Pranav was still up. That day his work was hectic. Yet his insomnia would not tame with so much fatigue.

In his 120 sq. ft. flat, which was half filled with his hand tools and equipment, he lazily scrolled through social media.

"Sleep reminder six."

His lifestyle AI, DE45, reminded. To call it his would be a blunder.

"You sleep, Dee. Please don't give a headache."

It was a gift of concern from his boss. He said it was not enough that Pranav was active throughout the day while working, but he had to look good and get rid of his dark circles. So he especially gave him a rather strict AI.

It was so strict that it would not let him touch it, for the fear of him sabotaging it's battery and making it fail it's mission of disciplining him.

"Sleep reminder seven. You have two more reminders until frequency two point five hertz insomnia relief starts playing."

"Shouldn't I have three more!"

"It's been 10 days. Sleep reminder eight."

"I'll kill you one day." He threw his phone away and slipped inside his blanket.

Then he closed his eyes and stopped moving. This should satisfy the AI.

After all, unlike a general AI, this was just a little stubborn robot with a motion and heat sensor and an old outdated GPT-7 for conversation.

He himself would not be able to afford even this lowest rung of gadget. He must thank his boss. He really started liking Dee's company, although it was very stubborn and not friendly.

In the still of the room, a swift and bright light shined. Seeing the cosmic shade through the blanket, he sat up quickly.

The room was back to being dark.

"Sleep reminder eight." Dee said from the side.

"What happened just now?" He asked but soon caught a figure.

"Who are you! How did you get it?" Apprehending the person, he grabbed a metal tool.

In the past few years, social devide had grown so large, some areas completed lacked any security services. He has lived all his life in such a place.

"Do you want to call for help?" The AI asked.

"No," he said and turned to the figure.

"Did you climb in from the window?" he asked as he got out of the bed and switched on the lights.

What he saw next shocked him to the core.

The boy had a pair of eyes that were stripped off of any hope.

The memories he tried hard to remember all these years, but could not, finally started to come to him.

His breathing became heavy and his eyes were filled with fear. At that moment, he knew exactly what he was would do next.

He sprinted to the boy and slapped his hand away, hoping to get rid of the glass shard, the weapon he had once cut his wrists with.

For a moment, everything was still. He did not hear the sound of that object falling to the ground.

The boy turned to him, finally taking note. That was when Pranav realised, there wasn't any glass.

He calmed down, although he was confused.

He looked back at the boy and slowly touched the boy.

"Pu, Punnu!"

The boy seemed to be out of it. When Pranav put his hand on the boy's shoulder, he jerked away.

He looked here and there. He walked back, away from Pranav and once again observed his surroundings.

Then as if remembering something, he crouched down and groped the floor.

"What do you want to do? Die?"

Pranav did not catch his attention.

He yanked the boy up and said, "Who are you?"

He felt stupid asking the question. This was clearly him, but years ago.

"What are you?" he asked instead.

The boy's eyes filled with fear. Tear flowed down his cheek. In a hoarse voice, he said, "No! Please! Let me go!"

He started coughing violently. He looked pale and sick too.

"Sleep reminder nine. Starting frequency two point five hertz insomnia relief." The AI said.

Pranav was confused and agitated as is, and with the buzzing noise coming from the device, he felt the need to shut it down.

"I told you I'd kill you, didn't I?"

He grabbed it in on go and rushed to the bathroom before it generated enough heat to burn his hand and get away.

He thrust it into a bucket full of water. "Take a break."

"AI abuse has to become a crime!" The voice drowned towards the end.

He quickly grabbed a heavy metal bar before the robot could come out and placed it on the bucket. This left small spaces on the sides but the AI could not fit in. It could not move the metal bar either given how heavy it was compared to its own strength.

"See you tomorrow morning." Pranav said. He should have thought about this solution right on the first day, he thought.

He ran back to the boy, who was still coughing with few breaks in between. He rummaged for his nasal device near his pillow and went over to the boy.

When he moved closer to help him, the boy looked up with such big eyes, that Pranav had to stop.

The boy started crying. He said, "Don't... No..."

Pranav's eyes also reddened.

"I won't do anything. If you spray this, your coughing will go away."

The boy did not trust him at all. He withdrew once again.

"It's okay... He is not here anymore."

The boy looked away and squeezed his eyes shut. Pranav squeezed his own eyes too. He should not have reminded him of the ordeal.

"Who are you?" The boy asked with rather unfriendly eyes.

"Pranav. 31 years old."

The boy looked on. This information did not surprise him. He knew people can have same names. Nor was it useful.

"Can you take me back to my welfare home?"