Ene drummed her fingers on the desktop, bored. It was a lazy late Monday afternoon when most people would be driving home from work.
She flipped over onto her back. "Hey master, do you love me?"
Shintaro nearly spit his drink out. "What?!"
"I said, do you love me? We've been together for so long after all. We're practically a couple already."
"I see you more like a friend or my sister," replied Shintaro, blushing.
"But do you love me?" asked Ene. This was obviously not the answer she was searching for.
"I'm going out," mumbled Shintaro. He grabbed his jersey and headed for the door.
"Wait," said Ene.
"What is it?" asked Shintaro.
"You can't do that, master."
"Why?"
"You shouldn't leave, master. It's getting late, a-and you could be robbed or worse..."
"I'll only be out for a few minutes," Shintaro reassured her.
"No!" shouted Ene.
Shintaro turned to look at her.
If Ene was a person, she would be sweating. She offered Shintaro a weak smile. "You know, I've been thinking. You leave the house too much these days. It's dangerous."
"You always make fun of me for being a shut-in and now all of a sudden you want me to stay?" Shintaro sighed and opened the bedroom door.
"I've set the burglar alarm on. If you try to leave, the police will come and I'll file a missing person report for you. Missing- Shintaro Kisaragi, 18 years old with severe early onset Alzheimers and several other brain diseases. Believes he's being chased by a super-intelligent AI. Sounds crazy to an outsider, huh?"
"E-Ene, you can't do that," Shintaro sputtered.
Ene reached out and touched the screen. "I'm doing all of this to protect you, silly. Neets should stay inside and play with their computers. Cheer up~"
"You can't keep me trapped here like some zoo animal!" spat Shintaro.
Ene's demeanor changed immediately. "I'm not keeping you trapped here. But I can and will protect you from the outside world," she paused and giggled, "You said it yourself that the 2D world is better than the "real" world."
"I didn't mean it like that! B-besides, I have things to look forward to in the real world now. I have things worth protecting," Shintaro looked down at his shoes and smiled a little.
"Like those pretty girls in the Mekakushi-dan? Like Mary? Or Kido? Or Momo?" Ene clenched her teeth.
"No! Besides, Momo is my sister!"
"I've seen the kinds of things you look at, master, you can't tell me that you wouldn't be interested."
"2D isn't real life!" replied Shintaro automatically.
"But I'm 2d!" Ene smiled at him. "So all you need is me. Forget about Mary and Momo. Let me take care of you forever."
"They'll come looking for me after a couple days," said Shintaro, "and Momo lives in this house, you can't keep her out."
"You're not going to talk to Momo anymore, are you, Master?" Ene grinned.
"Why not?" Shintaro's eyes narrowed.
"Because if you do, I'll show her and your mother your "secret files". You wouldn't want that to get out, would you master~?"
Shintaro coughed on his own spit.
"Thaat's right. Sit back down. Do you want to watch the evening news with me?"
Shintaro put his jacket back on the back of his chair and sat, elbows on the desk. He forced a smile for Ene. "That would be nice, Ene."
"I thought so~ I know you so well, Master~" Ene tapped the glass and pulled up the news.
"Let's just take it easy for a while."
It was a cold night two weeks after Ene's first outburst. The moon was full and Shintaro looked longingly out the dusty window at the city.
"Night, Master~"
"Goodnight, Ene," Shintaro turned the monitor off and rolled into his bed. He closed his eyes and counted the minutes. After drifting off and back for what he thought was about 3 hours, he sat up in bed and crept quietly to the door. Careful not to wake anyone, he avoided loud boards in the floor and stairs until he was at the front door. Freedom was within his grasp.
After he closed the front door, he took a moment to breathe in the fresh night air. The stars were beautiful. The wind was strong tonight and chilled him through his T-shirt and sweatpants.
But he reminded himself he wasn't free yet, or safe anywhere that had security cameras. He had no doubts that Ene would be searching for him soon.
He ran through the streets of the neighborhood in his house slippers. Time was of the essence. He had to get to the Mekakushi-dan hideout. They were the only ones who might be able to help him.
By the time he arrived at their front door, it must have been an hour, or at least it felt like it to his hard beating heart. He knocked on their front door frantically. Just when he had given up hope on anyone answering, the door opened.
"Shintaro? What do you want at this hour?" asked Kano.
"This is going to sound crazy," said Shintaro, "but I really need you guys' help. Ene has been holding me captive for the past several days, that's why I haven't been able to come to anything. She says it's for my own good, but I haven't done anything but stare at the monitor for days and I think I'm about to go insa-"
"Wait, wait, wait. Is this the same Ene we're talking about~?" Kano grinned at him, albeit tiredly.
"Yes, that's her, but I really really need your help. I think she's going to kill me if I don't fall in love with her."
There was a glint of what Shintaro thought was amusement in Kano's eyes. "Kido is the same way, she would kill me if I was out at 3 AM talking to other people. Girls, right? Anyway, goodnight, Shintaro. Come back in the morning if you need something." Kano started to close the door. Shintaro caught it before he could close it all the way.
"I said 'goodnight. Shintaro.'." Kano closed the door in his face.
Shintaro stood there in a daze for at least ten minutes. Where would he go now? He couldn't go home. Definitely couldn't go to an internet cafe. He didn't have the money for a hotel or motel.
He walked several blocks, dejected, and plopped himself down on a bench in a city park. Shintaro watched the cars pass in the street.
A police car pulled up to the park and a policeman stepped out. He walked up to Shintaro, sizing him up.
"Are you Shintaro Kisaragi?" said the policeman.
Shintaro nodded.
"Your mother was looking for you. Said that you were gone and that the front door was locked. She was worried you had wandered off or been kidnapped. You shouldn't make your parents worry like that," said the policeman.
"Yes sir," said Shintaro, and looked at his feet like a guilty child who'd been caught in the act.
"Do you want a ride back home? You're still in your slippers." asked the policeman. Shintaro nodded again and stood up.
On the way back to his home, Shintaro was anxious. No doubt "his mother" was Ene. Would she show Momo and his mother his personal files after all? Or something worse?
His head filled with that kind of worry, the car pulled up to Shintaro's apartment. He gulped and reluctantly undid the latch on the car door. He stepped out of the car and looked up at the full moon. This could be the last time he saw it outside for a long time.
Shintaro nodded thanks at the policeman and walked the front door. Only the upstairs lights were on.
He heard the faint sound of Ene calling his name from upstairs once he walked in the door. Anxious, he climbed the stairs as fast as he could without waking the others in the house.
"Shintaroooo..." wailed Ene. Shintaro opened the door to his room.
"Master!" Ene perked up immediately. "You're home! Thank god, I was so worried about you!"
Shintaro laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just needed to get out of the house for a little while."
"Come here, let me see you up close," instructed Ene.
Shintaro leaned in in front of the camera.
Ene gasped. "Master! Your feet are all cut up!"
Shintaro looked down at his feet. Huh. He must have scraped his heels against the concrete while he was going to the Mekakushi-dan hideout.
"It's no big deal," said Shintaro.
"No- no big deal?!" sputtered out Ene, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to leave!"
"It'll heal, Ene..."
"This is completely unacceptable, master! That's it! No phone calls or texts for 4 months. I'll disable them on your phone using the parental controls. I don't want you to talk to anybody who doesn't live in this house!"
Shintaro banged his hands on the desk. "Ene, please!"
"No buts! You said you wouldn't leave me. We're dating now, so you have to act like it. You're lucky that I didn't just send your mother and Momo your secret folders like I promised before... Or pictures of you while watching what's in your secret folders. You thought I wasn't looking, but I was. Of course, I could send them," Ene smirked, "If you don't apologize, that is."
Shintaro gulped. "I'm sorry."
"That's not good enough. Say it like you really mean it."
Shintaro got down on his knees, hissing as the back of his feet rubbed against the ground, "I'm sorry that I tried to run away. I won't do it again."
"...Oh, you know that I can't stay mad at you, master~ Come here, I'll put on some funny videos to cheer you up! We can watch cats on a treadmill if that will make you feel better."
Shintaro nodded and got up into his desk chair. "That sounds good..."
"And, master?"
"Yes, Ene?"
"Don't ever forget again that you're mine."