"I am not smart. I am not beautiful. I am not special in any way. I have no love. I give no love. No one could find it in their hearts to love such as I am. I have no hopes or dreams. My only purpose is to serve you, my master."

"Very good. Now go to your tower and think about what you have learned today."

"Yes master."

Never in my life had I been anyplace such as this. There were people everywhere, and there was so much to see! I couldn't believe this was just an ordinary day in the royal city! To a country boy such as myself this seemed like a festival! The vendors called from all sides. Some of them had objects that made me long for abundant spending money. Others made me hurry on quickly.

I gasped as the royal palace came into view above me on the floating isle of Valandor. As I leaned my head back my coppery hair feel out of my eyes revealing them to be an emerald shade of green wide with the wondrous sights offered around me like a great feast.

My corner is dark. I am cold. This is the way it's supposed to be. I must not ask for any more cloths. My white dress is fine. Must not think about how grimy and torn it is. I'm so cold... Yes I'm cold but that's good. I deserve to be cold. Master is right. I am a monster.

I waited at the port for a shuttle up to the palace. All the ships and goings on of the dock made me feel small and insignificant. A large man in overalls smeared with a smelly blackish purple liquid bumped into me making me stagger and lose my balance spilling my baggage all over the dirt rode. I tried to pick them up quickly but not before all my belongings were covered with the fine purple and green dust of the road and trampled by the bustling crowed.

"Well its not like I needed those anyway..." I sighed looking at my ruined clothing.

The shuttle arrived and I made my jostling and foot smarting way over to the launch pad. The flight attendant took my ticket and her apprentice brought me to my seat. The craft was anything but luxurious. There was room only enough for me to stow my baggage under my seat and to fold my legs underneath me as the chair in front of me was attached to the base of my own. The seats were hard metal and the shuttle itself was almost as crowded and noisy at the port.

I felt so overwhelmed by the noise that a hologram set was called into necessity. I took my set out of my bag to find sadly that it had been stepped on and was just a jumbled up pile of rock and crystal. Well their not that expensive I'll Just get a new one in the tourist center. I did have some money.

Boredom drove me into thinking about home with its rolling blue hills and soft springy turquoise grass. The large trees with branches that were great for climbing and building homes in. I missed home, but I was here on business and I would see it through.

"Oww!"

"What did I say about calling out?"

"Never show signs of weakness. Calling out in agony is weak, master."

"That's right. Even should I tear this raven hair from your head I do not want to hear another word. Don't look at me. You know I detest your eyes."

"Yes master."

"Amber is unnatural. Remember that. You are unnatural."

"Yes master."

The shuttle came to a lurching stop. I opened my eyes, I had been resting out of shear lack of anything else to do, and glanced out the window. This couldn't be right. What was all that red stuff eclipsing the view of the floating island? Was it pollution? But no, it couldn't be pollution what about all that new organic environmentally safe fuel that smelled like swark and was smeared all over one of his bags and his left side from his encounter with a mechanic down below.

"Everyone please remain calm and find your way to the emergency escape pods placed on the sides and rear of the shuttle." Pandemonium broke loose at those words. Everyone pushed and shoved in a stampede of bodies to the pods cramming them selves into them. I narrowly avoided being trampled to death like my luggage earlier by swinging myself up onto one of the overhead racks.

'Great now what?' The pods were being launched. I needed to get to one and quick. I pondered this as I looked about for any free pods. There was no way I could get to one of those in time I would be killed if I came down, but I would most likely be killed if I stayed here too...

I've been alone for a while now, but that's not unusual. Master sometimes forgets about me. My stomach calls out in hunger no matter how I wish it to stop. I wonder if stomach calling is weak as well as mouth noise?

There was no escape for me now that the last pod had been launched. I was trapped on a doomed vessel. All I could hope for was that this was a drill. I glanced back over at the window and my tan face paled in horror. The red stuff was growing and swarming closer and closer in the direction of the shuttle traffic. I leapt down from the overhead rack. I was the only person left on the craft except for the pilot who was screaming about not being able to control the shuttle and revealing her very wide vocabulary in curses. She was to distracted to notice me as I searched the ship for parachutes of some kind. The red stuff was all around now and I could see nothing else outside the window. That's when the pinging noises started like a thousand tiny rocks hitting the side of the metal vessel but as I was staring at the window I soon saw that it wasn't rocks.

Today I had a visitor. I don't like visitors because now I hurt. I guess I deserve to hurt though. Master would not be happy that someone saw me, but he would be pleased at my pain. Master says I should be pleased at my pain. So I am. I am pleased. But master also says I should never be happy. So I am not pleased, I just accept.

Tiny red metal bug-like some things were ramming into the shuttle from every direction leaving dents in the thick hull. I ran around franticly searching for something that could help. I would have taken anything! Finally after about three minutes of this I found nothing except a very large suitcase. I hid in that.

My belt cut into my stomach as I curled around myself in the very uncomfortable position that my refuge forced me to contort into. Never try to contort your body while wearing jeans. Believe me, you'll regret it. There was a lurching feeling in my stomach as the ship dropped a few feet and a loud shattering noise announced the fact that the little red buggers had broken through a window. A scream split the air from only other living being aboard and the noise of a thousand little robotical creatures swarming around the shuttle. I barely dared to breathe for fear that I would be found.

I felt the bonds at my wrists, ankles, and throat. Master says the monster was in me again and it will have to go. I'm scared. I know master says emotion is a weakness but I can't help it. The ropes chaff and my dress is gone. I'm cold and alone and scared.

She looks so pitiful there on the metal restraining table that I almost can't bring myself to do what I knew I had too. So I reach for the whip on the self a few feet away and go to work before I grow to weak from looking at her. I must retain the monster.

From inside my dark hiding place I felt the shuttle begin to move again. I knew not where and I knew not how, but it was moving.

I left the monster in her tower locking the door after me when I left and went downstairs. I walk down to my lab donning my lab coat and gloves. Where are those freaky nanobite things again? I take my eyes off them for a moment and their gone. Tricky little buggers. I put the whip down near the door and began to search for clues of data trails.

The Shuttle stopped and the sounds of swarming started again as the bug things presumably left. I was too cautious to show myself yet so I waited for a while. After what seemed like hours where I hadn't heard anything I deemed it safe to check my surroundings. Slowly I opened the lid of the trunk, or I tried to. What I hadn't expected was for it to lock automatically from the outside. "Crap." I banged against the lid with all my strength repeatedly until my arm was severely bruised and aching but I did manage to break the lid open and I rolled out blinking in the sudden blinding light. My body ached all over. Most of my joints were cramped. By suitcase was defiantly not the recommended way of travel. As my eyes started to adjust to not being in pitch darkness anymore I saw that the buggers were gone, good, but I also had no idea where I was. Finally I stood and stretched until my limbs were back to normal then left the shuttle leaving my baggage behind.

I seemed to be on the top of a tower of some castle. I heard a low muffled moan from below the stones my feet rested upon, and I could do nothing but investigate.

The nanobytes returned to me as they always do. I have no idea what they do when they go. They just leave sometimes. Well back into the containers for you little buggies.

"Ugh..." Oh how I hurt! I HURT! Tears stream down my face. Shamefull tears. I am a bad monster. Master will be angry. I hear someone outside. Who is it? I dont care... I hurt to much to care.

I found the source of the sound. A young woman was lying on the floor hidden by shadow but of what I could see of her she was the most captivatingly beautifull women I had ever seen. Her Raven hair shone in the thin line of sunlight coming through the small window. Her skin was fair but, I frownd with worry and concern, marred by shiny red welts and stained red with what I presumed to be blood. Climbing in through the window I offered her symapthy help and love. She took it and together we escaped through the window and back to the tower. I smiled trimuphantly down at her and she looked up at me. I didnt much mind her eye color. Amber was strangly beautifull on her making her all the more exotic, but what did startle me was what happened next.

Love. Its warm blanket spread around me. I didnt hurt anymore. Master would be angry. But he would also be angry for this man taking me away? Suddenly I dont care much. My pain is gone. My mind seems to be healing as well.

Something is wrong I can feel it. I leave the lab running up the stairs as fast as my old bones will carry me. I must see the monster. Something is wrong!

I am FREE!!!

I stumbled backwards as the girl leapt out of my hands. She seemed unhurt now and a slow smile played across her full red lips. Swinging her hips she teased me as she sauntered to the senter of the tower a strange amber glow eminating from her skin. I felt my heart shred and crumble to dust as the pale inocent pitiful damsil of my heart was evoloped in this glow and flung herself off the tower. But rather than fall she was lifted upwards carried strangt up into the sky so that all I could see was this glow. I heard a sound like rock being lifted out of place and pushed aside from the floor but I didnt bother to look. Whatever it was could never have torn my attention from the spectical in the sky. The glow spred and brightened untill the sky was a glorious amber rather than its normal pale lilac. Then in a sudden flash of of mettalicy light all i could see was amber.

Pain envolopes me. It envolopes everything. Everything dies. "What have you done?"