She stepped forward to the desk, trailing a hand behind to let Liam know to wait a minute. She straightened out the faint ruffles in her shirt and cleared her throat. “Hello,” she said. The receptionist looked up, glanced at Daisy, and peered out at Liam. “Return?” she asked in a low voice. Daisy nodded. The receptionist, whose plastic nametag marked her as “Eve,” opened a drawer and pulled out a form from a stack of papers within. She grabbed a clipboard and pen and handed them through the window to Daisy. “Have a seat,” she instructed, “and fill out this form, please. When we’re ready, someone will call you through that door.”
Pale, white fluorescent light bathed the waiting room, illuminating the glossy, windowless walls and curved plastic seats affixed to the floor in even rows. It was not at all what Daisy had expected. For one thing, there were no windows; they had come down a corridor and into the heart of the building. She had expected large windows like those overlooking the runway at an airport—and marble. She had expected dark marble countertops and marble walls of a lighter color. The counter at the reception desk was small, sharp-cornered, and set into a small window looking into the next room, where the receptionist sat on the other side filling out paperwork—probably wasting time to keep her boredom at bay. Daisy had expected something more grand and corporate; instead, the room felt much like the waiting room at a doctor’s office.
“Thank you,” Daisy breathed more than said. She started to turn, stopped for a moment, then carried on. “Come on,” she said to Liam. “We have to wait a bit.” She looked around at the empty room before sitting down in the corner, facing the door they had come in by.
“What’d you say this place was again?” he asked. His voice was as calm as ever, and a lump of fear shot into her throat. Did he know? How would he respond?
“It’s just a checkup,” she answered, without looking at him. She began to fill out the information on the form. The lump sank back down, disappearing into her stomach. A minute later, a woman emerged from the door Eve had indicated.
“Daisy?” she asked. Daisy nodded. “I’m Lauren. Why don’t you come in.”
Daisy stood and made her way through the door. “You, too,” Lauren added, beckoning to Liam.
“Oh,” Liam replied as he stood up. “I didn’t know I was needed.”
“It’s good to have a loved one in the room,” Lauren replied.
They filed out of the waiting room, down a corridor, and into a conference room. Three chairs sat around a small table. Lauren directed the two of them to sit down, and took Daisy’s clipboard. “You finished filling this out?” she asked. Daisy nodded again. Lauren began to read from the form, mostly to herself, but loud enough so they could all hear. “Daisy Wells. Twenty-seven. Everything seems to be in order.” She cleared her throat. “All right. I’m going to go scan this in. I’ll be right back. You two sit tight.”
After she left, Liam began to look around the room. “What’s going on?” he asked. “I thought this was a doctor’s appointment.”
Daisy hesitated. “Not really,” she finally replied.
“What do you mean? Honey, just tell me.” He reached an arm out to caress her cheek, but she leaned away. Her view brightened, and she thought suddenly that she hated the fluorescent lighting. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Liam continued.
“I—”
The door seemed to burst open, even though Lauren had only pushed it gently. “Okay,” she began.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked, directing the question at Lauren above him. She turned to Daisy.
“You haven’t told him?”
Daisy hardly knew what to say. She shook her head. “He doesn’t know,” she answered. “He doesn’t know anything.”
“Anything?”
Daisy shook her head again.
Lauren thought for a moment. “Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll be right back.” She turned and left again.
“Haven’t told me what?” Liam asked as the door clicked shut. Daisy refused to answer. “Baby, come on. What’s going on?” There was genuine concern in his tone. “Daisy baby, please. What is all this? You said it was a checkup. Is everything okay?”
She shook her head, still refusing to look at him.
“What’s happening?” he persisted. “Come on, I—”
The door burst open again, and Lauren entered and took a seat at the table with them. “Okay,” she said, “someone’s coming to help out. This’ll all be cleared up in a bit.” She put a hand over Liam’s on the table. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“What’s going on?” he tried. “Is something wrong with Daisy?”
“Don’t you worry about her,” Lauren replied. “She’s going to be all right.”
He slumped back in his chair. A few minutes later, three women in business attire entered the room. Two of them appeared to be bodyguards of the third, who almost immediately reached out to shake Daisy’s hand. “I’m Elle,” she said. “I know this is hard for you. We’re here to help.” She turned back to the bodyguards, who stood attentive at the door. She gave an approving nod. “Lauren,” Elle said without turning around, “you don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.”
“I understand,” Lauren replied, standing up.
“Thank you for calling us.”
Once Lauren was gone, Elle moved the chair closer to Daisy and took a seat. “You really haven’t told him anything?”
Daisy shook her head. “From the very beginning. I didn’t want him to know. It felt like it would ruin it. Is that unusual?”
“Hard to say. We don’t get a lot of returns. Usually, they’re told about it all when they’re brought in here.” She looked over at Liam. “How do you want to do this?” she asked, still talking to Daisy.
“I—I don’t really know, I…”
“Do you want to do this?” Elle prompted.
“Yes, I’m sure about it.” She looked up at Liam, and immediately regretted it. There was fear visible in his eyes.
“Honey, what’s going on?” he asked again.
Elle ignored him. “We can undo all this, if you want to go back to normal. It’s up to you.”
Liam opened his mouth to speak, but something stopped him. In the silence that followed, Daisy noticed for the first time the quiet, persistent hum of the lights above them. “No,” she finally answered. “I want to return him.”
“Return me? Baby, what do you mean? What’s going on?”
Elle’s bodyguards stepped forward. “Could you follow us, sir?” one of them said, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“Wha—where are we going?” he asked, standing up.
“It’s best if you don’t stay here for now,” the other bodyguard replied, guiding him toward the door and ushering him through.
“What am I—wait!” he cried softly, turning to face Daisy, halfway out of the door. She looked up, and locked eyes with him. “Don’t leave me,” he pleaded. “I love you.” The bodyguards guided him out of the door and let it swing shut behind them.
A tear ran down Daisy’s cheek. Elle grasped her hand, comforting her. “How—?” Daisy began, faltering. “It seemed like he knew.”
“I think deep down, they always know,” Elle answered. “Whether consciously or not. He must have recognized this place. You know,” she continued, “they have blood, veins, and flesh just like us. They have the same kinds of tissue, the same organs, more or less. They have hearts, and a brain, although a less complex one. I’ve never met a model that wasn’t human in almost every aspect. The key thing is, at their core, they’re silicon. We’re alive.”
Daisy nodded. “I know. I think that’s why it never really worked between us.”
“May I ask what happened? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s okay,” Daisy answered. “It… wasn’t really one thing. He was great in bed, and he always cleaned up the house, and did his fair share in the kitchen. He was pretty much the perfect husband.”
“So what went wrong?”
“I don’t really know. I stopped feeling it. He didn’t excite me anymore.”
“That’s it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t really know what else to say. A few weeks ago, we sat down to eat dinner. He made lamb stew. We usually eat in silence, and then clean up and go to bed together. I just started thinking about the food, and then it seemed weird to be eating with him. Like he was eating, and it just went in and out of him. I know that’s not how it works, but I couldn’t help feeling that way. I got to thinking about his body—like you said, flesh and muscle tissue just like me, but I couldn’t help feeling like there wasn’t anything there at all. Like he was just a shell and there was nothing inside of him, nothing really for me. And I still found him attractive but I couldn’t sleep with him anymore. I couldn’t stop thinking about how empty he was. Everything we did together, the way he held me, and paid for dinners, and was tall and handsome—nothing mattered… you probably think I’m crazy,” she added. “But I swear, it just happened like that. I guess it was coming on for a long time, and I just didn’t see it until then.” She wiped away the tears on her face.
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Elle replied. “I’ve never been a fan of the models myself.”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
Elle shrugged. “Do you really want to know?”
Daisy nodded.
“He’ll have his memory erased, and he’ll be cleaned and repurposed.”
“Repurposed?”
“Sure. If you don’t want him, somebody else will. That’s how the world works.”
Daisy nodded without speaking.
“If you don’t mind,” Elle continued, “I’ve got a meeting to attend. You’ll be sent a survey on your overall experience with us. I’d appreciate it if you’d fill it out for our records. And you’ll be partially refunded, of course. If you come back to us, I’ll be happy to get you a discount. Just give me a call.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card, sliding it over to Daisy on the table. “You can leave whenever you’re ready.”
Daisy stayed for a moment, hating the light and the closed nature of the room, but not wanting to leave just yet. She rested her head on her arms and pushed Elle’s business card around the table with her left fingers. After a few minutes, she sighed, took the business card and slipped it into her pocket, and stood. She walked out and down the empty hall the way she came.
When she emerged into the outside world, a light breeze ruffled her hair. All the lights and colors of the city around her rushed at her all at once, and she began to walk northwest, following the grid of the city and keeping under the eaves of the skyscrapers, where the crowds were less heavy and she didn’t have to push through people moving in the opposite direction. She passed the subway station entrance where she would have descended to go home, not even considering what she was doing or why. She kept walking northwest, toward the river.
A woman walked by, going in the opposite direction, dragging her child behind her by the hand. “Don’t trudge your feet,” she scolded as the girl whined. Daisy looked around for other faces, resting on none in particular. She came to the river and crossed over, thinking about the gentle arcing of the road itself: up, and then down. On the other side, there was a vendor selling fried corn with butter and spices. Daisy felt the hunger in her stomach, but at the moment she loathed the idea of eating. She thought of Liam’s mouth at the dinner table. She kept walking.
Two blocks beyond the river, there was a large park which seemed to burst up from the ground and push the buildings aside. She turned without thinking and went down one of its gravel paths, keeping to the right to give joggers space to pass. She thought about the white halls she had just come out of, and the little room with the small table. Liam had looked so afraid. Had he been? He was all artifice, she decided. Finally, she came to a park bench nestled away behind a set of trees, and sat down. An Orfinch fluttered by. She stared for a moment. She had never seen one in person; they were rarer now in the city than they had ever been.
For that brief moment, her mind was focused on the bird in front of her. It pecked gently at the trail, searching for seeds. Then, with no apparent cause, it flew away briskly. A multitude of thoughts and images whirled around in her head. She saw in her memory the first day, when she had tapped her card and paid for Liam. He had come out fresh and smiling from behind a closed door. She saw babies born—babies she had never met in births she had never seen. Then she saw Liam again, clean and well dressed and ready—memory implanted, life-infused. He was alive, she thought. He breathed, and spoke English and French and Chinese, and laughed and smiled when they were together. He blew his nose and sang poorly and made fried eggs for her in the morning. He was alive, of course. He told awful jokes and was there for her and liked movie nights when they were both free. He was alive. Was it all garbage? What did he mean? I love you. What did it mean. He was strong and alive and fragile and dead and open and closed tight against the world, fragile and alive and dead and strong and fragile. He was nothing. Memory and deceit; she wondered why she had even bothered; it was endless anyway. She had told herself that she would teach him things, that they would share lives, but those were never possibilities because he could not learn and was not alive. She thought of the bright gray and yellow Orfinch again, seeing it just as it had been, beautiful-feathered and alive, and her heart sank suddenly, as if in response to a feeling she did not understand. She sat motionless for a while. The sky grew dark, and the lights of the city slowly illuminated themselves in response, swathing her field of view with pale yellow and orange pricks of defiance at the night. The bird did not return.