Chapter 2: Questions

I woke up to the sounds of a busy city and the sight of a beautiful girl standing beside me. My body ached all over from god knows what, and the hard floor I slept on didn't help. I looked around and saw that we were in what looked like an old abandoned apartment. The walls were considerably dirty and the room was a mess, it stunk like a rat's restroom and looked like a breeding place for pests.

"You're awake," Athena spoke up as she kneeled next to me. She saw me wince as I sat up and helped me stand up.

Stretching was torture, and I honestly haven't felt this shitty since the last time I exercised. I brushed whatever dirt was left on me from yesterday and thanked god that no bugs decided to make me their home.

"Why are we here?" I asked the little girl in front of me. Except she's not really a kid,is she? She's a robot designed to look like a kid. Whose idea was that I wonder; manufacturing a robot that looks like an incredibly pretty, adorable, and absolutely stunning…

"Are you alright?" Athena waved her hand in front of my face, looking worried. I must've been staring at her for longer than I thought. "Did you receive any head trauma whatsoever?"

"I'm fine," I replied with a smile, patting her head which made her look even more confused. It was honestly so cute that for a moment I could feel my aching body feeling light. I don't know if it annoyed her but she suddenly took my wrist and stopped the patting. I gave her a 'what the heck' look and she just gave it back.

"We should move out as soon as possible," She said after giving me breakfast(which was a twinky and a loaf of bread, god knows where she got that) , "Eat up. Nix's men must be looking for us, although the randomized coordinates should give us a head start."

Speaking of which, where were we?

I walked towards a closed window and cringed at the amount of dust on it. I decided to leave it alone and just ask her where we were.

"Los Angeles," she spoke as we walked out of the door to an empty hallway. The building we were in looked abandoned from inside, and yet you can feel the presence of the tenants in other rooms. I could hear the song "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" blaring through the walls of one of the rooms.

Wake me up before you go-go

'Cause I'm not plannin' on going solo

We walked towards the back alley exit to a bright sunny day, children playing in nearby parks. The city was bustling and all the radios and TVs were all about the upcoming Summer Olympics.

Wake me up before you go-go

Take me dancing tonight

"Wait," I realized how strange the world around me felt. It was like being in a surreal dream, where everything looks real but the small details feel a little off. The people wore clothing that felt dated and I could see no gadget that I was used to. My brain was set to 2015, and even with limited memories I knew the lifestyle that should entail. "What's going on, what year is it?"

"1984," the robot girl next to me replied nonchalantly, walking with a pace like she knew where she was headed. "Is there a problem?"

"Kinda," I replied, weirded out by what's going on but still enjoying the scenery. I've never been to Los Angeles before nor have I been to the year 1984 neither, so it was truly a lot to take in. "My most recent memory before meeting you… well, I'm pretty sure the year was 2015."

She just looked at me, gauging me, perhaps checking if I was lying. Her eyes, for a robot, were not the kind of dead, soulless eyes you were made to expect. In fact, they were so full of life, of emotions that I felt as If instead of being a fake child, she was an improved version of one.

Or maybe that was just me?

"You're full of unknowns, Oscar Chase," she replied, looking back at the road. We were in the middle of the city now. Skyscrapers and buildings loomed above us, while I wondered how old my parents would be by this time. "Do you remember what happened before you blacked out yesterday?"

"I wanted to fight," I said, looking up and squinting at the sky, "I felt…powerful, and then my brain just kind of turned off."

"You were harnessing a strange energy," she continued like she wasn't expecting my reply, "You tore a combat droid apart without a sweat."

I looked at her like that was the first weird thing that had happened to me. My brain was having a hard time digesting all this I felt almost numb to the weirdness, and yet…

Me? Powers?

My brain was whispering the word nexus to me like I was supposed to know what it meant. It clearly had something to do with what's going on, but it's not like I could simply put all those information together.

I sat down by the side walk and tried to collect myself.

One at a time, I whispered in my head, One step at a time. If I was going to solve what's going on, I had to take it slow. We'll get through this, tidbit by tidbit. I sat there breathing calmly for almost half an hour, but I don't know if it had been longer than that.

I looked up to see that some people were staring at me as they walk by, some are even dropping loose change by my feet. I wanted to smile at the situation I found myself in when I noticed…

Athena was nowhere to be found.

I walked back to the spot where I left Oscar Chase to find that he had run off. I had specifically told him to wait for me there while I scouted a potential recruit and drop a pin in her pocket.

It was possible that Nix's agents have already found him and caused him to run off, or he could've simply gotten lost. Worst case scenario was that they took him, which was very unlikely since they don't even know who he is and they should be after me.

My thought processes were cut off as I noticed a black Bentley Eight driving around the corner. All its passengers looked like businessmen with their suits and ties, and yet something about them seems off. There's a very high chance that these are animatronics sent by Nix to look for me, so I turned away as quickly as I could and started walking casually to look for Oscar Chase.

Did they notice me? It doesn't seem too likely with the way they were still driving nonchalantly around.

I saw someone that looked like Oscar Chase by my peripherals and walked towards him. Meanwhile, the suspicious vehicle had parked by a sidewalk and the passengers were starting to walk out.

They must have already noticed me, in retrospect I should have probably changed clothes since I was still wearing the dress Nix last saw me in.

I started walking faster and tried not to look too obvious, the person that looked like Oscar Chase was not him and I had to turn a corner to keep looking.

I had to disappear and blend in, and I have to do it fast.

I turned round a building, and checked if I was out of their vision. Maybe I could run for it and lose them in this crowd.

And then I saw him.

I couldn't find Athena anywhere, dammit I just know she was still there before I started moping by the sidewalk. Maybe I should've just stayed and waited where I was instead of running off to look for her, she's a clever bot and for all we know she just scouted the area and had already come back for me.

But no, my stupid brain wanted me to look for her. Here, in this strange foreign city from a different time.

You'd make a perfect dad, I scolded myself, Losing a little girl in the first half hour in the city.

Yeah, but she's a robot girl, isn't she? And a smart one at that. It's not her you should worry about, after all the one with a lot of mysterious bullshit surrounding them is you.

She said I was harnessing energy in my body? And the fact that I may have time travelled to wherever Athena was before I lost my memory?

Seriously, what the hell.

I jumped in surprise as I felt something small but strong grab my arm. I let out the ultimate sigh of relief as I saw that it was Athena that grabbed me.

"Where in the bloody world did you go?" She whispered, holding onto my arm like a sweet kid. From an outsider's point of view, we'd look like Father and Daughter indeed. Though I'd much rather prefer if we looked like a couple.

"You left me," I whispered in reply, wondering why we had to be so stealthy, "I was looking for you."

"I gave you very clear instructions to wait for me," She hissed, snuck a look behind us and started walking faster. "Now they're onto me again and I lost track of my recruit."

I looked back and saw what looked like business men in black suit and tie walking casually toward us. After all the movies I've seen, I just know for a damn fact that these people are definitely after us.

They saw me looking and started to run at us, a hand inside their suits like they were about to take out their guns. That's some Hollywood shit right there.

"Run," Athena said, pulling me with her.

Well this was a nice way to start the day.

We started running as fast as we could, and to my surprise Oscar Chase was able to keep up with me. At first glance, his body looked very average and didn't seem like he was built for stamina. To be honest my first impression of him was that he was a couch potato that somehow managed to not become obese or too overweight.

"Why are they after us again?" Oscar Chase spoke through bits of panting. We had run into some kind of park and made sure we were near plenty of civilians to prevent Nix's agents from using their weapons.

"'Cause they want to take me back and disassemble me," I replied, looking for our best exit strategy, "Also they don't want me to recruit any more potential bright minds."

"Can't we fight back?" He asked, looking back every now and then, "I mean you've got to have some moves right?"

"Too many civilians!" I shouted at him, not having the guts to say that we are currently outnumbered and even with my 'moves' we were still at a disadvantage. I saw some kind of parade marching through the middle of the park, "Over there! We could lose them in the crowd."

We ran straight for the mass of people and hoped that we could slip out with no problems whatsoever.

"Well," I tried to speak while panting, I put my hand on the wall in the alley we hid in and leaned, "That's enough exercise for a day."

"Agreed." Athena replied, barely looking fazed, "We should lay low, no, even lower…"

She held the hem of her dress and we both noticed how dirty our clothes were.

"We need a change of clothes," we both said at the same time.

Keeping as stealthy as possible, we managed to make it to a nearby department store without any incidence. We were looking at the bargain area when a saleslady came up to assist us.

"Thanks, miss, we're good," Athena smiled sweetly at the lady, "Say, have you ever thought about doing something…more?"

Basically, I just stood there looking for clothes while Athena started talking to the lady like she was some kind of chosen one who was destined for greatness. Athena went on and on about having the lady check her pocket, and something about a promise for a better tomorrow, something the lady can supposedly help achieve.

"What was that about?" I asked as we went to the changing room. I almost screamed when Athena entered mine and didn't look like she was leaving. I kinda like where this is going, to be honest.

"I was trying to recruit her," she replied nonchalantly. She had picked what looked like white long sleeves, red pants and suspenders, and saw me eyeing her suspiciously, "What? This is trendy."

"You're in my changing room."

"Last time I left you alone you disappeared on me."

"So you do care about me," I grinned as I tried on a striped turtleneck and denims. Ugh, I hate that constricting feeling, plus this outfit makes me look like a sex offender. I took it off and tried on a simple v-neck instead (even though it had contrasting color designs which bugged me). "I thought I was just a stowaway in your mission."

"You're a wild card, Oscar Chase," Athena started taking her clothes off, and I honestly considered looking away. Then again, she doesn't seem to care much about modesty so I decided to enjoy the show, "You're looking bothered again."

"This is a good kind of bothered," I said, feeling my cheeks burn up. By this time she had shed off the dress and was standing in nothing but her underwear. For a robot, her body really looks like a kid's and her skin feels so real. I couldn't help but touch her as she stood half-naked in front of me. "Look, I should tell you at least the only thing I'm sure about myself right now."

"Which would be?" She asked as my hand grazed the smooth skin on her chest (no not THAT part of her chest,more like where her cleavage would be if she had any boobs). She noticed my hand linger, and she took it in hers, "Are you…by any chance…"

"I think I may be infatuated with you," I struggled to say and tried to use words she'll understand.

"Oh." Was all she said, but before I could explain further we heard other people coming and had to rush with putting our clothes on before someone sees us and gets the wrong idea. "Nevermind, we have other things to worry about right now."

"So…" Oscar Chase mumbled next to me as we walked back to our 'apartment'. He'd been quiet since our conversation in the changing room and I honestly am a little shaken that he considers himself infatuated with me. "About what I said…"

Why would someone even become infatuated with a robot. Plus, I was designed to look like a female child, making me too young to be of interest to-

Unless…

"Just to clarify," I spoke up as we got to our door, "Do you like me because I look like a little girl?"

"Well…" He struggled to speak, like a guilty suspect in court, "It was…definitely a factor."

"By definition then," I spoke, crossing my arms, "You are a pedophile."

"WHAT?!" Oscar Chase reeled from that statement, "Well, it depends on your definition actually. If describing me as a pedophile makes me synonymous to a child rapist or molester, then I'm not a pedophile."

"Hmm," I dug up my database for the official definition of the word, "The official definition states that pedophile is a term for someone who has a sexual preference towards children."

"And do you see me making any sexual advances toward you?" He asked with a grin.

"Not really," I replied, remembering the way he touched my chest a while ago. I wouldn't consider it sexual but it was definitely not regular human behavior. Oscar Chase looked worried when he saw me with my hand on my chest, "Regardless of what you may be defined as, you're feelings for me are still unnecessary. I am an audio animatronic, a robot… I cannot reciprocate-"

He patted my head, just like this morning, and somehow that cut me off. There was something with the way he did it, the simplicity perhaps, that was a little…surprising.

"I get it," he continued after sitting by the window, his eyes looking at the horizon. "You're just a robot, so you can't possibly like me back or so, right?"

I nodded.

"Then how about that guy you watched as he was exiled," He spoke quietly, gently, "Frank Walker, was it?"

I nodded again. How he knew his name was an issue for another time.

"Don't you have feelings for him?"

The night was awkward to say the least. After the talk we had about feelings and sexuality and what not, we didn't seem to have talked about anything else for the rest of the day. I had found an old but still working radio in the room, and used it to get updates with the news (even though it wasn't exactly 'new').

I don't know how, but I knew about Frank Walker, and how Athena felt about him. There was another name my brain keeps pushing at me, casey newton, but I can't figure out who that is yet. Nonetheless, even Athena didn't know if she had actual feelings for Frank.

Heck, love's complicated, even for robots.

I laid on the floor with my eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling like it could answer all my questions. Athena had undergone a temporary shutdown beside me, which I think is basically robot sleep.

I looked at her with the longing of…whatever I was, and yet I had these protective, paternal feelings as well. I wanted her so bad, and I also want to protect her, to keep her safe.

To save her.

Becausedeepinsideyouknowdontyou?onceshemeetscaseyandfrankshesasgoodasdead

I put an arm over my eyes and tried to shut my brain out. The noise in my head was too loud it was giving me a migraine.

Spoiler alert, my brain teases me, She dies and there's nothing you can do about it.

I stood up, walking around the room in hopes it would calm me down.

You're not powerful enough.

You're just a fragment.

You don't even belong here.

"ENOUGH!" I screamed and felt my insides burning up.

I look at my hands and see my veins glowing white through my skin. It was painfully bright, but it didn't hurt at all.

I raise my hand up, feeling the energy flowing through my veins.

What is this?

Is this what she was talking about?

What else would it be? Shut up.

Do you remember yet,Nexus Fragment? Shut the fuck up.

So much power, and this is all you're left with. You're just a walking nuclear reacto-

"SHUT UP!" I roared at myself and the glowing grew brighter

and brighter

and brighter

I'm going to explode aren't I?

This is it, this is how my story ends. No questions answered, and dead before I could even properly explain my feelings to the girl I'm with. We're both gonna be dead, and I'm bringing tons of people with me when I die.

I could feel it, the energy welling up. That burning desire to just go boom, like the rage you could feel when you just want shout at someone and throw a tantrum. You know it was a bad feeling, but it would feel so good to just let it out. All I had to do was let it all out, just…explode.

And then, something hit the back of my head. I fell to my knees as my brain shut down.

Athena was the last thing I saw as the world spun around me and my vision faded out.