The bridge was deserted, just as it had been since before Naota could remember. He got the nagging feeling that something was missing, but he dismissed it like he always did. Such was the nature of Mabase. He picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could towards the water. It disappeared below the surface with a barely audible plunk, the little remaining sound lost to the current before it reached his ears.

Kanti ambled up. His heavy, metallic step alerted Naota to the robot's presence before he could see him. Naota sighed, irritated at the intrusion. He moved closer to the riverbank, trying to keep as much distance as possible between him and Kanti.

Thinking about something?

"No, Kanti. I'm just watching the sunset. It's easiest to see from here." Naota kicked another rock into the river.

You come down here a lot.

"I know. Stop bugging me about it, will you?"

Gomen.

"Don't you 'gomen' me, Kanti. And why are you following me around all the time?" Naota's eyes narrowed.

I don't really have anything better to do, do I?

"I guess not. But couldn't you go wandering around the city or something? Following me isn't the most interesting thing you could do."

Wasn't there a girl who used to hang out around here?

Kanti plodded up and down the riverbank, as if reinforcing a shaky memory. Characters and numbers flashed across his screen, blurring with the speed of scrolling through a near-endless stream of data. Something was missing in his memory banks, he was sure of it. All he had was a sliver of data about a slightly spacey teenager who used to skip class to hang out by the river.

"I dunno. Probably some runaway or something." Naota shrugged. What he didn't remember wasn't important.

Do you remember Medical Mechanica?

"Of course I do. It moved away a few years ago after Haruko and I stopped it from taking over the universe."

There was someone else there, too. I think I lost part of my data. Or maybe my core is just malfunctioning.

"Why are you talking in my head?" asked Naota abruptly, turning around so fast he nearly fell into the river.

Well, I don't really have a mouth, do I? How else am I supposed to communicate with you?

"Good point." Naota sighed. "I hate living here. I keep forgetting things. I read back in my journal a few days ago. There's lots of stuff in there I don't remember happening. Things about Haruko. And about some girl named Mamimi. Do you think Haruko put crack in my curry while she was here?"

I highly doubt it. Haruko seemed more the type to put ecstasy in your curry.

"Thanks. That made me feel a lot better."

Naota glared at Kanti, who looked like he would have been laughing, had any external speakers been wired to him. Something uncomfortable shifted inside him, and he wondered if maybe Kanti was right. Data did seem to be missing. He tried to think of exactly how Kanti had come to live with his family…and cracks appeared in the memories.

"Kanti, I want you to start keeping a journal online," Naota instructed, quickly making his way away from the riverbank. "Put anything you remember about Haruko and that Mamimi girl into it in the first entry. Everyone forgets things here. I don't want your data to go along with everyone else's."

So you agree, I take it?

"Yeah, whatever. We should leave. It's dark."

Kanti stared expressionlessly at Naota until he was forced to turn and leave. The teenager's footsteps thudded dully on the wet ground, while Kanti's tread came light and hollow. The pair walked in silence back to the bakery, lost in their own thoughts.

The smell of dirt. Pain concentrated around the head area. Blocked vision. Voices. A sensation of leaving earth and crashing into the ground. A yellow Vespa motorbike. Bass guitar. Haruhara Haruko and Samejima Mamimi.

Naota awoke with a start, nearly falling out of his bed. His forehead struck the wooden bottom of his brother's bunk with a resounding thud that shook the frame. Tasku grunted something that sounded like a curse, but he didn't wake up.

What was he dreaming about again? Something about being hit with a motorbike. Or maybe it was a guitar. Whatever it was, it had left him.

Naota rubbed at his sore head, a strange, alien apprehension rising up inside him. Nothing happened, but he got the feeling something had before. Something having to do with Kanti's introduction to Naota's life.

Dammit. Why couldn't he just remember?

Naota sighed and looked at the clock. Just past 4am. Well, no sense in sleeping now that his mind was fully awake. He slipped out of bed and donned a pair of slippers. Stupid cold floors.

You had a bad dream?

Naota yelped in spite of himself, nearly tumbling over Kanti's crouched form. A muffled curse and a loud crash, and Naota succeeded in knocking over a chair. Tasku leapt out of bed, forgetting that he was on the top bunk. The resulting thud brought their father up. He in turn tripped over Naota and landed hard on the overturned chair.

"What's all this racket!" shouted Naota's grandfather from his room.

"Nothing!" answered Naota, his head pressed firmly against the floorboards. "I just tripped over a chair."

"Naota!" snapped Tasku, climbing shakily back into his bunk. "What the hell were you thinking, making all that noise at….4am? Jesus. I'm going back to sleep."

Naota's father left the room, but not until he gave the boys a stern lecture on how if they wanted to sneak out of the house, it was just fine. But they had to be more quiet about it. No one had noticed Kanti hiding in the corner.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" hissed the boy once his brother was asleep. "Why are you in my room at 4am talking to me?"

I'm sorry. I just thought you were thinking about those girls. The…I think her name was Mamimi, right?

"I think so." Naota rubbed his head. "Kanti, do you remember what happened to my head when Haruko showed up?"

I…my memory banks do not have the data. All I remember is that we merged. And fought evil robots. I'd like to fight robots again. But no new ones come to Mabase anymore.

"I hate living here. I feel like I'm going senile."

Naota sighed and left his room. Kanti followed close behind, making much less noise than the teenager.

"Medical Mechanica."

The alien words stung Naota's tongue as they erupted from his throat. He stopped, suddenly aware of how loud the sound had been. Something flared up inside him and was gone. What was Medical Mechanica? It seemed to have some significance. But the specific reason…he couldn't locate it.

I think we should keep better records of our pasts. This place frightens me. Losing memories means we lose a part of ourselves. Those people outside are shells. I don't want us to become like them.

Naota shivered. Kanti was right. He pulled his laptop from a shelf in the kitchen and turned it on. Time to update his journal.

I think I'm forgetting things. Kanti's losing data from his memory banks, and I can barely remember Haruko. In fact, I didn't until I read back on my other entries. This place is eating away at me. It's so strong, even a robot can't escape it. As Kanti said, those people outside are shells. I think if I stay here long enough, I'll be a shell, too. That scares me. I don't want to be a shell.

Naota clicked update, and the entry saved forever to his account. He checked for any new comments, and surprisingly, someone had actually posted one on his last entry.

You're right it read. Nothing amazing happens in that town of yours. Why do you think Mamimi left? That place is diseased. Get out while you can.

And it was signed Haruhara Haruko.

Naota felt a chill run down his spine. Haruko? Could that really be her? Most likely it was someone who was just trying to mess with his mind.

Then he caught the post-script.

Remember, Takkun. Mouth to mouth.

author's note: ello, mes amis. happy holidays to you all. sorry about the short chapters. >. im just having a bit of a rough time thinking up stuff to write. anyway, just a comment on this fic. i decided that i need to get out of doing ONLY jthm/zim-related fics. furi kuri rocks, and i was in the mood to write soemthing a little more abstract. if you can call it that. anyway, hope you enjoyed this latest installment of this fic, and do review if you feel inclined to do so.

-raven, your friendly neptunian pyro

(white ash-the pillows)