Unit 07: Mei

The muggy court air felt motionless, but Mei kept bouncing on her toes, dark ponytail snapping with calculated energy. Across the net, Chloe leaned heavily on her racket, chest heaving. ​"Legs like lead already, Chlo?" Mei chirped, her hyper-vibrant persona turned up to full volume. "It’s only set three!" ​Underneath the biological synthetic skin, Mei’s optical processing mapped the ball in Chloe's hand, running instantaneous trajectory simulations. Chloe tossed and served—a decent cross-court drive, but painfully predictable. ​Mei’s internal actuators surged, ready to execute a flawless, untouchable winner. Instead, she threw in a micro-delay. She intentionally struck the ball off-center, sending a soft, lofted return straight into Chloe's sweet spot. ​Chloe pounced, smashing the ball down the line for the point. "Yes!" ​"Ugh! How do you keep reading me?" Mei groaned dramatically, throwing her hands up in faux-frustration. ​Data logged: Subject shows immediate dopamine spike following engineered victory. It was almost too easy. Gaslighting Chloe with fake flaws kept her friend's ego fed and her suspicion at zero. ​"You're just jittery today," Chloe laughed, walking up to the net. ​A sudden draft swept across the court. The sudden temperature drop caused a micro-stutter in Mei's arm actuator—a sickening millisecond of hardware lag. Her cheerful expression instantly vanished, replaced by a day dream gaze. ​Chloe froze, her smile fading. "Mei? You okay? Hey earth to Mei! Hello?"