It was breathtaking. Even from the small port window on this junkheap, the planet below was like a diamond in the void—my new home, Winterhearth. I’ll admit, I wasn’t looking forward to being sent here to live with a host family. But now that I see the planet itself.

  “Attention passengers, we are making a final approach to Winterhearth.” The PA system announced. It then rattled off the usual automated pleasantries and details about the landing.

  This journey from my homeworld, Crucible, has taken over a week. So many stations, so many transfers from one ship to another. One half-dead lemon of a passenger ship to the next. But now… all of that aggravation will have been worth it. Twelve more hours, and I’ll finally meet my new family.

  Truth be told, that’s what’s kept me going for the past nine days. Every cheap flight, I felt like I had a giant cramp by the time we got to a spaceport. The first ship’s thrusters malfunctioned mid-flight. If it weren’t for a Void Guard patrol, we’d probably have been crushed in the gravity well of a gas giant. Then there was the psionic field around Sha’kur that drove the pilot and half of the passengers insane. The Void Guard isn’t paid enough for the work they do. And how could I forget the time the generator exploded, and we had to wait for three days? After all, that incident made the headlines across the entire quadrant.

  One hour later, it was announced that due to a course correction to avoid a meteor, it’d be another hour before we arrived planetside. It’s okay; I’ve grown accustomed to delays since I left Crucible.

  Another hour later, I tried to take a nap. And wouldn’t you know it? A baby started crying, and to make matters worse, it was a Baan’shaar baby. Blind bat-like aliens that use echolocation to ‘see’. So every ear was ringing even after the little screamer finally calmed down. Cheap ships like this are always short on noise suppressors.

  Another hour later, it was announced that a powerful snowstorm was approaching Angmar City. I suppose that can’t be helped on an arctic planet, but come on. I don’t care how cheap this flight is, dock at a space elevator! Those things are built for hostile weather conditions! And there’s a big one right next to Angmar City!

  By the twenty-fourth hour of waiting, I was a basket case to put it simply. I was hyperventilating, anxious that the ship would never land, and I’d be stuck in orbit forever. Not quite as bad as what would’ve happened to me if I stayed on Crucible. But all the same, undesirable.

  “Attention passengers. The Angmar City port authorities have just cleared Flight 8311 to land. We at Nomad Interstellar Flights would like to apologize for the delay.” The PA announced.

  Finally! I felt like I would’ve danced if there were room in the cabin. The ship descended through the planet's atmosphere. Unfortunately, the thermal shielding activated, ruining my view of the planet's landscape. I mean, it’s just common safety, but now I can't even see my new homeworld.

  “We have arrived at Angmar City Interstellar Spaceport. Thank you for choosing Nomad Interstellar Flights. The local time is 4:13 AM.” The PA announced as I got my bag. I didn’t have, or even need, much for my big adventure of catching passenger ships. Thankfully, I avoided the fate of many travelers since the dawn of commercial flight, losing luggage.

  I couldn’t wait to finally, FINALLY be done with ships for the time being, and feel a real planet under my feet again. I practically jogged up the shuttleway, into the spaceport. It was huge and spacious. A far cry from some of the spaceports on Crucible, which were more about getting as many passengers and cargo on and off world as fast as possible, than giving a Skal’vaars tail about comfort or dignity.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  It was then that I looked in a nearby mirror, and I was reminded of what I am. My face is human enough, expressive, soft to the touch, and even cute with my teal eyes, nose, and a ponytail with a teal hairband keeping it up. But it’s what’s below that I’ve grown to dislike. My arms, legs, torso, and neck are all made of segmented mechanical parts, and I’m wearing a CID jumpsuit.

  In short, I’m a robot, I’m an advanced one, but a bot designed to look like a teenage girl is still a bot all the same. I’d give just about anything to be human. Have a mom and dad, a family, maybe siblings, clothes without a serial number on them, maybe look cute if that isn’t too much to ask.

  I was created on Crucible as a prototype, a template, for a mass-produced line of companion robots. Nothing adult, thank the stars for that mercy, just friendly companionship by my creator's insistence. A caretaker for the elderly, a peer friend, a teacher's aid or tutor, a therapy bot to help with trauma, and the like, you name it. But the board of directors of Crucible Interplanetary Developments decided I was overly emotional. Overly human, to be produced for the I-GCM. (Inter-Galactic Community Market) So my creator, Dr. Daniel R. Samson, was given a choice, and he took the one where I’d at least be alive.

  This integration has to work. Unless I can prove that I’m not a threat to organisms, I will be dragged back to Crucible, kicking and screaming, erased, and then they'll recycle my chassis. I can only hope that the Fenixes treat me like more than a machine. Like the person Dr. Samson hopes I can become. There’s no telling how he’d react if the Nova Vita project were closed. If the first, and probably last, Amicusbot were destroyed.

  “Excuse me. Please observe the sign.” The security officer pointed. ‘No staring into mirrors for extended periods of time.’ A weird statute, but okay.

  “Sorry, it’s taken me over a week to get here,” I said politely.

  “Sorry to hear that, but you gotta keep movin’. A lot of people come through here,” After making a hasty goodbye to the officer. I went to where I thought I’d meet my new family. I went to Arrivals, and I got a better look at the spaceport.

  For lack of a better word, this place is amazing! Not just at the spacious ceilings, the veritable menagerie of humans, aliens, and robots. But there were stores, eateries, arcades, and art. By the laws, REAL art. Not just something printed out and plastered on a wall, but real recreations of classic works of art! Even some depictions of the Long Night. More variety, more life than I ever saw on Crucible.

  But it was the snow that caught my attention. REAL snow, not just holographic specks pretending to be snow in a simulation. But actual, frozen, crystallized water. On a volcanic world like Crucible, such things are impossible.

  It looked so beautiful… quiet. But one thing at a time, I need to meet my host family. Maybe I could look around later, assuming there’s enough time. I got turned around by the spaceport's layout and got lost three times. I had heard rumors that the Angmar spaceport had hidden areas sealed from the public. Including labs that stored dangerous specimens that could be a threat to the entire universe as we know it. I really hope those aren’t what I stumbled into.

  I was so nervous, I was finally going to meet them in person. I had been practicing how I’d greet them since Dr. Samson told me I'd be hosting them. Over six months ago.

  Now, I was so nervous that my mind went completely blank. The nerve of my neural lattice to forget something so important just because my anxiety is off the charts! Anyway, after I calmed myself down, I looked around the baggage claim. They weren’t there, so I asked a security officer.

  “Just give a minute, kid, I need to access the data.” And after a few minutes, and a few times when I had to specify WHICH Fenix’s I was looking for. “You're in luck, they’re in the airport hotel. Couldn’t tell you the room number, though.”

  “Thanks anyway, sir,” I said as I went looking for the hotel. A hotel in a spaceport? Such a thing would’ve been unheard of on Crucible. The CID controls everything on that planet, and if it doesn’t generate a profit, they get rid of it. Unless it was made for the higher-ups of the corpo, everything had to be efficient. I went to the reception desk. “Excuse me, I’m Nova, serial number CRP-14. Is the Fenix family checked into this hotel?” I asked the large, tired-looking ursine alien behind the counter.

  “Just give me a minute.” He said, typing at his console, clearly exhausted from his work. Overworked, perhaps? Or worse, he’s being made to work through his hibernation cycle. He struggled to stay awake, but he got the number of the room the Fenixes were in. “Floor I… room 117.” He passed out and snored as loud as you’d expect an ursine to do.

  “Rest, big guy, you’ve earned it.” I said as I hung a ‘do not disturb’ sign on one of his claws.

  I took an elevator to the ninth floor and followed the numbered rooms until I reached 117. When I did arrive, I took a deep breath to center myself. “Okay, Nova… you can do this. You waited half a year to spend almost two weeks catching one ship after the next to meet these people… It’s now or never.” I softly knocked on the door, hoping that they were at least awake.

  So what did you think?

  And please, also check out-

  ? The Life After Death ?

  by Yu Kei

  He was a crime lord feared in a world of cybernetics and neon lights.

  Now he’s a newborn in a land of magic.

  When Arther Valentine dies, he expects oblivion, not a second life. Reborn as Emrys Valenhart in a realm of monsters and mana, he carries memories of blood, betrayal, and power earned through cruelty.

  But this time… he doesn’t want to rule. He wants what he never had.

  Family. Peace. Love.

  Yet in a world where strength determines survival and ancient forces stir in the shadows, Emrys quickly learns that escaping his past may be impossible, and protecting the people he grows to cherish may demand he become more terrifying than before.

  Because in this life, every bond has a price.

  What to expect:

  - Reincarnation & Growth

  - Deep Worldbuilding

  - Emotional Bonds

  - Dark Fantasy Tone

  - Slow-Burn Romance

  - Epic Progression

  Release Schedule:

  - Two chapters weekly - Wednesday and Friday

  Notes:

  Please check out my for up to an additional 12 unreleased chapters. (Tier dependent)

  Cover was commissioned and rights are reserved to myself and the artist only.