total emotional dependency. Do not activate without a secondary tether to living beings. Note: No secondary tether has been issued with this unit. He read it twice. Then he looked at her. She was standing in the corner, hands folded, head slightly bowed. Waiting. Always waiting. She cupped his face with her cool hands

"Can you love?" he asked one night, his voice raw.

He turned the key. Three clicks. Her eyelids fluttered. Then opened.

The crate arrived on a Tuesday, sealed with wax and stamped . No return address. Just a serial number that felt more like a curse than a catalog entry.