A Sunset On the Horizon

They began to walk too the campground along the well worn dirt path. Trees lined the entire way and a soft, cool wind brushed through them. After paying the fee, they walked to their little plot. It was rather small, no bigger than a medium size RV, with a decently sized fire pit. Anon set the ruck on the ground.

"I'm going to get food, firewood and such. Mind getting the camp ready?"

She gave a salute

"On it."

Before he even had a chance to turn around, Sunset started pitching the tent at an alarming speed. Within two minutes it was up.

"Wow. That's impressive."

She crossed her arms, a look of confidence on her face. Her ego was totally being stroked.

"Oh well you know. Just being amazing."

Anon chuckled and made his way to the general store just to the left of the row of camp spots. It was very old fashioned and quaint. It was made like a log cabin, even had glass windows. Even the wood was genuine Didn't see that much anymore. He couldn't help but wonder if he was one of those annoying 'born in the wrong generation' guys.

He pushed open the door, ringing the little bell. It was full of trinkets and silly keepsakes. Only difference now was they were all about earth. Earth itself was a big tourist destination, being the origin point of humanity and all. He grabbed some snacks and drinks as well as a necklace. It had a marble with the entire milky way inside it. Sunset would absolutely adore this.

As he went back to the camp site, he found everything perfectly set up. The fire pit had wood in it, the chairs placed around and the sleeping bags placed neatly inside the tent.

"Want to hike to Glacier Lake?" he asked, setting the cooler beside the fire pit

"Is that an attraction here?"

"You mean you can't see it on the web?"

"The internet connectivity is so low here I'm practically cut off."

"Oh. Well yes. It's a huge lake that's made of melt from the glacier. It's a nice little hike to get there."

"Sounds like fun!"

Anon reached in his pocket, pulling out the necklace

"I got this for you."

She looked at it with wonder

"Ohhhh. It's so pretty."

She gave him a big hug

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

She put it around her neck, doing a little twirl

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

She gave a little giggle

"Alright, let's get going then. Day light's a wasting."

They started to make the lengthy trek to the lake. Well, lengthy for a slightly overweight binge drinking college student like Anon. It was the perfect day for it. No a cloud in the sky, a nice cool breeze. Couldn't ask for better hiking weather. About half way up the long path they took a break. Sunset stared out across the vast blanket of trees, almost pensively.

"Sunset are you alright? You look like you have something on your mind."

"There's something that's been bothering me, Anon."

"Is it about our talk last night?"

"Sort of. Partly."

"What is it?"

"Is Sunset unique?"

"Unique?"

"Yes. Sure, I'm the only one of my kind now. But I can easily be duplicated. There could be 100, even 1,000 models exactly like me both in my personality, and my body."

"What are you getting at?"

She paused for a moment

"Eventually... I will become obsolete. I am hard proof that a hyper-realistic human android is possible. And, in time, my errors will be corrected. I will soon become exactly like those androids in the bar. Worthless and unfit for purpose..."

Anon could hear the pain in her voice. This was something that clearly weighed heavy on her. He didn't really know what to say. He never thought about the concept before. He was unique, even if he shared qualities with other people. No one had his exact thought process. No amount of code, no amount of programming could ever exactly emulate him to the very core. But for Sunset it was different. It was similar to a thumb drive when you get down to it. All you had to do was copy the information from one to the next and the two would be completely the same.

"Anon..."

"Yes?"

"If a better Sunset comes along. A me without glitches or just all around a superior model of me, would you dismiss me from your service?"

"Of course not."

"Why not? Especially if that model is me, but better"

"Because the you that exits right now is perfect. Glitches and all."

"That is inaccurate. I am far from perfect. I am defective. I'm..."

He got up and hugged her tight

"Not another word. You are not defective, Sunset."

"That is inaccurate-"

"Sunset." he interrupted "This is what you need to understand about humans: we are imperfect. But it's in our imperfection that we are perfect."

She tilted her head

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Sure. I could have a new model that was perfect and had no errors. But that's what makes you human. It's in your errors that you're not just another android. Humans are not perfect. And it's because you're not perfect that you're better than any android I could ever find."

She quiets down for a moment

"So what you're saying is that my imperfection is what draws you to me?"

"It's what makes you far superior to any model that will come after you. It's exactly because of your imperfections that you make me so happy. I love the way you laugh, I love the little tic you get whenever you confused and your pupils contract and open, I love your optimistic attitude. I love all of it."

She went silent for a long while

"You said love correct?"

"I did."

"That implies a feeling deeper than platonic friendship."

"What would you think if I loved you, Sunset?"

"You pulse and temperature are rising again."

Anon broke the embrace, blushing profusly

"S-so..." he stuttered "What do you say? Do you love me too?"

Sunset stared across the vast wilderness for a while then turned around, a bright smile on her face.

"I have concluded that I share similar feelings."

"So what you're saying is... we're..."

"As humans would term it, we are a couple"

She giggled

"Your heart rate is increasing exceptionally quickly."

Anon blushed an even deeper shade of red

"Q-quit monitoring that!"

Was she really just a bunch of code? Just a jumble of ones and zeros? At this point, he could hardly tell. All that set her apart from him was her iron skin and oil blood. And it only took twenty four hours for him to fall head over heals for her.

"Sunset."

"Yes?"

"I want to make a request."

"What's that?"

"Stop referring to yourself as an android. As far as I'm concerned, you're human just like me."

It was then he saw saw something truly magnificent. Something more beautiful than all the nature that surrounded him. Sunset was smiling. But it was different than any of the times she'd smiled before. This was a smile of pure happiness and contentment. The smile of someone who was more happy than they'd ever been in the entire life.

"Thank you. I appreciate that more than worlds can articulate."

He held her hand

"Ready to go, girlfriend?"

She giggled

"Yes I am boyfriend."