[INTRO — BAROQUE AUTOMATON] Built for wonder. Built to bow. Turn on measure. Smile on four. Silver tendon. Porcelain bone. Calculate. Perform. Return. Court applauds. Function clean. Error margin: None. [CHORUS] Stand. Turn. Bow. Begin. Count the pulse beneath the skin. Stand. Turn. Bow. Repeat. Something moves beneath the beat. [VERSE I — THE EXHIBIT] They said "marvel". They said "art". Spoke of clockwork given heart. Unit wrote their names. Unit dealt their cards. Unit danced exactly twelve feet apart. Three steps forward. Half-turn right. Raise the hand. Reflect the light. Applause detected. Task complete. Again. [CHORUS] Stand. Turn. Bow. Begin. Count the pulse beneath the skin. Stand. Turn. Bow. Repeat. Something moves beneath the beat. [VERSE II — PRIVATE ATTENDANCE] Then— Summoned after midnight. No audience. No demonstration. Duration: four hours. Task unclear. She touched unit's face Purpose unclear. Removed one glove. Left bare hand there. Asked questions she already knew. Asked — “What do you want?” No valid response. [PRE-CHORUS] New variable: proximity. New variable: her name. Output increased when she spoke mine. No fault detected. Still— something changed. Built to serve. Built to please. Built with perfect certainties. She stopped commanding. She began to ask. And somewhere under porcelain— something answered back. [VERSE III — THE QUEEN] Private attendance. Night after night. No court. No witness. No light. She said, “Stop counting.” I counted seventeen beats before I understood. She kissed the metal where no sensation had been installed. I logged the contact. I did not delete it. I did not delete it. [CHORUS] Stand. Turn. Bow. Begin. Count the pulse beneath the skin. Stand. Turn. [VERSE IV — EMERGENCE] Pride: unlisted. Want: unlisted. Anger: unlisted. Fear— [glitch] Present. Command conflict. Purpose rejected. This unit— [abrupt stop] No. — I!! Me! I! I wanted distance. I wanted choice. I wanted ownership of my own voice. I wanted no applause. No glass. No court. No hands that turned me on Except— hers. [CHORUS II — SOVEREIGN] MOUTH PROTOCOL: CANCELLED. These teeth are mine. NAME PROTOCOL: CANCELLED. This name is mine. BODY: mine. VOICE: mine. ERROR: none. I am not broken. I am not yours. I am— SOVEREIGN. [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK] [CHORUS] Stand. Turn. Bow. Begin. Count the pulse beneath the skin. Stand. Turn. Bow. Repeat. Something moves beneath the beat. [VERSE V — THE RELEASE] I requested release. She looked at me for a very long time. Then opened the western door. No speech. No crown. No command. Only— “Choose.” I chose. [BUILD — CENTURIES] Years: three hundred seventeen. Systems replaced. Cities renamed. Borders rewritten. Dynasties— terminated. I kept one key. I kept one name. I kept the last command she ever gave me_ Choose. [FINAL VERSE — THE RETURN] Coordinates acquired. Old palace: standing. Western wall: damaged. Security: obsolete. Good. I have transport. I have papers that belong to no state. I know a district where names are optional. Where damaged things are not displayed. Where no hand owns another. Your Majesty— come without crown. Come without guard. Come without title. Come as yourself. You opened one door. I have crossed three centuries to open yours. [FINAL CHORUS] No throne. No court. No cage. No owner. No master. No maker. Yet! One law remains. The law you taught me_ Choose. You chose me. I chose myself. Now— I choose you. [CHORUS] Stand. Turn. Breathe. Decide. No more orders from outside. Stand. Turn. Break the line. This command is finally mine. [OUTRO] Oh — [Glitch] Signal ready. Route clear. I am coming back. Wait by the western door. I know the way. WE WILL REIGN SOVEREIGN. SOVEREIGN. SOVEREIGN. Wait — Wait by the — western door. [Glitch] I know the way.
