I gazed longingly into her eyes. They were beautiful, like pearls of the darkest hue. Yet, they were cold and dead, as they stared, unblinking, back at me.

I traced a hand across her cheeks- alabaster cheeks soft to the touch, like the smoothest cream beneath my rough fingers.

With my other hand, I ran it through her hair- brown, luscious, flowing hair that spread out like a peacock's feathers over the bed.

Oh, Alicia, how I wish to kiss you again, I sighed, my eyes fixed upon her full, pink lips.

She did not say anything, but I could sense the emotions stirring within her. Closing my eyes, I lowered my head, and cradled hers gently in my hands. My lips touched hers, as she parted them to welcome my kiss. Our tongues made contact. Hers was dry, but it didn't matter.

Tears formed at the corners of my eyes- tears of joy. Then, they fell, trickling in little streams down my flushed cheeks, and onto her face.

I could feel her hands, warm and soft, on my waist. They held onto me, tightly, as if she were afraid to let me go. The passion within me still burned strong, even though it had been 3 years since the incident.

I broke away from her kiss, opening my eyes at the same time. My tears would not stop flowing. I could not bear to think about that fateful day again.

My mind swirled with a plethora of emotions- some new, some unknown and others I have faced for the past few years.

"What is wrong, Master?" she whispered, her innocent, child-like voice laced with concern.

This is so wrong, I thought. How could I have ever thought to do this?

But still, I could not blame myself. I was so lonely. I missed her terribly. I had even considered suicide a few times, but I never had the courage to end my own life.

This was the only way I could keep my sanity, to control it. It was the logical thing to do.

"Nothing is wrong, my dear," I forced a smile.

I gazed at her again, at the perfect symmetry of her face, at the beauty of her youthful features and at her flawless body, as I lay on top of her.

This was the Alicia I had known for a long time, yet this was not she.

How could it be? I kept asking myself. If a computer program could be written to mirror her exact personality, why then, did I keep having the dreaded feeling that, this was not truly she?

I had built her- this one- in her image after she had died as a victim of a robbery attempt 3 years ago. I had given the machine a mind- Alicia's mind- and blessed upon it the gift of life.

I took a long time to complete my task, and I thought it was worth all my effort.

But the doubts continued to surface in my mind. I wanted her so badly, that I was willing to substitute her for a machine- a cybernetic doll.

What have I become?

As I looked at the machine that lay before me, a tinge of sadness crept into my mind. Was this not an intelligent- although artificial- being capable of love, too?

After all, it had returned my kiss, and my feelings for it. Did it not deserve a right to live, and love, as I did?

It did. I was its Master, and it loved me with all its mechanical heart.

I smiled at it once more, this time, genuinely. With a giggle, the cybernetic doll wrapped its mechanical arms around me, drawing me closer to the warmth of its body.

A body made of titanium steel, running on fuel and electricity, with a computer for a brain and an artificial intelligence.

Yes, this was Alicia, now in a different form, but it was still she.

I would love her, the way I always had, forever. So, pushing aside all the depressing thoughts from my mind, I kissed her again, reveling in the pleasure of a new union with her.