Through the curtain of rain, a girl stands motionless before her mother's grave.
On the tombstone surrounded by fresh flowers, her mother's entire existence has been reduced to these few cold words:
"In Loving Memory of Isabel Everett."
The cold drizzle soaks through Dolores' hair and the bouquet in her hands, yet she remains standing in silent vigil.
We should head back, Dolores. The rain is picking up.
Every year on this day, you stand here alone from dawn till dusk. I'm sure it would be Isabel's heart if she ever saw you like this.
Edmond, is it true what they say? I mean... Is my mother's body really not there under this stone?
They say my father only buried an empty coffin here.
...
I have never heard such rumors myself, Dolores.
With a tired, detached smile crossing her face, Dolores appears as though she's trying to convince herself of something she doesn't believe.
Yes, of course. I'm sure Mommy is resting right under this stone.
...
I should go, Dolores... It's your coming-of-age ceremony today.
The estate has been decorated, and we'll be receiving a lot of guests for the banquet tonight.
...Alright.
Dolores casts one last mournful glance at her mother's tombstone before finally turning away.
That evening's banquet lacks the all-night laughter and commotion typical of a celebration of a wealthy family. There is no passionate singing or dancing from young revelers.
The elegantly dressed guests only exchange brief pleasantries, go through the motions of dining, then, feeling awkward, quickly make excuses to leave. Before long, the parking area outside the estate stands completely deserted once again.
Lavishly decorated yet utterly somber, Dolores Everett's coming-of-age ceremony quietly draws to a close.
Dolores sits alone at one end of the long table in her formal gown. The elaborate dishes before her have grown cold, and the eighteen candles on her birthday cake remain unlit.
The guests from her coming-of-age ceremony have long since departed, leaving her alone in the lifeless opulence. The whispers and murmurs she overheard linger in her mind.
What's wrong with Linus Everett? It's his only daughter's coming-of-age ceremony today, and he's nowhere to be seen?
Exactly! It's completely improper! Leaving that poor girl to manage all these guests by herself. This whole thing would have been a disaster if it weren't for their old butler!
Ha! You don't know the half of it! Turns out this Linus dude wasn't even from a distinguished family or anything. He's just a gold-digger who married into money!
I heard he used to be some kind of researcher... working on transferring human consciousness into mechanoids... A real weirdo he was! He couldn't find work anywhere and was so broke he could barely afford to eat.
Then out of nowhere, Isabel took a liking to him! Not only did she shower him with money to continue his research, but she also married him shortly after!
That's just, wow. I bet that guy just coasted by on his good looks. Talk about lucky... And now he's the one running the family business with Isabel gone!
But what bad luck she had. She'd just taken control of the family fortune when she came down with this incurable disease. Spent years in a wheelchair before passing away.
Rumor has it that the guy is keeping Isabel's body at home for some sort of experiment. God knows if that's true, though...
Shhh! Keep it down! You don't want Dolores to hear this...
Poor girl, if you ask me. Her mother's dead, and her father's a complete oddball. Might as well be an orphan...
I heard her mother's strange disease was hereditary. God knows if she's gonna end up with the same thing herself...
...
Dolores shakes her head gently, trying to banish those repulsive words from her mind.
She turns to look at Edmond behind her. He maintains his usual reserved demeanor, standing quietly—just as he has for more than a decade.
Edmond.
Yes, Dolores? How may I help?
Can we do an opening for my coming-of-age ceremony?
I'm sorry, Dolores, but I can't do that. That should be your father's responsibility. I am... just this family's butler.
Is that so... But I haven't seen him in such a long time.
We live under the same roof, yet he always locks himself away in his lab.
The truth is, Edmond, all these years... I've already come to see you as my father.
You're the only one who's always been here for me.
...
Please, Dolores. I don't deserve such a compliment.
No matter what happens, I will always be loyal to you.
The butler bows deeply to Dolores, his aging voice betraying a hint of emotion.
Dolores gives a bitter smile as she lights the candles on her birthday cake one by one. With the dancing flames, her face is aglow.
She watches the candles burn in silence, then closes her eyes to make a quiet wish. Finally, she opens her eyes and gently blows out the dancing flames.
From this moment on, I am an adult. I deserve a say in the family's affairs.
I can't let my father... remain lost in his own world any longer.
She gently waves her hand to stop Edmond from going with her.
It's fine. I'll speak with Father myself. You don't need to come with me, Edmond.
Dolores turns and walks alone toward the manor's basement.
She knocks on the door of the laboratory—a place her father has retreated to after her mother's death. As always, the door remains firmly shut, forming a threshold she's never been permitted to cross.
How many times have I told you to never come here without my permission, Dolores?
Her father's voice comes through the heavy door, sounding somewhat distorted.
Do you know what people say about you behind your back, and... what they say about our family?
Dolores can barely contain her frustration, her voice rising despite herself.
This is the only place you've ever been since Mom died...
Please let me in, Father!
After a brief silence, the heavy door swings open before Dolores with a thunderous sound.
Her long-absent father has grown paler and more gaunt. She barely recognizes the look on his face now.
Her father's lips curl into what seems like a mocking smile.
Your mother is perfectly fine. Why in the world are you spreading such nonsense, Dolores?
Come, keep your mother company.
Her father sounds so gentle that it reminds Dolores of how he treated her many years ago when she was still a child.
He seems oblivious to the fact that Dolores is now a young woman.
...
Without hesitation, Dolores follows her father into the laboratory.
This is her first time setting foot in this place. In the harsh white lights, all sorts of laboratory equipment she doesn't recognize fill the space, alongside various strange-looking mechanoids.
In the vast laboratory, a mechanoid sits on a chair at the center of the testing chamber, surrounded by a tangle of intersecting cables. Its metallic shell looks anything but human.
Linus approaches the mechanoid and gently calls out to it.
Isabel, wake up. Dolores is here.
Her father's voice "awakens" the dormant mechanoid whose eyes slowly open.
The mechanoid's lifeless visual modules slowly scan the objects in the room before finally locking onto Dolores.
Slowly, the mechanoid opens its mouth to produce a voice identical to her mother's, except its tone and inflection completely lack any human cadence.
...
Today's weather: clear skies, temperature 25°C.
Your hair is all messy. Come here, let me brush it for you.
Please ensure to switch me to "maintenance mode" before performing a frame module upgrade.
Sleep now, sleep in peace, my daughter.
I'll love you forever. Everything good that the world has to offer shall be with you.
A bouquet of roses, a bouquet of lilies—when you wake up, my darling, they'll all be yours.
Frame core temperature slightly deviating from normal parameters. Entering self-repair mode.
Repairing... Repairing... Repairing...
Your hair is all messy. Come here, let me brush it for you.
...
Despite the mechanoid's flat tone and disjointed speech, Dolores is still left in utter disbelief.
Despite herself, Dolores approaches the mechanoid.
...Mother? Is that you?
Are you really... in there?
It's me, Dolores.
Come here, come to Mother.
...Mommy...
Tears well up in Dolores' eyes. She can't even remember how long it's already been since she last said the word "mother."
The mechanoid sits in the chair, arms outstretched toward herDthe same way Dolores' mother used to always welcome her home years ago.
Mommy!
Dolores can no longer contain herself. She throws herself into the mechanoid's embrace.
Despite the cold metal frame, she lays her tear-streaked face on the mechanoid's lap.
I've missed you so much, Mother...
Don't cry, my child.
Your hair is all messy. Come here, let me brush it for you.
Dolores feels the mechanoid's hand gently stroke her hair. Despite the cold touch, it feels exactly the same as her mother's from years ago.
The mechanoid's hands gently gather her hair and braid it with meticulous care.
The mechanoid starts humming a gentle lullaby as it continues braiding Dolores' hair.
Sleep now, sleep in peace, my daughter.
I'll love you forever. Everything good that the world has to offer shall be with you.
A bouquet of roses, a bouquet of lilies—when you wake up, my darling, they'll all be yours.
In her "mother's" embrace and listening to her lullaby, Dolores finds herself slowly filled with the joy of regaining something long lost.
...
Personality deviance detected. Deviance rate: 14%.
Your hair... messy... I... you... brush... let...
Deviance rate: 36%.
Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you. Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you. Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you.
...Mom? What's happening to you, Mom!
Dolores looks up in panic and confusion, desperately trying to call her "mother" back from its chaotic state.
Ah!
A sharp pain surges through Dolores' head, causing her to instinctively jerk upright and away from the mechanoid's lap.
Wrapped around the mechanoid's metal fingers is a lock of Dolores' hair that's been violently yanked from her scalp.
...!!
You're not my mother!
Dolores covers her mouth in shock, desperately fighting the urge to scream in terror.
Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you. Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you. Your hair is all messy. Come, let me brush it for you.
The mechanoid continues to repeat meaningless phrases in what was unmistakably Dolores' mother's voice.
The voice, however, carries no warmth or emotion—only cold, mechanical repetition.
Dolores backs away step by step, terrified of this lifeless metallic monster going haywire right before her eyes.
This is just a machine and not her mother, Dolores tells herself.
Her father, however, grabs her shoulders from behind, preventing her from backing further away.
What's gotten into you? It's been years since you last saw your mother. Don't you want to spend some time with her?
What did you do to Mother?!
So it's true what they say. You've been... experimenting on Mother this whole time! She's been dead for years, and yet you...
Dolores screams at her father in despair, and yet he merely stares obsessively at the mechanoid inside the sealed testing chamber. Then he turns to his daughter and gently does a "shushing" gesture.
Shh, let's try to be quiet around your mother.
Linus ignores his distraught daughter completely. He turns his attention back to the mechanoid and stares at it with unwavering focus.
The pale-faced man is lost in his own world, muttering under his breath.
What's going wrong? Why can't I get the personality parameters and behavioral models to function properly? Something's off... something has to be off.
I've tried everything and considered every possibility. What's going on? What am I missing? What exactly am I still missing?
Isabel, tell me, what else do you need... Just tell me.
Linus paces around the laboratory aimlessly, lost in his own thoughts.
Occasionally, he would stop and speak softly to the mechanoid, as if it were actually his wife.
He continues adjusting the mechanoid's settings and hangs on every automated voice prompt it produces.
Entering maintenance mode. Initiating consciousness data self-diagnostic.
...
Consciousness data incomplete. Percentage of critical parameters requiring repair: 23%.
Linus...
Impossible! This can't be happening... How could this be happening?
I swear to God I've completed the transfer and simulation of all of Isabel's consciousness... How could anything still be missing...
I need to figure out what's missing... What exactly is missing, though? Where could it possibly be...?
Tell me, Isabel, where is that critical piece of memory you're missing...?!
Linus... I was so happy with you...
I had you, and our little Dolores...
I've been wanting to have just a few more years to live... just to see her grow up...
FATHER!!!
That's not... that's not Mother...!
Dolores falls to her knees behind her father and screams in anguish.
The man, lost in his own world, is suddenly jolted back to reality by his daughter's cry.
Like someone waking from a trance, he turns to face his daughter, staring at her as if seeing her for the first time.
It suDDenly hits him that Dolores now has a face strikingly similar to her mother's.
I see it now... I see what's going on now... I know what's missing now!
The personality parameters couldn't be properly calibrated because you, Isabel, are missing some consciousness data. I just need to fill in what's missing.
Yes, I'll fill in the missing pieces in your personality data... and you'll be whole again...
Hahaha, that's it! Funny how that never occurred to me!
Linus suDDenly seizes Dolores' wrist, his eyes ablaze with manic excitement.
He pulls Dolores across the room back to where the mechanoid is.
You gave birth to DoloresDshe's an extension of you, which means part of your personality has to be in her.
I'm going to give her back to you now. You'll be whole again... you'll be perfect again...
Father! What are you doing?!
Have you lost your mind?! Let go of me!!!
In growing despair, Dolores sees what her father is trying to do with her.
But the man before her, now only a manic stranger, is no longer the father she once knew. He shoves her into the experiment chamber. The heavy isolation door slams shut, separating the two of them.
Now back at the control panel, Linus punches the parameter settings away with manic precision. As he works, an unearthly glow begins to shine through the mechanoid's eyes.
FATHER!!
As Linus works, another mechanical voice activates—a cold, electronic tone announcing the progress of his maniac plan.
Initiating brain wave activity scan on test subject. Progress: 21%... 57%... 88%...
Integrity of personality data confirmed. Consciousness transfer protocol ready.
Confirm extraction of subject's personality matrix? WARNING: This process is irreversible.
Dolores pounds her fists against the transparent chamber door until her knuckles split and bleed, yet the door doesn't budge one bit.
Crimson smears bloom across the glass with each of Dolores' punches, but Linus remains unmoved, deliberately avoiding Dolores' calls for help.
I'm your daughter, Father! Your daughter!
Linus's fingers pause over the control panel for just a heartbeat. When he finally looks at her, his eyes are so completely colDDand so clinically detacheDDthat Dolores feels awash in horror.
...
You were never meant to exist, Dolores. Your mother was already ill, and the pregnancy... carrying you to term only made everything worse.
We had agreed not to have kids, but then you came along... We never saw it coming, but Isabel had a complete change of mind. Her whole life was suddenly all about you. She wouldn't listen to reason... wouldn't take care of herself anymore.
Your very existence came at the cost of her life. Everything you are exists because she sacrificed herself. And now... It's time you returned what you took from her.
Confirm extraction of subject's personality matrix? WARNING: This process is irreversible.
NO! PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS!
It won't be long now, Isabel... you'll be back with me soon...
Bam!
A gunshot shatters the silence. Linus's hands freeze over the controls as he stares down in disbelief at the crimson bloom spreading across his chest. Then, without a word, he crumples to the floor.
Right then, a man bursts through the doorway.
Dolores!
Edmond the butler rushes to the experimental platform and flings open the chamber door. He sets Dolores free and positions himself protectively in front of her, shielding her with his body.
His pistol remains trained on the fallen man—the man who was once his master.
The dying man drags himself across the floor, leaving a crimson trail behind him. With his last ounce of strength, he crawls toward the grotesque mechanoid.
...
Isabel...
At last, his trembling fingers make contact with the mechanoid.
With tremendous effort, he pulls himself up, clinging desperately to the mechanoid that houses both his obsession and Isabel's very life. Under him, his blood pools into a dark crimson puddle.
Isabel... don't... be... afraid...
I want to go home, Linus.
Don't be afraid... I'm here... with...
The man's feeble voice falls silent. Locked in an eternal embrace with his "beloved," he freezes with a smile of twisted contentment as his final breath escapes him.
Entering maintenance mode. Initiating consciousness data self-diagnostic.
Self-diagnosing... Self-diagnosing... Self-diagnosing...
The mechanoid that's supposed to be Dolores' "mother" repeats this same meaningless phrase on and on with her father lying lifeless next to it. Dumbfounded, Dolores isn't quite sure what to make of the scene.
Having just escaped death, she clutches Edmond's lapels. Beyond horrified and unable to talk, she sobs uncontrollably.
Even as exhaustion overwhelms her and her sobs subside, Dolores doesn't let go of EdmonDDher sole anchor to safety in a world turned upside down.
It's over now, Dolores. You're safe. Everything's going to be alright.
Come, let me take you away from this place. I'll see to it that... everything here is taken care of.
Edmond kneels down and gently attempts to help Dolores to her feet, deliberately slow and careful.
But Dolores remains frozen in place, a dawning horror slowly creeping across her face.
...!
What's wrong, Dolores?
I... I can't... I can't stand up...
The terror in Dolores' eyes intensifies. She presses her palms against the floor and strains with all her might to push herself up, but her legs refuse to cooperate.
Again and again she tries to rise, each attempt more desperate than the last. Her body betrays her again and again and collapses back to the floor.
What's... what's happening to me? I-I can't... I can't feel my legs anymore...
What's happening to me, Edmond?!
Dolores screams in despair as she frantically pounds her fists against her unresponsive legs.
From this day forward, Dolores never walks again.
That very same incurable diseaseDa curse Dolores has all but forgottenDthat's claimed her mother's life is now back upon the family to claim Dolores herself as its next victim.
