We are Human: A BNTU Story

by Titanmaster 117

What makes us human? Is it the soul? Is it free will? And when a machine exhibits these traits, emotion, thoughts, sentience, free will, are they any different to a human? Are they real, or are they programmed? When does the difference between a human and a machine become none, and what happens when a machine becomes more human that us? (Ties in heavily with the Ultimates universe)

1. Season 1 Chapter 1: Our soundless words

Hello there.

It is me, Titanmaster117, with a new story.

Now, what this story is, is a spinoff tie in to the main story, Baka No Test Ultimates. This story will tie in heavily to the other story that I am writing. Any major events that happen in this story will heavily affect the other story, and vise versa.

However, this story will not be updated as many times as the other one. I will only update this story as I see fit. When I do, I will say when a chapter in this story ties into the specific chapters of the other stories, and vise versa, so it's best if you read both these stories in the order that they are meant to be read in.

I will also use a soundtrack for this story, and place the specific songs that I feel suit the chapter that I post at the start of it, for every chapter.

Now, with all of that out of the way, onto the story.

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Soundtrack

Season theme- Rag'n'Bone Man- Human

Chapter theme- E- Hello Cruel World

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BNTU Timeline- Takes place after chapter 5, and during Chapter 6.

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3rd October 2022

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Japan- Fumizuki City
Early in the morning
Discreet location

---

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes, but there is a storm predicted to hit later tonight."

"So?"

"So, you'll need to make your presentation quick. If the storm hits when you're in the middle of your presentation-"

"It'll be fine, Sarah. The presentation is scheduled to end just before the storm hits. By then, the buyers and clients and, well, everyone else there, will already be invested in our products. Chimera Industries is gonna make bank from this."

"..."

"Sarah, what's wrong?"

"I don't feel particularly comfortable with this. I mean, it feels like we're kinda selling slaves."

"What? That's preposterous. What?"

"Ms. Kobashigawa-"

"Sarah, we're not selling slaves. We're selling machines. Unthinking, lifeless machines. There not slaves if they're programmed to serve you."

"Even so..."

"Look, I've spoken with my advisers. They've told me that all is well in the marketing. They've also told me that the estimated profits that we're gonna make from this will push us to the top. The engineers who have also made these things have also confirmed that our new products have absolutely no chance of going wrong. I seriously don't know what wrong with this."

"Well, if you say so. Anyways, I gotta go. I've gotta give these to Mr. Yamasaki before 11AM."

"Oh well, then get to it then."

"Yes, Ma'am."

... Oh God, on the grounds of my forefathers, and for the sake of my home, my family, and my children...

...

Please let this be the right thing.

---

Later that day...

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Fumizuki Academy

---

As I walked out of the school gates, I saw that the storm clouds were rolling in fast, and that I should probably get home quickly.

I looked at his watch. 4:23. I still have a bit of time to get back to the apartment before the worse comes to wear.

As I walked past the main gates, I looked to my left, and my eyes widened, then fell back to rest. Bando and a few of his friends had gathered outside of the school gates. They were waiting for me. There seemed to be less of them today, but they must've either bullied Amy, my sister, and left after that, or the lateness of the time that I finally left the school bored them, and most of them left. It doesn't really matter, I guess.

Sigh.

For some stupid reason, I'd hoped that they would've gone by now. I'd stupidly hoped that the weather, or the late time that I've left the school would've deterred them. I'd hoped avoiding them yesterday was the beginning of a lucky streak.

Idiot.

Absolute idiot.

Bando took the lead from his friends, as always, a sadistic smile curled on his lips as he stomped towards me, hands in pockets. I took note of them, as always.

Fujio Bando. First Wave Student. Extremely fanatical loyalist. On Kinoshita Yuuko's payroll. In obsessive love with her (Poor bitch). Albino. White hair. Red eyes.

Koharu Higa. First Wave student. Sister to Akane Higa. Disowns her. Staunch Loyalist. Only got into Class A by doing... favours, for certain students. Actually Class F levels of intelligence. Girlfriend to Bando. Disloyal to him as he is to her. Extremely toxic relationship Black hair. Brown eyes.

Zenzō Teruya. Second Wave student. Loyalist. From what I've gathered, slight hearing loss. Barely got into Class A. Brown hair. Grassy green eyes.

Gin Yano. First Wave student. Loyalist. Transgender male. Still has feminine features, even after the sex change. Titian hair. Grey eyes.

"Hey there, Roly Poly", began Bando, forcibly wrapping his arm around my head into a headlock, his smile as sadistic as ever, as the rest of his friends surrounded me.

It's Riley. Riley Harrison.

Asshole.

Not that I'd say it to his face.

"We missed you yesterday, fatty", he continued, the words searing through his unwashed, yellow teeth, his breath smelling like energy drink.

I'm not even fat. I'm actually below the average weight by quite a bit.

"We were just wondering where you went, Buddy", he sneered those words, obviously finding the last one painful to say in reference to myself.

I didn't say a word. I wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of knowing how I avoided him yesterday.

Before any of you say, "You should have left with your sister. They wouldn't target both of you", that's a lie. They find it more fun to target both of us. Amy must've gotten some shit like I am now when she left.

I was only able to avoid these guys by making do with a secret room in the lower levels of the school that, unofficially, belonged to Miharu Shimizu. There was a secret passage network in that room that ran across the whole school, leading to a way out of the school that, as of my knowledge, only I knew about. Wherever Miharu knew about it as well, I don't know.

I continued to keep my lips closed. I looked up at him, and glared at him, my turquoise blue eyes betraying what I feel now. I try to feign anger, but all I feel is fear.

"Aw, don't look at me like that", smiled Bando, "Don't you remember all the good times we've had together?"

He tightened his hold over my head as he said "Good times".

I'll be damned if I can think of any, "Good times", but I still have the scars from the "Bad times".

Both physical, and mental.

"Maybe we should have a playdate", began the colossal slut known as Koharu Higa, her sickly sweet tone betraying the bitter poison underneath it, "Make him remember all of those good times we shared together."

Somehow, she's able to make everything she says sound suggestive.

I hated her.

I hated all of them.

I hated them for what they represented: the worst parts of not only Class A, but Fumizuki Academy as a whole. The arrogance, the bullies, the easily led, the corrupt, the cowardly, the dishonourable, the intellectually stubborn. Class A was meant to be a class that others looked up towards, and yet it was a cesspool of corruption, hate, segregation, divide, and sin. Class A had become a joke, yet no one had the guts to leave. With all of the other schools in Fumizuki city shutting down, Fumizuki Academy was the best chance at a proper education as it could get, and no matter how much people hated it, they needed the school to give them a chance at a future. Yet the 4 people that gather around me represent all that is wrong with the system that we now have grown accustomed too, personified. They wear their sin like a badge, and I hate it, and I hate them as well.

Most of all, though, I hate myself, for not being able to stand up to them, both physically, mentally, and subconsciously. I was weak. So was my sister. Malnutrition does that to you. So does living in a run down apartment in downtown, and only one of us having a job that pays barely minimum wage. I mean, Mr. Matsuoka was kind enough to give Amy that job in his bar, but I guess with all of the new big businesses moving in, you'd lose quite a bit of money yourselves.

Back to my point, I hated myself for not being able to fight back against the machine of discrimination and fascists. I tried to once, along with others, but we were crushed under the heel of those who'd seek to oppress us. I couldn't fight back. I still can't fight back. And I hate myself for it. I hate myself for being weak. I hated myself for being afraid. But, what was worse, was that everyday, the pain that I felt for my entire situation hurt that little bit less. I was becoming more insensitive to what I was, and how I got there, and I hated myself for that the most of all.

"Now now, play nice, you 2", said Bando, his voice bringing me back to my painful reality, "There'll be plenty of fun for everyone."

I wished that I still had the rifle that I had taken from those weirdo cultist guys from Class F when those new students beat the crap out of them. Last time I saw it, Miharu was holding it in the locker rooms, so it was possible that she still had it.

Great.

The bullets in the rifle were only stun rounds, but they still would've held off these assholes with relative ease.

I closed my eyes, awaiting the regular beating that I would receive.

Then, a gentle buzzing entered my ears, keeping a quick, but steady beat. And then, it became louder. And louder. And louder. Then, the wind blew through my hair, and my jumper fluttered in the increasing breeze. I opened my eyes, to feel the cold wind hit them, requiring me to blink, as my eyes briefly chilled and blurred, then returned to normal. I looked to the source of the sound, and saw that another one of the cargo helicopters was flying in over the school, carrying another one of those Spider Tank like forest clearing machines. Those helicopters had been flying in all day, carrying those large machines here, into the city, cutting away at the trees and plants of the city. I had told Amy a few days ago that all of Fumizuki city's natural beauty was going to be ruined by all of this modernisation, and now my fears were becoming reality.

I looked to the aggressors that held me against my will. Their attention had briefly turned to the cargo helicopter that flew over our heads as well, though for longer then I. My natural, rather subservient instincts told me to stay where I was, but then, I saw that Bando's arm had loosened just a bit, and his left hand was bare in front of me. Big mistake. I saw and opening, and took it to my advantage.

I bared my naturally formed fangs in my mouth (I had to bite into quite a bit of firm food for as long as I can remember, so my fangs had been naturally sharpened), and bit down onto Bando's hand, so hard that I broke the skin, and drew blood. I'm sure that Bando and his goons would blame me for something that I had not done tomorrow for revenge, as they always do for fun, but at the moment, I cared not. All I know is, at that moment, causing my long time tormentor pain, and hearing him cry out in such, felt really good.

He instinctively released me from his grasp, crying out in shock and pain, as his hand began to weep blood, and his asses for friends gathered around him. I must've bitten down harder than I thought, but I didn't care. Taking advantage of the confusion, I pushed my way out of the small gaggle, and began to run, my legs carrying me to a sidewalk near the small forest area that stood near the school, as I spat the blood that I had unwittingly collected in my mouth out onto the concrete pavement.

I looked behind me, to see Bando, still holding his bitten hand, though blood was gently seeping from the puncture holes, staining his hand red. His sadistic smile was gone, and his lips had curled into an almost animalistic like snarl. His eyes, which were already filled with hate, were now burning in it, and a single tear from the physical pain rolled down his cheek. He looked to me, and his face filled with pure rage.

This guy's got some serious anger issues.

His friends turned to me too in unison, their eyes filled with anger as well, but on a lesser scale then Bando. Bando looked to them, and said through his teeth, "What are you waiting for? Let's get that little twat!"

They proceeded to charge at me, but I wasn't deterred from my path. For the first time in a while, I felt a rush of energy and adrenaline, brought on by making fools of my tormentors, but this feeling of rushing energy was different. It tasted different. It was true adrenaline. Not that which is given off by ESBs, but by true action, or when you really do come into harm's way. My legs continued to carry me down the path next to the forest like area. I heard construction equipment and machines claw away at the trees as I continued to run. I passed by a occupied bench as I ran, where 2 boys that went to Fumizuki Academy were sitting in a tryst, holding hands. They looked to be in Year 3, Class C. I looked behind me, and saw that my 4 bullies were still a ways away, but they were slowly gaining pace. I quickly stopped by a trashcan that sat next to the pavement, and knocked it over, sacrificing a few precious moments for a quickly thought plan that would probably never work. I started running again, and looked behind me to see that, somehow, in a Hercules leap of logic, those morons actually collectively thought that it would be easier to jump over the trash can instead of simply going around it, and now they were all on the floor, picking themselves back up.

How did these fools get into Class A again?

I then started wheezing, as my speed began to decrease. I was running out of energy. I wasn't strong enough to continue running for a long period of time. Now, that might seem like a cry of self hate, but it was rather a statement of fact. Thanks to malnutrition and lack of exercise, I wasn't physically able to run for long distances like most people, before running out of stamina to continue (Then again, a good majority of the people at Fumizuki Academy had super-hearts, so that might be contradictory of what I had just said). I needed a plan on how to get away from my foes, and I needed one now.

As I ran, fear began to envelop me once more. I was scared of my tormentors once again, as I feared for what they would do to me if I allowed them to catch up to me. Their beatings of me were already particularly harsh, but now, thanks to a sheer act of stupid defiance, and my attempt to escape from them, their acts of violence would surely only intensify. I still carried the scars from my last unfortunate encounters with them, now veteraned into my body, as I wore them like a unmoveable badge of my shame. I feared, now, what would entail from their fully fuelled wrath.

I once again heard the sound of machinery from inside the small forest, and an idea came to mind. Quickly looking back to Bando and his goons, who were still hot on my tail, but quite a distance away, I took a sharp turn to the left, and ducked into the thick forest of green. I pushed past the shrubbery and the falling rose petals, as I heard rustling noises from behind me. They were following me through, though they were still a far distance away from me. I hoped that my last ditch effort would work, as I tried to go faster, and my wheezing, and panting for breath began to perpetrate the air.

I then came to an opening, and almost slammed into a giant metal leg before I stopped myself. I looked up, and saw that it was 1 of the forest cutting machines that all of those cargo helicopters had been carrying in all day. It seemed to ignore me, as if I wasn't there. Then again, it was a simple machine, and was probably following it's programming. That made me think back to the 4 new students that Class A received earlier this day. Well, 3, technically, since one of them was a robot itself. Or, himself, I guess. Did that robot, calling himself, 'Mateuz', have any actual programming to it? (Mateuz told me before we left Class A for that tour that his name was spelt without an 's', which I found a bit weird, but he just followed it up by saying that he was a rebel). I would assume so, since a robot can't really function without programming, but if that was the case, then what was it's actual programming? What was it's actual purpose? So many questions, so few answers.

I was broken out of my thoughts by a firm hand grabbing the back of my hand, and slamming it against the metal leg of the large 4 legged machine. As blood erupted from my nose upon impact, I was spun around, punched in my left eye, then pushed on the ground on my back, and my arms were held down by 2 other sets of arms. Thank goodness I was wearing my backpack as I landed, otherwise the gravel and sharp stones on the ground could've bruised his back. As I felt the hot blood seep from my nose, I looked up, and saw Bando standing above me, as well as his slut for a girlfriend, while I was being held down by Teruya and Yano.

"Aaaand the final straw has been broken", said Bando, as he kneeled down, and clenched his left hand, still bleeding slightly, into a fist, "You know, I did have patient with you before. You and your whore sister. But now, I can't seem to find it."

She's not a whore.

He then cracked his knuckles, but then winced from the pain from his left hand, and raised his right fist, striking it into my gut, knocking the breath out of me to cry out in pain.

"So, I am going to focus all of my power, and all of the power of my friends, and my allies, to making your life a bigger living hell than IT ALREADY IS!" suddenly yelled Bando, as he raised his right fist again, preparing to strike once more.

"HEY! YOU ROTTEN KIDS!"

And the boot has finally dropped.

Bando stopped, and looked to his left, to see 3 tall, muscular looking men, in their late 30s and 40s, in construction worker uniforms, approaching them, looking very agitated. I kept my outside look as a fearful one, but on the inside, I smiled to myself, hoping for a pleasing outcome.

"Care to explain what you're doing here?" said the lead construction worker.

"Um, well, sir, um, you see", Bando's face right now. He was struggling to find a way to lie that the obvious thing that he was doing was actually the complete opposite of that. Ha. Comedy gold, "W-we were just, um, fooling around, you see-"

"Really?" asked the lead construction worker with a look of 'Yeah that's a complete lie and I know that you know that I know it is', "Because from where my boys and I were standing, it looked like you and your 3 friends here were chasing that boy there through the woods, cornered him next to one very dangerous piece of machinery, slammed him against said piece of machinery, punched him in the eye, pinned him on the floor, and punched him again. Wow, looks like some fun tomfoolery that you got going on here."

You could practically taste the sarcasm from that last sentence.

"Um, well, yeah, but, er- FUCKIN' BOOK IT!" yelled Bando as he made a break for it, before tripping himself up, and landing in a conveniently placed puddle of mud, drenching himself in mud. He then picked himself back up, and continued to run, as his girlfriend followed him, while his 2 other friends let go of me, and scattered, instead of trying to explain themselves.

For Class A members, they weren't particularly smart.

"Buncha runts", muttered one of the construction workers, as another one of them helped me up, pulled out a pack of tissues from his pocket, and placed it in my open hand.

"Here you go, kid", said the worker, as I used one of the tissues to wipe my bloody nose, and another one to wipe my smarting eye, "Before ya ask, I don't got a cold. The dust that gets kicked up around here is hell for allergies."

I thought back to a rumour I heard, that the only reason that the fabled Mizuki Himeji was in Class F was because of allergies in the first place, but I never really believed it, to be honest. In response, I just muttered, "Thanks."

"How'd they even start chasing you anyways?" asked the construction worker.

I saw no reason to lie to him, so I opened up to him, "Um, well, what happened was, I was leaving Fumizuki Academy (The school that I attend), when I saw that those 4 were waiting for me. The albino one then grabbed my head, and started using figurative and sarcastic language to threaten me, but then they were distracted by a helicopter carrying one of those big robots over there, so I took the opportunity to bite him in his hand, so he'd let go of me, and he did, and I ran, but then he and his friends started running after me, intending to hurt me, so I knocked over a trash can to slow them down, and it work, and in an effort to lose them, I ducked into the forest like area (This area, technically), but they started following me through there as well, and then I ran into this clearing place, and almost face planted into the giant robot, but then they found me and... well, you know the rest."

There. The unedited, unadulterated truth.

Well, most of it. The construction worker in front of me didn't need to know that I intentionally led those 4 asses into the forest as soon as I remembered what was happening in the forest, and intended for them to be lured into this little restricted area, and be caught bullying me.

Yep, that was something he didn't need to know.

"Fumizuki, huh?" said the construction worker, "Don't worry kid, I'll have words."

As soon as he said that, I realised my mistake, and cursed myself. The local government in Fumizuki City was notoriously corrupt, and the school had it's hands in a lot of the pockets of the local politicians, so it could get away with anything that it wanted, without any repercussions. And who was in charge of the school? A principal who sole heartedly believed in the system that she had made. Not only that, but the top dogs in Class A also had their own hand in that power, being in charge of Class A, so the principal always listened to what they said, regardless of wherever it was right and wrong. Who was in charge of Class A? Kinoshita, and her cabal of followers, who were incredibly discriminatory against those who were below them intellectually, and those who defied the system that they placed in. For god's sake, how did I forget this? This is probably the most important piece of information that you'd need to survive in this city. I even told John and his crew earlier today about this! How the hell did I forget that?!

Christ, I'm an idiot.

I looked at the construction worker, and, in a panicky state, called out, "No no no no. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Extremely bad idea. That's such a bad idea... that it's bad. Mate, I don't know who you are, or even your name, but I can presume that you've got a good living going on here, so out of good will, I'm gonna ask you not do what you just said you'd do. The school is extremely powerful in the local government, and not just because of it's wealth. The top dogs at Fumizuki Academy have their hands in so many people's pockets, that they can do whatever they want without the fear of repercussions. You challenge them, then boom. Job: gone."

"What? That's ridiculous", said the worker, "A school can't have political power. I wasn't even gonna 'challenge' them anyways. I was just gonna make a complaint to them-"

"Making a complaint to them is considered challenging them on how things there work. Trust me, they are the masters of insane troll logic. You call in that someone's from the school is bullying another person: that's considered questioning the school system. Boom. Job: gone."

"Please, my contracts protect me, kid. It's no problem. Now, get outta here kid, 'cause you're in the middle of a restricted area."

"But-"

"Go, kiddo, before my supervisor gets here."

I looked at him for another few moments, and then I said "Thank you" for the tissues, and turned around, entering the forest area, and pushing my way through the trees and foliage. After a minute, I found myself back on the pathway from wench I came, but was a ways away from when I first entered the forest area, about a good 5 minutes further down the sidewalk. Worrying that I was going to be ambushed by my bullies, I decided to stick near the opposite edge of the sidewalk, where there was no forest area, so that I could quickly escape that way, away from the trees where they could jump out and pounce on me.

...

Why the hell didn't I just run down that open path to begin with, instead of the narrow sidewalk?

Come to think of it, why didn't I just jump into the trees in the first place? I could've lost them quicker...

Idiot.

Me.

I'm an idiot.

I looked to my watch once again. 4:38. I really needed to get home.

To be honest, at times like these, the only real thing that I needed was a friend. Just a friend. A friend who would help me through the dark times. A friend who would hold me when all seemed lost. A friend who would stand by me, even in the darkest of times.

Now, don't get me wrong, my sister is a great person, but, well, like me, she was weak too. Weak, and pessimistic. And, to be honest, she usually got off on the bullying easier then I did. She always had it lighter than me, and I loathed her for it. I didn't want to, but... I just hated her for it. I loved her as my dearest sister, but I hated her for being on the easier end of things.

All I desired was a friend. A companion. One who would help me through the dark times, and stand by me, even through all the pain and hurt.

A friend, was all that I asked for.

But, I was being selfish. Selfish, and stupid, as always. I want, doesn't get.

Besides, no one would want to be friends with an idiot like me.

I wiped away a tear from my eye, before it could roll down my eye. I had to stop thinking about impossible things, and keep my head in reality. I looked around. No one was present, so no one could see me in my pit of self-loathing. Still, just because there was no one around, doesn't mean that there aren't eyes watching me...

I cautiously walked down the pathway, keeping to a race walk like speed. I kept going for about another 7 minutes, before I came to the end of pathway, and into the large city of Fumizuki city. I then proceeded to walk through the bustling crowds, keeping myself to myself, as I passed face after face, whom I would never remember ever again.

I looked beyond the crowds of people, and saw first hand the changes that had come to the city already, and the changes that would come as well. I saw a billboard up on top of one of the skyscrapers that hadn't been there before, and upon a more focused look, saw that it was a billboard for Chimera Industries. I could tell 'cause it had the megacorp's big ass logo on some blue background, along with a picture of some humanoid robot from a military line that they were making.

I scoffed at the sign. A billboard for a company was openly displaying a symbol of violence: weapons. It didn't matter if it was a robot, or a gun, or a knife, or whatever. If it could commit violence, then megacorps like Chimera Industries or ONI Enterprises could profit from it. To be perfectly honest, these big corporations were the biggest reason that the War in Donbass was still going on. Forget racial or freedom issues, or political rights or... whatever. War and violence was 1 of the biggest money making markets out there, and Chimera and ONI were making money supporting their own respective sides. Chimera Industries for NATO, Romania and Ukraine, ONI Enterprises for Russia and the Crimea Separatists. Hell, who'd you think hired that Russian private military firm to fight with the separatists? Russia? Nope. ONI Enterprises. Forget just war, or anything like that. This was corporate warfare, to the almost extreme.

I continued to walk down the crowded streets, mindful of the crowds of people that I passed. Over the heads of my fellow man, I saw cranes towering over the large office blocks and skyscrapers of the city, carrying between them materials and such, to further build on the already constructed skyscrapers. Frames for bridges and extra floors between buildings were being made, and in the distance, between the skyscrapers, I could see the framework for a large structure, with a flag like banner saying 'ONI Enterprises' fluttering in the wind. I looked towards the other large stores that littered the streets, seeing signs for custom latex masks, costumes, kitchen utensils, build-a-bears, CCTV cameras, and many other strange and obscure things.

Forcing myself to look away from the distractions, I continued to walk. The storm was growing nearer and nearer, and I preferred to be under the roof of my old apartment when it hit.

After a good 15 minutes, I was out of the large city area, and walking through the outskirts of the populace centre. I passed by houses and homes of various size and shape, and the occasional small time business, selling to those who couldn't afford what was being sold in the big city.

By this point, people had begun to notice me, and my stained nose and bruising eye. I could see them muttering to each other, but I couldn't hear what they spoke of. Couldn't, or didn't want to. I cared not. I pressed forward, unimpeded by those whom looked at me, though I will admit, this was few. The older adults paid heed to my rather unpleasant injuries, but those my age or just older (Who were more present in the outskirts of Fumizuki city then the main centre of it) looked at the symbol of my uniform, and simply gazed in silent understanding.

Nowadays at Fumizuki Academy, the beating of a student is a way to parade the deviants; ostracism of the lowers, ever in intelligence or different ideals, by means of lurid treatment. At first, this was heavily frowned upon by the masses, but now, throughout the school year, and even through the summer vacation, the amount of young people being discriminated in the corrupt system of the school became ubiquitous, and with this, came tolerance for the treatment of those considered lower classes. But, what I knew, was that the people of Fumizuki Academy were crying out to be emancipated, wherever they knew it or not. I guess that's what drew me to join Akane and her group in the first place. When we joined Fumizuki Academy in Year 1, we were told of what would come, and we all agreed that this system of discrimination and ostracism via intelligence was an inherently bad thing, and when we were all put into Class A in Year 2, we thought that the top dogs in the school would've listened to us via peaceful protest.

How hopelessly naïve.

We should've known that when we went against the system, we would be crushed, needlessly, and ruthlessly. We fought Kinoshita and her cabal to be callow, and more reasonable then she let on. We were wrong. Kinoshita was fanatical with her belief in the system that the school promoted, and as soon as she saw us, she labelled us as a threat, and moved against us. All she had to do, was talk to the top teachers, and bam, we were done. I don't think she even had to manipulate them or anything. It didn't matter though, 'cause in the end, we were beaten before we even thought of fighting. A few of those who were in the protest were forced to move school, but then they started shutting down, so they were just shunted right back in. A good 65% of us, however, were forced to move cities to get away from the abuse and hate that they were receiving. One of our number even committed suicide, thanks to all of the abuse that he was receiving, and the fact that the school had enough influence to make his parents get kicked from their jobs, and cover up the suicide was, and still is, completely morally unjust. I can't remember the poor guy's name, but maybe that's for the best. It's usually easier to cope if you don't know their names.

The rest of us, however, followed Akane's example, and stuck our boots in the ground, and stayed firm, not breaking our resolve, or even bending it, making the small group that follow Akane to this day.

Another big mistake.

Kinoshita targeted me and Amy. I still don't know why. I mean, we weren't close to Akane. If anything, we were the most distant from her in the tightly knit group. Yet she still targeted us. Was it to make an example? Was it a misguided attempt to hurt Akane? Did she think we were closer to our de facto leader than we really are? Was she just irritated on that day, and chose us at random? Being leader of Class A was it's own 'Why?', and it also awarded her with the choice of never having to explain herself. So whatever the reason, Kinoshita sicked Bando and his group onto me, and I've been bullied by them ever since. Amy, meanwhile, was fired from her job, and had to get a new one, but Mr. Matsuoka was nice enough to give her a position in his bar, even if it pays for shit.

Which brings us to today. Me and Amy don't really talk to Akane anymore. We exchange words, sometimes, but we and her group don't talk to each other. Not as much, at least. It's better to keep a distance then to not in these situations. Let her and her 'Rebellion' do what they please. Amy and I will have a part in it no longer.

...

Was that what Kinoshita wanted? To drive a wedge in between us? To splinter the group? I still don't not, and frankly, I no longer care to know. All I wish to know, is how to escape from my hopeless situ-

"Hey! Watch it!"

My trail of thoughts was broken by a man in a business suit, holding a briefcase, barging passed me, and walking up the shrine steps.

Wait, shrine steps?

I looked around. This was not the route back to the apartment. I must've gotten lost in my trail of thoughts, and not paid attention to where I was going.

But still, why would a business man (At least, I assume, because of the suit and briefcase) show interest in a Shinto shrine?

My first, and most logical, assumption is that he is simply going to pray to whatever god he worships, and that he is in a hurry to do so before the storm comes over us. That would make the most sense, I figured, as is wasn't uncommon to see workmen or women in fancy suits and ties up here around this time, praying to the local deity, as was custom to Japan, ever since people started making their own Buddhist offshoots all the way back to after WWII. At least, that is what I believe. I may be wrong, so it's a point of discussion.

I took a step forward, intending to walk again, when another man in a business suit passed me, walking up the steps of the Shinto shrine. And then a woman in a business suit. And then another person in a suit. And then another. And then another.

I looked to my side, to see that a rather fancy looking bus had stopped in the road, and was dropping off about a dozen people in business suits. Or rather, had dropped off, as it was pulling away now, and driving up the road.

Now, I was curious. At least a dozen people in suits had passed me, as well as a few in casual clothing, and they had all marched up the Shinto shrine steps. It was getting dark, and I could see a few shining lights from up the small hill stairway. I could also hear quite a commotion up there, when I listened closely, like when a new ESB at Fumizuki is rumoured or confirmed.

Curiosity got the better of me. I looked to my watch. 5:20. Eh, a quick peak wouldn't hurt.

I walked up the steps, the sounds and lights from up the small hill becoming ever more clearer as I placed one foot after the other. I paid mind to the faded red wooden beams that laid on the sides of the steps. They were worse for wear. I never knew the purpose of those red beams, but I never cared to find out. I was not exactly the religious type, so I had no need to do so. After about 30 seconds, I was at the top of the steps, and visible to the sight that was before me.

A stage had been built on the Shinto shrine, blocking it out from view. A lazily built stage, mind you. It looked like it had been hastily cobbled together. It was about 15 metres long, and 1.5 metres tall. On top of the stage, there was a metal frame, about 7 metres tall, with a row of lights on it, either white or blue. Behind the stage was a giant blue curtain, that covered the back of the frame. Before the stage, there were about 7 rows of chairs, with about 20 chairs in each row. At both sides of the stage, there was a large screen, projecting the logo for Chimera Industries.

Ah, so it is Chimera Industries whom have brought these people together.

Was it or was it not a taboo to build upon a Shinto shrine? I know not, for, like I said, I am not the religious type, so I have limited knowledge of the religious parts of Japanese culture.

I then saw some sort of robot, rolling across the ground, it was coloured in blue and grey, and had a single blue light connected to the top of it. It rolled around on 2 tank treads, and it's body was blocky, yet it barely reached to my waist (Unlike that John boy's avatar, who definitely reached to about waist height). Connected to the drone were what looked like a muzzle, connected to a stubby arm on each side of the small drone. I then looked around, and saw that there were several more of these ground drones (I saw the word 'CEREBRAL' painted on the side of the drone, in all caps, so I assume that that is their designation), as well as a bunch of humanoid robots. This one was about 6 feet tall, and had a stumpy block head, with a single glowing blue eye in it's centre. It was covered in blue and grey markings, and it's limbs were thin, yet armoured. Several blue lights shone across it's body, and in it's arms, it carried what looked like an SMG. It's chest was flat (Kinda like that chick from Class F), yet a single rectangular blue light shone from it, and it had 2 fins protruding from it's back. I then heard a gentle buzzing, unlike that of earlier today, and I looked to the sky to see several flying drones hovering above the event as well, covered in blue and grey markings, with a single rotor build into it's body, keeping it afloat, and it's single glowing blue eye and tiny gun like muzzle trained on the crowd down below.

Ah. So this is a presentation at gunpoint. Of sorts, I guess.

I decided to approached the event, mindful of those who were also gathered there, and the very real danger of being shot should I do something that would upset the security robots. The sun was going down now, and it had gotten quite dark, but I wanted to cite my curiosity first, before I left. Amongst the many people in business outfits, I saw another many in casual clothing. I figured that that meant that this event was a public one. Good thing, because I didn't want to be kicked out, as I had had my fill of injuries for this day.

"Everyone!" I heard a speaker boom, "To your seats please! The presentation is about to begin!"

Many of the people there had already nicked a seat by the time I had arrived, and within 30 seconds, every other seat had been taken. However, there were too few chairs for the many people here, so the rest of us were left standing. I was standing near the front of the crowd. Unfortunate, as I was hoping to go by unnoticed, and it would've been easier to leave if I was nearer the back. On top of that, I had to regularly shuffle my feet just so one of those CEREBRAL drones wouldn't run over my toes. Oh well.

The bright lights dimmed, and the screens at the sides of the stage turned to a dark blue. From the darkness, a large crate (About 2 meters tall) was wheeled onto the stage by one of the humanoid robots, though the crate itself was covered in a dark blue drape. A gentle tune then began to play from the speakers, which felt familiar to me (I would later learn that the tune was called 'Evergreen', by epic soul factory).

Then, after about a minute or 2, the lights brightened again, revealing the whole stage, and the large box on it. The screens then, in unison, projected the logo for Chimera Industries in a harsh bright light, and lit up those sitting in the front few rows. Many of the people (Many, meaning most. I stood in silence, with my arms folded. I saw that a few people in casual clothing were also not clapping, but unlike me, they had rather angry expressions, while I remained neutral) began to loudly clap and cheer, like at a concern, as the gentle music quickly changed to a more upbeat tone. The name of the track still alludes me. The lights then focused to the centre of the stage, and a woman stepped out onto the stage from between the gaps in the curtain, to which the cheering and clapping only got louder and stronger. She looked to be in her late 30s or early 40s, and had long hazel hair, with matching colour eyes (I couldn't see this at first, but in a few minutes, that would become more clear). She had dark bags under her eyes, most likely from a lack of sleep, but she seemed to wear quite a bit of makeup, in an attempt to cover this up. She wore a black dress with blue accents, which reached down to her knees, and it looked like a pocket had been hastily sown onto the dress, as the grey stitches stood out entirely against the black dress.

"Good evening, everyone", the woman said, as the applause finally died down. She spoke with a posh accent, "You may already know who I am-"

I don't.

"-But to those who don't, I am Kobashigawa Hiroe, or Hiroe Kobashigawa, if you're not so lenient on the whole 'last name first' thing-"

Ah.

"-And I am the proud CEO of Chimera Industries, one of the biggest corporate entities of the 21st century!"

A small round of applause followed that little statement. I remained still, and kept a neutral pose. I didn't feel the level of obvious excitement that almost everyone else felt, but I had become even more curious as to what was in the box (I know that's a movie reference, but I can't remember the name of the movie).

"Now", continued Kobashigawa, "Most of you will also know what we are about to unveil, but to those who also don't know, well, I'll keep it a surprise."

Stop egging me on, woman.

"But first, let us address a few things. Before I unveil our newest, life changing product-"

Seriously. Stop. Pls.

"- I must defuse some contradictory, and quite presumptuous statements, claims, and rumours. Yes, we are moving in to the city. Yes, so is our rival, ONI (Unfortunately). Yes, a few things will change. Buuuuut, and this is a big but, only a few. Beyond a few extensions to the already rather impressive skyscrapers that Fumizuki City's got, nothing beyond that will truly change. We are not here to run anyone out of business, we are not here to take over all other companies in the city, we are not here to take over the lives of all who live here, and we are most definitely not here to force you all to work for us. Chimera industries already has established itself in places like London, Paris, Manhattan, Kabul, Cairo, and many other cities across the globe, and it has been purely beneficial to all those involved. We are hear to make your lives better, not to control you and make things worse for you. With all of that out of the way, any questions?"

What looked like a reporter raised his hand. I looked to him, and to my right of the stage, I could see a television camera filming the event. This could be going live. I hesitantly waved to the camera, and it automatically looked to me for a second, before looking at the reporter. The reporter spoke in a firm voice, "How is Chimera Industries allegedly benefiting the people? You say that you're here to make our lives better, but how are you going to go about that?"

Good question.

I looked to Kobashigawa. She seemed to be prepared for this kind of question, as her face briefly lit up, then returned to it's previous setting, "I'm glad you asked that. Really, I am. So, in response to that, I will indulge you. We guys and gals over at Chimera Industries have big plans for Fumizuki. One of the many great things that we going to be doing is, obviously, selling you our top of the line robotics, each type with it's own unique function. You could have a robot walking your dog, or cutting the grass in your garden, or doing your dishes, or whatever you want it to do! We're also working with the local police force, and are supplying them with our own line of law enforcement machines to help put away all of those who impede the development of society. Injury rates of police officers will go down, crime rates go down, arrest rates of criminals will go down, and the streets of not only Fumizuki, but every city and every country across the 7 continents will finally be clean of those who hate all that we are!"

She became more animated as she spoke, her closed fist slamming against her chest as she finished, the crowd cheering as the last word left her lips.

"But, back to Fumizuki, not only will the robots make your lives better in the domestic sense, and in the law sense, but in the work place as well. All those jobs that may bring harm to an average worker, like with molten metal, or radioactive substances? Why not let an expendable robot do all of that? If it's destroyed in said risky and dangerous job, what does it matter? Just get a new one! What about lifting heavy materials? A worker might get hurt on the job lifting heavy, and rather dangerous things like sharp objects and whatnot. Well, why not get a robot to carry it? That way, workers won't get hurt. Employers save money. It's a win-win situation!"

She then looked to the reporter, with a rather smug look on her face. The reporter seemed a bit taken back by this, as he was speedily looking between his IPad and Kobashigawa, his fingers dancing on the screen, trying to catch up with the words of her speech.

"And that, Mr reporter man, is how Chimera Industries is going to help Fumizuki city. Domestic, law, and workplace. All of them improved, and the lives involved in those 3 settings are improved, drastically, and betterly! Even if it isn't a word!"

A small round of applause followed, as another person raised her hand. This girl was in casual clothing, but didn't look like a reporter. She looked more like one of those Tumblr feminists that you would find on 'Rekt Feminist Videos' on YouTube, "What about all of the trees in the local area that are being cut down? By machines made by your company, no less. How does the deforestation of Fumizuki city help us, the general public?"

Another good question.

"Oh, no, that's not for us", said Kobashigawa, "That's for the local council. They wanted to clear out the land to make more houses. For the growing population, apparently. Which I can kind of understand, I guess. Fumizuki city is becoming a big tourist hot spot, and permanent home to a lot of people across the world, so more homes would be needed."

"So, you saying that the deforestation of all of the natural homes in Fumizuki is justified?"

"Wha- no, no no no. No. I don't- I don't believe it's justified, but I am willing to see the reasons behind it. Deforestation is, as a whole, a bad thing, but the local government has it's reasons, which I have just explained."

"So, if you think that it's bad, then why did you go through with it?"

"Oh, well, like I said, I am willing to see the reasons behind it, but also, the deforestation wasn't directly the fault of Chimera Industries. At least, not as a whole. That was a subsection of the materials department, which is itself a subsection of the labour department. A sub-sub-subsection. If you have a complaint to be made, you can talk to me after the show, and I can funnel it through to the manager of the materials department."

"Ah. Thank you", patiently said the woman, as she drifted back into the crowd, seemingly satisfied with her answer.

Huh.

I guess I can be a bit prejudice sometimes.

A man in a business suit, sitting in one of the rows, raised a hand (I would later find out that this man's name was Fujita Masaie, though how I did, you'll find out soon), "Are you willing to partner up with smaller businesses, in order to allow more people to acquire jobs, allow smaller companies to grow, and possibly even boost profits for all those involved?"

Ah, bureaucracy. Always cutting to the money.

At least, I assume.

"Wow, straight to the money, aren't you?" stated Kobashigawa, "Nice attitude. I can see you competing on The Apprentice. As for your question, yes, we are willing to team up with smaller businesses to help them expand into not so smaller businesses. Like you said, more people will acquire jobs, and we all get a little extra money on the side as a 'Thank you for not being bad at business' reward."

A few "Oooohhs" followed.

"Wait, that wasn't sass. I wasn't being sassy. That was- that was me making a point. That's not an appropriate oohing response. The oohing is not needed. You're devaluing the oohs."

No more "Oooohhs" followed.

"Well, I believe that question time has passed. You probably weren't here for that, were you? You're all probably here, right now, for good ol' show and tell!"

A few people cried out "Yes!", while others just nodded in silence. The rest, like myself, just stood or sat silently, unmoved and unchanged.

"Okay, ecstatic crowd, I see", said Kobashigawa, making a light hearted comment on the rather awkward silence, "Well, then, you're gonna be-"

The hastily made stage that Kobashigawa stood on collapsed under her left foot, but she quickly jumped up, and accidently pulled a wire up with her. The wire remained undamaged, however, and quickly slid off of her foot. Kobashigawa quickly landed back on the stage, and played it off by doing the whip nae nae.

Even though no one's done it since 2018.

I think.

I hope.

I seriously hope.

Nowadays its all 'bout that pigeon face.

...

Oh god, what have we become as a society?

Kobashigawa muttered something as she quickly recovered. I don't know what it was, but it seemed to be along the lines of "Fuckin' nailed it", judging by the way her lips moved. She then moved to the large box in the centre of the stage, and grabbed the blue drape that covered it with both of her hands, "Well, ya'll are going to be real ecstatic when you see what's in this pretty lil' thing right here!"

As one of those humanoid robots that I saw earlier walked onto the stage, Kobashigawa pulled the drape from the large box, revealing it in full detail. It was made of metal, with 2 large cylinders built into the back of it, and two pipes that were attached to both the box, and the cylinders. The logo of Chimera Industries was painted in bright blue on the front, and the metal frame of the box was also blue, but a darker shade, and the metal slabs on the box were a gunmetal grey, with glowing blue accents. On one side of the metal crate for a box, there was a small control panel, with a few different coloured buttons, and a small switch. The humanoid robot then pressed a few of the buttons on the control panel, and flipped the switch.

Kobashigawa then dropped the drape, and took a few steps back. The crate then began to hiss, and steam erupted from the edges. The edges of the crate then fell down, and folded in on themselves. The glowing blue details then shut off, and the top of the crate then opened up, with a quarter of the top on each side of the box. With a loud whirl, the sides of the crate then came down, landing on the stage with a gentle thud, steam still erupting from the inside parts of the crate, covering up what was inside it to begin with.

"Ladies and gentlemen", began Kobashigawa, throwing her hands in the air, "Meet the next step, not just in your day to day living, but in society as a whole. The next phase in robotics. The next stage for humanity itself!"

The steam began to dissipate, and the contents of the crate were revealed. To be amazed, and perplexed as to what would be inside would be pretty accurate to describe my initial thoughts of it.

"I present to you... the android!"

It- she- I don't know- was beautiful. It was about 5 and a half feet tall, taller than me, as I was 5 foot 2. It definitely looked like a girl, about maybe a year older than me by looks (I'm about 17 years old, myself). It had natural light milk chocolate coloured skin, and a slim waist. It had about D cup sized breasts, and slim arms and legs. It's hair was long and fluffy looking, and a brownish colour, and she also had long eyelashes, and thin eyebrows. She wore a grey, slim dress, with a long puffy skirt attached to it that reached down to her knees, with a leather harness covering the top part of it's body. It's face was sharp and blemish free, it's nose was smooth and rounded, it's lips were red, and perfectly shaped, and it's eyes were perfectly aligned. However, they were shut, as the android looked down to the ground, with it's hands holding each other in front of it.

I was caught off guard by the machine. It looked so... real. Real, and beautiful. At least, as beautiful as a machine could get. Not that it mattered to me. I had no cares for the physical looks of others. To me, it was the soul that rested behind the physical body that was more important. Probably the Asexuality talking if I'm being honest, though I suppose that it matters little (I remember once that I met this rather peculiar girl. Very strange. Quite fetching appearance. Didn't really talk much, or at all. Kinda looked like the Class A rep until you looked closely. What was most peculiar about her was that she hated compliments on her body. She'd rather have people compliment her soul, rather than her looks. I guess that's where my appreciation of the personality and soul came from. Or was it from my past? I don't really remember the first 10 years of my life, so maybe I was something that happened back then?). I took a harder gaze at the machine, and found it to be not only beautiful...

But creepy.

There was just something so unnerving about it. The idea that a machine, looking exactly like a human, could walk around anywhere, and no one would be able to tell the difference, was actually rather terrifying. It was freaky. It was unsettling. It was a lot of things. And I didn't like it. How would you be able to tell a machine from a human. Would there be differences? What were the differences? It was definitely bordering on revulsion, and had most definitely crossed the line into uncanny valley. It was so unnatural. I couldn't see the point of anyone actually wanting to buy something like this. Something a little... less human, would be much more preferable.

Most of the people in the crowd didn't seem to have a problem with that, though, as they were oohing and awing to their hearts content. The few in the crowd whom felt the same way as I were looking at the android, their eyebrows arched up.

"Now, that", began Kobasigawa, looking rather hyperactive with her fidgeting movements, "That is oohing appropriate", she then took a few steps to the android, and moved her hands to it's general direction, as if to indicate to it, which I'd assume would be what she was trying to do, "This here, is the peak of technological, and scientific engineering. The android is a self-sustaining, self improving, completely obedient and competent technological feat. Capable of learning new skills on the fly, it is fully equipped to start, and complete any task that is given to it. Linked to a hive network known as 'ARCHON', every android produced has access to a variety of neural programs that they can download, that can better help those they serve. Androids are also programmed with complete obedience, and loyalty. They cannot say no, because they're not programmed to do so. The 3 laws of robotics, taken to their most literal sense."

Oh. Comforting.

Not.

What's she's saying doesn't ease my nerves. Not. One. Bit.

"Each android is indistinguishable from a human itself", continued Kobashigawa, "Thanks to ground-breaking advancements in biotechnology. What is special about the android is the fact that, unlike other robotics, it isn't made of metal. No plastic. No steel or iron. The android is made from synthetic flesh itself, with organic veins and arteries for nervous system and motor control wiring, organic CPUs and hard drives, and it's own self sustaining power source. It looks like it's made of flesh, because it is made of flesh. An ordinary person wouldn't be able to tell apart an android from a human, unless they look real closely. They are completely accurate to a human, anatomy wise, which means that they will be able to complete a massive range of tasks. They can do anything, and I mean anything."

...

Disgusting.

You've basically made a life sized sex toy, Kobashigawa. I hope you're proud of yourself.

"The synthetic flesh that androids are made from gives them other advantages as well. The molecules in the skin are much more compact then the skin of a human, and are much more durable and flexible. The artificial bones and nerves in the android are extremely tough, and able to withstand anything. They're also much stronger than the average human, and can lift 5 times as much as your average Joe. They're stronger, faster, tougher, better. They're the next stage in the golden age of robots!"

The crowd went bananas over this. Many began raising their hands, wildly shouting Kobashigawa's name, in hopes of having their many questions answered. Others looked at the android, hoping to acquire one for themselves in the near future. I saw that bureaucrat guy whom had asked Kobashigawa about partnering up smaller companies or whatever... licking his lips?

Eww. Just... just eww.

I however, was prepared to leave. My curiosity had been sated, and I decided that after another minute or 2, I'd make a move back to the apartment. It was already dark, and I'd better get home before Bando and his goons catch up to me. If they're even bothering to look for me anymore.

Probably not.

Maybe not.

...

Hopefully not.

"Now, before ya'll start asking questions for the sake of asking questions, I've got a surprise for all of you", said Kobashigawa, her eyes darting around the crowd in front of the clumsily made stage in excitement, "Today, at this moment, right now, I'll be giving away this very android, the first one Chimera Industries has ever made, to one of you! For free! No terms or conditions apply! Apart for the ones that do!"

The crowd went stark, raving mad over this. But in a good way. At least, for Chimera Industries. As soon as Kobashigawa had elucidated that matter, the crowd began to clap and cheer, some of them yelling Kobashigawa's name, like a jealous ex lover, trying to get her attention, most others waving their hands in the air, trying to shift her attention to them. I even saw that bureaucrat guy throw a punch at someone else, though he missed her.

Time to get outta here before this escalates into a riot.

I turned around, away from the stage and the rows of business people that stood before it, only to find a tightly knit and compact crowd that now stood in front me. I looked along the edge of the crowd, but it seemed to go on forever, along both my left and right. I decided to take a step back, and look for another way to leave, but I almost had the back of my foot run over by a CEREBRAL drone. Seeing no other option, I decided to just barge through the crowd, and shove my way through to the nearest exit out of here. Unfortunately, the crowd of people there didn't like that, as they shoved me back, and I ended up doing a 180 and falling onto the floor, face first.

I'm not too sure what happened in the next 2 minutes I was on the floor. I do remember waking up after a minute and a half. I must've been knocked out from the fall (I will take note that the feeling of a cold metal strip underneath my head might've had something to do with it. I would later find out that this was a metal plate put down to protect the wiring that was on the floor). I do remember hearing Kobashigawa saying something about choosing a winner using a drone, or something. I'm still not sure what she specifically said, since my head was still banging, and I was disoriented. It took me about 30 seconds to mentally recover, and after that, I still needed to pick myself up, physically. The floor beneath me was damp, and I felt the cold, wet, stone and pebble covered ground stain my clothing, and the pebbles embed themselves into my face.

Today was going so well, at first. There I was this morning, thinking it was gonna be... as normal as my day would usually be, then Amy and I decide to show these 4 new Class A second wave guys around the school, then we get caught up in a massive war, and it was all going well, and then I get chased around by Bando and his goons, then I get a black eye, then I, for stupid reasons, decide to waste time in this place, then I almost get my toes run over, and now I'm front first on the floor.

Augh.

I have nothing else to say on the matter.

I started to pick myself up, and brushed myself off, the pebbles that had been embedded into my clothes and skin falling to the floor, back to whence they came. I pulled myself back onto my 2 feet, and looked down myself. My uniform had been stained with water and dirt, and seriously needed a wash. My hands still had the imprint of pebbles in them, and were scrapped and kinda raw in some parts of it, as the first layer of skin at those small parts had been torn, and in a small part of my right hand, I saw a droplet of blood flow down my palm.

Before I could wipe it off, a harsh bright light shone onto me from above, and I shielded my eyes with my hand. At first I thought that aliens had finally had enough of humanity's shit, and had come to kill us all, but when I focused my eyes, I saw that it was one of the drones that was hovering over the event.

I thought to myself, 'Did I do something wrong? Was it going to kill me?'

"Aaaaaaand we have ourselves a winner, ladies and gents!" Kobashigawa's voice rang in my ear as she practically shouted, a few cheers following her as well.

I felt many eyes fall upon me, and I looked around to see all of those at the event staring at me, most of them filled with a silent jealousy. They didn't show it, but I could tell what they were thinking. I looked to the stage, to see Kobashigawa gesturing to me to come up to the stage.

I pointed to myself, still in a bit of a daze, and a bit more confused.

She nodded.

...

Oh.

Ah.

Right.

This is a thing.

"Um, wow, er, okay", I stuttered awkwardly, "I'm a bit unsure as to what exactly is happening-"

"It's simple, kiddo-"

Kiddo.

Hate that.

I don't know why, I just...

I just hate that.

"- You are the super duper uber winner of our little contest! And the grand prize: this pretty lil' thing right here!" Kobashigawa gestured to the android, completely unmoved.

Welp, I'm no longer dazed. When she said that, I was immediately pulled back to reality. I didn't really know how to properly react. I had only come here to sate a curiosity, not to bring home a 5 and a half foot robot. I didn't even want it. I never wanted a machine running about in my abode, and even if it did come to my home, it would only be a sojourn. I trusted not a machine to do the things that I could do, as I felt that would make me lazy, and incompetent. Everyone else can do whatever they please, but I desired to do my own tasks, and not leave them to a lifeless automaton. So the idea of having to babysit a machine so it doesn't wreck the apartment is not my idea of a happy living situation (It's already pretty shit, so that would hardly be any better).

I put my hands in front of me, waving them around slightly as I said "Oh no, wait, I didn't- I mean I don't want-"

"Oh, come on, short stuff-"

Ow.

"-Get up here onto the poorly made spotlight (Whoever made this stage is seriously getting fired)."

I was about to say something again, but I heard a CEREBRAL drone roll up behind me, and then I felt it push against the back of my legs, shoving me towards the stage.

"Wait hold on- OW! Bloody hell, tell your pet- Oi, that's the back of my- you're scraping the back of my foot- OW! Alright, I'm moving, I'm moving. Jesus Christ..."

It took a minute to walk (Or get shoved, depending on your perspective) up to the stage. An agonising, extremely awkward minute. I could practically taste the resentment coming off of all of the others at this event, their eyes glued to me in a tranquil rage. When I eventually got onto the stage, I was sweating from the tension of the situation alone, much less everything else. I look to the android. It still hadn't moved at all. It was really unnerving. I then noticed that there was some sort of cable like device strapped into it's back by the leather harness. The cable glowed with electricity, and was humming at a soft pitch, almost like when someone hums a tune.

I looked at Kobashigawa. She looked like she was positively beaming with excitement, and looked to me with a wide smile on her face. However, I finally got a good look at her eyes, and they seemed... tired.

No. Not tired. Almost... sad. Her eyes gave off a feeling of sadness. But why? These was a machine that she selling, right? Granted, one that was made of synthetic flesh, or whatever, but still, a machine. Nothing more, nothing... less...

Could it...

Was it...

...

Maybe it was a question that shouldn't be asked, or even answered.

I didn't want to ask. If I asked, and if she told me, I probably wouldn't have understood it either way. When people say that they understand your situation, they really don't. They just say it to make you feel better. I hate that. I hate it when they say that. How could they understand if they haven't experienced it? When people tell me they understand how I feel, I mentally slap them, because they don't, and they never will.

Yeah, I'm a cynical bastard. Fight me.

I looked at Kobashigawa, rather unsure on what to do. After an awkward moment, I stumbled out a sentence, "Um, okay then, um, look Ms- it's 'Ms', right?- Look, Ms Kobashigawa (Hope I pronounced that right), I didn't- I mean I still don't- want an android, or a machine, or whatever."

"Aw, why not?" asked Kobashgawa, her exterior unchanged, save for a fake pout on her face.

"Oh, er, well, I don't really fancy the idea of having to babysit a robot and make sure that it doesn't trash my home."

"Oh, well, that isn't possible. Androids are built with basic programming limitations, so-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, well, that reason, and the-"

"You're on camera by the way."

"Wha- oh", I turned around, and saw the camera looking at me, "Are we- oh, we're live. This is live. Everyone's watching this at home. Hi, all of the peoples", I waved at the camera, and I think the camera guy waved back. Christ, if everyone at Fumizuki Gakuen is watching this, then they're not exactly going to be hanging out the bunting tomorrow, are they?

"So, what was the other reason?"

Christ, I wish that Amy was here right now. She would be able to say what I wanted to say for me, so that's good. Unfortunately, she's not here right now, so, uncomfortably, I'll have to say what I have to say by myself.

"Oh, right, yeah, well, there's the first reason, and then there's the fact that I don't agree with the idea of letting a robot do all of the things that I can do, but worse. Why should I let a machine do all of my things when I could, and still can, do them myself? If I let a machine do all of my work, then it'll only do it worse than what I've already done, and I'll become lazy and decrepit. I'd rather not. I'm good doing what I do, and how I do it. I won't sacrifice myself to the wants of modern capitalist and consumerism just because you showed me something shiny and new."

Christ, that felt cheesy as fuck.

Was that cheesy as fuck?

I think it was. That's why I said it felt cheesy as fuck.

Kobashigawa was looking at me without a happy go exterior, now. She seemed rather... I don't know.

Disappointed? Exasperated? Sad... er?

I don't know.

"Aw", she said, her fake pout gone, and her lips curled into a genuine frown. She still tried to keep up her chirpy, charismatic tone of voice, but it wasn't as strong as before, "Really?"

"Really", was my response, "So, with that little bit of derring do derring done, I shall take my-"

Was God real? I don't know. I really don't know. I've never given a thought to it. Well, not really willingly. Every time I've tried to do so, something in my head has always redirected my mind to, well, anything else entirely. But, if he was real, I'm pretty sure that he hated me. He hated me a lot. Like everything and everyone else, apparently. Or, he just thinks of me as a twisted comedy show, where the beatings, both physically, and mentally, were funny. I think it might be a strong mix of both, because while I was speaking, as soon as I had spun around, the poorly made stage beneath my left foot collapsed, and my foot went right through the stage, tangling itself in the wires below it.

It hurt. It hurt quite a bit. I heard a few people in the crowd gasping in surprise, but everyone else just stood there unsure of what to do oh real great help you fragging lot are, lemme just say. Kobashigawa, on the other hand, was panicking, and grabbed my shoulders, trying to pull my foot out of the hole in the stage, and trying to pick me up after I fell over. Did I mention that I fell over? No? Okay. I fell over when my foot went through the stage.

Seriously, today is not my day.

I felt a few wires on my foot strain and stretch as I tried to pull it free. Kobashigawa had lifted me up at this point, and was helping in trying to pull my foot free from it's prison. To be honest, the average person of my age would probably be able to get free from this sort of thing rather easily, and just pull their foot free with one swoop, but, since I'm regularly malnourished, I'm weak, both physically, and unfortunately, mentally.

As I got up onto my right foot, and began to reposition my body upright, I felt a few wires snap and break as my foot became lose. My left foot then suddenly shot up, and I stumbled back for a moment, before grabbing something for support with my right hand. Whatever I grabbed for support, it felt, somewhat soft, and smooth, and even... fleshy?

Wait a minute...

I looked behind me, to see that I had grabbed hold off the arm of the android that had been presented to the crowd, and, when I pulled away my hand, I saw that the droplet of blood that had been on my palm now stained it's arm red. I then saw that the cable that had been attached to the back of the android had stopped humming, and had detached itself from the leather harness on it's back, and fell to the ground with a thud. The harness then followed suit, though it fell a bit more quietly then the cable. The hair of the android then seemed to glow a faint blue for a second, and it's veins lit up in a bright white light for a few moments, before turning itself off. I then saw that the sections of the veins near the blood stain on the android's arm had glowed for a few seconds longer than anywhere else, before it too died down.

Not quite sure how to react to all of this, but okay.

Then, the android's eyes opened with a flutter, and it's head raised up to look at the crowd in front of it. It then turned, and faced me, allowing me to see it's eyes, which were a natural light brown colour. The way it moved didn't really seem robotic. It looked more fluent, and human, as it gently and slightly rocked and fidgeted in place as it stood still or moved. That alone made it seem all the more disturbing to me.

It looked at me, tilted it's head, and smiled.

"Hello."

It said hello. I wasn't sure whom too, for a moment, but then I realised it was to myself. It spoke with a sweet voice, like honey, but it also wasn't sickly, and fake, like Akane's slutty excuse for a sister's voice. The android's tone seemed natural, and soothing, yet it also seemed lifeless, and flat. More icing for the unnerving cake, I guess.

"I am Maya-000. I am a Chimera Industries produced synthetic biological self-sustaining helper robot, or android."

I think I'mma stick with 'android'. Biological self sustaining whatever whatever is a tad bit of a mouthful.

"Are you my master?"

Huh, kinky.

Oh.

Wait.

Pardon?

Am I her- it's what?

It would suffice to say that I'm a tad bit taken back by this.

"Um, could you... cold you please repeat that last part?" I replied.

"Of course, master. Are you my master?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. And now let me just give you a proper and legitimate response to that question. NO."

"I am... sorry?"

The android- Maya, I guess- seemed confused. Could a robot get confused? I guess if you ask it the purpose of existence, then a robot could get real confused, so I guess they can.

"I'm not your 'master'. I'm not your anything."

"I... do not understand."

Seriously?

I turned to Kobashigawa, who was herself rather perplexed herself over what had just happened over the last 2 minutes, "Hey, quickie question: how do I turn this thing off?"

"Um, what?" looks like she's taking her time processing all of this.

"Is there an off button on this thing or something?"

I sound like an asshole. I'm not trying to be. I'm not trying to sound like an asshole. It's just how I sound, I guess. It's a natural exterior that I've put up against strangers I don't know. That, and a purposely made mask to hide what I really am, and how I really feel. There are very few people who have actually seen past this...

Except for John and his crew. The new guys. The ones who Amy and I showed around today.

I didn't have this mask when I was with them. I had a mask of lively innocence, or something. Why? I've never done something like that before. Never worn a face of fake innocence, but one that was rough, arrogant, cynical, self loathing and general loathing. So, why did I do that? And why does it feel like I've seen them before?

Who were they?

My attention shifted by to the android, as I decided to reach try and find a button or something on it's back, "Well, you're no help, Ms Kobashigawa, since you haven't really given an answer, so I'm just gonna find a button or something myself", I shifted my hand to it's back, then slowly moved it lower and lower (Yes yes, I'm moving my hand to it's butt. Hardy har. Shut up), "I doubt the button's here, but it's better to search everywhere then nowhere at-"

A hand then grabbed my right arm, squeezing it in a tight grip. I fell back slightly, moving myself from my previous position to see whom had taken hold of my limb. I looked to my arm, and then to the hand that held it in an iron grip. My eyes looked from the hand to across the arm that held the hand, then to it's point of origin. It then came to my realisation, that the one whom held my arm was the android. It's smile was gone, and it's face was blank, and neutral. Yet, I could tell that beneath that face was rage... okay, maybe not that extreme, but definitely anger.

"What do you think you are doing, master?" it asked, in a blank, flat voice, that was rather terrifying. I think a few people were cheering it on. I don't know wherever they think I was trying to grab it's ass, or if they were just cheering out of spite. I personally think it's a bit of both.

"Wait, no, please, I wasn't trying to, I don't know, sexually assault you, or anything! I was just trying to find an off button and I guess that doesn't help my case since I suppose you like being on instead of off!"

That was a stupid defence. I put up a stupid defence. I should come up with a better one, but, in situations like this, I'm not exactly the definition of grace under fire.

"Don't listen to him!"

"He's a pervert!"

"Gut him!"

"Kill the little cunt!"

"I like yelling stuff!"

That was the crowd, by the way, in case you didn't catch on.

I guess I can see where they're coming from. I'd somebody to get axed if they looked like a pervert.

Yeah, I'm not a good person. I'm a bad person. I'm a selfish, idiotic, self loathing person, but that doesn't mean I don't have basic moral standards. If somebody's acting like a complete pervert, and trying to grope people, I say to the slammer they go. So, if I start acting like a pervert, and start groping people, I'd willingly hand myself in. However, I wasn't intentionally trying to grope anyone. I just made a mistake, and now people are calling for me to get killed, either out of their own reasons, or actually good intentions. Can't say I blame them.

"They are calling for me to kill you", said the android- said Maya- it's face unchanged, "Should I go through with it?" it moved it's arm up, pretty threateningly.

At this point, I lost it. I don't usually lose it this easily, but in this case, I'll make an exception.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND AN OFF BUTTON AND I DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING BY IT I WASN'T TRYING TO HURT YOU PLEASE DON'T HURT ME PLEASE I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Wow.

Just... just wow.

Ain't I a pussy?

But, what I said about not wanting to die was true, along with everything else. I've excepted long ago that we're all gonna die, and be forgotten in the history of the universe, but that doesn't mean I want to. Does that make me a coward? Normally, no, but, considering my gracious outburst just now, I think I might be.

A coward, I mean.

Maya brought it's face close to mine, looking me dead in the eyes. The crowd kept cheering as a few moments past by, with neither of us moving an inch.

Then, it pulled her face away from mine, and said, "You are telling the truth."

Um, thank you, I guess?

It released my arm, allowing me to grasp it, as I tried to rub the smarting bruise on my arm. A few in the crowd started to boo, but the rest became silent, and slightly awkward. Maya looked at me, and suddenly, it tilted it's head to the side, as a sad face began to form where it was once blank, "You are hurt. I hurt you."

"It's okay", I replied, though the fact that I was rubbing the bruised part of my arm didn't really help my point, "This is nothing."

That wasn't a lie. I've experienced worse.

"I am sorry."

"It's okay, um, Maya, was it?"

"Yes, master."

"(Aaaand, you've just killed it) It's okay, Maya. I don't blame you. You were just acting in self defence."

"But I am an android. I cannot bring harm to someone. It is against my programming. The 3 laws were embedded into my software."

"Huh, okay then. Well, the 3 laws can't really protect people, can they?"

"You are hurt. In other places. Those injuries were not the fault of this unit."

"Eh, I can live with it."

"You have a bruised eye, a bloody nose, a cut palm, a bruised hand, a split lip, and a-"

"I'm fine."

"No you are not."

"Really, I am."

"Allow me to assist-"

Before it could finish it's sentence, a blue flash of lightning surged through Maya, shocking her with volts of electricity. It didn't make a sound, but it's face contorted to one of pain, before dropping to the ground, deactivated. I looked to the source of the bolt of electricity, and saw Kobashigawa holding an electric staff, with a Taser like attachment on both ends of it, brimming with energy.

Oh. I had forgotten she was there.

I didn't say a word. At least, for now. I was rather perplexed on what to do next. It seemed that Kobashigawa was the same. At least, for less longer than I. After a few moments of silence, she signalled to behind the curtain, and 2 humanoid robots came walking out, and carried Maya off, while Kobashigawa just looked back at me.

"I am really, really sorry about all of this. I didn't- I mean, I never- wanted to ruin your event, or presentation, or whatever. I just wanted to sate a curiosity", I said earnestly.

"And what curiosity was that, I wonder?" sarcastically said Kobashigawa.

Great, now I feel like an even bigger jackass than I did before.

"Well, I was walking past, and I saw people in business suits walking up the steps, and there were a lot of them, and I was wondering what they were all doing and then I decided to follow them out of, well, curiosity, and now, here we are."

Kobashigawa arched her eyebrow.

I looked at her with a sincere face.

She arched her eyebrow further.

I remained the same.

Further.

Same.

Further.

Same.

Somehow she was able to arch her eyebrow so far that she achieved new levels of eyebrow archyness. Even if it's not a word.

"Oh, you are lucky that I'm in a good mood today, otherwise I'd so sue your butt so hard that the suing would become a meme in of itself!" Kobashigawa stated.

I don't think you can outright sue people in Japan so easily like in other places. Like America. This quickly took me back to earlier today, where someone had told me that one of the new guys, Andre, had stood up to the Ironman, and threatened to so his ass if he ever... I don't know what it was that Andre was defending against Ironman, but this girl who told me- Aika Abe of Class E- seemed to really have a thing for him. Or they admired him, or something. I don't know. I'd say that after that, word got out, and people began to really admire him. I don't know if it was either because he stood up to Ironman, or if it was because of the fact that he was a foreign student. To be honest, I don't really care enough to find out.

This little situation I've gotten myself into, on the other hand...

"Oh, well, I'm, um, unsure of to to react to that", I replied, rubbing my right hand behind my head. I then winced, and pulled away my hand, inspecting it, as the cut had yet to heal, and was still raw. I looked to the crowd beyond the stage. To be honest, I'd forgotten that they were there, "Um, hey, every peoples."

"Gut him!"

...

"Gut him!"

"I'm not a sexual pervert, thing, or whatever!"

Seriously, I have standards. When that whole peeping thing broke out at the training camp way back when, I stayed out of that fight (I had Pornhub to satisfy my needs), so I was one of the few boys to be allowed to remain in the school for the 2 weeks that everyone else was suspended for. That was a very quite week. That was a very good week.

"I... think it would be best if you left", said Kobashigawa.

"...Yes, I think that would be best", I returned, looking at Kobashigawa, then to the crowd, then back to Kobashigawa, "Um, what's gonna-"

"The android will be fine. We'll just wipe it's memory, or scrap it, or whatever", she stated, sounding either disappointed or relieved.

"Aw, don't scrap it!" went the Bureaucrat lip licking guy, "I'll still buy it!"

The same thought popped into both mine and Kobashigawa's heads.

""...Wut.""

After that cock up of a presentation? That was Michael Bay walking off of Samsung CES press conference stage worthy. Why would he still wanna buy it?

"Oh, what the hell?" called out another person in the crowd, "I'll take it just so I can rub it in people's faces."

"Oi, fat chance!"

"Bring it on! I want that thing!"

"Same here!"

"Me too!"

Huh. Never doubt the stupidity of the average consumer, apparently. They'll buy anything, regardless of the presentation.

I looked at my right hand, then looked down at myself. I really needed to see a doctor. I looked back to Kobashigawa. She looked tired. I decided that it would be best to leave now, rather than later. While everyone was distracted, I walked off of the stage, and began to walk around the crowd. I think a few people noticed me, but they seemed to care little, and their attention was deflected back to the stage.

As I walked back down the steps from the Shinto shrine, a drop of water fell onto my face. I looked up, and saw that the dark storm clouds were now passing over the city, as another drop of rain fell onto me. I then accelerated to a race-walking speed, and went to the nearest hospital that I was familiar with: Natsu Hospital.

Actually, to say I was familiar with it wouldn't be the whole truth. I was actually known there by the few people who worked there. They were nice and all, but they sometimes pulled that 'I know how you feel' crap, and well, you know how I feel about that.

By the time I had gotten to the hospital, it was already starting to spit with rain, and a thunder clap had past about 2 minutes before I got there. Nastu Hospital was located in the suburbs of Fumizuki city, and as such, it was largely only visited by people who lived close to it, meaning that it was relatively small, hence why there were few people who worked there. It was about 2 stories tall, as long as about 3 busses, and as wide as a single bus.

When I got there, I waited for a few minutes, before I was seen to by Doctor Hachirou Tsuchiya (The uncle of the great Muttsurini himself. Or was it Voyeur?) in his office. He and I knew each other a bit, and we were on friendly terms with each other. We would even talk to each other a little bit on parent's evenings if we ever encountered one another.

As he cleaned my sores with a medical wipe while I sat on an operating chair, he said, "You've had a rough day, haven't you?"

"Yeah, a bit", I replied, feeling rather exasperated with the day. At this point, I just wanted to go home, and go to bed.

He then put the used wipes into a bin, got a cotton ball and poured a drop of some medical liquid onto it, and dabbed it onto my bruised eye, while he stated, "I saw that presentation you know. While it was live on the TV."

"I swear, I'm not a pervert."

"I know, I know. We all heard you."

"Oh. Joyous."

He finished dabbing my eye with the cotton ball, and said, "This should stop any infection from forming, so you won't have to worry about sepsis. Just try not to put anymore strain on yourself for the next 24 hours."

"Thanks, Hachirou. I appreciate it."

He looked at me sternly, "You should really talk to someone about this."

"...We've talked about this before, Doctor, and we both know how this talk ends."

"I know."

"Then why keep pressing it?"

"Because someone has too, if not me, then someone else."

"It's a hopeless cause."

"Better to lose fighting for a good cause then not fighting at all."

"...I guess."

"You guess?"

"I guess that's a good point that you made."

"Oh."

"Yeah... So, breaking the silence before it even forms, how's the great ninja pervert himself doing?"

"Oh, Kouta's fine", Hachirou said, while I found it amusing that he automatically knew who I was referring to, "He's still to shy to confess that he's got a thing for that green haired girl though."

"Aiko?"

"Yeah, her."

"Hm", Muttsurini really needed to pick better people to have a thing for.

The door to the office opened, and a girl my age stepped through. She had short, messy brown hair, and bluish grey eyes. She was just a few centimetres taller than me, and had etiolated white skin. She wore a female bartender uniform, a necklace with a fake diamond attacked to it, an old, worn out running band around her left wrist, and quite a bit of makeup, though she was rather damp, and her makeup had run. I was, honestly speaking, quite surprised to see her here, though I'm not quite sure why.

"Amy?", I said to my elder sister, "What are you-"

Before I could finish my pointless question, Amy approached me and hugged me tightly in a solicitous fashion, even though I still sat on the operating chair, making me move into a rather uncomfortable position, just so I could let her wrap her arms around me. I sighed, and wrapped my arms around her, returning the warm embrace. That did make my arms rather damp, but I didn't really care.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked frantically, obviously worried about me.

"I'm fine", I said, unsure myself of if I was telling the truth, or just lying to myself, "How did you know I was here?"

"Doctor Sander called me."

Doctor Sander Shimada. Less of a doctor, more like a psychiatrist. The father of that crossdressing guy from Class F. Kinda ironic that I know more of the parents of Class F students, than I actually know Class F students.

"So..."

"So?"

A thunder clap followed. and Hachirou opened the blinds to see a downpour of rain crash against the window.

"So you walked all the way here, in that downpour?"

"Well, I took a taxi as well, and I had to make a pit stop back home, but, yeah. Kinda."

"Well, what did-"

"Mr. Matsuoka was okay with it."

"Oh, Amy", I said, as I kissed her forehead, and held her closer as she began to shake, indicating that she was cold.

"You know, you should take some pills if you catch a-"

"Don't kill the moment, Hachirou."

"Sorry."

After a few moments of warm embrace, Amy and I decided that it was time for both of us to leave. After taking a bottle of cold medicine just in case, for Amy's sake, we went to the main desk in the central office, where Doctor Sander was sitting. I placed 3000 yen on the desk, and said, "Here. For today."

Both Amy and Sander looked at me, with questioning faces. Sander, with a heavy German accent, spoke first, "Where did you get that?"

They weren't use to me actually paying. Considering the situation Amy and I were in, I wouldn't expect so, too.

"What? I'm paying. I had debts. I still do. I'm still have debts to this place. This is me paying for this walk in so it doesn't add up to those already existing-"

"Where did you get the money?"

"I found it."

I stole it.

"Where did you find it?"

"Lying around."

I nicked it from Kubo's wallet this morning when he put it on a desk, while he was talking.

"Really?"

"Really."

Deja vu.

Amy looked at me, "Be honest", she said.

"I am", I said with a straight face, trying not to give myself away.

"Humph, sure", she went as she turned around and walked to the door. I wanted to make a quip. I wanted to say something witty in response, but all I could think of was to just stick my tongue out at her while her back was turned. How mature of me.

I looked at Sander, said goodbye, and walked to the door myself, paying no heed to Sander's suspicions of it being dirty money. As I walked to the door, I saw a boy and a girl arguing with each other in the waiting area. By the looks of it, they might've been a couple. I let myself express a wry grin. I had a bit of a voyeuristic pleasure in seeing other people fight. It just made me feel better about my life than others. I'm sure anyone who's ever watched real housewives of whatever could attest.

I got to the door, and Amy handed me my coat. It seemed that while she made that stop back home, she had grabbed my coat as well. I looked at her, and said, "Thanks", before putting it on, and opening the door. It was bloody teeming down, and Amy didn't have a coat herself.

I knew what she was doing, but at this point, I didn't really care, though I won't give her exactly what she wanted. I took the coat off, and placed it above my head like an umbrella. I looked at Amy, and she looked at me. She seemed somewhat disappointed, though she tried to hide it. I looked at her with a face that made it obvious that she had erred. It was a face that read 'I know what you were doing and I foiled it'. She blushed in wordless reply. I then rolled my eyes and gestured to the side of me. We exchanged looks, and wordlessly, she caught on, and grabbed the right hand side of my coat, while I held onto the left. We then ran out of the hospital, ignoring Sander's aphorisms that he was throwing at us. The rain splashed against our faces as we ran, though the majority of it fell onto my raincoat. Thank god it was waterproof. We then ran into a bus shelter, catching our breath. A flash and clap of thunder followed my next words, "Not the most well thought plan ever."

"No, I suppose not", was Amy's response. My sister was one of the few people that I knew at Fumizuki Academy whom I didn't have to feel unnaturally obsequious around, and was one of the fewer people who I felt completely comfortable around, even if I was still naturally obedient so she was always a pleasure to see and be around, in stark contrast to the ire and insouciance of everyone else in the school, even if she, well, yeah. I once again thought back to the new group of students that had joined Class A today. For some reason, I had felt rather comfortable around them as well, but I also kept up that whole politeness mask when I was around them too. That in of itself didn't help my confusion on them and about them.

I saw a security camera looking at us both. No doubt a lifeless, dumb AI, or a moribund person, ensconced into a bed or chair, was watching us. I had learnt that the big hospital in the city, Fumizuki A&E (Wow, such an original name) had started getting dying patients with no hope of survival comfortable, and had just started letting them watch TV until their lights flicker out. The immobile ones, in particular, were given access to the entire CCTV network of the whole city and the surrounding areas, as a sort of petty joke that they cannot ever move around again. This made them feel angry and petty themselves, and as a sort of act of jealousy, they started hogging doctors and nursing staff to themselves, so that the more mobile patients couldn't be treated. For a short time, they also became the heads of a smear campaign to attack the corrupt government, but, well, you can guess how that ended.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Amy accosting me. It seemed that she had been speaking while I wasn't listening, "Hey, Riley, I said it's better to move now than later."

"You serious? The apartment is like 3 miles away. We'll be soaked, and I don't want the stuff in my bag to get wet."

I still had my bag on. Did you forget?

"We're already soaking wet anyway", she replied, "A little more rain won't kill you."

No, but it might give me hypothermia.

"Ugh. Fine", I grabbed the left side of my coat once more, as Amy grabbed the right.

Once again, we ran through the rain, down the streets, all the way back to our apartment. Rarely did we stop, as there were very few places that we could without being exposed to the cold rain, so to say we were out of breath when we got home would've been the greatest of understatements. We were wheezing and panting when we arrived at the apartment, weighted down by the weight of the water that had been absorbed by our clothes.

"That could've also gone better", I quipped (I've wanted to make a quip since we left the hospital) as I took my bag off.

"I'm aware of that, Riley", returned Amy, "Though, like I said, a little more rain won't kill you, and did it kill you?"

"No, it didn't."

"Therein ends the lesson."

"Bloomin' 'eck, you can be a real pain sometimes."

"You love it."

"No, I don't. I find it rather annoying."

She stuck her tongue out at me in response. It runs in the family, apparently. I just rolled my eyes at her, and took my shoes off, and placed them on the nearest radiator to dry. I then walked through the large room that made up both the kitchen and the living room, and went into the kitchen section, before taking my clothes off, save for my underwear, and placing them into a basket. I then noted the other bits of clothing that were lying randomly across the floor, along with other bits of rubbish, and decided to tidy up a bit. It turned out that Amy had the right ideas as me, as she emerged from her room, dressed in a bra and undies, and with her wet clothes in her hands. She added them to the pile that I had formed, and began to help me pick up the dirty clothes that laid on the floor too, until we'd wordlessly determined how much we could put into the washing machine. Once that was done, and our dirty clothes were in the washing machine, I went into my room, and threw on some lounging around clothes, while Amy seemed content in hanging around in the bare minimum. I sighed to myself as I grabbed my bag, and placed it onto the small table that we had in the living room section. Ever since we found each other 6 years ago, I've learnt when in private, my sister is a bit of a 'Less clothes, more skin' kinda girl (This hasn't been very helpful during a few awkward walk ins).

Amy walked over to me, with a querying look on her face, "Your bag looks heavy. I thought Yuuko took back all of the stuff that we took from the fridge this morning? (I told you that plan wouldn't work anyway)."

"She did? (So that's why my bag was empty of all of that stuff when I got back). Well, I guess we're both lucky that I had to stay late today", I said, as I unzipped my bag, and emptied it's contents onto the table; a comic book about Dead Space, a few sheets of paper, a water bottle, and about a dozen packets of whatever the hell you would find in a fridge.

"Wow. How the hell did you get all of this stuff?"

"Easy. I just went back to Class A, hid myself from anyone that I could see, all Metal Gear Solid style, took what I could from the fridge, and booked it before anyone saw me. Not before I grabbed my bag, of course."

"Dope."

"What? Who even says that nowadays?"

"Me. I say it. I said it just now, and I will continue to do so until the word is considered cool again (Not that that'll ever happen)."

"Um, alright then."

"Damn right."

I decided to move past this conversation, and grabbed 2 handfuls of the foods that I had nicked from Class A, transporting them to the fridge. Amy helped too, grabbing the last handful, and placing them into the fridge as well. I looked around the room when I closed the fridge door. It was bare, with only the bare minimum items needed to live in a semblance of comfort. The table in the living room bit of the room was round and small, with 2 chairs next to it, and 2 other chairs put together, and sitting in the middle of the room facing the wall, with a few books on both sides of them. There was a small picture frame hanging from the wall, with me and Amy in it, smiling at each other (We had that photo taken about 3 years ago, I reckon), and there was also a poster of Imagine Dragons on the wall as well, though it was old, and torn. To be honest, all Amy does in relation to that poster is point out the worst in anything relating to Imagine Dragons, so that make's for pretty dreary evenings. There was a shelf near the window, with quite a few books in them, and the window had dark blue curtains and a grey blind.

Amy asked if I wanted anything for dinner. I told her that I'd rather skip for tonight. I was suffering from a malaise that made me just want to have a lie down. I excused myself, and departed to my room, where I immediately jumped onto the bed. My room was rather messy, to be honest. I had magazines, books, a few dirty clothes, and the my DVD collection of all seasons of Star Wars the Clone Wars scattered all over the floor. My bed was essentially just a mattress with a quilt and pillow on it, and the only forms of entertainment that I had in the room was a small TV with no access to any channels save for a DVD player, and a hell of a lot of reading material. There was several neat stacks of clean clothing in one corner of the room, and a tiny shelf where I kept most of my books. Next to my mattress bed, there was a small lamp, a board of wood I used as a surface where I could write in vitriol over all of the people that I hated at Fumizuki, and an alarm clock with no batteries in it. I didn't really need it. My mental alarm always woke me up at the right time, so I rarely ever used it.

I took my watch off of my wrist, and looked at the time on it. 7:30. Huh. Time flies. I won't say when you're having fun, but still, it flies anyway. I placed it to the side of my room, and laid still on the bed. My eyes were getting heavy. I was really out of it, after the craziness of today, and the recent imbroglios, so I really needed some shut eye. As I began to nod off, Amy leaned in through the door, and looked at me, "Er, Riley, I think there's a reporter outside."

"What?"

"I think there's a reporter outside."

"Are you sure?"

She left for a minute, then came back in, "Well, he's got a notebook, a pen behind his ear, a real fancy suit, and some dude with a big ol' camera, so my money's on probably."

{KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK}

There was a loud knocking all the way at the front door, followed by a, "Hello? It's Akifumi Ono from Channel 5 News. I was hoping if you could answer a few questions?"

Well, at least she didn't let them in.

"Did you open the door to them?"

"No, I looked through the peephole, but I think they might've heard me."

"Oh, well that's not good."

{KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK}

"Hello? I heard you. I know you're inside."

"Ah shite", I said.

"They're probs not gonna leave, you know? Not until we talk to them", said Amy.

"Or till they get bored."

"Either way, they're not gonna go very soon."

"How do we know they're reporters? They could be anyone."

"True. So, what do we-"

"Oh, get in here, we'll just wait them out."

"Oh, right."

She walked in as I sat up front, and we both waited for the reporter to take his leave. I reckon it was about an hour before he left, as Amy didn't leave my room till about 8:30. There was nobody at the door anymore, so we reckoned it was fine. By then, I was even more fatigued then before, and just wanted to sleep, but Amy was being quite solicitous about my health, and she came back in with a glass of water, and wanted to see if I wanted to call in sick for school tomorrow. I told her no, as because of my recent imbroglio, I felt it would be better to confront them sooner rather than later. Plus, somebody needed to help those new guys down the right path. When Amy left my room, I laid in bed for about half an hour before I fell into a quiet slumber. When it comes to sleep, it usually takes me quite a while to drift off, even if I'm really tired, so I just end up laying in bed for a good amount of time before finally dozing off.

Within my mindscape as I slept, my memories and imagination formed a dream, or a nightmare, from the blackness of the night. I don't really remember much about it, but from what I can gather, I was in a dark room, made of metal and evil, and I was chained down by shackles. A door in the room opened, and figures of blackness who shrouded themselves in God's grace approached me. They did things to me. Things my mind can't recall. But then, a monster came, killed them, and saved me. The monster freed me from God's sin. Then, it all dissolved away.

This part, I remember more clearly. I was surrounded by darkness, with a single source of light that kept it all away. Then, a figure approached me. A figure of light and pure intent. A figure who acted with pure love in their heart for me. I didn't fight away the figure. I didn't wish to shoo it away. I welcomed it with open arms. It then held my hand, and uttered a single word.

"Master."

I woke up at that part, my eyes fluttering open, but I remained still and unmoving. Was this sleep paralysis? I wiggled my toes. No, it wasn't. Okay, good. Now to focus on the issue at hand. What was that dream? What did it mean? I can feel the memory of it slipping away, fragments of it lost forever into the void of my mind. But I can still remember that last part. When the figure said that last word. Why? Could it have a correlation with what happened today? Did I even use that word correctly? I hope so, otherwise I've just made myself out to be a bigger plonker that I already am.

Why am I even paying so much attention to a dream? They're just random pictures and signals of past experiences and wild imaginings moulded together to make a weird twisted logic defying experience within our minds. They don't really hold any real meaning. Yes, I know there are those dream meaning articles on the internet, but still, when has anything on the internet told the truth?

I moved my left hand to the side of the bed, and grabbed my watch. I turned on the light on the watch. 2:37 in the morning. Ugh. Stupid dream woke me up way to early in the damn morning. I tried to reposition myself in the bed, but found that my right hand was caught on something. I didn't know what, so I tried to move it, and it broke free rather easily from it's grasp. But then, it was caught again in a stronger, yet gentle trap. I was confused, so I turned myself onto my other side to see what was holding my hand. When I looked, I saw through the darkness a figure knelling besides my bed, holding my hand in both of it's palms, and it's light brown eyes looking down upon me.

A scream was what came out of my lips next. A very long, very loud scream.

Amy came busting into my room less then 20 seconds later, flipping the light switch, and going, "Riley?! What the hell are you- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..." was the figure's only response.

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuugggggghhhhhh..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuugggggghhhhhh..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...aaaaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhh."

Wow. How unenthusiastic.

After I let my eyes adjust to the light, I looked at the figure to see that it was the android- Maya- from the presentation that I was at yesterday, still sporting the red blood mark on it's arm that I left. The first thing that popped to my mind was, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"That is a very rude thing to say, master", said Maya.

"That's mighty easy for you to say! Why the hell are you here?!"

"Um, Riley", began Amy, "What the hell is-"

"Hey, I'm just as confused as you!" I replied earnestly.

"What the hell is going on, and who is that?"

"Wha- oi, what did I just say?!"

Maya turned around, and looked at Amy. I saw Amy's eyes widen then as she said, "Hey, you're that- tha- that android! From that presentation that Riley was at!"

Oh yeah, Amy said that she saw it on the TV at the bar that she works at. Why they didn't have it on the sports channel as usual, I don't know.

"Correct", bluntly replied Maya.

"Didn't he turn you down? You know, after making an idiot of himself."

Self esteem, targeted, and crippled.

Not that I had any.

"Correct", Maya replied again.

"Then why are you here?"

"To be with my master."

"What?" I asked, "But surely after that, you had your memories wiped, like Kobashigawa said she would?"

"No. My memories of you are still intact. You are my master, and I am your android."

"Um, but weren't there a bunch of people who still wanted to-"

"You are my master."

"Er, but-"

"You are my master."

It then leaned in closer to me.

"And as you are my master, I am to fulfil your every need."

It leaned in even closer to my face.

"I am yours."

I felt incredibly awkward. I still do feel awkward about the situation. In fact, I felt so incredibly awkward, that I was having trouble processing this entire transaction, and as such, I found myself unable to move a single muscle, in fear of doing something that would piss off the breaking and entering robot right in front of me. Amy was having none of it, however, and marched over to Maya, and puled it away from me. Oh, thank you, dear sister of mine, for saving me from an incredibly awkward situation.

"Now, hold on a real fuckin' minute!" Amy exasperated to Maya, "You broke into our apartment, and sat creepily next to my brother's bed, and now you just expect to be allowed in like it's no biggie!"

"...Yes", Maya replied.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she was practically screaming at the top of her lungs at this point.

"Hey, could you keep it down please?" called out our neighbour from his apartment wall next to us, "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"None of your business, Yoshii!" Amy called out, "So go away!"

"What's even going on over ther-"

"I said none of your business!"

"Ugh, I'll explain it to you tomorrow, Yoshii", I called out as well, "Right now I just want to sleep."

"Ah, alright then", Yoshii called out. I then heard feet landing against the floor of the apartment next to us, meaning that he was going back to his room.

I looked at Maya, who was now standing up. It was about as tall as Amy. I then said to Maya, "How did you even find our house anyway?"

"I used the security and street cameras that Fumizuki City has to find where you live, and I also made use of the cerebral bond that was established between us to find which room you were in", it replied.

"You... hacked into the CCTV."

"Negative. I just to the hospital and used the CCTV Televisions that were being used by the incurable patients."

"Oh, okay, that's both reassuring, and also a teeny tiny bit unnerving. Wait, what bond thingy?"

"Yeah", began Amy, with a questioning look on her face, "What bond thingy?"

"When you put your hand on me, for those few seconds", began Maya, not looking away from me, "I was able to establish your specific heartbeat, blood type, heat signature, by just scanning your blood, and the cut on your hand, and modify it into a tracker. All androids can create a tracker if one uses their own blood to establish that link. You did just that, and as such, the link is established. The link helps an android find it's master if either the android is lost, or it's master is in dangerous or stressful situations. It can also serve as a stress reliever. If an android's master is in distress, then, with the link, the android can hone in on their stress levels, and, when in close proximity, send out a signal which will calm them down, and sooth them."

"Oh, um, okay then, I guess that's cool."

"Wait, so you're like, a physiatrist robot or somethin'?" asked Amy.

"Technically, no, I am not. Androids can only do those things if they establish the bond with their masters."

"Oh, right."

"Wait", I began, just remembering something, "Like I was saying before, and don't interrupt me on this, Miss determination-"

"Of course. I apologise for earlier."

"-Yeah, well, whatever. Back at the presentation, there were still a bunch of people who still wanted to buy you (God that feels wrong to say), so were you sold off to anyone, or were you sent off back to the android factory or wherever it was that you were built?"

"I was sold to a wealthy man by the name of Masaie Fujita and his girlfriend and son. They are-"

"Okay, um, no need to be rude, but I don't really want to hear another exposition dump right now."

"Oh, my apologies."

"Don't feel sorry. It's just that, you ran away from somebody who had legal rights to you (Still feels wrong to say, my god)."

Yes."

"Why?"

"They were pretenders."

"Huh?"

Maya then knelt down, and looked me in the eyes, "They tried to make me theirs. They couldn't. They did not take my servitude because it already belonged to another. You. It belongs to you, and it forever will. What they wished to take, you already had. They thought I belonged to them, when in truth, I shall, and forever will, belong to you, my master eternal", while it said this, it wore an innocent smile on it's face, as if there was nothing wrong with what it was saying. That really creeped me out, so I moved my face away from it slightly. It dropped it's smile when I did this, and tilted it's head slightly, "Did I say something wrong, master?"

"Yes. No. Augh. Having trouble processing all of this. Tell you what, how about we all go to sleep now, and we'll thing about it in the morning?"

"Wait", began Amy, "But-"

"Amy. In the morning."

"...Fine."

"Of course", said Maya.

Amy then turned the light off, and closed the door, and I laid myself down, and tried to go back to sleep.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Maya?"

"Yes master?"

"...Go sleep in the living room, please."

"Of course master."

As Maya left the room, I laid in bed, thinking to myself.

'Master'.

Hate that. Always have and always will.

I didn't really sleep for the rest of that night. I couldn't. I just laid there for the next 5 hours, thinking. Thinking, and staring at the ceiling aimlessly. This was gonna take a lot of explaining to everyone in the morning. If Kinoshita tries to pry out what the hell was going on yesterday, I'll... well, I'll just hope that she isn't being infantile enough to hear what I have to say. Then again, maybe she'll be distracted by Akane being complicit again, so that might keep her off me. As for everyone else, assuming they haven't given in to tergiversation, they'll probably all react the way that I'll expect them to individually, and collectively, act. Surprise, confusion, surprised confusion, and galore. But, what was I going to say to them? 'Hey guys don't know if you noticed but I made a dick of myself on live TV and now I've got a runaway robot in my living room hope that's cool'. Jesus Christ. This entire situation was, and is, a big old clusterfuck, with a dash of complicated and a hint of lemony 'I'm in deep shit'. To top that off, I'll have to contend with the immediate aftermath of the last ESB that I fought in, Bando and his goons revenge for that little trickery that I pulled on them, the new guys, whatever Yuuko has planned, because when is she not planning something, and the general antics that everyone at Fumizuki Gakuen get up to.

Madness, I tell you. Utter madness.

By the time morning came round, I was tired. Tired, but not sleepy. It's complicated. Just like my life right now. By the I finally got out of my bed, it was 7:30, and I hadn't slept at all. From the looks of it, neither had Amy, as when she and I met in the living room, she looked as tired as I did.

"Good morning, master."

We both looked to the point of origin of the sound to see Maya standing in the middle of the living room, it's hands joined together in front of it's body, and it's head tilted to the side. It looked at me, and gave off a gentle smile. I looked around the room, and found that nothing had been displaced from yesterday. Where had it slept, I wonder?

"Er, Maya?" I began hesitantly, "Where did you sleep last night?"

"I am not programmed for sleep."

"So, you stayed awake all of last night?"

"Correct."

"Okay, did you sit anywhere then?"

"Negative."

"So, you just stood for the last 5 hours?"

"In this spot here. I was waiting for you, master."

"... M'kay."

I looked at Amy, and she looked at me. We both had the same look on our faces, which basically was 'This chick is coocoo'.

"Is there anything I can do for you, master?" Maya asked, without hesitation.

"...Actually", I began, a thought coming to mind, "Do you know what your actual owner's phone number is?"

"oh, well, you have yet to tell me your phone number, but I can use the ARCHON database to-"

"What? No. The other guy's number. The one who brought you."

"Oh", it seemed kinda sad now, "No, I do not."

"Well, this 'Archon' thing of yours, can you-"

"No. Finding someone's personal information within the ARCHON database is only restricted to the android and it's master, so I cannot find any personal information on anyone else that is not you. It is so that people won't use the androids to access other people's personal details remotely."

"Oh, well, in that case, just stay there for now", I said, somewhat disappointed. I was hoping to get that bureaucrat guy's phone number, and sort all of this out. Ugh. Oh well. I'm sure I can just look up the guy's number on the computer at school today.

Which reminds me, I need to get ready. The teachers at Fumizuki really don't fuck around when it comes to dealing with tardiness. I should know, as I've been on the receiving end of it a couple of times.

"Right then. Amy, I'm gonna go get changed into something more, well, clean", I said, as I walked back to my room, "When I come back, I'll just make us toast or something, and then we skedaddle on to school. What are you gonna be doing?"

"Probs get changed as well", said Amy, as she began to walk to her room, "You've got 5 minutes top, bro."

"Right then."

"Is there anything I can do, master?" asked Maya.

"Oh, um, you, stay there, I guess", I said as I entered my room, and shut the door, "Don't do anything, okay?"

"...Okay."

At this point, I just wanted to get this whole ordeal sorted out, and quickly. As I took off my old clothes from yesterday (I had them on for the entire night), and put on some new ones, I grabbed my watch, and a relatively clean hoodie from the floor, and walked back out of the room, with Amy walking out just a minute behind me. After making us both toast for breakfast (I just put a few slices of bread in the oven and hoped that they don't burn), and taking care of our own personal hygiene, as well as using Amy's makeup to mask my own facial injuries, we put our shoes on, which were still slightly damp from last night, and prepared to leave.

"Master?"

I looked behind me to see Maya looking at me, with a questioning look on it's face.

"Look, Maya, just... just stay here, and don't touch anything, okay?"

"...Oh, okay."

"Right, good. I've got to call up that Fujita guy, and get this all sorted out."

"But, master-"

"Maya, please. You don't belong to me. Right now, you're, on a technicality, stolen property, and I need to get this all fixed before anything else goes array. So, please, could you just not do anything rash? For me?"

I sound really selfish when I said that. I felt really selfish when I said that too. Because when those words left my mouth, Maya looked, well, kinda heartbroken, and sad-

No no, what am I doing? It's a machine. A robot. It can't feel sad. It can't feel anything. Right now, this one's probably just glitched out, or something.

Yeah, that's it.

I didn't see it's reaction, but I think that's probably for the best. I had already opened the door, and walked out, with Amy following, shutting the door behind her, and locking it. I looked down from the balcony from the door of my apartment (We lived on the second floor up), and saw that several people from our school were already on the move, walking towards the academy. Thank Christ I had my hoodie with me, otherwise I would be noticed much more easily. I don't want to have to be raided by peers whom wish to know what the hell was going on last night. Not until I could sort all of this crap out. I put my hood up, and began to walk down the narrow balcony to the stairwell down.

"You seem miserable", said Amy.

"Like I said, sis, that robot in there is technically stolen property, and I want to get this all sorted out before we end up in deep shit."

"Why do you want to send her off, anyway?"

"Her?"

"Yeah. Back to the point, you have a robot maid, who'll probably sex you if you told her to."

"It's not our, Amy. It doesn't belong to us."

"Is that really why you want to get rid of it?"

"What's your point?"

"My point, Riley, is that 1: you really do see her as an actual girl, and you can't stand it, and 2: you hate the amount of control that you have right now over her."

...

Dammit, Miss 'modern day Sherlock Homes'.

Unfortunately, she's not wrong. When I said 'Unnaturally obsequious' before, I had meant completely subservient, which I am not. However, I had meant unnaturally, as in pushed to be more obedient then I am normally. Fact of the matter is, even if it doesn't seem like it, I am quite naturally obedient and submissive. It's in my nature. If someone where to give me a relatively logical order, my natural instincts would be to obey. I'm guessing that this is because of the fact that I've never been in a relationship of any kind where I've been the one in control. Hell, even with my own sister, I let her keep the most control. She was technically the one who offered to show the Prometheans around. I just happened to follow her around, and John just happened to thank me. It's just in my nature to follow the orders of others, and the fact of the matter is, I like it that way. I like being given a purpose, or something to do, instead of finding it myself. The idea of being in control in a relationship is terrifying to me, and one that I am keen to be rid off.

"Well? I'm spot on, aren't I?" Amy's words broke me out of my thoughts, yet I could give her no answer.

"..."

"I'll take that as a yeah."

Take it as you will. I won't stop you.

By now, we had made our way down the metal stairwell, and were walking along the streets and paths. The ground was still wet, and there were puddles that had formed in the drains in the streets. Some of those puddles were quite small, while others could be considered miniature lakes. We had only made it a few metres from the stairwell when I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Harrisons!"

Ugh.

Amy and I looked behind us, to see Yoshii waving at us, with his stupid trademark grin across his face. He was walking towards us. Of all people...

Yoshii didn't take a second to pause for anything as he stopped next to them and asked, "Soooo, what were you 2 yelling about last night? Oh, was it about that thingy that you were at yesterday?" he said, looking and pointing to me as he spoke, "Or was it about the ESB war yesterday as well? Man, that was a crazy day? Haha. But seriously, what were you yelling about last night? It was really lou-"

"Hey, Yoshii, don't say our last names out loud like that!" Amy cut off his questioning and scolded him as we in turn stopped in place, "Riley's been through a lot of crap over the last 12 hours, and I don't want anyone we don't know coming up to us and asking what the hell happened last night."

I figured that Amy also don't want people we do know coming up to us and asking me what the hell happened last night as well. Hint hint.

"Oh, well, you 2 know me-"

Barely. We only started fraternising after the test of courage that the Year 3s set up, and that was 2 weeks ago. Hint hint.

"-Sooooooo, you can tell me!"
._.

This guy just doesn't take a hint, does he?

I looked at Amy, and she looked at me. If you couldn't tell, I was the more, well, dependant person in our relationship, while Amy was the more dependable side to it. I kinda wanted her to hate me for it. I wanted her to hate me for being so reliant on her. I felt like a parasite whom used pity and sympathy to lure prey into a fatal trap from which they won't escape. I don't know why. I just did. But she didn't, and I hated her for it.

Oh hey, 2 things I hate about her. Ain't I an arsehole victim?

"Look, Yoshii", began Amy, "We really don't want to talk about it, so just run along to your social group, and let us be, please."

The gauche teen looked somewhat disappointed for a second, before recovering from it, and returning to his famous smiling face, and chirping, "Oh, well okay then!"

He might's well have been skipping with that annoyingly happy attitude, as he walked away with élan, not looking back at us, and walked towards one of the classmates in his social group. I think it was that maroon haired psycho, because after a minute, he was in a Boston crab submission, and being accosted by the person in question.

"Should we... Should we help him?" I asked.

"Ah, he'll be fine", Amy replied, "From what I've heard, the guy might as well be made of diamond. Nothing breaks him. I mean, yesterday, we saw him unconscious on the ground, and not even an hour later, he was up and at 'em again."

"Hm. Well, alright then."

Just because I went along with it though, doesn't mean I feel comfortable with it. As we continued walking on, I looked at Yoshii, and his maroon haired friend. The maroon haired cross dressing guy was seemingly trying to pry information out of the other guy, and Yoshii was just awkwardly smiling back at him. He didn't notice me. Good. I didn't want him to see the concerned look on my face. Thanks to a little thing I like to call moral decency, I've never like the idea of others just trudging through social torment just to impress or please a group of capricious, arrogant, and selfish individuals, or whatever reason. I know that makes me sound like a hypocrite, but I just hate it when it happens to other people. Doesn't mean I have the vigour or strength to do anything about it, though. In a school where the Principal and the top 20 honour students are carte blanche, this kind of stuff is fairly normal, which is a generally bad thing.

Speaking off, we continued walking to the academy, mindful of anyone who might recognise us. We stuck to the shadows, taking as many underpopulated routes as possible. Tank goodness I had my hoodie on me, as with it up, fewer people recognised me, and they all seemed to get the message that we didn't want to talk to anyone. Hell, we even saw Bando, the prickiest prick in all of prickington, and his bakers dozen of acquaintances talking about how they were gonna get me back. But, the idiots didn't even notice Amy or I (Though, I forgot to mention that she was also wearing a coat with the hood up as well). We practically walked right on past them all, and the dumbasses didn't even bat an eye. If it's one thing that they have in bucket loads, it's complete and utter obliviousness. Well, that and stupidity. And arrogance. And glib. And all of the 7 sins. And everything else that would make extra-terrestrial life want to exterminate the species.

We continued to walk to the school, avoiding anyone that we could, until we eventually got to the academy gates. We walked through, and I took note of my surroundings. The ground was still wet, and puddles had formed under the cherry blossom trees. Most of the petals on the trees had come off, and coated the floor in pink. People from the school were flooding in through the gates and into the courtyard in a dishevelled fashion, seemingly eager to get another uneventful day for them done and dusted. Some, if not most, of them seemed fastidious with their given lives (Which would make sense in a place like this), and were either speaking out about it (They would probably face retribution later for that from everyone's favourite ostentatious narcissist), or just hid it behind their idiosyncratic nature, letting it grow and grow in captivity.

I, like said before, didn't really care. I have my own problems to deal with, and I've got them a bit higher on my list of priorities than everybody else's problems.

We trudged through the courtyard, past all of the people, and walked through the main entrance of the school, where people were putting all of their things into their lockers. I looked at Amy, whom I held close to, and she wordlessly shook her head. I instantly got the memo. We wouldn't be stopping here, lest somebody recognise me. We walked through, hoping to go unnoticed, but, unfortunately, to our ill omen, a few people seemed to notice me beneath my hood, and opened their mouths to speak, but Amy shot them a death glare, and they backed off. We walked right through the locker room, and through the hallway, which, in contrast to the locker room, were sparse of people, so we had a relatively easy shot to Class A. We walked through the empty hallways, past Class E, which was sporting extensive damage to it (What the hell happened during the ESB yesterday?) all the way to the entrance to Class A. When we got there, there seemed to be a bit of commotion coming from inside the room, which was odd, considering how dull it usually was. Amy and I looked at each other, and I then looked to the sliding door, and opened it. There were already a few people inside, though it was about I'd say 2 dozen, rather than the usual 100 and a bit. There was Kinoshita and a few of her 'friends' standing near the centre stage, Akane and her dozen and more allies in a corner of the room, with Akane acting, rather exited, her amber eyes darting over each one of her acquaintances near her. There were a few people scattered across the personal desks, and there was at least 1 person near the coffee maker. However, all of their attention, save for Akane's group, was directed to near the windows, where the new guys, the Prometheans, were keeping themselves. The tall one with heterochromia, John, was yelling at the spindly green and grey robot, Mateuz, while the green haired spanish one, Andre, was looking at them both, completely unfazed, and the blind Nigerian one, Jack, was sitting cross legged, looking like he was meditating. Next to them, there was a broken window, and a deflated rubber dinghy.

Oh. Okay then.

"For Christ's sake, Mateuz!" yelled John, "Flying through the window is not a good way to come into a room!"

"You weren't complaining when I busted the rubber dinghy out!" retorted the robot.

"Because I had no idea what you were gonna do with it!"

"I'm still surprised we were able to pilot that thing down the street", said Andre.

"If there's a will, there's a way."

"Well, what about the window?" asked John, "Are you going to will it all back to not being broken?"

"Na, it's not worth the effort. All I need is a bit of duct tape and a little bit more spirit. From you lot. A little bit more spirit from you lot."

"My spirit is already 1 with creation", I heard the blind one, Jack, say, "There is no more for me to give."

"Your spirit can be one with the giant spaghetti monster in the sky for all the shits I give!" quipped John.

"That was mean, John."

"I don't care. I needed to say that. Well, I wanted to say that. And I have now. I feel better, now- wait, no I don't! You somehow managed to fly a rubber dinghy through a freaking window! How the hell did that work?!"

"Oh please, we've done weirder stuff. I mean, remember Cairo?"

"We don't talk about Cairo."

"Really?"

"Yes, really? We can never go back to Egypt now, because of you and that's senator's daughter!"

"You see it as weird, I see it as- Wait is that Riley and his hot sister over there?!"

He looked straight at us as he blunted that out, which drew the attention of everyone in the hall like classroom. Oh that's just... that's just great. The robot with the deflated rubber dinghy, the broken window and maybe even Asperger's syndrome from what I've seen over the last 23 hours is the one to point out that a cynical and needy teen and his adoptive sister just entered the room. Swell. The acrimony that I feel in my heart right now for this walking tin can is, um, well, rather mediocre actually. It appears that all of the contentment that I have in my heart right now has lost the ability to care about acting out.

Mateuz then suddenly jumped forward, and shifted into a large grey and green sphere, and then charged towards us both. Amy put herself protectively in front of me, but then the robot then changed back into it's humanoid form, and jumped up right in front of us both, right on it's 2 feet.

"Oi Riley ma boy, weren't you on You've Been Framed last night, and by You've Been Framed, I mean the live news, and by you, I actually mean you specifically?" Mateuz chirped happily, his voice so robotic, yet seemingly so human.

"Um, well-"

"Yes, mister tall and not entirely intimidating, he was", interjected Amy defensively, cutting me off from speaking, "And he doesn't want to talk about it."

She's not wrong.

"Really?" Mateuz asked sceptically, looking at me and tilting his head, "Is that so?"

I nodded in response, to which Mateuz took a step back, and looked at Amy, "Hm, well, I can see that you 2 are spoken for today, so, I'll leave you to it then."

The way he said that, sounded like he had a bit of contentment towards the idea of Amy speaking for me. Don't know why. I mean, I don't know why. I just prefer to let Amy speak for me, rather than me speak for me. I've been that way for a long time, ever since we met, and I've never had a problem with it.

Mateuz turned around, and walked back to the other Prometheans, and Amy and I went to sit down, though everyone's eyes were on us now. We both sat down next to each other in silence, and just got out our books, and started reading. No one approached us. They just stared. Even with our hoods up, I could still feel their eyes on us, piercing through our masks, and looking at our souls. For the rest of the time, before the first official lesson started, the rest of Class A trickled into the room, including Bando and his goons. Our first lesson, which lasted about an hour and a bit, was something about the Vietnam War and the Heart of Darkness, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy trying to ward off Bando's stares, as well as the glares from his followers. I could practically feel the anger coming off of them, as if the experience that Bando had yesterday has been past down through some sort of hive mind to the rest of his acquaintances, or that they were all gullible idiots who believed anything that they were force fed. I'm willing to believe in the latter, because to be honest, they're all atomic idiots.

For the rest of the day, we were told to just study, or whatever. Since we were in Class A, the teachers just kinda let us do whatever we wanted for the entire day, just as long as we studied and kept our grades up. I kinda just used the time to read, or just draw.

I was considered the artist of the class, by the way, and I kinda just drew whatever came to my mind whenever I felt like it. I guess my style is kinda close to Alex Milne and Josh Perez's collaboration work, with it's sharpness and colouring and stuff. Sometimes, I did do a few commissions if people asked, but other than that, everyone just let me draw whatever I wanted.

Except Bando and his goons. They were constantly bullying me for liking to draw. And all of the other reasons as stated before, obviously. They would regularly destroy my work, and my pencils and drawing materials, raid and steal my drawing references, rummage through my bags, belittle me, push me around, call me names, so on, so forth, and they would always make a stupid excuse to the teachers, who, being the corrupt arses that they were, would just go along with it, regardless. Worse part is, my peers would always be too afraid of retribution to do anything. The people at the start of the year were already an example of stepping out of line, and Bando's group was quite large, so they could properly enforce their will without fear of retribution.

Today however, they were feeling especially mean. Kinoshita, her inner circle, and the Prometheans were out of the room, Kinoshita's group to find Shouko (Probably in Class F), and the Prometheans to find something to do because they were bored. That meant that Bando's group could do whatever they wanted, free from the eyes of both the new guys, and Kinoshita. They formed a bit of a wide circle around me, and had, well, they had destroyed all of my stuff. All of it. My books, what was left of my writing equipment. Even my bag itself. Everything. Bando, meanwhile, had taken it upon himself to get a little 'payback' for yesterday's, well, incident, in epitome.

I was on my hands and knees on the floor, my lip cut, and my nose bloody. Bando was standing on my left hand, pressing it down, and scrapping his shoe across my hand, peeling away the top layer of my skin. Blood was weeping from the opened wound on my right hand, and I had been winded after being punched in the stomach. Amy, sporting a cut, bloody lip and a bruised arm was being held in place by 2 of Bando's goons, and everybody else in the room was just looking on, too afraid to intervene. The supervising teacher (I can't remember his name, but I do remember that he just spoke in a very dull and lifeless tone) just stood where he was on the stage, obviously being either bribed or threatened into not intervening.

"Well then", said Bando, wiping the blood from his knuckles while sporting a demented, sadistic smile, "I'd say this is just scratching the surface of the punishment you're gonna receive for yesterday's little humiliation."

Amy then screamed "LAY ONE MORE FINGER ON HIM, SHITFACE, AND I'LL-"

"YOU'LL WHAT SLUT!"

"I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOU!"

"HA! Yeah right! You're too much of a lil' bitch to do anything!"

"..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Bando then looked to everyone else, and raised his voice to make a point.

"I think it's time that you all learnt something, since you all seem to need it! Do you know who gives a single shit about any of you here?"

He then pulled me onto my feet, and punched me in the stomach again to emphasise his point. I coughed up blood in response, and fell back to the ground, clutching my stomach, as tears fell from my eyes.

"NOBODY!"

He then looked to Akane, and pointed to her. Akane, meanwhile, was shivering in fear, unsure of what to do.

"Look over there, at your fearless revolutionary! She's practically pissing herself, watching us exact our righteous justice, on this worthless excuse of life right here! You think she'll lead you to the new dawn, or whatever the fuck you worthless sluts and whores call it! Look at her! LOOK AT HER! She's nothing! Just like the rest of you!"

He then looked at me, and smiled again, somehow looking more crazed.

"Nothing will change, for all of you! Worthless pieces of shit like you won't get anywhere, while I'll soar all the way to the fucking top! Me, and Yuuko! The one who belongs to me, and me alone!"

It was no secret that Bando was fanatically obsessed with Kinoshita. As in, sexually fanatically obsessed with Yuuko. Hell, one time he was caught masturbating to a picture of her in the boys bathroom. Whilst grunting about some pretty fucked up stuff. This guy's got serious issues, can I just say, and I'm still surprised that anyone still talks to him.

Snapping me out of my thoughts was a foot slamming against my head, eliciting a cry of pain from me as the tears began to fall from my eyes, making the makeup that I had put on to mask away my previous injuries mix with my tears, and wash away. However, through my blurred vision, I saw a figure walking towards me, but I didn't know who, or what they wanted. But, for a split second, I thought I heard a growl come from them.

"And as for you", Bando said as he looked down on me, "You think that you're so lucky that you got a free robot? Well guess what, you little cunt! My mom's boyfriend brought me that worthless piece of junk as a fucking present! Ain't that a treat?!"

Oh, so you were who Maya actually belongs to. Oh joy.

"So, you've got nothing left to live for, so you can just die, like the worthless piece of fucking shit that you are! Go fucking kill yourself, make the world a better place! Just die! Die! Die! DIE! DI-"

Then, a hand grabbed the back of his head, and pulled it down, at the exact same time a leg swept under Bando's own pair, and made him fall back. Then, another hand grabbed his back, and then he was thrust forward, and then downwards, to a nearby table. In a flash of a second, the figure slammed Bando's face against the table, fracturing the wood and plastic, and completely destroying his nose and jaw with a satisfying crack. Everyone around us was shocked, and unable to process what just happened. The figure then let go of Bando, and he immediately lurched back, grabbing his face in pain, as blood began to seep from between his hands. The table was covered in a pull of blood, and even a piece of tooth. Bando, meanwhile, was leaking blood from both his nose and his mouth, and as he opened his mouth, his teeth were coated red in blood, and one of his teeth were broken. His eyes were red, and he seemed so angry that his veins had become literally visible.

I looked to my mysterious saviour, and saw that it was actually John Prometheus, with a pissed look on his face, and behind him stood not only the rest of the Prometheans, but also Kinoshita and her group, including Shouko. 2 of Bando's goons, Koharu Higa and Zenzō Teruya, attempted to help him, and charged John, but Mateuz and Jack, with Mateuz punching Akane's slutty sister in the throat, and slamming her head against the ground, and Jack simply moving his foot out, and letting Teruya trip on it, and fall to the ground (I thought he was blind? How did he know when to move his foot out? How did he know someone was moving in the first place?).

Kinoshita moved to do something, with an actually worried (Yeah right) look on her face, but Andre put his hand out in front of her, and said to her, with a disappointed look, "I think you've done enough damage for one day, compadre. Let John sort this out."

"That's not what I was-"

"Yuuko. Shut up."

Bando then removed his hands from his bloodied face, letting all be revealed. John meanwhile, was unfazed, like the rest of the Prometheans, while everyone else was really unnerved and shocked. Hell, even I was shocked by what just happened. Bando, in anger, then pointed at John and, with tears of pain in his eyes, screamed, "DO YOU KNOW WHO THE FUCK I AM! I AM FUJIO BANDO, AND I-"

"I know", John said, unfazed, and unmoved, "And I really don't care."

"WHAT?! I-"

"Have the next 10 seconds to run before I snap your neck."

"He's not joking."

"I WILL HAVE YOU ALL-"

"10."

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you, picking on an obviously physically and maybe even mentally weak kid? 9. You're the fucked up one, trying to beat the shit out of him for a probably pointless trivial whatever. 8. Me, I'm perfectly fine, just a little mental in the head, and a whole hell fo a lot of other shit that'll give you nightmares every night as you sleep. 7."

"YEAH, WELL-"

"108, before you ask. 4."

"4?!"

"You're wasting my time, so I'm reducing yours. 3."

"I WILL HAVE YOU HUNG FOR THIS!"

"Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to hang me. 2."

"WHA- WELL, I, um I'll, oh oh I'LL HAVE-"

"And 1. Neck snapping time."

John took a step forward, and Bando took a nervous and frightened step back. All of Bando's goons had backed off now, frightened of what would come to them should they intervene to save their boss, the Prometheans were unfazed and completely chilled with what was going on, and all of the other students in the room were completely mesmerised by what was happening in front of all of them. The supervising teacher, at one point, tried to step in and stop what was happening to Bando, but Jack and Mateuz quickly got in his way and told him to scram. Seeing that he no longer had any control over the situation any more, the teacher left the room, and subsequently, left Bando to his fate.

John reached out to Bando, aiming at his neck.

Holy shit I was about to witness murder. Well, it was Bando getting killed, so no one was gonna miss him, I guess.

Amy forced herself out of the restraints of her shocked captures, and ran towards us. But instead of stopping John, she just ran towards me, and hugged me tightly, refusing to let go.

Bando stood in place, frozen in fear.

John's eyes burned with anger.

His hands were almost at his neck...

Suddenly, the nearest sliding door to Class A slammed open with a bang, and everyone's eyes shot towards the direction of the door, to see a figure standing in the doorway, clutching the door handle, and looking straight at the crowd, and then to Bando, and then to me. A figure with light chocolate coloured, blemish free and smooth skin. A figure with long, brown fluffy hair. A figure in a grey dress, with a puffy skirt. A figure, with clear light brown eyes. A figure, whom I recognised almost immediately...

"M-Maya?" I weakly asked, still trying to find the energy to speak at my full voice. Amy heard what I said, and looked at me, giving me a questioning look. I gave her the same, and we both looked at the Android, confused at to why it was here.

"HAH!" went Bando, putting on his personal trademark smile, "AH HA! See that! That my robot! My mum's personal bank account for a boyfriend got it for me a as present of all things!"

"Hey", began a student- Miho Satou- from Kinoshita's group, "Isn't that Harrison's robo-"

"NO, THE IDIOT DIDN'T WANT IT BITCH!" suddenly screamed Bando, spittle and blood coming from his mouth as he spoke, "So shut up! He declined it, and now it's mine!"

"Master?" Maya asked. I was unsure as to whom it was speaking to, as Bando- it's actual owner- was in the room, as well as myself, though I was more of an unwilling owner.

"Yeah, hi, it's me. Your owner. Your master", emphasised Bando as he looked at Maya, and then pointed at me, "Where were you this morning by the- Actually, you know what, I don't give a shit. AS your master, my first official order, is for you to kill this little shit piece right-"

John then slammed his hand against Bando's throat, and pulled him closer, "You say one more word, and I'll slit your fucking throat with a butter knife."

"ACK- Enjoy this... while you can... once that- ACK- cunt is dead, I'll- HUGH- kill you next!" said Bando between gasps for air. He then pointed to Maya, and John looked to see that the android was walking forward, with it's eyes hidden behind it's hair. So it was following Bando's orders now. John immediately became defensive and dropped Bando, stepping in my path, as well as the other Prometheans, and a few from Kinoshita's group- Aiko Kudou, Toshimitsu Kubo, and Miho Satou- joined the iron blockade as well.

"Guns up, guys", I heard John whisper to the other Prometheans.

"Que?" Whispered Andre.

"This could go south real quick, so we need to be ready."

"Ready for what? That things probably just non sentient wires and metal. I really don't think we need to pull out the big guns just to stop a-"

Then, Maya walked up to them, and pushed them out of the way. Andre and John seemed quite surprised about it, and unsure of what to do. Maybe they didn't react well to surprises. Mateuz, however, pointed his shoulder cannon thingies at the android, and Jack had grabbed the end of his walking stick. Amy just hugged me tighter, and buried her head in my shoulder.

Maya looked down at me, but I didn't see it's eyes.

"That's it, robot, KILL HIM!" yelled Bando, blood now covering the lower half of his face.

Maya then extended it's arm out to my face, and moved closer to me. The Prometheans began to converge closer, immediately going in for the kill, while Bando smiled a triumphant and arrogant smile. I just closed my eyes, and shook my head in fear, not ready for death. My mouth opened, and I uttered, "No-"

But then, I felt a gentle hand cup my face, and lovingly stroke it. I slowly opened my teary eyes, to see Maya's face in full view, eyes and all. The android had a sad look on it's face, and it's hand was gently wiping away the blood from my face. I was confused, but I didn't say anything. I was silently embracing the gentle feel of Maya's hand wiping away the dirt from my face, enjoying it's pleasure, though again, I was quite confused. All 4 of the Prometheans backed off, with confused looks and stances, and Bando was slightly confused looking as well, but he must've thought that this was a sort of prelude to the death.

What it said next wiped that smile off of his face.

"Master", Maya said to me, it's sad face worsening, "You are hurt."

"...Maya, what are you doing?" I quietly asked. Amy had loosened her grip on me as well, looking at the android as well, with a confused look on her face.

"Wiping away the blood, master", Maya said. It then removed it's hand from my face, and moved it's body closer, wrapping it's arms around my upper body, and resting it's head against mine, "I am sorry. I am programmed to make you happy, but you are sad."

"...It's okay, Maya", I said, as I patted it's back, "It's okay."

Bando, meanwhile, looked like he was about to explode with anger. His veins had become very visible, and his face had somehow turned even redder than his own blood. He stomped up to Maya, but John quickly interjected, and stepped in his way, while Kubo and Andre held him back by his arms. That didn't stop Bando from thrashing around in their arms in rage, like a tantruming child. He definitely sounded like it, "NO! NOOO! YOU ARE MINE! YOU BELONG TO ME! YOU ARE MY FUCKING PROPERTY! YOU TAKE ORDERS FROM ME! YOU ARE A FUCKING MACHINE, AND YOU FUCKING BELONG TO ME! NOT HIM! ME!"

Christ, he's gone bloody mental. Quick, someone send him to that telly show where they send those bratty kids to those prisons so those prisoners can scare the shit out of them.

Scared Straight. That's what it was. That was the name of the show. Look it up later. Or whenever

Right, where was I? Oh yes. Bando was screaming like a bitch, and all that. Kubo and Andre were holding him back, and Maya was stroking my cheek. Well, actually now, it had stopped, and was looking at Bando, with silent contemptment in it's eyes. It then stood up, and coldly and bluntly said "I do not belong to you. I belong to my master."

"I AM YOUR MASTER! ME! NOT HIM! AND IF YOU DO NOT KILL HIM, I WILL KILL YOU BOTH!"

At this point, an audience had gathered outside of the room, viewing the scene from both doors. I could see familiar faces like Yoshii, Shimizu, Tamano, Hiraga, Mikami, that maroon haired dude, Yuuko's sister and a few others parked outside of the doors, watching the scene unfold.

Maya had taken a step forward to Bando, who was still restrained, and said, "Do not touch my master."

"I WILL MURDER HIM IF-"

Suddenly, Maya's hand shot to Bando's throat, and it lifted him up from the ground. Yeah that's right. it lifted him from off of the ground. Guess Kobashigawa wasn't kidding about being 'Much stronger than the average human'. Andre and Kubo backed off, though Andre seemed less fazed by this act of strength than Kubo. Everyone else in the room was gasping, and even the Prometheans had curious and intrigued looks on their faces. The crowd at the door were no longer afraid to stand outside, and had started to slowly trickle into the room, and absorbing themselves into the crowd. If anyone from Class A noticed, they didn't care enough to act on it.

"Do not. Touch. My master", Maya coldly stated, as it held Bando by it's throat. His feet were no longer touching the ground, his hands were clawing away at the artificial skin of Maya's hand, resulting in silver blood analogue to weep from it's hand.

"You... fucking bitch", Bando rasped between gasps of air, as his face began to turn blue.

"Maya, stop it", I said as I stood up, wiping what was left of the now dried blood from my face. I didn't feel used to giving it an order, and I don't suspect I ever will, "You'll kill him."

"He hurt you", Maya said, turning back to me. Amy was still at my side, and John had moved to my other as well, while I could feel Yoshii present a far bit away from me, but still close enough to take action if necessary.

"Maya", I repeated, though much more firmly, this time.

It didn't even avert it's gaze as it dropped him, but it did wear a slightly disappointed look on it's face. Bando, meanwhile, was on his knees, sputtering, and gasping for air. After a few moments, he weakly got back up onto his feet, and, with angry tears in his eyes, began to say, "I am going to-"

"Go home, Bando. Your time here in Class A is over."

To everyone's surprise, those words came out of Kinoshita's mouth, of all people. We all looked at her, and saw that as she looked at Bando, she wore a face of disgust, and outright contempt. Her eyes were burning with anger, though she was probably just angry that her 'Great class's reputation' was stained by Bando and his actions.

I'm sure of it.

Bando looked at her, surprisingly in shock. His head must've been lodged so far up his ass, that the delusional idiot might've actually thought that Kinoshita actually returned his obsessive love, if you can even call it that, "Yuuko, my lo-"

"Get. The fuck. Out of this academy", Kinoshita rasped through her teeth. I saw now that she had fangs in her teeth, her super-heart glowed a faint, yet omnibus green in her chest, and her green eyes even glowed a little bit. Weird, yet also kinda scary. She growled at Bando, and he took a frightened step back. He must've not seen someone with a super-heart before, and it terrified him. He looked to his goons, only to see that they had gathered themselves up into a huddle, and were now under watch from Akane and her allies, Class A and a few of the others who had joined the crowd. Bando then looked to said crowd, and saw that they were all looking at him with disgust, spite, anger, etc. I have to say, it was enjoyable to see him without anyone to back him up, all alone, and with his back against the wall. I let myself give of a small grin, but he seemed to see that, and looked at me with the most fury I'd ever seen. I didn't remove my smile though. I knew it would come to bite me in the arse later, but I didn't care one bit. Finally, after months of putting up with his bollocks, I'd won.

"T-THIS ISN'T OVER!" Bando screamed as he ran out of the room, with an angry expression, and yet he was crying, and mucus was dripping from his nose, and spittle was dribbling from his mouth, as well as blood, "I'M RICH! I'LL HAVE MY PAYBACK, AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL", he then began to scream and cry as he ran, kicking the door a few times as he left, his hideous cries being heard from all the way down the corridor.

All was silent. No one had any idea what to say, or how to react.

A minute of silence and stillness past.

Finally, it was Mateuz who broke the ice, "Well, that was an even bigger mood whiplash than when I played Doki Doki Literature Club #JustMonika."

The entire classroom began to explode with cheers and laughter. People from both Kinoshita's faction, and Akane's faction began to cheer and clap at the fact that the biggest arse in the school was made a even bigger moron of himself than he already was, while everyone else was laughing, or still unsure of what just happened. Hell, I'm pretty sure somebody started playing Ding Dong the witch is dead on YouTube, and put it through a loud speaker. I then saw that Yoshii and Shimizu were talking to each other, and had quietly slipped away, while the maroon haired guy- Shimada, I should probably call him- was talking to Shouko, and the Kinoshita siblings were talking to each other. Meanwhile, I decided to sit on the closest table, being the one with Bando's blood still on it. I sat at the far side of the table, away from the filth, and Amy, Maya, the Prometheans, Kubo, Kudou, Satou, and the Kinoshita siblings joined me, forming a circle of people.

"Are you o- wait, no, dumb question. Okay, take 2: are you better than you were 5 minutes ago?" John asked, with a worried look on his face.

"I've had worse", I said earnestly. I noticed that I didn't have that fake innocence mask on now, in contrast to yesterday, "I'll be fine."

"I really don't like that you said 'You've had worse'."

"Yeah, dude. Not even 5 minutes ago, you were getting your face caved in", added Mateuz.

"You were being assaulted?" Maya asked as she crouched down before me, with a look that was a cross between sad, worried, and angry.

"Maya, it's okay", I gently replied.

"He hurt you", it angrily muttered, and it's face looking down, "I will kill him for hurting my master..."

"Maya, no", I firmly said, "Just... just no. I'm sure Bando's received his comeuppance."

"Speak for yourself", said a Class E female peer with short pink hair- Ogawa Mayura, her name was- who was looking out of the still shattered window from the Prometheans early antics, "He's running down the courtyard with his hands in his face and- oh, he just fell face first into a muddy puddle!"

"HAH! Lol."

"Bando will be back", said Kubo, adjusting his glasses, "He's not gonna take this sitting down. Or standing up. Anything without a tantrum."

So, one of Kinoshita's inner circle had the nerve to comment on my situation. Especially since they were the ones who sicked him and his goons on me and Amy in the first place. How quaint.

"If he dares to step near my master", began Maya, "I will kill him."

"I'm sure you will", said Andre, basically giving her a go ahead on murder.

"He's gotten up- and he's run into a wall", said Ogawa, smiling to herself.

"What if he comes for us all?" said Kinoshita's more attractive sister, "If what I've heard is true, then he belongs to a very rich family. He'll bring his wrath down on the whole school."

"He won't", said Kinoshita, with her arms folded, and a look of determination on her face, "I'll make sure of it."

I looked at her, angry that she was even talking, "Yeah, sure, you'll make sure that your status amongst the bourgeois is maintained. No harm no foul."

"Wha- no, why would you-"

"No no no, it's fine. No need to say anything. I don't expect anything from the person who sent Bando on everyone to begin with."

The person who sent Bando on me to begin with.

Everyone around me, save for Amy, Maya, and Kinoshita, were taken aback by my hostile behaviour. I looked up at Yuuko, and she had the audacity to look saddened by my words, "Riley, I ne-"

"Stuff it", I rasped in anger, my voice raising as I spoke, "I don't want your false solicitous nor pity. My life ever since I came to this school has been a bloody train wreak, and I won't accept pity from the one who fucked it all up to begin-"

A hand landed on my shoulder, and a calm breeze and warmth entered my mind. I looked to my side to see that Maya had placed it's hand on my shoulder, and it brought a calming warmth with it.

Amy then grabbed my other arm, wrapped her arms around it, and brought herself closer, "Riley doesn't want to speak to you, Kinoshita, and neither of us want your sympathy. We will not be open to ridicule by the girl who's ego and self worth issues are bigger than this room."

"Is that what you want, Riley?" Jack asked.

"Of course it's what he wants."

"Let him speak, Amy."

"I-"

"Let him speak, Amy. He has a voice of his own. Let him use it."

Everyone looked to me, and I came to an internal crux. Truth be told, I had no idea what I wanted. When I thought of those words that I said, I was sure that I meant them, but when they left my lips, I found that they meant nothing to me. Those words in that order had no meaning to me. I knew I should hate Kinoshita, and I do. At least, I'm sure I do. I think.

I decided to change the subject, and looked at Maya, to which I asked, "Why are you here? I mean, how did you get here?"

"When I detected your stress and pain readings rapidly increase, I left the house, and came here to your aid."

"Okay, well, how did you get out of the house? I thought Amy locked it."

"She did. I picked the lock."

"...You picked the lock?"

"Correct?"

"With what?"

"A knife and a hair pin."

"Oh. Okay, next question: how did you get into the school? I'm pretty sure that the Principal's started using the hall monitors as a security team ever since the peeping... incident..."

I stopped talking as I saw the hall monitors- No, scratch that- The security team limping through the hallway, their sashes ripped and ruined, and their clothes torn.

"Ah, I see", was the one and only thing I could say.

"Riley, a question of my own", began Satou as she adjusted her own glasses, "What is actually going on with this... android? Didn't you turn it down yourself on live TV?"

"It's a long story. One of which I don't have the full details of myself."

Then, the one and only Ironman himself walked through the door, and looked at the large crowd, and the whole room itself, "What the hell is going on in here? I heard something about a fight going on?"

We all looked at the imposing figure as he eyed each and every one of us (He paid special attention to Andre, for some reason). We didn't say anything. We all just stood or sat still, and made not a peep.

"All of you, principal's office, now!" bellowed the Ironman, as he stomped out, "I don't care if you all have to cram in there! Just do it!"

He left the room, and we all got up, and to our feet. As we began to walk to the door, I muttered to Satou, "Look's like I've got a hell of a tale to tell."

---

And, there's chapter one! Or episode one of season one. Holy shite, this was a beast to write, so I hope that you'll all review it.

So, yeah, in this, I've introduced a bunch of new concepts for this whole universe, like first and second wavers, and super-hearts, and galore. This chapter is mostly about world building, and me telling from a first person perspective for the first time. I'll be regularly changing between first and third person, so don't expect any narrative consistencies.

As for Riley, I've turned him from a seemingly likeable side character, to a cynical and needy main character, with his own problems and life. Id like it if ya'll readers could tell me what you think of him as a character, as I've tried my best to make him into a multidimensional character with personality and an actual story, instead of simply a one sided one.

So yeah, leave a review, like it, and all of that. Until next time, Titanmaster117 out!