Three non-digital years ago.

A security guard tossed a service automaton violently to the ground, as the owner cried exasperatedly: "Please, no! Don't hurt her!"

She tried to shield her maid bot, but another guard pulled her by the arms while whispering to her ear: “Please, Ms. Bradford, let us do our job.”

"Hurt her?!” The other guard snickered, pulling out his gun. “This is just a toy, brat! Earth is getting fucked by dolls like this, and you brought one here?! This is a controlled environment!"

"Y-Yes, I can see that! I’m so sorry! Just turn her off and seal her away somewhere, but don't--!"

The automaton looked in her direction as if it wanted to express that everything was alright. Two gunshots later, it stopped moving.

"YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"

The girl's cries echoed through the halls as they struggled to take her away.

The young employee summoned to clean up the mess witnessed it all with a shocked expression on his face, before meeting the guard’s glare.

"What are you waiting for?! Take this junk away!"

"Y-Yes!" the boy said, still hearing the enraged cries of that girl.

 

***

**

*

 

"I’ve talked to the chief of security, and they'll offer a formal apology tomorrow morning," a man in his early forties said while serving himself a glass of scotch.

The fifteen-year-old girl sitting in front of his desk sneered loudly. A wig rested on her lap, looking like a flat, lifeless ginger cat. "That won't be necessary, Aston, I don't hold a grudge against that guy."

Aston Bradford, a blonde man with icy blue eyes turned to her, frowning. "You're not mad about what that man did to your maid-bot?"

"I'm not a kid anymore." The girl grinned, shrugging. "I know why he did it. We're all a little anxious lately about this global crisis, so it's understandable why he acted like that."

Aston approached her cautiously and sat at the edge of his desk to have a better look at her gaze. "You're telling me you're fine."

"Yeah!”

He took a long sip without taking his eyes off her. "Promise me you won't make a scene, then."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"Aston…” she intoned, giving him a funny look. “You know I can't promise you that. Today I feel fine, but tomorrow I may feel completely different. You can't control raw emotions, you know."

The top executive took a long sip of scotch before exhaling deeply. "Just be careful, then."

 

***

**

*

 

The next day, her raw emotions told her it was not over yet, for the reflection in her restroom mirror showed her a restless girl.

She stared at her skinhead hairstyle and caressed her head, feeling her skull. Blonde hair was starting to grow back. But not fast enough, and they’ll shave it again anyway.

The wig waiting in the sink seemed to mock her. She hated the thing. I'll use you one more time.

Before going out, she applied pink lipstick, checked how her bosom looked with a push-up bra and put the wig on.

Five long minutes later, despite the facilities' maze-like corridors, she easily arrived at the lobby, although she had only been there once.

And there he is, pretending to be busy.

The guard acted reluctant to talk to her at first, expecting she had come to whine and bicker about the last day's situation, but after two minutes of her leaning forward so that her pressed breasts looked like bursting out of her clothes at any second, he became friendlier.

He even let her get inside the office to show her the security monitors as she sat on his lap. Every time he mocked any of the employees onscreen, she answered with childish giggles while gradually getting closer to his gun belt. It happened quickly. 

She snatched the weapon swiftly, unlocked the safe, and at his right thigh without flinching.

"What the hell, brat?!" The man fell from his chair, and before he could cry for help, she quickly crouched and put the gun's fuming cannon in his mouth, burning his tongue and palate.

She whispered in his ear: "This is for abusing your power. I've investigated, and you didn't have the right to dispose of private property. Legally, bots are not alive, so you didn't commit a crime, and technically speaking, it’d be stupid to trade your life for hers. So I think this will suffice to get even, you and me. This company has great health insurance, so they'll heal you quickly. Now, I'll leave quietly, and let's forget that we ever crossed paths, all right?"

She grabbed her wig and threw it along with the gun in the trash can before slamming the door. There was no need to escape running. She just strolled through the halls while hearing other security guards rush in the opposite direction.

The void in my chest… Hasn't gone away.

A boy his age passed her by, and his backtracking steps were loud and annoying. "I’ve finally found you," he said, getting his feet in her field of vision. "You're that girl, right? From yesterday in the lobby?"

She looked up to glare at him. She did not have the energy or the patience to deal with anyone. But when he reached out his hand to show her something, she frowned. "What the bloody hell is that?"

"Take it," he insisted in an almost demanding tone. "It's a pendant I crafted with a piece of your maid-bot's memory drive."

After hearing that, the girl's eyes opened widely, observing the strange gleaming item. It was metallic blue, and exposing it to the light made it change to green. It was a repurposed piece of junk, and yet, pretty in an awkward kind of way.

"You loved your maid-bot,” he blurted out.

"Her name was Miss Cooper," she corrected, acting upset, "and yes, she was my friend."

"I'm sorry that this place's rules are so strict. I was the one in charge of dismantling her and…" he paused after seeing the appalled expression on her face. "...And I swear that I treated her in the most humane way possible!"

"Humane?" She sneered. "Are we still talking about an automaton?"

"Are you going to keep that or not?" he asked, folding his arms.

"Yes. This belongs to me anyway."

"Good!" He smiled, satisfied.

"Alan," a woman wearing a lab coat called aloud from the far end of the corridor. "Your lunch hour is over!"

"Y-Yes, boss!"

Without saying goodbye or waiting for gratitude, he turned back and ran down the corridor.

That he left that way felt wrong to her.

"Wait!" she cried, making him stop midway through. Great! What do I say now? He looked in a hurry, and she hated being pressured. "How did you recognize me? I'm not wearing my…" She unconsciously raised a hand close to her scalp.

He stared at her face before his eyes darted to her chest. He blushed immediately. "T-There's not many Tandem in these facilities, you know? And you're the only new face around here! Anyway-seeya-takecare-bye!"

Astrid stood in her place, looking at him go, as the pendant on her hand told her that everything was somewhat alright.

 

***

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*

 

I stayed in that Kintech facility for just one month, and I never saw him again.

I roamed the corridors in my free time, and went to the cafeteria at different hours of the day, but nothing. And I was too stubborn to ask if someone knew about him.

Why did I want to see him again, anyway? 

Once I moved back to the Caelum headquarters, I wished to forget all about his annoying, persistent memory… But how could I? I was surrounded by adults… Scientists, engineers, programmers… And the only guys my 'age' were others in the Somnium Project. Cocky, whiny, spoiled brats. So his stupid memory became a nuisance!

I wished nothing more than to get him out of my head! And it kind of worked. Six months later, I could not even remember his face or the name that woman called him.

I was free.

Until I saw him arrive at Caelum, 1 year and 7 months later. There he was, applying for a chance to board the Santa María in the booth beside mine. What were the freaking odds!

Destiny, was that you?

I recognized him right away, despite lying to myself that I wanted to forget him. His presence became a distraction, an obsession all over again. Why did I feel that way?! 

I had spent most of my life glued to test pods and stuck to machines, growing up in fake environments, testing whatever the developers had made up that week, and getting mentally older inside those virtual sandboxes while my body remained in its teenage years, that I was too occupied to even think about getting close to someone!

I desperately needed to know how it felt being close to anyone…

Maybe trying it out with him would satiate this bloody, aching feeling.

Days passed, and finding him became difficult again. The anxiety of not being able to meet him before getting inside the Novus was eating me, for I wanted to interact with him in the real world before it was too late. I wanted to talk and see him with my own eyes, not through the system’s.

After learning that he had volunteered to help inside the facilities, I knew how to reach him, and I waited in that corridor like a predator. Maybe Aston knew what he was talking about when he used to call me a lioness.

But… oh, no, anxiety again! Was I acting too stalkerish?! No, bad Astrid, don't think like that! It's too late now! There he is! No time for cowardice now! Go, lioness, and devour him whole! 

I Intentionally crashed into him, forcing him to help me collect what I had ‘accidentally’ tossed, and… Wait, no, no! I wasn't ready yet! While his eyes were busy grabbing the blankets, I quickly hid the crafted pendant he gifted me inside my clothes.

Stupid, stupid me.

He didn't recognize me; I realized it immediately. I had finally let my hair grow after protesting with the Caelum engineers that shaving my head again would not improve their readings anymore, now that The Novus was at its final Beta build.

Our first talk after two years...

I smiled at him, shyly at first, and I noticed that his eyes looked absent, the same as mine, before imposing myself on this secret mission. Could it be that he had also been chained to a lab or workshop, forced to grow up to meet the expectations of a selfish adult?

Maybe we had more in common than I expected.

 

***

**

*

 

We spent a week knowing each other, sharing the same table at the cafeteria every day, and spending most of our free time together.

And I'll never forget those days…

Although technically, my mind was that of a thirty-something woman, he made me feel seventeen again. Around him, I could be as childish and immature as I wanted, and he would find it adorable. He made me laugh, and I made him uncomfortable every time I held his hand.

Even though we were both tech-savvy, we rarely talked about the subject. We would rather spend our free time imagining what a dragon wearing a tuxedo would look like, or wondering if pegasi and unicorns really existed. According to our research, yes, hundreds of years ago, they were as real as monsters called platypus and kangaroos.

On the seventh day, when we boarded the Santa María, I realized that we were now alone. I remember grabbing his hand as he gave me words of encouragement.

I had been surrounded by adults my whole life until turning into one, and now, when the spaceship had left Earth's atmosphere, I only had him.

I felt happy for having him by my side and sad about leaving everything and everyone behind.

Never in my entire life, I had felt that way.

I asked him to be my boyfriend just before getting into the Cryo-Chambers, demanding that he should find me inside.

Later, when he woke me up in the Renovatio Caves, I cried and hugged him. I wanted to bang my head against those rocky walls for not hugging him earlier when I still had the chance and it was still real. But crying on his shoulder calmed all the doubts, anger, and self-hatred I was still holding.

I realized I loved him.

 

***

 

I loved him during that wonderful week, having adventures and leveling up before he disappeared.

I loved him while I waited for his return.

I loved him while I had to move on and take care of the guild.

I loved him even more when he finally appeared again.

His presence reminded me of how shy and inexperienced I was about love, so much so that I couldn't even think straight around him and would constantly look away in shame.

Then the incident happened…

And the dark entity within me awakened.

Did I really love him? Or was I just infatuated with the idea of Him?

It had been 5 years since I had met him, and we had only stayed together by a measly 15 days…

Maybe we were not meant to be together, ever, but my stubbornness wouldn't let him go.

As… if I was upset with life itself for denying me the happiness I always wished for.

If destiny was getting in my way, I would punch its stupid metaphorical face and rebel against it!

I like how He makes me feel, so what’s wrong with that?!

I rebelled against destiny when I asked Monique Ascencio to have an eye on Him and inform me about his every move!

I rebelled when I bought His Beginner's armor set and his old sword from that Kristoff dealer and put it on a mannequin in my room! Oh, his Beginner's Shirt is so huggable... If only the system could keep the smell and odor of sold stuff! Hu, hu, hu.

And now… I will definitely rebel now that the RED BITCH IS GETTING IN MY WAY!