if there was anything i could say about robin, it would be that he fascinated me.

i did not understand him.

why does he act the way he does?

despite knowing him for five months, i still do not have the answer.

all of those eighty-one people who worked with me never cared so much about what i was feeling.

and yet...

"hey, source," robin said to me, "what's that thingamabob?"

i glanced at it. it was a small indentation in the wall of water.

"i used to live there," i said.

he turned to me, confused. "you lived in that?"

"you forget that i used to be a part of this world."

he stared at me for a moment. "yeah, right... how did over venture find you?"

i shrugged. "i do not know for sure. devries and needham found rift between my dimension and yours. they put in machine and took me, for i was most humanoid in entire world."

us two walked along the area, reacquainting ourselves with the land.

he nodded. "so they took you. but still, even if you were the most "humanoid," you still aren't human. how'd they teach you?"

he skipped over a river of words, the curl of a letter attempting to wrap around his ankle.

i shrug again. "normal techniques. they would make me use what knowledge i had to figure stuff on my own. they would use force to keep me in line."

robin paused.

"force?" he asked quietly.

i didn't notice how pale he became.

"they were trying to see what affected me. electricity, light, dark, colors, temperature, weapons..."

i did not see robin's clenched fist.

"they liked bullets," i said innocently, undisturbed.

"source," robin said gently.

i tensed. his voice was soft, too soft, too careful. robin was supposed to be pissed at me for keeping him in my world, even if i could not control what happened. even though i was just as stuck here as he was.

"something the matter, robin?" i said, but i didn't want him to say anything. did i say something wrong? was he not happy with me? i tried so hard to make him happier...

"source, what they did... that wasn't normal. that wasn't right of them."

my mind drew a blank. "i'm sorry, but i do not understand," i said. "they were scientists. all they were doing was trying to make things make more sense for the human mind to comprehend. to learn more about their world and mine."

robin shakily took in a deep breath. "source," he started again, his bangs covering his eyes. "source, that's not-"

"i do not understand what the problem is," i said. "someone has to lose for another to win. and i already knew that I would come out on top in the end."

robin was very quiet. after a long moment of silence, he spoke. "not all humans are like that."

i walked past him, trying to ignore the frustration that built within me. "i think you are mistaken, robin. i would think that most humans are unlike you."

he didn't seem to acknowledge my compliment, not as he usually did, anyway.

"source, if someone had known-"

"i had it happen to me for seven years. i am sure that someone other than the eighty-one people assigned to working with me knew."

robin looked like he got slapped in the face.

"i..." he paused. "source, i'm so sorry-"

"stop apologizing," i said. "it was not your fault. and they were merely doing what they thought was right. i fooled them, just like they treated me like any other human would, and then i destroyed them. some physically. others mentally. some psychologically." robin looked even more hurt, if that was even possible. "i am the one you should be mad at. i'm the one who's a murderer. i'm the one planning to do things that seem malicious to save humanity. i'm the one keeping you here, stuck and all alone without your precious little friend-"

i stopped myself before i got too carried away.

"you lied... about that last part."

i was quick to face him. "how?"

he looked at me with such pity for an eleven-year-old. "you aren't forcing me to be here. you're just as stuck here as i am."

"you seem confident of yourself," i replied.

"well, if you could leave, you would have already gone to save humanity, wouldn't you?"

he was absolutely, positively, one hundred percent correct, and i hated it, hated it, hated it.

he sighed, a small sound that barely reached my ears. "source, you're not the bad guy."

i wished i could hit him, because he's wrong, he's wrong, he doesn't understand-

robin grabbed my hand, my hand that was aisha devries'.

"source, you're not."

i remained silent, because it was so easy, and i didn't want to look up to see his disappointment.

he was so gentle as he lead me to the small indentation in the vertical pond.

"this is where you lived?"

i nodded numbly as he touched the small exoskeletal layer that used to be my bubble of safety.

"was it nice?"

i realized, somewhere in the back of my mind, that he was trying to change the subject.

"homey," i replied, remembering the word from one of the scientists that tested on me.

i was the bad guy. i was the one who took away those desperate humans' only success. they could have finally gotten their wish - a family, a home, a friend - but i took it away, it was me, it was all me...

"source, you're not human, but you try to act like one. why?"

"because all humans are evil," i said. "it's easier to be a bad guy when the species you're acting as is not good."

i looked to the small boy beside me and placed a hand on his head. he flinched, but didn't move. "except for you, little black sheep."

he blinked, a small smile coming to his face. "black sheep, huh?"

"you are the only good human."

he laughed and shook his head. "yeah, sure." his smile turned sad, which i did not want to see. "source, what do you really look like? other than the blob of light you were back in the over venture lab."

i looked at him, tilting my head to the side. "humans did not like that form," i said, not wanting to scare him.

he chuckled. "you mean evil humans," he said. "i'm the little black sheep, remember?"

i did not say anything for a really long time. finally, i closed my eyes and felt my skin shimmer. i did not open them.

"man, you're super creepy."

i opened my eyes, expecting to see robin backing away from me, but he was standing right by my side. he was grinning, his entire face as bright as a christmas tree.

"in a good way, of course," he added.

i didn't really understand how he could say that nonchalantly. how could one be creepy in a good way? when i commented on it, he merely laughed.

"maybe you'll find out one of these days," he said.

"maybe," i said, not believing him.

he grabbed one of my arms with a tiny hand. compared to me, he was so, so small - i felt the urge to pick him up and have him ride on my back.

he tugged me forward, running on his two legs - one not functioning nearly as well as the other. he looked a little odd, for his newer leg was bare of his little red and black suit. but i was just as odd-looking, and it was just the two of us, none of the evil humans here to judge.

we turned our backs on the place i used to call home, on what i used to be, and i couldn't help but smile, for the little black sheep that fascinated me was perfectly fine with who i was now.


Gosh, this is so crappy. It's cringey. It's awful. Ugh. My fluff is no gooood.

Whatever. I dun care. Also, I had this published on Wattpad but totally forgot to update it here. *facepalms*