Line and the Automata.

Chapter 1 "Bad Start"

 

 

Okay, before I continue what just happened, allow me to introduce myself first.

Hi...
My name is Line, a 17-year-old Highschooler, blood type O, my hobby is assembling junk into multi-use objects and other things like that, I work in an electronics store owned by my parents, I have a friend named Jay and -...

... I'll just get straight to the point, turns out that the future is not as good as I thought, the humans sent "Her" here for a reason I still don't know.

Well, I guess where should I start... hmmm...Well, as expected ...
Looks like It would be better to tell it from the beginning.

[My private room]

Back where I was cornered in a corner under my bed when she came up to me with green eyes glowing in the dark.

"W-wait ... W-who are you !?" I said cornered in the corner of the bed

"Greetings, I am ERI, a Robot sent from the future" she replied.

"Robot? From the future? w-why would you want to go to the millennial era like -..."
*Sfx: unsheathing sword

She suddenly drew out a sword that is behind her waist which immediately shocked me.

"Object identified as not a threat, deactivating attack mode" She returned to put her sword back on her waist.

That almost made my heart stop beating, I imagined how close I am to death.

The lights are gradually starting to come back on, and now everything is clear, it turns out that ERI is a human-shaped robot, only the difference is that she looks stiffer with her eyes that are very focused on a certain object.

I looked at the object that I held to defend myself, it turned out to be an adult magazine that I thought it was a baseball bat.

"Shit!" I threw the magazine on the floor.

"Ahehe... I-it's not what you think ... The book belongs to Jay, a friend of-..."

ERI looked at my father's old computer, she sat in the chair and typed something on the computer keyboard.

"-mine...."

*Sfx: typing sounds

I didn't have time to see what she typed, however (I'd better get out of here while I can)
I crept closer to the exit by taking slow steps.

"I can't let you leave this place"

The atmosphere became silent, there were no more typing sounds, only words that made my footsteps stop moving, the feeling of chills hearing the sound of the machine, made me want to swallow hard, I slowly looked at the robot.

"There should be no eyewitnesses involved" ERI pulled out her sword again with a sharp gaze aimed at me.

The first drop of sweat that fell on the floor was fast as me, who ran as fast as lightning towards the door and closed it as fast as it could, but when I closed the door, suddenly pierced a sword that was thrown by ERI, but fortunately, it only stuck in the door, but almost hit my face.

Not 2 seconds later, ERI broke through the door with one kick that sent me down the stairs, when I fall off it was so painful in my chest.

"locking on attack mode on unknown subjects"

"Damn, this Crazy Robot!"

I quickly got up and ran to the cash register to press the emergency button under the table, where the button could only be pressed if there was an emergency such as a robbery, then a few minutes after the button was pressed, the police would come immediately.

But before I got there, I felt something like a creeping wave. Then, suddenly the lights went out, without thinking, I immediately hid under the table where I had taken shelter during the earthquake.

Right under the table, the emergency button that I was aiming for was there, but unfortunately, even though I repeatedly pressed the button it didn't turn on.

"Oh, come on! Stupid button! ... Not at a time like this!"

Sfx: Steps on the stair

"Shit!" I said swiftly hide quickly behind one of the store shelves.

"How's this, I can’t see clearly if it is pitch black like this, there must be ... there must be something that I can use as a self-defense," I said while looking around.

The situation was getting tense when a green light flashed like a flashlight shining here and there accompanied by the sound of slow footsteps stepping on the glass.

"Damn, she's getting closer! What should I do, she's a powerful machine that hasn't been identified ... what could be the possible weakness of the machine? ... Come on brain think..think!"

Then my brain found the answer

"That's it ... all I have to do is stay -..."

Sfx : dropped objects

ERI found me, she choked my neck behind me from behind the iron rack with her machine hand. She's choking me so tightly that I tried to pull me back over the shelf because it was narrow she pulled me forcefully to the nape of my neck with a metal rack support, it hurts me, made me couldn't breathe because of the heavy shock.
But I survived thanks to the hard pull that made the iron shelf fall back and forth right at her. However, one of the heavy objects hit my leg making it difficult for me to move.

However, as I was trying to get back to my feet by jumping with one leg to look for objects on the cashier table, at the same time ERI came back to me after removing the iron rack that had been pressing on it earlier.

"Setting the subject as threat level 1 -..."

"Take this you damn robot! ..."
I doused the robot's face with water in the glass that I didn't have time to drink earlier, but the results weren't what I imagined.

"...."

"Ahehe ... it didn't work… of course"

Sfx: suffocate

ERI choked me with her machine hand, this time maybe I really will die.

"Attempted to shut down system with water, set subject as level 4 threat"

Her black robotic suit had a line of faded green, but at that time the faded line glowed a bright green.

At that moment the sword she was holding in her left hand also glowed green with a green electricity coming out of her hand.

(Damn!, even I can't say my last words because of this damn robot choking me)

With this, the history of a young bachelor named Line is finished, goodbye world, goodbye Jay, goodbye mom ... Goodbye -...

"F-...ather..."

"Line ... are you in there? Can you open the door, honey? I forgot to put the spare key again"

For some mysterious reason, the robot let go of its hands after seeing my mother peeking through the shop glass.

Sfx: severe cough

"Are you okay Line? I forgot my glasses- what's with that green light?"

"Setting the subject as object of protection, deactivating attack mode" ERI stared at me with an upright body position.

(What's wrong with her !? Earlier, she made me a threat, now me as an object of protection, I don't understand how future robots work.)

With the pain I held in my neck, I approached the shop door and unlocked the door. With the effort I put in (which seemed to her like I wanted to run away again), ERI didn't respond to me this time and just silently watched me where she stood.

*sfx: open the door

"Line why did the lights go off? Did you forget to -..."

"Mom ... R-run ..." I fell unconscious in front of the entrance.

"LINE! WHAT’S HAPPENING TO YOU ... HEY..LINE!"

After that, I didn't know what happened but, I realized I was already in the hospital.

My mother was accompanied by the doctor who accompanied me, said that I had an accident at work, at that time I did not dispute that statement because my last memory I was in the shop.

My mother cried seeing my condition which was bandaged on the neck and right leg, the doctor said that this was not a fatal wound, but my mother was still crying.

"The condition is not bad, thanks to your metabolism, you will get better soon," said the doctor while reading my medical records.

"How many days can I go back to school?" I asked.

"Huss! Line! ... Don't think too much about school, for now, you focus on resting in the hospital for a few days!"

"Your mother is right, for now, I suggest you just rest in peace, then I will excuse you"

"I also excuse myself ... Line! Remember! Don't get out of your bed, if there is anything, Mother is in the corridor"
After that my mother went to the door.
In my mind, I thought about Jay who was probably angry waiting for his sticker that hasn’t arrive.

"I think Jay is currently angry ..."

"Says who?"

Not a minute after my mother left, Jay was already there who came to visit me at the hospital with a pack of fruit.

"J-jay ?! What are you doing here?"

"Of course to visit you!"

"Aaah... Jay, I'm sorry... your sticker -..."

"Eeeits!... that doesn't matter, it's just a pile of meaningless stickers, the most important thing now is that you eat this apple"

"Jay... I..."

"Come on open your mouth?"

"I cannot..."

"Oh come on... don't tell me you don't like apples now?"

"Not that... but my neck hurts to swallow"

"Aah ... ahehe's right!"

For the first time, I heard Jay say that his stickers are insignificant compared to me, for that reason I feel grateful to have a friend like him.

"Then, I’ll eat 1 apple... So that you are tempted, Ham ~" he ate my apple.

(Although, he's a little bit of a jerk)

I don't remember what happened earlier, every time I try to remember, there’s shadows that are faint and something that is hard to describe. Like, future robots or something.

Jay stayed with me until my condition improved the next day, it doesn't mean he's loyal, it's just that he wants to have an excuse not to go to school today.

Why can I recover so quickly? I don't know, I even want to know the reason myself, the doctor said that my metabolism is above the average for normal people, so every time I get an injury, the next day I'll be healed even though it's not 100%.

My mom and I were picked up using Jay's father's taxi, didn't I ever tell you that Jay's father is a taxi driver!? Besides that, our way home with Jay is one-way, so it give me a little free ride for me and my mom.

[Street near my shop]

Tuesday morning Jay's father escorted us to the shop.

"Has all of his belongings been carried away?" asked the taxi driver.

"Yes, Mr. Rusalhein" I replied.

"Good, then we excuse me, Mrs. Michele, Line ..."

[Jay waves his hand through the car window]

"See you tomorrow Line, I hope you're still sick, so I can have an excuse not to go to school ... Ouch!, Dad! MY HANDS! ... MY HANDS!"

"Sorry, dad didn't see that hahaha ..." said Mr. Rusalhein who was nosy raising the car window.

"See you Mr. Rusalhein, see you Jay!" my mother waved her hand towards the car that drove away from us.

After that, my mother asked me if I could carry two suitcases containing a change of clothes and some utensils as well as some toiletries. My mother was always overly worried, even though I was only hospitalized overnight, but instead, she brought supplies for up to a week.

"Yes, I think I'm strong ma'am" I replied.

"Come here, take a suitcase," she asked.

After that my mother took a suitcase and opened the shop entrance, she then told me to put the suitcase beside the shelf to my left, while my mother went into the special family room to prepare something.

In my mind, I felt like a Deja Vu when I saw an iron shelf that was cut in half perfectly.

"Somehow, I feel familiar looking at this shelf!"

Sfx: screaming sound

"Mother?!"

I try to walk as fast as I can, thanks to these scuffed feet I can't run.

"MOM !? HANG ON MOM!"

The scream came from my private room above, after being on the stairs I saw the door to the slightly open room, it seemed like my mother has entered the room.

[My private room]

I saw my mother who looked shocked looking at the sleeping bed.

"MOM! WHAT HAPPENED? WHY DID-..." I interrupted because I saw what my mother was seeing.

Namely a girl who reads my friend Jay's adult magazine.

"Y-you !?" now I remember what happened last night was not a hallucination, that the robot was real.

The girl looked at us, then introduced herself.

"Greetings, my name is ERI ... I am ..."

(No, don't say ... My mother could be aimed as the object of extermination again later)

"Stop -..." I shouted running trying to cover her mouth

"Line's girlfrie-..."

I managed to close her mouth, but the words she spoke were different from last night's.

(Huh... Why? Somehow I feel bad !?)

"Line..."

"Aaah yes?"

"Who is that girl? is what she said true?" my mother gave off a terrible aura like seeing me do the same trouble as when I was a child.

"Aaah no! This is just..."

***

[Family dining room]

"No! No! No! ... please dig in" said my mother gave the plate to us both.

"Forgive my son's behavior, he must have promised a secret meeting with you here, no wonder he was trying to hurry out of the hospital ahahaha ..." said my mother, elbowing me with her elbow.

(Mother, open your eyes, does she look like a normal girl to you?)

ERI only responded to my mother's conversation with a smile.

".... I-I think I'll eat now" I took the food menu in the form of spaghetti with rice.

"Well, Eri too, let's ... eat with us," said my mother while doing the same thing.

ERI watched our movements, she initially only watched us, but after that, she took a plate and a spaghetti using a fork.

She turned her fork with her gaze focused on the spaghetti that was spinning in the direction of the fork's rotation without even blinking.

My mother and I who were eating stopped seeing the behavior of this one girl.

ERI's spaghetti was attached to the fork until it rolled into a noodle fold, she immediately directed the spaghetti to her mouth, opening her mouth wide, but the spaghetti fell because it had been cut due to the rotation of the fork as well as his eyes glanced at the fall of the spaghetti, with an expression amazement.

"Where did you find this girl?" whispered my mother while still watching ERI's behavior.

"I don't know, I didn't even expect to see her today"

I said, while observing ERI's behavior too.

"Aaaaa...Eri, I guess you're not hungry, how about trying this dessert !? yogurt with extra lemoooon ...."

My mother saw a cockroach crawling on the dining table, with a flash of panic.

"Whoa!!! Cockroaches!! Cockroaches!!!!!"

"Calm down Mom... calm down!"

"Kill it, Line, Kill it!!!"

"Detecting threats! Alert 1" ERI cut the cockroach in half with her karate hand along with our dining table.

Sfx: table lacing

"Threats have been eliminated"

"....."

"....."

[My private room]

My mother put me in with ERI in my room, she thought that ERI was my girlfriend, and I couldn't argue with that. Whatever it is, it's for my mother's safety too.

My leg is not fully healed yet, so I decided to lie here all day, I hope there won't be any trouble this robot will cause, even though so far I see, she should be safe to be around with, but I still can't believe what she did to me last night.

I questioned stuff in my mind like, why would the future human want to create a deadly robot like her.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I said while lying on the bed.

"Answer! Of course"

"Before that, can you stop with your gaze, I feel a bit disturbed," I asked.

"Answer! My settings are designed based on factory functions, therefore settings, system, navigation, memory, are still the default"

Interesting, hearing a robot that can immediately respond with fluent language, feels like talking to a real human, even though it still has a time lag between sentences. However, behind the guise, there are millions of secrets hidden, I have to be careful.

"If your settings are still Default, then that means your settings can be changed right?"

"Answer, yes!" she responded.

"How do I change the settings?"

"Answering, by giving direct orders or using sign language, can also directly set it through the embedded system"

So that's how it is, it's no wonder she can imitate human movements, (I mean when she ate the spaghetti earlier).

"How much Ram and Rom capacity do you have?"

"answer !, Ram capacity of, 300TB ... Rom capacity of 1,200TB"

* TB (Tera Byte- equivalent to 1TB = 1000GB)

"Impossible! .... aaah I mean, ahem... then I want to ask about something" I got up from my bed.

"Answer, what is it?"

"Who created you?"

I am waiting for an answer that might change my mindset, knowing the person behind all of this, the genius who created this robot.

"Answer !, there is no related data regarding that"

(What?)

"W-then, how will the future conditions be in your era?"

"Answer! There is no data related to that"

(It seems natural to erase data from this robot, knowing this classified information could change the future)

I tried to question something related to the future but the answer remained unchanged. Until I conclude...

"What is your aim to be sent to this era !?"

".... Answering ...."

"....."

"To destroy something called the Internet network"

 

to be continue ...