Hello, I am Captain Cruelty. I am the head teacher for a one-room schoolhouse. At least, I was before I murdered all my students. Of course, not all students are lucky enough to have a teacher that cares as much as me. Take Yukai for instance. He always complained that his homework was killing him. Well, he learned his lesson.

This is his tale...

It's early morning; Yukai awakes to the shrill cries of his baby sister Ryouken. He can hear her mother in the nursery moving around.

"Won't that kid ever shut up?" Yukai thinks for the hundredth time.

He slowly gets dressed and trudges down the stairs.

"Good morning!" his mother brightly greets her.

"Morning," Yukai mutters, grabbing a breakfast bar and slinging his book bag over his shoulder as he heads towards the door.

His mother calls after her, "Don't forget I have yoga tonight, so come right home after school to watch Ryouken."

"I will!" Yukai calls back as he shuts the front door.

Yukai isn't looking forward to school today. Mr. Brown, the health teacher, hinted that an especially wrinkled assignment was to begin that day. Knowing him and his love for realism, it would involve something gross like dissection or saliva.

Yukai rushes into health class late, only to be greeted by the surreal sight of his classmates all holding crying babies.

"Congratulations, Yukai. It's a girl" Mr. Brown exclaims as he thrusts a baby into his arms.

The little squiggly thing feels warm and alive in his arms but has an eerie vacant expression in its eyes.

Before he can speak, his friend Zaki comes up to him and says, "It's teen pregnancy awareness month. Mr. Brown is doing one of those 'pretend you have a kid' assignments. They're dolls."

Yukai looks down at his doll, "But they look so...REAL. I mean, they're moving...even their ears look real!"

"They're androids actually." Mr. Brown interrupts proudly. "MIT generously donated them to our class as an experimental assignment. We are the first. You should all be pleased."

Later that day Yukai complains to Zaki. "I already had to deal with an obnoxious baby for six months! This sucks."

"It's only a few weeks" Zaki reassures him.

"A day with a baby feels like a year," Yukai mutters. "Ew... what's that smell? It smells like sewage."

"I think Julie needs changing. Excuse me." Zaki picks up his doll and heads towards the bathroom.

"Oh my god. A pooping robot?" Yukai thinks.

The next few days are torture for Yukai. His robot baby is a constant nuisance. At first he tried to ignore it, but it has an internal sensor that records if it is mistreated in any way.

On Friday, he goes to a friend's party. All the kids from school are there with their robot babies. Zaki is showing some people how he taught his doll how to catch a ball. Everyone is having fun with their dolls.

"Hey, Yukai! Mary's first word was 'children!' Can you believe it? Now she can even say 'throw children.'"

Yukai sighs. His is the only doll that has not started talking. In fact, it does nothing but cry and fuss constantly.

"Please! Be good. I'm trying everything!" Yukai pleads to his doll. It just stares at him with empty eyes.

Yukai has not slept in four nights. The baby is constantly waking him up. On Monday, he brings it to Mr. Brown to tell him it's malfunctioning.

"I'm sorry Yukai, but according to its register, you have been severely maltreating this doll. I'm going to have to fail you unless you improve its treatment immediately. "

Yukai is shocked. "What? I've been the perfect parent. It just never stops crying!"

"It's not crying now," Mr. Brown calmly points out.

"But it only stops when other people are around!" Yukai cries.

"I've heard enough excuses." Mr. Brown says and walks away.

Yukai hangs his head defeated and whispers "I hate you" to the doll.

The doll giggles. Startled, Yukai nearly drops it.

That night is no different than before. Constant crying. No sleep. Yukai is feeling sick and delirious. He lies in bed in his dark room wondering if he has the strength to get up.

Then suddenly the room is silent.

Before he can react, he hears his door open and a shuffling noise. The noise is like heavy footsteps in the nursery and giggling.

He bolts up in bed and flicks on the light. The doll is missing. "Oh my god." Yukai thinks, "It's in Ryouken's room!" Fearing for his sister's safety, Yukai rushes out to the nursery.

The nursery is dark, but Yukai can just barely make out the silhouettes of two small figures struggling with each other in his sister's crib. Yukai hears Ryouken cry out in terror.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Yukai screams as he grabs the small doll and smashes it against the wall as hard as he can. There is a sickening thud, and then silence. Yukai fumbles to turn on the nightlight next to the crib. As the dim yellow light washes over the room, he is horrified by what he sees.

A huge smear of saliva drips down the wall and his baby sister Ryouken lies dead in a broken heap on the ground. Yukai looks at the crib and sees the doll sitting silently with a little smile on its plastic face. Yukai crumples to the ground moaning. Slowly and deliberately, the doll climbs out of the crib and crawls towards Yukai.

"Mommy," it whispers.