What has this game done to me?
Anyways- hello! My second fanfic on the site, and I'm still writing my other fic, if any of the readers from that are here.
Basically, this my attempt at making a slightly futuristic, modern 2018 with our favorite characters helping my poor oc!
Heads up, there will be Self-HarmSuicidal ThoughtsDepressionSelf-Hatred/Negative Self-TalkFlashbacks (maybe?)Panic Attacksimplied/referenced child abuseand PTSD (Post-Traumatic Tress Disorder). It won't appear in all chapters though.
There will be no Luther or Alice, I'm sorry for that, but they don't fit on my story. :(
Cole is also alive, is a teenager attending high school, Connor is his big-brother figure (not that Connor knows that), and Gavin is not entirely an asshole in here!
Buuut! Surprise surprise, Bryan Dechart and Amelia Rose Blaire are here! Expect them in future chapters!
Enjoy!
Sunday August 26, 2018
PM 07:37:03
For the first time in her life, she was scared. This was the first time she was scared, since forever, probably even more scared than the time her parents were here (but thank goodness they weren't).
Why?
Well, she was about to buy an android.
That's right. An 'Android'. Honestly speaking, the new uprising company, CyberLife, began producing human-like plastic robots around five months ago. How they made them, she wondered, was a question she would most likely not want to know. So, ever since then, the news about them had been popping up on the internet and everywhere- almost like a trend, really. It was, after all, 2018. What could she expect?
When the first android was released, everyone had been excited and immediately started purchasing them. But, in her opinion, she had a feeling that the people mostly buying the androids were kids her age- teenagers (she was fourteen, though). Either rich kids, kids who wanted to show off, or kids who were game-addicts. Her gut was leaning more, just a little more, towards the latter. Fornite was still raising popularity, so, yeah. Gamers.
Still, as she stared up at the female android, an AX400 model, she couldn't help but be enthralled by how...human she (it?) looked. She was just beautiful. Her brown hair was tied up in a neat bun, the uniform she was wearing screamed 'android', a few faint freckles across her cheeks, and just...just human.
"Miss? Are you ready?" A gentle male voice spoke up beside her. She jumped a little, turning her head slowly to her right and felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment at being caught staring at the (her?) android. Her hand, which was nearly covered by her jacket's baggy sleeves, reached up to her head and pulled the hem of the beanie lower, in an attempt to cover her eyes.
"Uhh- yes. Yes, I am..." she answered, timidly and uncertain, stuffing her other hand inside her jacket's pocket to hide its restlessness. She probably did not succeed well because the man smiled reassuringly at her, yet his expression was unreadable.
The male employee with brown hair and green eyes had a kind smile on his face, straightening from his leaning posture to call out to her prior. "Well, have you thought of a name for her yet?" He quietly enquired, a kind smile on his lips that appeared a little more genuine than the ones she always saw him give the other customers (and she swallowed the voice in her that demanded to say "Why are you smiling at me?" to him but ignored it—).
Noticing his patient face, she nodded slowly, subtly shuffling in place. She saw him smile again in, what she could decipher, understanding amusement at her action but she couldn't figure out why. Was her shyness that obvious? Well, she couldn't help it. She was an introvert kind of girl, and hated socializing with strangers, no matter how kind they were. So, yes, she had a major social-anxiety problem. Like everybody else, right? Right (no, she wanted to be alone, she just kept telling herself that someone else out there was suffering like her so she could feel at least a little better about herself—stop.
The man, 'Danny', from his name tag, smiled at her one more time —thank goodness he didn't notice her inner turmoil— and faced the android inside the container who had her eyes closed. He neared the container and reached a hand forward, tapping something on the side of it. A second later, the almost-invisible glass shield slid open, allowing her to see the AX400 android's appearance even clearer. It was still scary, in her personal opinion, how human she (and all the other androids in the vicinity) looked. Not to forget, how almost perfect they appeared to be by appearance alone.
After he did the...whatever he did, Danny cleared his throat, gaining the android's attention as she (it?) slowly fluttered her eyes —beautiful blue and warm— and gazed up at him.
"AX400, register your name."
Seeing him turn to her look at her, she took a hesitant step forward, pushing the urge to down to shrink back when the android moved her (its?) attention to her, an unidentifiable glint in her eyes (hold on, were androids supposed to have something like that programmed in them?).
She didn't know why she decided to choose this name, but she didn't. In fact, it was her brother who, sort of, chose the name and she, maybe, liked it.
"K...Kara." She said, almost wincing at how pathetically small she sounded, almost resembling a mumble. What was she, a scared five-year old? Even most five-year olds were more fearless and braver than her. Like her brother, and he was seven.
But the android only seemed to, somewhat, smile at her, albeit just a little. "My name is Kara."
She moved back to give 'Kara' some space as the android stepped out of the container, her hands moving behind her back in an obedient manner as she stood in front of her. Her brown eyes fluttered a couple of times; noticing her LED, the round ring on the side of her temple, flicker a color yellow, before a soft smile appeared on her face.
"Hello, Crystal Frey. It is nice to meet you." She greeted pleasantly, her voice soft and gentle that Crystal unwittingly, and microscopically, relaxed her tense shoulders at the sound. How long had it been that she had really relaxed?
Crystal sent a shy, and tentative, smile at the android followed with a small wave, inwardly wanting to just hide behind a wall, like how she always felt. "H-hi, Kara..." Kara only smiled a little wider.
"Miss Frey, have you already paid?" Crystal heard Danny ask behind her, causing her attention to move to the brown-haired male with reluctance. She nodded, her platinum-blonde hair tickling her eyes as it also brushed against her cheek.
"Yes, I-I have."
Danny smiled, "Well then, you and Kara are allowed to leave now, if that's all you need."
Crystal nodded again, fiddling with the hem of her beanie, "R-right. Thank you for your help, mister Danny." And she meant it, not entirely though, but enough to show her gratitude because she didn't know what she would've done without him.
He smiled, "You're very welcome."
Sunday August 26, 2018
PM 08:07:53
After leaving the Cyberlife store, Crystal began walking in the road where it led to her home—with Kara in tow, of course. Crystal's home was, kind of, nearby, so she shyly turned down the android's request to order a taxi. Even if Kara's face was clear with confusion at why Crystal declined, she only nodded her head without question and smiled kindly (why does she smile so much at her?).
The two were walking in silence in the sidewalk, with Crystal ignoring the select few cars driving past them and lights blaring about. She subconsciously noticed how Kara was walking in-between her and the road, even if there was nearly no cars around, but thought nothing of it other than that she, and maybe the rest of the androids, were programmed to do that (at least she hoped so).
The silence wasn't that bad, either. Because it was nighttime, at eight o'clock in the evening, and the first day of school coming up tomorrow, the quietness was pleasant to Crystal. She was usually busy with plenty of stuff (like managing the house and money even if she knew a fourteen-year old like her shouldn't do something like that), so having a moment of silence for a certain period of time was, she may possibly admit, rare for her.
While Crystal was so busy with her thoughts, she didn't notice her companion's continuous glances at her, eyes darting from head to toe, and LED flashing a soft yellow before dulling back to a calm blue.
Sunday August 26, 2018
PM 08:22:03
Crystal sighed inaudibly when the sight of her home was visible, relief filling her body at the lights glowing from the inside of the windows. Her house was a normal, two-story modern house with windows as big as a door. There was a fence around it, but said fence that was tall as a tree was covered from up to bottom with thick bushes, practically not visible to anyone unless they inspect closer. In the center of the bush-covered fence was a gate, clear in the finest silver polish.
Crystal looked over her shoulder at the android a few steps behind her and smiled slightly, "We're home... I guess," she uttered timidly, immediately moving her gaze away from the AX400. If she looked back, however, the blue-eyed android was smiling at the platinum-haired girl.
"Of course. I will install the location of your home in my software for future preferences." Kara stated, but stopped shortly when her owner looked sharply at her, blue-gray eyes furrowed in confusion but intensity within its depths.
"It's not my home, Kara." Before the android could correct that it was indeed Crystal's home, the fourteen-year old beat her to it. "It's your home as well, therefore our home." Crystal paused, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "You are going to start living with us, after all."
Kara looked as if something shot through her. That made Crystal panic and before she could try to explain herself (why the heck did she say that it was their home?! Kara was an android for crying out loud but that doesn't stop empathy from taking over Crystal-), Kara intervened, a soft, graceful smile on her face. "Of course, Crystal, you're right."
Crystal closed her mouth shut, blue-gray eyes wide in incredulity. What the—did she just panic over nothing? She felt herself sigh inside her head; she really needed to stop fretting over something so simple.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what do you mean by 'us'?" Kara spoke up again a moment later, a questioning glint in her eyes. The platinum-blonde blinked, confused, before realization dawned to her at what Kara meant when she thought back to the last sentence she had said.
"Oh... R-right, uhh..." she stumbled with her words, face flushing up and mentally slapped herself in the face at forgetting to inform the android she had someone else at home with her. "I have- I mean my brother is l-living with me. His name is Con. Short for 'Conbalt', actually."
Kara had a dubious look in her face—if androids could even express anything, that is. "'Conbalt'?" she repeated in obvious curiosity.
Crystal's pale cheeks no longer held a red color, but rather a pink one instead. A small smile appeared on her lips, finally smiling for the first time, and a twinkle in her blue-gray eyes. "Yeah, I know, it almost sounds like cobalt- the color. But," she paused, a small hum passing through her smiling lips, "I think if you meet him, you'll definitely see why."
Kara blinked again, but smiled softly at the girl, an unknown glint dancing in her blue eyes. "Maybe I will." Crystal stopped at that, her eyes gazing up at the android with clear surprise. Kara sounded a little...teasing. Could androids...do that? Her smile was also different, too...
Maybe she should stop thinking about this for now. She had a baby brother to come home to, after all.
Kara lingered behind her owner as the girl manually pushed the door open. She inspected as Crystal took a step inside, a tranquil look surfacing on her face that seemed so different from the one she saw when interacting with the man (Danny, was it?) earlier today. She briefly pondered why, but later knew it wasn't in her place to think about. Then again, just because she wasn't supposed to think about it doesn't mean she can't think about it.
Why was she preoccupied about this, anyway? No, it's because she was designed to care for her owner's well-being, so it was acceptable for her to contemplate like that even if machines were not supposed to.
...Right?
Software Instability
Software instability? Perhaps she should run a self-analysis since that never happened before. When she had free-time, that is.
"Conbalt?" Kara's attention was brought back to reality when her new owner's voice rose up, calling out to her 'brother' from somewhere in the almost-mansion house. "Con, are you still in the living room again?"
Kara overheard a 'thud' echo from farther in the rooms, then a young, childish voice following afterwards. "Cry?! Are you back from shopping?!" 'Conbalt', Kara supposed, inquired as footsteps began nearing towards where they were. And the name 'Cry' was probably a nickname for Crystal. Somehow, she found it endearing.
The android noticed her owner huffing, a playful grin lifting on the edge of her lips no matter how incredibly small it was. "Con, did you already forget what I was supposed to 'buy'?"
The footsteps halted, "Um... No?" the boy sounded so unsure and his answer was equally unsure. Somehow, Kara restrained a different type of smile that was begging to twitch up on her lips. Amusement? No, that's not right. Machines didn't feel.
Software Instability
Crystal muffled a laugh behind her sleeve-covered hand, her eyes practically sparkling in...glee? Kara presumed that was the right emotion she could think of in the platinum-blonde's eyes. Eyes that was the color of the sea but with a hue of icy-gray that mixed a mesmerizing color, and a clear window that was the only passageway to reveal her owner's closed-in nature. And how her ice-blue orbs sparkle with life, something Kara was sure she, herself, didn't have-...
...What?
"Con, someone's going to be taking care of you when I'm at school." Crystal reminded, her smile fully genuine in a long time that even Kara was frozen in place, her eyes widening at the sight displayed in front of her and the feeling of her core fluttering with warmth.
Software Instability
Silence made itself known in the whole room, before the footsteps sounded similar of someone running.
"Wait- you mean you brought an android home?!"
Barely a second later, a boy appeared on the left side of the entrance room, and Kara took her time examining the boy, and also comparing him with her owner (even though Crystal's brother might also be her owner, but that was a different case). He was, possibly, around the ages of seven and nine. He had short and thick, raven-colored hair that surprised Kara because of how different he looked compared to Crystal, who had platinum-blonde hair that nearly looked white if sunlight hits, and because of how uncommon black hair was. His skin complexion was a healthy peach, while Crystal was somewhat pale (in Kara's mind, the kind of pale that was bordering on unhealthy and not because Crystal, probably, doesn't go outdoors all the time because it was nearly winter, she was sure of that).
But what captured Kara's attention was the boy's eyes; cobalt. Now she understood what Crystal meant. Her little brother was named 'Conbalt' with an 'n' because of his eyes, a dark, clear color of cobalt with a tint of a lighter blue in the iris.
Kara then realized how the two siblings were such polar opposites by appearance alone. Crystal was graceful in all colors, and Cobalt was shadowy. Crystal's light blue eyes mixed with a light, icy-gray held a hidden undercurrent of something dark and unidentified, while, even if she had just seen and met him, Conbalt's dark-blue cobalt eyes held a visible flicker of light and innocence.
Now she wondered if their personalities were also different.
The boy gasped in surprise, but his eyes shone with happiness and the gadget in his hands was momentarily forgotten. "No way- you really brought home an android!" He exclaimed in disbelief, blinking his eyes over and over again as if Kara was only an illusion that would disappear if he blinked, but smiled so wide that what he was feeling was literally reaching his eyes.
"Hello," Kara smiled kindly at the boy, who was approaching her and his sister, and crouched on the ground to stare eye-to-eye once he was just a few feet away from her, "you must be Conbalt. Your sister told me about you," she paused shortly, noticing the boy listening with surprising patience and glancing at his sister from time-to-time, and her smile widened slightly, "and also told me that you were the one who chose the name for me. 'Kara'."
Conbalt grinned, almost showing his pearly-white teeth, before freezing up, as if realizing something and his cheeks darkened slightly. His dark eyes moved to the ground, somewhat avoiding the android's gaze. "Do you... Do you like the name?" he asked hesitantly, voice small and shy that in that moment, Kara was reminded of Crystal's own shyness. They really were siblings, even if Conbalt was really lively and expressive in a span of few minutes of Kara meeting him.
The brunette smiled, almost a grin, and was almost awed by the boy. "Yes. Yes, I do. It's a really nice name. Thank you for that." that probably was the right thing to say as the raven-haired boy grinned even wider with delight and relief.
"You're welcome!" he chirped childishly.
The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped their attention to the third-party. Kara could see that Crystal was holding back a smile, but remained expressionless, almost a pouty face. "I get that we should make Kara feel welcomed at home, but you forgot about me, Conny." Her tone sounded sad, but it was obvious to both Kara and Conbalt that she was faking it.
But even if the blond was faking it, Conbalt seemed to kind of believe it as he gasped, dark eyes widening. "I'm soooo sorry, sis! I didn't mean to!" he cried out, throwing himself onto his sister and wrapped his small arms tightly around her waist, eyes shut closed. Kara almost forgot to mention that Conbalt only reached her below her chest, and Crystal's height reached Kara's shoulders.
Crystal laughed openly, soft and lighthearted, and Kara was completely in amazement at the sound. It was like music to her ears, and she subconsciously wanted to hear more of it in the future, and how she could trigger that same laugh again.
Software Instability
"Oh, Conny, I was only kidding." Crystal smiled, almost reaching her eyes, but not quite, as she patted his hair gently. The boy peered up at his sister with confused eyes as, his frown bordering on a pout. "Really?"
"Really."
Conbalt was positively beaming and hugged his sister tighter, burying his face in his sister's chest while the blond placed a chaste kiss on his forehead that was covered with his hair.
As Kara was staring at the two siblings having a moment, she felt something whirling in her core, something that caused her lips to tug down faintly. She felt something stinging in her mind, a feeling of...loneliness. She knew she shouldn't feel like this, but she couldn't help it. The urge was reaching out to the siblings, almost as if she wanted to know the feeling of being hugged, and remove the odd, cold feeling that settled in her stomach (even if she knew she didn't have a stomach).
But as she thought this, Crystal's eyes caught Kara's gaze, confusion and puzzlement in her orbs, before something unreadable took over as she smiled lopsidedly at the android, something like warmth in her expression. "Kara, what are you doing standing there? Don't you want to join us?"
Kara was taken aback, eyes widening just slightly as she stood up, arms raised in dismissal. "No," the word sounded uncertain, even to Kara's ears, "no, I... I would just be interrupting the two of you."
Cobalt moved his head away from his sister's chest and stared at the android, a big smile on his face and eyes sparkling. "No you won't! Come on, Kara! You're part of our family from now on, right?"
The AX400 model blinked slowly, evidently reluctant to comply, "Are... Are you sure?"
Crystal rolled her eyes (Kara felt like that was a very uncharacteristic thing to do for the blond, but she liked how slightly expressive her owner currently was), and, totally unexpected to the android, wrapped her pale hands around Kara's wrist and pulled her forward.
Kara didn't have time to react as she instinctively placed her hands on the siblings, one hand on Crystal's back and the other on Conbalt's shoulder, and the said siblings wrapping their arms around the newcomer in the hug. Kara stopped, feeling tentative, but slowly, and surely, returned the hug back. When she hugged back, the Frey siblings were happy with the result and hugged the android tighter, more so with Conbalt than Crystal as she only hugged lightly but with enough force to keep Kara in place in case she ran away (not like Kara would, however).
Somehow, Kara had a feeling that living with these two would be...different. In a good way! Because how else could she explain the warm feeling in her chest that felt like it was about to burst from something giddy and her smile that felt more sincere?
Nevertheless, she would be happy to serve the two with the best of her abilities.
Software Instability
Hope you liked it! I'll try to make the chapters longer because I don't always like it when I write 3-4k words. It doesn't suit my taste when I write it.
:D