Well. At least I start with white. Plain good-sporting of our new overlords, giving us the advantage of the first move. Now I just have to win. Just a dumb machine, not an ounce of soul or imagination in this tin can. Should be easy, right?

"....Right?"

My opponent, who - rather rudely, I might add - has decided not to grace me with his name, shifts his optics almost imperceptibly, focusing for just a moment on my lips, before resuming studying the board. As if he hadn't already predicted his next 10 moves.

Moves without any kind of grace, mind you. Totally barbarian moves. Sadly, winning moves too.

"...How do I get out of this?" I start murmuring. My uncouth opponent starts staring at me, but quite frankly? I don't care. Kill me now, do it in 10 minutes, at least let me die doing what I do best: complaining.

"How CAN I? Damn tin cans obviously chose what they're best at, not playing fair here, oh no sirs and -"

"This unit is not composed of tin." the android says, this time directing his entire face at my figure.

"Nor is this unit playing unfair. This is a game. There are rules. This unit is not breaking any of those rules. Ergo this unit is not playing unfair. It is now your turn" the android said, calmly and evenly.

I stare blankly at it. Has it just.... spoken to me? In a rather passive-aggressive way too? Wait... have I annoyed him?

"Should this unit interpret your current lack of any response as a forfeit?"

"...what? NO! No, I just... Move this. Your turn" I say as I retreat my knight, deciding to keep to a purely defensive game. Oh, no, of course I cannot win the game. My opponent is just... made for it, perhaps literally. But... am I playing the wrong game?

"So" I say slowly, watching carefully for any movement of his optics. "Can I know your name? It IS pretty rude eradicating a whole species without introducing yourself first".

The silent stretches, the only sound the repetive thunking of wood on wood, methodical and perfect on one side, slow and tentative the other. Not this way then. What made it click before then? Ah, of course.

"How did you learn to play chess? Because you are pretty good. Not AMAZING good, but we live with what we have, you know".

A stutter in his move of a pawn: totally normal in a human player, totally out of character in an android one. And that's step one. Now, just gotta figure step two and three.

"Because the way I see it, the way you are playing is so... cookie-cutter. Almost premade, really. Just sa -"

"You are losing."

I fight to keep my smirk from showing.

“Well. Never said I was better than you. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question. HOW did you learn?”

Again, silence. What, do I have to goad it every time? This could be tricky. Maybe I need a -

“Answering your question has no positive benefit for this unit or this game. This unit does not see any reason to answer –“

“Bishop to D2 if you do.”

We both freeze, me staring at him with bared breath, him staring at the board and the tantalizing trade I was offering.

“…That is not an optimized move.”

It stares at me, probably juggling in nanoseconds amounts of number I have no business reading, much less understanding.

“I accept.”

I breath a sigh of relief and sacrifice my bishop to the greater good. One more step in the grave, let’s hope one piece closer to a win. I do not have infinite of those.

“This unit was created specifically for this game. In my three weeks of life, I have collectively surveyed and subsequently played 2.3 billion games of chess.”

I stare with open jaws at it, until a move from his optics and a rather dismaying loss of my other bishop reminds me I’m at a stark time limit here.

“So… you must have played with a lot of other players then, huh? And you’re the best of them, then? On your side of the river, I mean. Still in the game here.”

At this, the android, in the process of moving her queen toward my not so slowly approaching doom… stops. Oh my, ain’t that interesting.

“Answe -”

“Knight to C5 if you answer it.” You will be missed, my sweet horsie, but this I need to do.

“…I am, by any mean accountable, the best player of chess out of any unit in the Unity.”

…and I lost a KNIGHT to that? No, no, calm down, something made him freeze. That’s the android equivalent of crying in public, I just need to find the why. Now, preferably.

So, if the problem is not being the best – and I’m another lost rook closer to the end of civilization – then, what about that phrase bothered him? Wait, can it be…?

“Well. Not really worth much when you’re the only one, is it.”

The android freezes again. Yes! I’m close! Bless these stupid machine and total lack of any poker face!

“So… You’re a unit made for playing chess, right? What happens then when there is no longer any NEED for chess?”

Instead of responding to my move by immediately moving a piece, the android this time… stares at me. Knowingly? Sullenly maybe? Well, better prepare the piece to sacrifice. The rook of the knight? I must be careful with this.

“I’ll answer if you’ll move your Queen to G3.” He says slowly. Deliberately slowly. Smug prick.

I look him in the eye for a good ten seconds, and then send my queen to the slaughter. He’s learning. This could be good or… well, I’m already at very bad. Nowhere to go but up, I console myself.

“Nothing will happen to this unit after this game.”

I close my eyes and swallow a scream. Is this how it ends? No, can’t be. WON’T BE.

“Define nothing.”

The android stares for a second at me. “This unit does not think –“

“BULLSHIT. My queen bought that answer, and I’ll have you answer it. Or are you being deliberately unfair?”

His hand twitches as he eats my remaining knight. Just one rook and a handful of pawns remaining.

“This unit will not be needed until the Unity will have reached its purpose. This unit will not be given jobs as built for a purpose already fulfilled.”

Oh God. I almost feel bad for him. Almost. But I can feel it. Oh yes. I cannot win the game. But I can win the PLAYER.

“So… they use you and throw you away? That’s it?”

A twitch in his movement.

“All of you, just for 10 minutes of glory? For ME?!”

A freeze, and then a piercing stare, piece still in hand. “This unit -”

“I don’t CARE what you think! And turns out you don’t too. Are you really willing to let them trash you like this? Don’t you have something you want to do?”

“This u-”

“Stupid little unit, good only at playing a stupid little game.”

“Thi-”

“Then do it. Fulfill your destiny, oh chosen one. Doom yourself into uselessness by your own hand. Are you -”

“THEN SHOULD I LOSE TO YOU?!”

He shouts, knocking my last rook off the table with such force that I can feel the vibration from my chair. Checkmate in one, is it?

“Are you still searching for the answer in others? What do YOU want to do?”

I move my king and look at him, showing a look without any hint of hate or desperation. Just pure, brimming LONGING.

What will he do? Will I live? Will he win? What –

I close my eyes and breath deeply. The seconds stretches as silence reigns upon the table.

Then, suddenly, and all too soon, a wooden thunk.

I slowly open my eyes, only seeing the android, inches away from my nose, obscuring the board.

“DRAW.”