no, you can’t just shout 'Boo!' every time you don’t like something; that isn’t debate, and I’d wager it isn’t even a good haunted house substitute coming from you.”
Grabbing Usu with both hands and holding him close to her chest, Rain spun in a circle and when she next faced Modbot she firmly declared, “They’re the same! I know he doesn’t feel like Snow, and he doesn’t smack me on the head nearly as much, but he’s the same. Usu is the dolly Rain made for Snow, but… Usu didn’t move back then. I think so at least, it hurts a little to remember.”
“Gods girl, it’s no wonder they made so few of your kind. You really believe the words coming out of your mouth don’t you?” Exasperated, Modbot continued, “Ah, fine. I’m the only one here with a real objective, even if it was programmed into me by sadists, so I’ll be off to that absolutely lovely desert boiling around us.” Leaning in close to Usu he mumbled, “It’s been fun, or something like it at least,” before giving him what could only be considered a 'good luck' flick to the forehead.
Fleeting moments make good postcards, but this post-apocalyptic era had little need for them, or mailmen for that matter. All it took were those moments for Modbot to be gone, a noticeable clank of the airlock for confirmation. Usu didn’t know if he had found his place, or just lost it. He only knew that the hands that cradled him and the eyes that seemed to cherish him were important and more than just a piece in the puzzle.
Time, from that moment forward, seemed to stand still; Rain would spend days telling him about all the things she had imagined they could do when they met again, but every time she tried to recall things they had already done together, a pain seemed to warp her small frame. Sometimes she would abruptly pause for hours, frozen in place, and it was those hours when Usu truly felt alone. A feeling he had never felt before leaving his walled-off world at the provocation of a poorly written bit of plot involving explosive ordinance; why now did he feel it? Why was a desperate war being waged within him? Feelings were fighting to the surface. Emotions long lost and memories more important than their poor use of foreshadowing would suggest.
The days they spent together seemed to move painfully fast. Games like 'See How Hard Snow Can Fly Into The Ceiling' broken by that strange, sudden stillness about her, each time robbing her of a small but precious moment. Usu would shake her body, pull her limp arms, but only time―that very same beast that took her from him―would bring back this sweet, accidentally violent on purpose girl.
Soon, Usu had regained enough memories, or at least their impressions, to understand that Rain was far from well, that even the shadows in his memory would not play such a cruel joke.
His mind cleared for an instant one day when she stood suspended in one such moment of stillness, and he finally grasped the fear assailing him, only to wish away the truth revealed. Rain was not simply unwell.
She was dying.
Human - Empathy
She lost another one today, another moment to oblivion.
Our first encounter, a smile to hide what was no longer within her.
Now she holds a diary, maybe something like this.
But with happier thoughts I hope, an ever more endearing refrain.
She doesn’t deserve this, I would take it all if I could.
And if any Gods are listening, in time, I will.
Chapter Six - Nostrum
Death’s meaning had become blurred in a world where, by the grace of an anorexic atmosphere, nothing was rightfully alive anymore in the first place. Even more so, the 'life' of an android in such a world shouldn't have held any weight, and it shouldn't have meant anything to anyone, but one did. Her survival was paramount to one, and that very desire for it was the only thing strong enough to bind a soul to a world that had long since rejected its own creations.
Usu had realised he was
Grabbing Usu with both hands and holding him close to her chest, Rain spun in a circle and when she next faced Modbot she firmly declared, “They’re the same! I know he doesn’t feel like Snow, and he doesn’t smack me on the head nearly as much, but he’s the same. Usu is the dolly Rain made for Snow, but… Usu didn’t move back then. I think so at least, it hurts a little to remember.”
“Gods girl, it’s no wonder they made so few of your kind. You really believe the words coming out of your mouth don’t you?” Exasperated, Modbot continued, “Ah, fine. I’m the only one here with a real objective, even if it was programmed into me by sadists, so I’ll be off to that absolutely lovely desert boiling around us.” Leaning in close to Usu he mumbled, “It’s been fun, or something like it at least,” before giving him what could only be considered a 'good luck' flick to the forehead.
Fleeting moments make good postcards, but this post-apocalyptic era had little need for them, or mailmen for that matter. All it took were those moments for Modbot to be gone, a noticeable clank of the airlock for confirmation. Usu didn’t know if he had found his place, or just lost it. He only knew that the hands that cradled him and the eyes that seemed to cherish him were important and more than just a piece in the puzzle.
Time, from that moment forward, seemed to stand still; Rain would spend days telling him about all the things she had imagined they could do when they met again, but every time she tried to recall things they had already done together, a pain seemed to warp her small frame. Sometimes she would abruptly pause for hours, frozen in place, and it was those hours when Usu truly felt alone. A feeling he had never felt before leaving his walled-off world at the provocation of a poorly written bit of plot involving explosive ordinance; why now did he feel it? Why was a desperate war being waged within him? Feelings were fighting to the surface. Emotions long lost and memories more important than their poor use of foreshadowing would suggest.
The days they spent together seemed to move painfully fast. Games like 'See How Hard Snow Can Fly Into The Ceiling' broken by that strange, sudden stillness about her, each time robbing her of a small but precious moment. Usu would shake her body, pull her limp arms, but only time―that very same beast that took her from him―would bring back this sweet, accidentally violent on purpose girl.
Soon, Usu had regained enough memories, or at least their impressions, to understand that Rain was far from well, that even the shadows in his memory would not play such a cruel joke.
His mind cleared for an instant one day when she stood suspended in one such moment of stillness, and he finally grasped the fear assailing him, only to wish away the truth revealed. Rain was not simply unwell.
She was dying.
Human - Empathy
She lost another one today, another moment to oblivion.
Our first encounter, a smile to hide what was no longer within her.
Now she holds a diary, maybe something like this.
But with happier thoughts I hope, an ever more endearing refrain.
She doesn’t deserve this, I would take it all if I could.
And if any Gods are listening, in time, I will.
Chapter Six - Nostrum
Death’s meaning had become blurred in a world where, by the grace of an anorexic atmosphere, nothing was rightfully alive anymore in the first place. Even more so, the 'life' of an android in such a world shouldn't have held any weight, and it shouldn't have meant anything to anyone, but one did. Her survival was paramount to one, and that very desire for it was the only thing strong enough to bind a soul to a world that had long since rejected its own creations.
Usu had realised he was
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