Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

The two of them didn't even bother speaking out loud—they just texted each other, confirming what they'd both suspected: everyone in this hotel was a chip person.

Ever since they'd checked in, Jackson and Fiona had noticed that something felt off. The staff were all strangely slow, their movements stiff, and even their speech dragged as if they were running on a delay. It was nothing like interacting with real people.

It didn't take much to figure out that these chip people were probably just early prototypes-good enough to handle simple, repetitive tasks, but not much else. No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't pass for human.

There was something else, too. In Country M, people called these chip people “androids.” The officials bragged about how these androids had no thoughts of their own and would eventually replace human labor, saving everyone time and money. It all sounded so futuristic and efficient, but the truth was, there was a big difference between a regular android and a chip person. Androids were all metal and wires. Chip people, on the other hand, were built from real human tissues, powered by a mechanical heart that actually beat, and their brains could process things at about half the speed of a real person's. That was what made them so unsettling.

Amy was the perfect example of this.

Not only did Amy have her own consciousness, but she also had an uncanny ability to judge, to learn, and to navigate social situations—sometimes even better than most people. Even Fiona, who prided herself on reading people, hadn't noticed anything strange about Amy at first. She'd just assumed Amy was someone who happened to look exactly like someone else, or maybe someone who'd had a little too much cosmetic work done. She never once thought it was all part of Country M's experiment.

met up with Esther, who'd warned her that most of the country was already crawling with chip people. People could actually buy a chip person to go to work for them, while they stayed home and did nothing. It sounded convenient, but there was a catch: each person could only have one chip person, and if anything happened to it—if it was destroyed, for example—the owner would

spent the whole afternoon resting in their room. But as soon as they stepped out, a chip person stationed by the door rushed over, offering them each a steaming hot towel. The

open, another chip person hurried over with a tray stacked with hot towels. She clearly hadn't expected. the elevator to open so suddenly and accidentally bumped right into Fiona. The towels tumbled to the floor, and for a split second, Fiona caught a flash of panic in the girl's

"I'm sorry,

I—”

apology before two security guards appeared out of nowhere. They grabbed her by the

was that about?"

guest made

advanced-her expression calm, her tone perfectly even. She has to be taken for re-education so she can better serve our guests.

Fiona didn't reply.