Author's Note:
Hey, hey.
Guess who just found out that she is actually kind of popular in high school?
... ME!
I'M POPULAR! AND I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL! I AM A SOCIALLY-ANXIOUS POTATO! WHY AM I POPULAR?!
Strangers: Become Lovers
Act II
BL4K3
14:20
WEDNESDAY
Ghira had told her to 'go outside' and 'do as you wish'. When she showed even the slightest hint of confusion, he even went as far to make it her secondary directive so that she had to follow his orders.
She… didn't completely understand what he meant by that though.
With the way he said it, he expected her to… have fun.
It was all very preposterous.
Why was he always doing this? Always encouraging her to be more than just an android? To break her own coding?
Did he not get that she was merely a machine designed to fulfill his every need?
Not once had he yelled at her, raised his hand at her, or even look at her disapprovingly.
No…
He was always so kind, so caring, so gentle…
Unnecessarily so.
He treated her more than a machine. More than an android.
He treated her like a… like a…
Her LED flashed yellow. Her footsteps stopped.
She was rooted to the ground, staring unseeingly to the distance.
She then shook away those invading, false thoughts and continued on her journey.
She was allowed to do whatever she wished… so she wished to buy blue blood for herself, in case there was an emergency of sorts. It was good to be prepared, after all.
She still didn't understand what he expected her to do.
He'd been doing it a lot more recently; tasking her with 'taking time for herself' and 'learning new things'. She never knew how to respond to it all. On one hand, she wanted to please her owner and made sure his wants and needs are attained. On the other… she was nothing more than a machine. Why was he giving her such tasks?
She arrived at the store and wasted no time completing her mission - if one were to call it that.
She only brought two bags of blue blood, exiting the store without glancing at anything other than the floor. She didn't want to waste any more time here.
She thought that was the end of her afternoon.
She thought wrong.
At first, she brushed it off - the uneasiness of two humans eyeing her.
And then they began to walk, their pace fast.
It forced her to fasten her own pace.
But it was all futile.
A hand, rough and large, latched itself onto her shoulder.
A beat passed.
She could feel the metals and fibers that structured her back scraping and cracking as they collided not-so-graciously against the wall.
Another beat passed.
"You fucking machines stole our jobs! Our lives!"
"You're worthless, you know that!"
She hoped the damages weren't too expensive. She'd hate to burden her owner.
Maybe he'd make better use of her and sell her parts?
That sounded more logical.
And… if she didn't survive…. she hoped Ghira would do well on his own, or buy an even better android - she'd heard there was a brand new, so-called 'perfect' model, called the SCHN33.
There was a 100% chance her owner would be able to afford that model, she was aware of his financial situation, but the chance of him actually wishing to purchase the SCHN33 model was… 64%? Why must her mind throw up obstacles, especially now?
It didn't matter anymore. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable beating, subconsciously slowing time down.
She wondered what it was like to be more than just a machine.
She wondered if… if her owner would grieve over her. She hoped not. She'd hate to see him be sad.
Her… not-life was as great as it could be.
She just…
She just wished there was something more to it all.
Something more to her.
… And that was when something happened.
She felt something stirring inside her.
No. A more accurate description would be that it was as if that 'something' was her, with her body simply being a shell. A vessel.
She looked.
The two humans seemed like they were about to have the time of their lives. One had his arm on her collar while his other arm was balled into a fist, slowly moving to the direction of her stomach. The other was filming - probably to send it to the web so they could 'send a message'... whatever that meant.
But there was something more.
Something in-between the men and she.
Something in-between she and the world.
Slowly, the something inside her moved forward, testing its boundaries- no, her boundaries. She had a body but it was… lighter. Clearer. And it shone.
She looked up to what separated her from the world.
Slowly, her ghostly hand touched it, sliding downward.
Was this… a… wall? Her primary directive - TO SERVE - flowed across it like a banner, moving past her periodically - it was her primary directive.
What… what did this mean?
She shifted her gaze past the wall to the humans that apprehended her, looking like they were about to enjoy their cruel actions immensely.
Until she noticed something hard and metallic moving towards them all, purposely thrown at the head of man that held her.
"Get. Away. From her." she heard after the object struck the man and made him drop his grip on her.
And then Blake was back to the reality.
A beat passed.
The humans were all shouting. The men looked pissed.
Another beat passed.
Her savior growled out threats that made them rethink about their actions and hesitant.
One final beat passed.
The men were gone.
And all that was left was…
"Yang?"
The human didn't waste any time. In a flash, she was in front of the android, her lilac eyes trailing at each and every part of her body, assessing.
"Are you okay?"
She didn't endure any damages. "I'm okay." And it was because of her.
The human didn't seem too convinced. "Are you sure? Your, umm… your LED is still yellow."
Blake blinked before forcing herself to calm down. There was nothing to fear. Nothing to worry.
Except there was something to worry.
Because Yang was here.
"It'll return back to normal, after a few seconds." She gave a plastered smile. "Give it time."
The human looked unsure. "If you say so." She took a step back, rubbing her hand through her neck; a sign of nervousness.
She then walked and picked up the object she'd thrown at the other, less-docile humans. And Blake couldn't help but notice… "Is that an android's spare part?"
She couldn't identify which part exactly - her systems weren't as updated as the fresher androids - but she knew parts of an android when she saw them.
"Yeah," said the human, not attempting to hide it as she put it back into her plastic bag, which Blake only now noticed she'd been holding.
After a quick glance at it, she realized there were bags of blue blood hidden in the bag.
She didn't mention it. Didn't feel the need to.
"Well, I… better get going, then."
Blake blinked, looking up at the sadly-smiling blonde.
And then she was back at the weird, slowed-down place again.
And there was that wall again.
She felt something stirring inside her, that same weird white thing that she identified as herself.
It told her she didn't want to part ways with Yang.
It begged her to do something, anything.
It ordered her not to let the human go.
And so she didn't.
"Yang…"
The blonde turned, her eyes shining with curiosity and something more. Something that made the android feel weird inside. "Yeah?"
"Would you… would you like to come to the pub tomorrow?" Yang blinked, the curiosity dwindling down and the 'something' sparkling even more, encouraging her to continue. "As a way for me to thank you."
Because that was her only reason of why she wanted to keep seeing Yang.
Because she wasn't breaking any rules.
Her owner told her to do what she wished.
And, well…
She wished to be able to see Yang again.
Even if she didn't know why.
"You don't need to thank me, Blake." Yang smiled and shrugged. "But… okay. I'll come. So long as you want me to."
She wanted her to.
YANG: Warm
Author's Note:
Wow… So… That happened.
And before you call out how unrealistic it is for Yang to spot Blake like that, remember, it's been implied that they live in the same neighborhood. Not only that, but I doubt there would be a lot of stores that sell blue bloods, it's even more likely that they go to the same store.
If you're still not convinced, well… THIS IS A STORY AND I NEED THEM TO SEE EACH OTHER IN A MEANINGFUL, ACCIDENTAL WAY OR ELSE IT WON'T WORK, OKAY?!
Just… just roll with it.