'You would not believe your eyes, if ten million fireflies'
'lit up the world as I fell asleep, cause they fill the open air'
'and leave teardrops everywhere, you'd think me rude but I'd just stand downstairs'
Chapter 5) Aelita No Harm Done Yet Done
(Jeremy's PoV)
They all left the base slowly, with Jeremy closing the door and asking them, until he and Aelita returned to restore the power grid, to not go back inside or touch any of the technology contained within. At first the Mayor was going to ask, but out of respect and understanding his deeper meaning, she accepted and told the crews to do as he wished and leave it be, instructing security to keep everyone out as usual.
Once outside Jeremy resumed his disguise to prevent the public from recognizing him or being able to identify him, but this proved 'harder' because he was carrying Aelita, who was about as inconspicuous as a block of ice in the desert. Her glass sphere stood out and her colorful lights brightened up the area around her.
The officers had left, receiving dispatch orders to return to HQ now that they had communications back up. As for the medical staff, once they checked over Jeremy and made sure he was 'alright', they too left and returned in their ambulance.
By the time they had returned to the surface it had gotten dark, and because Aelita had ceased her broadcast attempting to reach Jeremy, the city had returned to normal. However, not before her many 'songs' she had sung had gotten out. She changed her holographic image to show him that, of the fifty seven songs she had sun to get his attention, most if not all of Zootopia had heard them and at least 'half' of them had been downloaded into mammal's phones and computers and were now spreading across their version of the internet.
As they left some of the Mayor's security had informed her of the situation and officials were on her line the moment she had left the base, explaining the situation to her and demanding answers. This was what they were talking about now before they parted ways.
"This whole mess with your little friend has caused a massive problem for me, and now I have to sort it out." She explained tiredly to them. "I know it wasn't her intent, but thanks to the ruckus she caused I have dozens of officials on my tail and companies demanding to know what is going on. I'm afraid I need to ask you to lay low until things have settled down enough for me to introduce you and your friend to the public."
He nodded in understanding but Aelita, realizing the chaos she had caused with her call was looking depressed.
"It wasn't your fault Aelita, you just were trying to call for help." He said warmly, causing her to smile and nod in gratitude.
"Yes, it wasn't, but for now you need to go into hiding… which brings up the issue of 'where' to put you." She said thoughtfully. "It's too short notice to find you a small apartment or home to hide you in, and I don't want to take the risk of the public learning of you accidentally before they're ready to hear about you. I have a LOT of explaining to do and answers to come up with before I tell them about you two. If they learn that a human, a species thought that doesn't exist, suddenly 'appears' with an AI that is capable of taking over our city's communications network at the drop of a hat… there'll be panic in the streets and mobs wanting your head. The fact your base just appeared out of nowhere is crazy enough the public is just starting to get used to it, but now all this happens and… ugh I need a drink."
"So… where do 'we' go?" He asked her nervously. "Aelita and I don't want to return to the base just after we agreed to leave it. She wants to see the world, and she doesn't want to go back now that she's out at last."
The AI nodded in agreement.
"She's been in that base her whole life, and unlike me who was able to sleep through it, she's been aware of it the entire time…"
"Yes, I know, but I just can't think of somewhere for you besides maybe a hotel and just… lock the door… twenty-four seven… with no contact…" She muttered as she watched Aelita frowning at her words. "Yea bad idea…"
"Why not live with me?" Gazelle asked suddenly.
They all turned to Gazelle looking at them with a warm smile.
"You, 'you' miss Gazelle, are you sure about that?" Lioness asked. "I mean… considering your status and… your line of work and… are you sure you want… 'them' living with you?"
The way she said 'them' made him feel slightly hurt, he knew that he wasn't the shining example of humanity like Aelita was, and all day he was asking them to end his life and even tried to stay underground for what was 'left' of his life… but still, he wasn't a rabid animal that needed to be watched carefully.
Aelita on the other hand clearly didn't like being addressed as a 'them', and let her frustration show by turning away and crossing her arms in a 'hmpf!' expression.
Fortunately, Gazelle caught on to them, and unlike him and Aelita kept her warm exterior as she replied. "Mayor Lioness, my home has very good security to keep out trespassers, and my backup dancers are also my bodyguards who work to keep out paparazzi. Plus, I did say I would help Jeremy however I can, I see no trouble letting him and Aelita live with me. Besides, how often does one get to say they live with a 'legendary species' and an amazing piece of technology?" She said with a warm smile. "He's my friend, and I would love to have him live with me until he decides he wants to live on his own…"
(Aelita's PoV)
Nobody caught the tone of her words, yet Aelita, with her advanced hearing systems capable of picking up the tiniest whisper among a raging hurricane of noises, picked up on them, as she smiled warmly at Gazelle.
She looked between the two and nodded at her conclusions, based on her knowledge of the species before she returned to looking at Jeremy.
He looked down at her asking what she was grinning at, but she smiled and sat down as close as her holographic body could get to him.
(Gazelle's PoV)
"Well that settles it, if you want to take care of Jeremy, I won't stop you miss Gazelle." Lioness said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Gazelle however hid her silent dislike of the mayor at that moment, treating Jeremy and Aelita as if they were a headache and a problem, instead of as proper mammals of her city. Did she conveniently forget Jeremy's desperation to save Aelita? Did she not notice how much poor Jeremy wanted to kill himself just so he wouldn't be alone anymore? Did she also not watch the beautiful reaction that Aelita had when she finally 'woke up' to the sight of Jeremy standing there when all the others of his kind were gone, and she probably had also resigned herself to her fate like Jeremy wanted?
The AI was willing to endure life within that base if it meant she would be with Jeremy, instead of seeing the world she so wanted to see that he 'wanted' her to be a part of.
"Of course, well that settles that then, let's get going Jeremy… it's getting dark and I have to deal with George in the morning." She said, the mention of George reminding her of how much she's been putting off her work schedule just to be near Jeremy. "Oh crud, George, I promised to call him today!"
She pulled her phone out quickly, but remembered it was dead, its battery-life drained to help bring Aelita into the world.
(Dnnnnng… Dnnnnnng…) She looked over to Aelita who's body had turned around and assumed a sitting position and eyes were glowing.
"Wha…" She began saying before…
(GAZELLE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL DAY?!) The angry voice of her agent yelled, screaming from Aelita's mouth. (I have been trying to reach you all day, I went to your house, but you weren't there, I tried calling your number but than all that chaos happened, where have you been?!)
"Uh… I uh… have been out!" She answered, baffled that Aelita could 'call' her agent.
(What do you 'mean' you've 'been out'?!) He screamed.
Then one of Aelita's eyes changed colors and a third voice spoke up.
(Hi… this is Doctor Jeremy Goodneighbor, I apologize for the sudden intrusion, but Miss Gazelle recently suffered a throat ache and came to my clinic to get it treated. She was suffering from an early case of the flu and had to take some medicine to help stop it in its track.) She declared in a monotone voice.
Jeremy was smiling and resisting the urge to laugh as Aelita used his words and voice to create a false doctor to speak to her agent, 'while' he was still on the line!
(Oh… I see… I'm sorry Doctor, I didn't realize it was 'that' severe. Uh… tell her I apologize for yelling I was just… you know worried for her health!) George said. (Tell her I'll see her tomorrow at eleven… take care!)
Aelita's eyes closed and returned to normal as she smiled at her.
"You can 'call' mammals on my phone list?" She asked in amazement.
"You did use your phone to help wake her up, when you did, she gained access to your phone's entire database which she probably downloaded." Jeremy said, which she nodded happily. "She can still access your communication's system even from inside the sphere, so all she did was access and make a connection between her and this 'George' fellow and used your number to make it seem like it was you."
"Wait, you said she couldn't talk outside of 'singing', then what was that?" She asked in confusion.
"Yea… she 'can't' talk outside of song… but that was a recording I used to get out of school one day… only worked once and I got in trouble for doing it." Jeremy said sheepishly. "She has recordings of a lot of things, she just changed out the gender terms and names to make it fit. I guess Aelita just wanted to help get you out of trouble for helping me and her?"
Said AI was currently giggling and playing hop-scotch, pretending as if she wasn't interested in what they were saying or had a clue they were talking.
"Well thank you very much Aelita, you're a miracle worker!"
At this Aelita smiled warmly and bowed deeply to her.
"Alright let's get going, I have a lot of work to do… thank you again Miss Gazelle." Lioness said with a bow. "I'll talk to you when I can Mr. Jeremy… and 'Miss Aelita'?"
Aelita turned and smiled warmly.
"Please don't cause any more trouble?" She asked.
Aelita looked sad but nodded, extending her hand and holding out her pinkie. Mayor Lioness not knowing the gesture, looked to Jeremy for an answer.
"It's called a 'pinkie promise', when two humans make that gesture, it means they 'promise' to do something and that they will not break it."
"Oh, I see." She said, before bending down and repeating the gesture.
Since neither could 'touch' each other, Aelita put her pinkie as close to Lioness' and nodded, signaling she had made her promise. Mayor Lioness then got up and left, leaving Gazelle and Jeremy to head toward her Limo.
"Hey uh… Gazelle… was that your… uhm… boyfriend by chance?" He asked her curiously.
At that she blushed even harder, more so because Jeremy assumed her 'agent' was her 'boyfriend'. "No George isn't my boyfriend." She replied, though a little too quickly. "He's just someone I work with."
"Oh… I'm sorry for asking…" He quickly apologized. "I just… didn't want you getting in trouble with whoever it was… because of me."
(Aelita's PoV)
She glanced up at Jeremy, hearing his words but also hearing a dozen messages, each with their own meaning underneath the ones he spoke.
She smiled softly before returning her attention to Gazelle again, the antelope having the most trust from her human, and thus receiving 'her' entire trust as well.
(Gazelle's PoV)
"Believe me, you didn't get me in trouble with anyone I was close to!" She replied with a chuckle. "He's always upset because it's his job, he just wants to make sure I stick to my schedule, and the last few days have been rather offsetting to it."
They headed to the limo in silence after that, the Tiger brothers all lounging around and talking to each other quickly stood to attention when they saw her returning.
"Alright, introductions first!" She said cheerfully. "Jeremy, Aelita… these four are my co-workers, and they also happen to work part-time for me as my bodyguards, and drivers. Their names are Franky, Donny, Moe, and Joe!"
As each Tiger's name was mentioned they waved hello with a warm smile to him and the AI. Jeremy looked a 'little' nervous at the sight of her friends, but he managed a smile and even offered to shake their hands one at a time. She noted that his hands were 'half' the size theirs were.
"Franky, Donny, Moe, Joe… this is Jeremy Wilheart, and he's the 'human' we saved that day." She said warmly. "And this, is his friend, Aelita…"
Aelita stared up in wonder at the four Tigers, who easily 'dwarfed' her, and she just waved hi to all of them one by one, who waved hello back to her.
"The two will be living with me from now on… or at least until he is ready to leave…" She said cheerfully, although the last part was muttered more to herself.
It wasn't that she wanted Jeremy to leave her as quickly as possible, she hoped he would find his own way in life as soon as possible. But she deeply liked spending time with the human so far, more for her heart's sake than anything else.
He was alone, in a world that he didn't belong to, even the AI they'd rescued only hammered the fact that he was the 'only' human left, and when he eventually…
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and beckoned everyone to prepare to leave. She stepped in first, followed by Jeremy and Aelita, and then last her friends as they soon drove off toward home.
As they did, she felt Jeremy slump slightly in his seat next to her, and she saw that his eyelids were extremely heavy. Aelita in contrast looked wide awake as she looked around the city at night, absorbing all the information she could gleam. She smiled gently at the human, it had been a tiring day, if not physically than emotionally and mentally for him.
"Are you hungry Jeremy?" She asked, not knowing if the human had eaten since waking up in that pod.
"No…" He said tiredly. "I'm just so tired…"
She nodded as she held his hand. "When we get home I'll get you setup for bed, you can sleep as soon as its ready. What about Aelita, does she need sleep?"
Both Aelita and Jeremy shook their heads, Aelita more so than Jeremy.
"She's slept for long enough…" He whispered as his head slumped a little, struggling to stay awake.
Aelita noticed Jeremy was nodding off and turned to her music and began to sing a soft and gentle tune.
(Little child, be not afraid… the rain pounds harsh against the glass… like an unwanted stranger… there is no danger, I am here tonight…) She sang as she turned to him and placed a hand as close to his heart as she could, looking sweet and caring. (Little child, be not afraid… though thunder explodes and lightning flash, illuminates your tear stained face… I am here tonight, and someday you'll know… that nature is so… this same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, in forests and sand… makes the beautiful world that you see… in the morning…)
Once more Gazelle marveled at the little AI, and she and the Tiger brothers who 'weren't' paying attention to the road turned to look and listen to the little human singing to the 'real' human. As she sang his eyes began to lose the fight to stay awake, her gentle tune and soft lullaby winning slowly as she continued to sing. Soon his eyes closed, and sleep began to take over at long last, and Aelita smiled as she leaned as close as her glass sphere would allow to him.
(In the morning… everything's fine in the morning, the rain will be gone in the morning… but I'll still be here in the morning…) She finished with gentle hum,
Gazelle marveled at the AI, unable to believe that something so sweet could exist, but happy it 'did' exist. Without Aelita she didn't know what Jeremy would have done with himself, nearly losing her had shaken what little strength he had gained. And Aelita, for her part, knew that she meant just as much to him as he meant to her.
Jeremy was the last of humanity, she was created by humans to help them. If they died before she could help even one, her whole reason to exist would have ended, and she might not have woken up regardless of her other reasons.
"You care about him greatly, don't you?" She asked.
Aelita turned to her and nodded, before her sphere lit up and displayed a picture.
It was Jeremy as a young child, next to him was an older human that looked like his father, and between them was Aelita as she imposed herself into the picture. Her 'picture self' was laughing and smiling and holding the hands of the two humans next to her, neither human aware she was even there. The meaning was clear, without his father she wouldn't exist, without Jeremy she wouldn't have a reason to exist…
She returned to normal as she leaned next to Jeremy sleeping, but looked shocked as his hand slipped and her sphere began to roll out of his grip.
Gazelle however, was quick to react and caught her before she rolled out, and then gently pushed her back into Jeremy's grasp and cupped his hands with her own.
He looked so sweet sleeping, so rested and at peace. 'How could anyone think you are dangerous?'
He was harmless to her, how dare the mayor even 'think' he might be a threat.
Sure, Aelita could probably cause problems if she wanted to, but the little ai child didn't seem bad.
"Rest well Jeremy…" She whispered warmly, using her free hand to push a bit of stray hair away from his eyes.
(Aelita's PoV)
She watched the exchange with eyes that saw a million subtleties in the action of a simple movement. From the words, the tone, the simple touch and everything else she saw…
She smiled, and nodded to herself…
(Gazelle's PoV)
It took half an hour of driving before they finally reached the outskirts of Savanna Central, and thankfully traffic had been light. They soon drove into her home's driveway, and from there Franky helped carry Jeremy into the house and up to her bedroom. She insisted that he sleep in her room so that if something happens during the night, namely involving his Cryogenetic Sclerosis, she could help him quickly.
When it came to the matter of 'where' he would sleep, she and the Tiger brothers had quite the debate over that. She was willing to let him sleep in her bed, but it took half an hour of talking to them to agree that, it wouldn't be 'appropriate' for Jeremy to sleep 'with' her in her bed, especially his first night there.
As a compromise, they pulled out spare blankets and laid them down on the floor as close to her bed as possible, and Jeremy would sleep on the blankets, 'with' an electric blanket plugged in to keep him warm and comfortable. She placed a pillow for him under his head and with that, they bade each other good night, with the brothers leaving for the night and her going around making sure everything was off.
With that done she dressed into her nightgown and laid down in her bed, turning toward Jeremy and Aelita where he was sleeping, and her watching him sleep. The AI watched him breathing with a content look on her face, sitting down cross legged and apparently humming a tune to herself that nobody else could hear.
"Aelita?" She asked, and the girl looked up at her warmly. "What is it like… being… whatever you are?"
Aelita looked thoughtful before she scrunched her face in concentration… and her glass sphere erupted beams of light that hit her ceiling. On the wall above her she stared as Aelita created a beautiful image of drop of water, and inside that drop of water... a picture showing a family of humans, all smiling and waving on a sunny beach.
Then the drop of water fell into an ocean, the image vanishing as the water vanished into the deep blue ocean water…
This made her frown sadly as she thought that such a lovely, beautiful image was erased, she was liking it because it showed something she was beginning to wonder about Jeremy's past, wondering if it had any colorful love or kindness to it to contrast the cold, death-like world of the base he had grown up in.
That was until pictures started to appear, slowly… then more rapidly, each one showing a beautiful scene, each more beautiful than the last.
A small human, a child, falling down a slide.
The sun setting before a forest setting.
Two humans, male and female, hugging each other in formal clothes.
A beautiful home with a colorful garden of flowers.
A pair of birds taking flight over a lake…
More and more images, each one showing the 'best' of humanity, images that showed their greatest quality, all that made them good, each one giving her awe and wonder as she could only fathom the love and joy their world must have had at one point. Yet the colorful display didn't end, as the pictures coalesced into a single leaf that seemed to be made up of 'thousands' of these images, each representing a memory, a piece of the past, a part of Humanity itself. But that one leaf was not alone as it shrank to reveal another leaf next to it, and each leaf glistened with tiny droplets of water that shined and glimmered, sparkled and made her look on in awe at the vision Aelita was showing her.
But still she was not done, as the leaves shrank to reveal more leaves, each leaf connected to a thin, tiny branch, and as 'it' shrank it was revealed to be connected to a larger branch, with multiple thin tiny branches connected to it, each with their own leaves and each leaf sparkling like diamonds every few seconds.
(I'm living in nature…) She sang quietly, so as not to disturb Jeremy's rest. (I touch, I feel I cry…)
As the larger branch shrank 'it' revealed to be connected to an even larger, thicker branch that had multiple branches each with their own collection of leaves that blocked her vision of everything else.
(Knowing that you have gone so, so far away… surrounded in silence…)
Then the branches shrank to reveal a collection of branches, clusters of leaves that looked like massive bushes but was actually a tree that, as she watched shrank to reveal its massive size…
(Believe, forgive… time is running out to make it better… I hear you call… I reach out to where you are…) She sang mournfully as the tree expanded, with large massive branches extending far beyond what she could fathom as the tree continued to reveal its extreme size, as to compare it the 'moon' was revealed to be overlooking it, and the tree was probably 'half' the size of the moon itself. (I hear your voice… the words come from deep inside of me… I fly… this sky…. In darkness, light the world with hope and belief…)
At last the tree stopped shrinking and instead the angle she was looking at the tree changed, to reveal it sitting in a vast… vast… 'vast' ocean of beautiful water that glistened like stars in the sky, and each sparkle was adding to the tree's beauty as she comprehended just 'what' Aelita was telling her.
Each drop of water contained a tiny, tiny speck of humanity. But those tiny specks together formed an ocean that she, 'Aelita', was connected to as she represented herself as the tree which fed on that water, and she in turn nurtured and protected humanity's wisdom and culture. All that they were… she was… all that made 'them' good, made her good.
(I fly to you… overflowing… all my feelings here, the garden of love… we're together… I'm here for you…) Aelita sang lovingly, not just of humanity but of her love 'for' humanity and all that made it good. (I was standing in brightness, I saw you… and felt you smile… believing you and I are always forever… connecting our vision… voice sighs in peace…)
As she did the image of the tree began to brighten up and colorful displays of light sparkled on each of the leaves, causing a scene reminiscent of fireworks displays on New Year's Night. The tiny specks of light in the water, began to sparkle and drift ever slowly toward the tree, and the tree shook gently as leaves fell off to be absorbed by the water below.
(Singing colors are reaching out to us, clear our minds… we are inseparable… clear our eyes, nothings real until I touch you… I fly this sky in darkness, light the world with hope and belief… I fly to you… overflowing… all my feelings here the garden of love…)
As she watched, of all the lights created by the sparkles of water surrounding the tree and on the tree itself… she saw a bright sparkle, brighter than all the others sparkling above the tree that caused her to wonder what it was that made 'that' speckle of light so much brighter, and as she wondered Aelita answered her question by zooming closer to the speck.
Soon her answer was given, as she saw a single tiny drop of water, kept nestled in a small bundle of leaves, and in that drop of water… an image of Jeremy, and next to that picture a 'selfie' Gazelle had taken of herself during a party after her first successful concert.
(We're together… I'm here for you…)
With that Aelita's show had ended, and the lights dimmed to return her to normal. But Gazelle could only think to ask more questions, what was it like having all of that knowledge, and all of that to herself. "I can see why he wanted you to leave more than himself…" She whispered silently. "That was beautiful Aelita… thank you for telling me."
Aelita nodded with a smile on her face, happy to demonstrate just what she was to the antelope.
"But why was 'I' there with Jeremy?" She whispered curiously.
Aelita grinned and giggled, before pointing at Gazelle with one hand, clapping her hands together and holding them below her head. Then pointing at the clock nearby. She looked and saw it was almost midnight, that display of colors and light and song had taken Aelita nearly half an hour to show!
"Okay I get it, go to sleep, but please tell me, why was I there, if you have all of humanity's knowledge why am 'I' in there when no other mammal is there?" She asked hopefully.
Aelita grinned before shaking her head and pointing again at the clock.
"Alright… if you say so…" She whispered before turning over and closing her eyes. "Told to go to bed in my own home by a guest."
Aelita giggled at that response.
(Jeremy's PoV)
Jeremy had feigned sleep as he heard Aelita sing the first note, and looked up at the ceiling with half open eyes to watch Aelita display, in her own image, what 'she' was…
He smiled as Aelita showed off for Gazelle exactly what she was like to humans and what their world was like during their golden times.
He had to admit, dad did a very good job with her programming, and more importantly the entire database she had access to regarding her stored knowledge.
When he heard Gazelle starting to sleep softly, he turned and looked at Aelita who was watching him with a knowing smile. She'd known the entire time that he was awake.
"Aelita…" He whispered.
She nodded.
"Would you really have not woken up… if I died?" He whispered to her. "Even if 'they' managed to wake you up, would you really have preferred to stay asleep and… died just so you wouldn't be without me?"
Aelita still smiled but her smile held a sad expression, but she nodded yes, she would have done just that.
"That's not a good thought to have…" He commented.
She shook her head in agreement, still smiling sadly.
"Aelita, why was Gazelle next to me in that last image you showed? Why is she so special to you?" He asked. "You wouldn't have stored her image in your 'active memory core' unless… unless she was important to you."
Aelita smiled warmly before shaking her head, telling him that she wasn't going to tell him either. Then she watched him fall asleep, content to continue observing him throughout the night.
Many hours later he felt the warm sunlight waking him up, and Aelita humming a tune as she waited for him to fully wake up. When he did, he slowly sat up and wearily rubbed his eyes. After his first good night's sleep since waking up he started to stretch his muscles and limbs as best he could.
"Good morning Aelita!" He said, and she responded with a friendly wave.
He looked around and saw that Gazelle's bed had been made, remembering that he was in 'her' room he looked around to see if she was there but saw that she wasn't.
"What's the time?" He asked.
Aelita pointed at the clock and he saw, to his surprise, that it was past eleven in the morning. He had slept in all morning!
"Do you know where Gazelle is?"
She shook her head and shrugged.
Deciding to go look for his host he got up and quickly straightened up his makeshift bed, straightened his clothes as best he could and carried Aelita's glass sphere in his hands so he could go look for her. He left the bedroom and saw he was on the second floor of a very roomy house, with soft carpets and pictures of various plants and scenery lining some of the walls. He looked at the rooms, knocking on each one and waiting for a response before opening them.
The rooms he found quickly were the bathroom, a walk-in closet with rows upon rows of clothes (clearly for Gazelle), storage rooms filled with a few boxes, and eventually a staircase that led downstairs. The downstairs room was a giant opened room that was both Kitchen and Living Room, mirroring ancient human homes of the past, particularly the rich and glamorous looking ones that were owned by millionaires or celebrities.
"She must be important to be able to afford all of this…" He muttered as he saw just how open the room felt.
Aelita nodded in agreement as she looked at all the space around her.
They looked around the living room but saw no sign of Gazelle, but they did notice that all the windows and doors had blindfolds down, blocking the view outside, obviously to prevent the 'paparazzi' and prying eyes from looking inside. As they entered the kitchen portion of the room, they found a bowl of steaming soup sitting atop a small heater with a note next to it. Placing Aelita's sphere down he picked up the note and read it.
"Dear Jeremy,
I'm sorry I didn't wake you for breakfast, but you looked so fast asleep and so peaceful that I didn't want to disturb you. Aelita too didn't seem to want me to bother you, so I let you sleep. I'm really really sorry I can't be there to greet you when you wake up but, I had to go and run some errands and meet with somemammal about some things. I did make you breakfast, and I left the bowl-heater on so that when you wake up you can have a warm meal. I didn't know what you ate, and Aelita didn't want to tell me, so I just made a simple soup that I hope you like.
P.S. please do not go outside if at all possible, at least for now. I promise that as soon as I can, I will happily take you outside and we can explore Zootopia! In the meantime, enjoy my home and all it has to offer, just don't make a mess~!
Sincerely, Gazelle"
He loved how beautiful her handwriting was, obviously having taken a long time to perfect it. He wasn't even going to compare his own skills to hers, as he only knew how to write 'basic' when compared to her fancy cursive skills. He was however grateful to Gazelle that she had thought about him so much, going so far as to make him food and keep it warm, pulling down shades to keep him hidden and even letting him sleep in her room until 'he' was ready.
A sudden thought came to him as he looked at Aelita. "She didn't, 'change' in her room while I slept, did she?"
Aelita smiled and shook her head.
"Good, I can only imagine how awkward that would be if I woke up when she was." He whispered.
Aelita giggled in response as he took the bowl and prepared to eat.
"Oh yea, sure, you can laugh… you're not the one who has to ever worry about privacy!" He teased.
Aelita just laughed at that as she tumbled around in her sphere, laughing at the pretend image of Gazelle being naked while picking out clothes to wear and suddenly Jeremy wakes up and sees her when she thinks he's asleep. While she laughed at her illusion, he ate his soup and felt its warmth seep into his stomach and body.
Oh, that first bite… that first taste of someone's homecooked meal was heavenly to him. It's warmth just seeped into his body and made him feel so comfortable and happy. His stomach started growling as it demanded more of this wonderful food, not even realizing that the flavor, the wonderful flavor of so many different vegetables and tiny pieces of fruit layered throughout the soup, on top of the few spices added to it…
He quickly began to scarf it down as fast as he could, not realizing how long it has been since he's had a proper meal.
"It tastes so wonderful…" He whispered, causing Aelita to stop laughing and watch him, smiling happily as he slowed down his eating to enjoy the food. "I haven't had… 'food'… ever…"
The realization that he hadn't had a proper meal 'ever', as in, real food cooked with ingredients and not a messy paste slopped onto a plate that was all he's ever had during his time in the base hit him hard. The fact that Gazelle had taken her time to make this for him, for herself 'and' him…
"How can we ever repay her?" He asked his friend.
Aelita frowned as she put her hand to her chin, thinking to herself alongside him. Unable to come up with something instantly he returned to eating his food. While he ate, he continued to think of how he could 'ever' hope to repay Gazelle for all she's done, but what could he do?
He had at least a 'few' skills but most of them were related to technician and medical, and none of them were 'useable' in this world, especially while he was stuck hiding in her house.
"What do I do with myself?" He asked himself as he finished the last spoonful of food, she'd made for him.
He got up and took the bowl and spoon, cleaned the dishes and neatly stacked them. He looked for the pots or pans or whatever she had used to make dinner, but she'd already gone ahead and cleaned them, leaving him without even 'that' kindness to repay her. Sighing he flicked off the bowl heater, rolled it up and placed it in a slot in the counter that was empty. All the time Aelita watched him, learning and understanding what she could as she had nothing else to do.
"We just… have no purpose in this world…" He muttered to her as he picked her up and walked to the couch to sit down. "What do we do Aelita… what 'can' we do?"
Aelita looked up at him with a thoughtful expression before shrugging and leaning back against her sphere again.
"Yea, you can shrug all you want because you can teach everyone about humans… but what about me… everything I'd trained and prepared to do when I woke up is gone. All that's left is the base… and maybe restoring full power to it, repairing a few systems and accessing its database to let them explore the information. But after that, what do I do?"
He sighed as he held her close.
"Get a job, work until I die… not exactly what I'd call a… glorious last light of humankind." He muttered. "We'll think of something Aelita… there has to be a reason for me to be here… some reason, any reason! There has to be 'something' I can do."
Aelita nodded confidently before she looked at the large television screen hanging on the wall. She tilted her head and the screen turned on, and several channels flickered past as she began searching for something.
"Aelita don't do that, its rude to access someone's computer without permission, even if its only a viewing screen!" He chided her.
She nodded but pointed at the screen as she showed what she was searching for.
It was a news station, ZNN as it was called, and it was just announcing a 'developing story'.
[Developing Story]
"Welcome back viewers to ZNN, today we continue our coverage on yesterday's 'Radio Hacking' that struck all of Zootopia and the surrounding countryside. With more on this we bring you Janette Badgette with the story… Janette?"
"Thanks, Panpan. Yesterday at precisely six thirty-seven pm, every radio station and phone company experienced a simultaneous cyberattack without warning and without any way to counter it. The attack ran for a total of an hour and forty-two minutes total, during which all radio stations and phones blasted the same series of 'songs' in perfect sync, as it didn't matter the distance or location of any receiving device."
The screen showed various devices and recorded snippets of the songs playing.
"What was more shocking as to the extent of this cyberattack, was that not only were radios and phones attacked, but all forms of communications, only television networks and online video players were not affected. This caused trouble as emergency response numbers and frequencies were also attacked, resulting in mass delays to emergencies that developed during the near two hours communications were shut down. Thankfully no mammals were seriously harmed, and only minor injuries ensued because of the attacks though none of them were caused directly by it."
"While the attack 'did' disrupt all forms of communication between phones, radio frequencies, and even short ranged radios, officials have yet to confirm the identity or the intent behind the attack. As right after the signal ended, all communications were restored to normal, and there appears to have been no signs of tampering. Whatever caused this, or indeed whoever the mammal was that was responsible for this, carried out the greatest cyberattack of our generation, but left not a trace of their existence or even that they did the act. In one official's words, it was as if the whole attack had another purpose behind it!"
"And on that topic, many mammals that were on and listening to the radio on their computers recorded the songs, and these songs have been spreading throughout the interweb since the first minute the attack began. The songs vary in length, tone, and wording but each one was sung by the same mammal. Weirdly enough, the songs themselves seemed to be conveying messages, as many of them frequently used the words that referred to a mammal in the second or third perspective, not addressing them by name but by their gender."
"Conspiracy theories have spread like wildfire, as some believe that the attack was just a massive message to a single mammal, the message itself asking them to 'find me' and 'save me'. We have a clip of one song, which we'll play for you now, take a listen…"
(I have changed… I have changed, just like you, just like you… for how long, for how long must I wait I know there's something wrong… your concrete heart isn't beating, and I've tried to… make it come alive! No shadows, just red lights now I'm here to rescue you oh…) Aelita's voice sang out on the television, her sad and desperate plea from the day before playing for him to hear. (Oh, I'm still alive… I'm still alive but can not apologize, no… oh I'm still alive, I'm still alive but can not apologize no…)
"Truly captivating as many have called in, once phone lines were working again, asking for the beautiful singer's name and who it was that wrote the songs. Radio Stations have been attempting to capitalize on the sudden popularity of this 'mystery singer', trying to figure out who they are and offering the singer contracts and deals."
"With this hacking incident you'd think it was a publicity stunt with how popular this mammal is!"
"Indeed, the mayor on the other paw, has recently given a press conference to explain a few things on this subject. We now turn to the segment that talks about the hacker."
The news anchors were replaced by Mayor Lioness as she stood before reporters and camera crews.
"As of this moment we cannot confirm or deny the identity of the cyber attacker, nor can we confirm or deny if this attack is in any way related to the appearance of the non-mammal made structure recently discovered beneath Zootopia. However, I can confirm that, despite the sudden cyberattack, there was no damage done or intent to do damage to any mammal or even to our communications networks."
"The mayor refused to comment or talk about her 'no comment' tangent when she was leaving a hospital nearly an hour after the Cyber Attack began, walking ahead of a train of mammals including one who was covered from head to hoof and-"
Aelita had changed the channel to where it was before and shut the tv off.
Jeremy thought about what he'd just seen and realized he and Aelita were having a bad influence on this world, he could only wonder how long the public would stay calm before they started 'demanding' the truth. And once the two of them were known…
"Well at least 'you' can get a singing contract when they realize you're the mystery singer."
Aelita smiled but leaned against him in her glass sphere, not showing interest in being a pop singer.
"We need to let them know about us soon, despite what Mayor Lioness says… the longer we take, the worse it will be. They deserve to know who we are, what we can do and… decide for themselves what to do with us."
She smiled sadly as she nodded in agreement.