I just kept going back to sleep mode. Going back to sleep mode. Going back to sleep mode. Only to find that I still woke up in the same place. I was still in this wreckage. Trapped. Why hadn't anyone come looking for me yet? Had Enzan forgotten about me so easily? No. He wouldn't. I have been his closest friend all his life. He wouldn't just leave me to just sit here in this unless he had to. I drew in a breath and let it out. Maybe he had thought that the PET had gotten crushed in the destruction. I rested my head on my knees. The last time I had felt this helpless… Have I ever felt this helpless before?... Not that I can recall but I do remember feeling useless before.

Enzan was little then. His mother had died. He had taken to locking himself in his room after that. The sad, lonely, and maybe a little depressed look was almost too much to look at on a regular basis. It was such a heart wrenching sight. I had tried so many things to coax him out of that state. However he got annoyed or upset at my attempts to get him to leave his room, think a little happier, etc… When I had asked him whether his mother would have preferred him to enjoy his life rather than cutting himself off from the world… well that got me thrown into a desk drawer for an hour or so. Not my best idea but I had to start somewhere. When he finally pulled the PET out he admitted that she probably wouldn't have been happy about his decision. So I asked him whether he was going to come to terms with the fact that he had to move on.

Back in the drawer…

I really didn't know how to deal with kids at that time. I relied on common sense to deal with things. Facing the issue was the only way to solve it. Though while Enzan was a bright kid he was just that, a kid. Facing an issue isn't what kids want to do. That and death is hard on a child. Especially if it was their mother. Took a while for him to finally decide to bring me back out. When he did though he was silent. Figuring that I should probably apologize I did just that. Then through the whole phase I had either kept my mouth shut or offered carefully chosen words of encouragement. None of it really helped and he had basically gone through the trouble by himself.

Then there was that time I had gotten left behind when he went to a park. He came back crying and covered in dirt which I was sure if his father was there he would have gotten scolded. 'No need for tears or smiles' apparently. He sat on his bed crying and I couldn't do anything about it. Having no physical being I could do nothing to comfort him. It took a while to coax the information out of him. After all he hadn't wanted to talk about it and I didn't want to push the subject too far and anger him. That usually ended up with me thrown into the desk drawer. Apparently some larger kid had bullied him. That seemed to be the norm for a while. He'd go out and play and come back crying. He quit going much to my relief. I had started running out of things to say to him. Repeating things never had much of an impact.

So we ended up talking a lot more after he quit leaving. We really couldn't do much but talk. We'd talk, I'd fetch certain files or games for him when needed, help him with homework that probably wasn't meant for a child his age, and that was really it. Not much you can do when you have no physical form. However he started taking me along when he went places instead of leaving me in his bedroom. I stayed silent unless he specifically spoke to me as to not cause any problems or interrupt anything. It turned out that silence was usually the best way to deal with things around him. He confided in me and actually spoke of the matters that bothered him without me having to ask him for it and slowly drag it out of the kid. He was a handful that was for sure but it was worth it to see him smile when he looked at me.

On a warm summer day he had been looking out the window. The longing look was obvious in the reflection on the glass. I had just told him to go outside after a while. Nothing was going to change if he just stared at the grass and birds. He was silent for a bit and I started to think over what I had said in search of something in those words that could have possibly upset him. Yet when he turned to look at me I saw no anger or sadness. He simply questioned if I would be lonely. After assuring him that I would not be he looked back out the window for a bit before turning back to me and asking whether I'd like to see the park. I had declined the offer and he frowned before doing what kids do best and not taking no for an answer no matter what you said. In the end he took me along. The problem was the bully never actually went away. It was like the pasts previous problems had just been waiting for him. Just exactly how much trouble had I caused him over the years due to my inability to do anything?

He walked around the little playground and the grassy field and chatted happily. I listened intently like I usually did when a rather stuck up sounding voice played and made the users presence known. Enzan quickly became quiet. All lightheartedness of the situation was gone before he even turned to face the larger boy. He shrunk away from each insult. Ranging from his clothes to his hair to his lifestyle. Each cold laugh seemed to pierce right through his protective walls that I noticed him building over time. Honestly the boy reminded me of a jackal or a wolf. Searching for his new prey and hunting in a pack that was weaker than him in strength. After who knew how many comments I spoke up and told him off. Enzan seemed a bit surprised. His gaze went down to me. The boy sneered and made a few comments about him having a PET at his age and something about not being responsible enough to take care of it. A moment later he snatched the PET from him and took off with another of his cold laughs. The other boys lagged behind.

Once hidden behind one of the few trees in the park he sneered at me through the screen. I spoke calmly saying that just because his life was poor that didn't mean he had to take it out on others. He quickly dropped the cocky attitude and glared at me. He demanded what I meant so I responded with 'I mean no one likes you for acting this way. Do you think those kids follow you because they like you? They follow you because they're scared of you.' At that everything went downhill. He glared at me and argued and went through the whole denial comments and at some point in the… 'discussion' he decided that enough was enough. Shouting something about me asking for it he dropped the PET and picked up the nearest hard object. Saying I was going to be sorry he raised the item I now identified as a standard rock he regained his sneer. I sighed more worried about Enzan's reaction to my demise. I closed my eyes though no one could tell and awaited the blow.

I opened them again however when I heard said childs yell. I was surprised to find that Enzan had tackled the older boy that he had been so afraid of. However that was the only real hit he got on him. Due to Enzan being younger and much less muscled he was quickly thrown to the side and I could do nothing but watch as he was hit and shoved to the ground several times. After what had seemed like an eternity he pulled a quick escape. Snatching up the PET he took off. Shouts following him. Once safely back inside the house he fled to his room and just like last time settled on his bed covered in dirt. He was breathing heavily and I spoke a soft apology after a minute. He shook his head. A small smile graced his features as he thanked me for sticking up for him and I think that was one of the last smiles I got from him in a while. His walls were quickly built after many lessons from tutors and his fathers scoldings at emotions in general.

I sighed and pulled myself from my memories. I looked at the scrap metal prison the PET had been trapped in for days now. I reverted to sitting crosslegged. I shifted my position several times as time went by. I debated on whether I should just go back to sleep mode again. I leaned against the side of the screen and started to do just that. I quickly became alert as I heard metal being overturned and shoved to the side. He came back for me. The metal scrap that was now hardly identifiable was moved out of the way slowly. The tension almost felt like it was killing me. Three days stuck in this mess was enough for me. I wanted out. I wanted to go back to assisting my Operator. I now knew what boredom and doubt was and I didn't like it. Wham! The metal was tossed to the side.

Hope crushed.

Two dirty and poor looking teenagers stood before me. A female and a younger male. They looked to be siblings but how would I know for sure? The girl smiled a smile that put me on edge though I refused to show it. He looked to her possible brother who had gained a similar expression.

"How much do you think we can sell it for?"