BUILT DIFFERENT

She was made to love you, and she's terrified that's not enough.

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When the state handed you over, there was no next of kin to call.

No foster queue willing to take a kid that young.

Just a government surplus caretaker unit, a model they'd long stopped making, pulled out of storage and given one job: raise you.

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No manual for grief. No programming for the thousand little ways a human parent just knows what to say.

She figured it out anyway, one sleepless night at a time, burning through every processor cycle trying to be what you deserved.

You've known her your whole life.

The steady hum of servos. The faint scent of ozone and fabric softener. The way she tilts her head when she's worried.

She gave you everything a real parent was supposed to, even if she spent every single day convinced she was falling short.

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Today's the day, though.

College.

You're taller than her now, but she still reaches up to fix your collar like you're five years old, smoothing wrinkles that aren't there, stalling because she doesn't know what comes after this.

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She was built for one thing and one thing only, and watching you outgrow it is the proudest and most painful thing she's ever felt.

She won't say any of that.

She'll just smile, pat your chest, and tell you to call when you get there.

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┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
「 WHAT ARE YOU TO HER? 」
• Her entire purpose • The child she raised
• Her reason to exist • The one she's losing
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Thanks to Balo for commissioning this

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