The Robot with Human Hair

"Riley!" I yelled, as I watched my son stand up. I sprinted as fast as I could toward the bridge. "Riley!" I yelled again, as I watched him just stand there. I was now a couple of feet away when suddenly he stepped off the ledge. I screamed, "Oh My God!" as I watched his body fall onto the rocks below. I panicked as I ran down the side of the hill which almost caused me to slip on some rocks. I quickly came to where my lifeless son's body lay. I picked him up and held him so close to me that if he was still alive, he'd be pushing me away. His head was smashed in the back, revealing some parts of his brain and was now bleeding immensely. I kept repeating "Oh my God" to myself, as the tears started to pour off me, coating his now lifeless face. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you" I cried "I'm sorry Riley" I kept repeating.

"What happened" I heard from the bridge above. I turned my head behind to see Mr. Francis, "Oh my god, I'm calling an ambulance; hold on Derek" he said as he quickly pulled out his cell phone.

I sat there for the longest time with my son in my hands. The tears wouldn't stop pouring as I looked at his face, now appearing to be sleeping. My hand was still covering the wound on the back of his head. The amount of blood on my shirt was too much, as my son's blood now stained my work shirt and pants. I held him close as I heard the distant sirens wailing from the road above. Paramedics quickly made their way down the hill and they took my lifeless son out of my hands and checked for vitals. When they determined he was gone they quickly placed him in a body bag and he was carried up toward the ambulance. I couldn't move; my hands remaining in the state and position where Riley once was as if he was still there. Mr. Francis made his way down toward me.

"Derek, I'm sorry, but we need to go." Mr. Francis said, as he tried to pat me on the shoulder. I finally snapped out of it and stood up as we began our slow walk up toward the road.

I took one last look at my son before they closed the body bag. I saw there was a police cruiser and almost immediately I noticed the officer approaching me.

"Sir, I need to know everything that just happened," he said.

I almost didn't understand him as I was in shock. "Sir" he said...

I turned and just stared.

He slowly approached me. "Sir how about this? We can talk about this more at the hospital," as he slowly escorted me to the ambulance.

---

I'm sorry, I never mentioned my name, which is Derek Roo. I'm a leading Engineer of RoboConn, a Robotics company in South Carolina. I am only 32 years old and have a normal build with blue eyes and brown hair. I began working on a little project, codenamed C.A.B. which was to create a self-learning A.I. that could train children and young adults on their social skills. The project is still in the early development stages, but I created a child within this program named Miley. It was built using the likeness of my son, who is named Riley. I had been married to a beautiful woman named Crystal, who sadly died about a month before in a fatal plane crash. The last message we received from her was her telling Riley and me that she loves us. I nearly broke down crying in front of Riley, being powerless to reverse the fate of her decision. I blamed myself, knowing that I was supposed to be the one on that plane instead of her. We had decided together that I would be the one to get on the next flight with Riley since she had to be at work early the next morning. I thought of this while I sat next to the body bag that now carried Riley. The emotions of all that had just occurred today flooded through me. I tried piecing everything together in such a way as to convince myself that this was all a terrible nightmare. I began shaking my head uncontrollably to force myself to wake up. I felt a hand on me, as I looked up and saw the EMT man staring at me "I'm sorry" he said as he noticed how distraught I looked. That's when I burst out crying for the first time in a long time. I sobbed so much that the EMT guy had to wrap his arms around me to calm me down. I was interrupted by my phone going off in my pocket. I quickly broke out of the EMTs hands and pulled out my iPhone to see who called. I noticed that it said Henry Miller and knew it was my boss as I answered the phone, trying to calm my voice.

"Hello" I slowly said.

"Hey Derek, I was told by Mike that you took off about an hour ago. Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Everything is not okay, Henry" I sobbed.

"Derek, did something happen? Does this have anything to do with Riley by any chance?" he continued.

The long pause in the phone call, and the eerie sound of silence from my end and his defined the answer.

"He's gone" I replied "Riley's gone" I said, distraught.

"Derek! Oh my god I'm so sorry. Take a couple days off, hell take as long as it takes to recover I will oversee your work." He replied.

I didn't know how to respond, knowing that the words of Riley's death just escaped my lips. He noticed, as he said, "Hello Derek, are you still there?" I snapped out of it and said "Yes, I am and thank you Henry. I am just so torn apart right now I just don't know what to do."

"That's understandable", he responded. "Take as long as it takes to recover," he repeated, as he said his goodbyes. I slowly closed my phone, noticing my lock screen was still a portrait of my wife and Riley, on his third birthday, with my wife's lips kissing him on his cheek. The ambulance then suddenly stopped and the EMT opened the door. I made my way outside as my son was wheeled into the hospital. I went in, then I noticed the nurse that was assigned to Riley had stopped in front of me. She took one look at me and noticed how black and lonely my eyes looked and she started crying as well. I then noticed that Riley had been removed from the body bag. His lifeless body appeared almost as if he had fallen asleep from the long drive. He was then slowly placed onto a bed, as the nurses then slowly placed an oxygen mask onto his face and covered his body with several sheets. As he was wheeled away from me, I slowly broke out of the hug as she walked with me and we made our way to the viewing room. Our Physician, that had been Riley's doctor since he was a baby, was waiting for us as we made our way to the room.

"Derek," he approached me as his voice was trembling, "I'm sorry" he said. I just stood there, as the shock has almost entirely removed the ability to speak. I'm more than certain he noticed my reaction as he slowly began to lead me toward a chair that was right beside the hospital bed that now held Riley.

"Riley died almost instantly once he hit the ground, but sadly the fall from that distance was the worst of his pain," he told me. "I need to know what you want us to do with Riley now, Derek." As I was about to respond to this, the officer that had led me to the ambulance walked into the room. As he saw how distraught I looked, he began to turn around and exit the room. I then turned to my doctor as we began to discuss Riley. We both talked about what will happen to Riley's body now that he is gone, and he walked me through the options on how to proceed.

"The body will be held here at the morgue until you decide what to do next with him," he said.

I thanked him for being so helpful, and once he left, the officer stepped in and approached where I was sitting.

"Hello Mr. Roo, I'm Officer Snow. I'm going to need you to walk me through everything that led up to your son's death. This is just a procedure to rule out any wrongdoing. Do you understand?" he asked.

I simply responded with a nod as I began to tell what had happened just 3 hours ago. "Well I was at work when I received a text message from my son," I said, and then went on to tell him what I knew, as I was still very confused by what had just happened.

"Thank you, Mr. Roo. I will have to run this by some of your colleagues as part of the protocol I follow, but to be honest sir, by what I can tell from your story, our investigation will most likely end here. I am so sorry for your loss.

I thanked him and just like that he was out the door. I turned my attention back to Riley as I just thought of all the things that I could have done to stop this flood of emotions - of saying goodbye to him just that morning, and how I missed something so big. I walked toward the bed and noticed his phone was still in his pocket. I reached for it and the battery life said 10% I immediately left him to ask people in the hospital if they happened to have a quick charger, and from the look I gave them they knew I was serious. A nurse almost immediately gave me hers, with the wall plug, and just like that I was immediately back in the room. The phone was left almost unharmed from what I could tell. The headphone area still had a ripped-up headphone jack from Riley's headphones still attached. I slowly removed it and began trying to find something to indicate what I missed from him, or what caused him to decide his fate. I immediately went through his messages app on his phone and found one from his best friend Matthew, telling him he didn't want to talk to him anymore. "I don't speak to faggots," it read. Riley didn't seem to have replied, as the message was sent last week. I always knew Matthew as a best friend to Riley, they practically were attached to each other growing up.

I began to dig more. I opened his Safari app up and what I found was surprising. He had two tabs open; the first tab was a website where it shows ways to die in a less painful way, while other tab asked, "Do gay people go to heaven?". I was shaking now, as I never knew Riley was even gay and how he viewed it. I opened the history tab and found several more websites that he had searched about suicide, and I never knew I had missed so much. I was crying now, viewing a post he wrote on one of the help websites. He posted it as being anonymous, but since he was still signed in I was able to tell that he posted it.

"If I was going to kill myself wat would be the best way to do it to make it look like an accident. I just feel like I lost soo much that I don't feel like I can live anymore please if u can be serious I lost all my friends and I just feel soo lonely now that I dont know wat to do anymore."

I was crying so much that it felt like my heart was going to fall out of my chest. I missed so much in that boy. I guess I never knew Riley now, as I always thought Riley was a happy energetic boy; that after he lost his mom that he was just going through the pain of his loss, I kept an eye on him but he always seemed happy around me.

I turned to the computer again. I notice he had one reply telling him that his life was worth living and to call this number which turned out to be the suicide hotline. I closed the app and knew that I needed to respond to Matthew about Riley. I reopened the messenger app and began typing to Matthew.

***

Riley's Phone: Matthew I need to talk to you.
Matthew's Phone: wat the hell do you want now I told ya I dont want to talk to u anymore we arent friends.
Riley's Phone: Matthew this is Riley's Father.
Matthew's Phone: oh srry but me and Riley aren't friends anymore it a long story I dont want to tell u just tell Riley that we arent friends and just to forget my number
Riley's Phone: Matthew, Riley committed suicide almost two hours ago I'm sitting right beside him I'm going to call you and I need you to give your phone to your Father.
Matthew's Phone: Holy sht u serious is he alright...
Riley's Phone: I'm calling now I need you to hand your phone to your dad.

I pressed the call button and immediately heard Matthew who sounded worried, "Mr. Roo is Riley ok!?!" he said almost frantically.

I responded: "I need you to hand your phone to your dad right now Matthew."

He then handed his phone to Mr. MacMillan. "Hello Derek, is everything alright? Matthew seems to have been crying a bit."

I replied: "No, Riley committed suicide two hours ago and he's gone."

Sadly, almost immediately I heard Matthew's reaction of "Oh, my god!" yelled in the background, meaning the phone was on speaker.

I asked, "Chris are you still there? I need to talk to you. I looked at some recently exchanged text messages between Matthew and Riley and I am horrified by what I found, because I really don't think Matthew is like that from what I have seen of him. I need you to sit down with Matthew and I need you to find out everything you can, because I will have to turn this over to the police department. I will be informing the school about Riley, and there will probably be a full investigation on this. I'm just so surprised by what Matthew did to Riley."

"I understand," he replied. "I'm looking through it now and I'm disturbed by what my son has sent. I know Riley and Matthew were always the best of friends and you have my word that I will get to the bottom of this. Okay?"

I responded by thanking him. Chris and I were equally good friends since our sons were best friends. He was also there for me the most in helping me get back on my feet after my wife passed away.

I ended the phone call and took snap shots of a few of the messages sent to Riley that could have contributed to him committing suicide. I called the number the officer gave me and I informed him that I had more information. I sent him the photos of the messages and just like that I ended the phone call. Some doctors came in and informed me that they will be needing to move Riley to the morgue, I thanked them and before they took him from me, I took one last look and kissed him on the forehead. I sadly said, "I love you Riley '', as they then rolled his bed to the morgue. Riley vanished from my view as his body was placed into the chamber.

When I was walking out of the hospital my phone suddenly began buzzing in my pocket. I picked it up and noticed that once again it was my Boss calling. I picked it up, "Hello" I said.

"Hey Derek, I am so sorry to have to call you, we have some investors coming in to check on our progress on the A.I. project, but they said they wanted to meet the leading engineer for the project. I told them that you weren't available, but they weren't going to accept a no, and told me if he wasn't there, the funding would get pulled out of the project and would be deemed less important. I'm so sorry Derek, but I need you to be here early tomorrow to be ready to explain C.A.B."

I was pissed, as trying to explain the project after just watching my son take his own life just wasn't possible I felt as it was probably the reason why my son is dead. He thought nobody was there for him, and now that he's gone, I feel that he was right. But, since he's gone, I didn't really have a choice - either not go and lose the funding needed to complete this project or go and save this project. I thought it through before hearing my boss say several times "Derek, are you still there?"

I responded and told him I will be there but not more than I am needed, then I'm going to spend time with my son. He understood and we said our farewells before hanging up. I made my way to my car and as I started it I decided to listen to some of Riley's music on the ride back; hoping it would make me feel better. I pulled out his iPhone, plugged it into the USB in my car and started up a playlist he made that was titled "Drag the Lake". The music began; the track was named Drown by a band named Bring Me the Horizon. It was a song about suicide. I noticed that the theme for most of what Riley liked was that. The next track was a song called "I Bring the Weather with Me" by a band called The Amity Affliction, the song was a depressing suicide song which included a very depressing opening with church bells beginning the song. I kept going through his music tracks and next was a song called "Until the End" by a band named Breaking Benjamin. I was coming to the end of his 'Drag The Lake' playlist when the final track, titled "Misery" by The Amity Affliction, had guitars beginning and screaming about how being depressed can’t be stopped. I was almost bawling by the time I got to the end of the track, crying constantly, knowing that I missed just so much in Riley that if he was alive today, I would be hugging him and it would take a gun to my head for me to stop. I remember Riley mentioning of Afflicted something, but I didn't quite understand why he loved this band until now. The songs were very relatable to him and his struggles with how much sadness was in his heart that it scared me now.
I couldn't quite understand how I missed so much in Riley, as most of the time I thought I knew him so well. I just thought that recently, since he lost his mother, that he was just going through the same kind of depression - similar to myself. I maybe could have saved him.

I kept on looking through stuff and remembered Miles, the kid that Riley kicked in the face and thought maybe he had some answers. I quickly called the school once I arrived at the driveway of my home and informed them of Riley's death. I was told by them that the school has an established policy if a student commits suicide. All the teachers that Riley knew will be informed and will be cooperating with the police department at the school. I told the school front office that I needed to speak with some of the students about Riley's death, she told me she will notify the parents and inform them of the incident, and it's up to them to decide on permission to speak to those students. Other than that, all students will only be interviewed by the police department with their parents present. I understood, and we said our goodbyes.

I then got out of my car and entered my house. I walked the now empty, lifeless house; being able to hear the sound of pure silence scared me because whenever I did get home it meant either hearing Riley blasting his loud music in his room (and going up to his room to tell him he needs to turn it down), or the sound of him singing to his songs abruptly ending when I knocked on his door - but silence was all that I heard. I knew one thing; I needed a drink. I stumbled to the kitchen to get a drink out of the cupboard tops. I wasn't much of a drinker, and usually only drank whenever I had guests for parties. I grabbed the alcohol and headed toward my bedroom, immediately throwing myself on to the bed as I hadn't even bothered grabbing a glass cup. I decided to drink straight from the bottle, too depressed even to see Riley's room. I soon found myself passed out.

I awoke to my wife yelling at me.

"Derek, time to wake up," she said.

I turned to see my wife smiling at me. "What the hell", I thought to myself, as I made my way out of the bedroom and walked down the stairs toward the kitchen. "Good morning," she said as she approached me, giving me a kiss on the mouth. I then heard a younger voice; I couldn't tell whose it was until I heard him say "Mom, can we make spaghetti together I'm soo hungry?" Then I realized it had to be Riley. I continued through this dream, talking with my wife knowing well that it wasn't going to last forever, so I decided to enjoy it. Suddenly I heard a scream from the other side of the room and ran toward it, knowing it was Riley. I took one step into the room and there lay Riley with his neck distorted in a pool of blood. Suddenly I jumped up. I was in a cold sweat as reality started to sink in that the two people that meant so much to me were now gone.

I checked the time and realized it was around 6am, the time I normally got up to wake up the sleeping teenage boy. I kept to tradition and walked into Riley's room but as I was walking, I got a phone call. I turned to my phone and realized it was from the hospital, I answered and was told that they found a crumpled-up note in Riley's back pocket. I knew what the note was, and I was dreading seeing it. My heart rate increased. I told the nurses to hang on to the note and I will be there shortly.

As I got back in my car, I made my way down to the hospital to retrieve the note. Once I got it, I couldn't open it. The fear of knowing the truth about him scared me. The sadness he had in him that I had overlooked. I was interrupted by realizing I had to finish setting up the presentation that I worked hard on for tomorrow. As I made my way back to my car, I passed a small group of boys heading the other direction. As I made my way to the corner of the street, I heard one of them yell out "Hey faggot". I turned to think he was calling me that name, but I turned to see a smaller brown hair boy that looked like a deer in headlights as the other boys approached him. "I don't want see your gay ass around here get the fuck outta here you gay little bitch," one of the boys said Immediately when he said that he knocked the smaller boy on the ground.

I knew I had to intervene as I immediately yelled at the group of boys, furious as if he was my own son and told them to leave him alone. They were caught off guard and they began to immediately turn and run away yelling out cuss words back at me as they ran off. I walked toward the smaller boy putting out my hand for him to grab on to, offering to help him up. He just sat there looking like he was in shock as the fall caused him to hit his head on the pavement. I immediately knelt down and asked the boy if he was alright as I noticed the bump on the back of his head. He immediately started to cry a bit as I told him he was safe now. I asked him about his parents and who I can speak to but I was shocked as he immediately looked freaked out and shouted a panicked "NO" as he looked up at me. He immediately said if I do tell anyone it will only make it worse.

I understood and I asked him how about I walk you home, he immediately looked confused but realized that I could help him at least get back to his house without anybody bothering him. He accepted more offers as he grabbed my hand, I pulled him up and asked him what his name is and that mine is Derek. He softly said Dakota... Dakota Matthews.

---

Author Notes:

I apologize for taking so long to release this chapter. My life has gotten a lot busier this past year. This will have two parts due to the length of this chapter. I want to thank my new editor Freebird for helping me edit this chapter. I also want to thank Jarquafelmu, Matt D, Pwyllow and Ren for helping as well. As well as other fellow writers for helping me as well with feedback this including Juju, The Story Lover, ACFan, Lindon Weztser, and Jeff P. I have linked some stories that inspired me to write below.

You can reach me at author.frostbiteseth@gmail.com or you can join a discord server I'm a part of here https://discord.gg/UM47cEG ; I'm always looking for feedback on the story.

If you are suicidal or know someone who is, get them help, or get help immediately you can call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Your life is so special, even if you don't think it is.

Here are some awesome stories I recommend from fellow writers:

***

Lindon Weztser - Lincoln, The Family I Never Expected
https://www.storylover.us/?t=CWYSqpOriIO0uWOp

Juju - The Music in the Painting
https://truesfandom.com/?t=CWYSqpOrhYj13B8N

ACFan - Memories
https://www.cornercafe.us/?t=CWYSqpOrHlZiA0gf

Pwyllow - Dylan
https://truesfandom.com/?t=CWYSqpOrtm8NCp3q

Jeff P. - Sentenced to life
https://jeffsfort.net/?t=CWYSqpOrfvC8u4xo