Two updates in one day? Yes.
Reviews and love and other things~!
It had been bothering Ludwig for days now. The sad look on Feliciano's face, his odd behavior, that response. He had said it before, he was programmed to not have feelings or opinions. Then what had that been?
He waved to Gilbert from the front door as his brother munched on his breakfast with Feliciano, who also smiled and bid him farewell, and set off on his morning jog. It was a habit he had taken from his parents to the extreme, his love for exercise. He wasn't obsessed, but he certainly lived his life in a way that promoted fair treatment of his body.
He jogged for roughly an hour through the downtown area, taking a shortcut in the park, where he would scan the local bulletin board for possible advertisements to help his lazy brother get a summer job. Ludwig had worked part-time at a grocery store, a cafe, even at a gym as a receptionist... yet Gilbert had never worked a day in his life.
His jog was uneventful and he reached his destination in what seemed like no time at all, looking for any new posts. The bulletin board was a great big hologram supported by six magnetic pillars, yet today something was out of place. There was actually a piece of paper taped to one of the posts.
Ludwig walked over cautiously, pulling the paper down and reading it carefully.
HUMANITARIANS AGAINST THE HARMONY COMPANY.
JOIN US IN THE FIGHT AGAINST SLAVERY.
SAVE-THE-BOTS
That certainly struck a cord with him. If there were others who possibly thought there was something strange going on with the Harmony Bots, then he must not have been going crazy. He shoved the paper in his pocket and without a moment to lose he began his jog back home, oblivious of the figure watching him the whole time.
"Welcome home, Ludwig. Would you like me to prepare a bath for you?" Feliciano greeted him, already having taken the blonde's mp3 player and water bottle to put away.
"No thank you, Feliciano. I think I can manage."
"If that would please you, young master." A bell rang from across the house, most likely Gilbert about to ask for some ridiculous favor from the bot, "Now, if you would excuse me."
Ludwig nodded as Feliciano gave him a quick bow and left the room.
He ignored the highly inappropriate comment his brother made as he shoved Gilbert out of his room and locked the door, powering up his laptop and sitting tensely at his large wooden desk. Part of him was a bit worried that this website was some sort of... trap.
That it might give his computer a virus, or the government would put him on some sort of watch list.
It was worth a shot though, he was willing to try.
It was strange. Feliciano had barely been there two weeks, but Ludwig couldn't stop his gut from hurting every time he so much as asked the other to dust the house. His parents had paid one pretty penny for the Italian harmony bot, so... why was he so worried?
Harmony Bots were claimed to be still born babies, or rescued children so physically or mentally handicapped that they would never survive past the first year of infancy. That is what the Harmony Company claimed on their website, that this was the only way to keep the bodies alive. That the microchip kept them alive, and kept them as efficient and obedient as could be.
Years and years back they had published a documentary about it, and the whole world had ate it up without a second doubt.
Apparently, so Ludwig had just found out, some people did doubt it.
If the chip malfunctioned, even for just a moment, and their story was true- would Feliciano not have died? He didn't though, after Ludwig heard that spark Feliciano had changed. As if he had regained some of his humanity.
The webpage eventually loaded and the screen was completely black except for one white bar, intended for something to be written there.
What was he supposed to do?
Taking the flyer out of his pocket he scanned it for any sort of clue, flipping it over and narrowing his eyes at the discovery.
'ARE YOU READY FOR THE TRUTH' was written in thick red print. It didn't look like ink, it looked like blood.
Swallowing any doubts and closing his eyes, he typed 'YES' and pressed enter.
"So this is your new Harmony Bot, huh? Fancy..."
"Top of the line, Mattie- cost mom and pop a pretty penny, but I promised not to make him do too much because of Ludwig," Gilbert explained, scratching the back of his head and sighing as he shifted to rest against his boyfriend's shoulder.
He had been so excited to show Matthew his new gadget just a few days ago, but all this nonsense Ludwig was spouting was making him doubt whether or not the whole situation was quite as awesome as he thought. He had poured his heart out to Matthew about it, finding comfort in the quiet reassurance of the blonde. Matthew was the only one he trusted to take something like this seriously.
They both sat in silence, not knowing quite how to approah the elephant in the room that was Feliciano, whom had occupied himself with sorting and folding the contents of Gilbet's messy closet.
"My brother's friend, Kiku. He likes to... peek at thiese things in his free time," Matthew whispered, as if afraid to have Feliciano overhear them. "I could bring him over tomorrow and have him run some tests, if it would bring the two of you some peace of mind."
Gilbert smiled like a kid on Christmas, grabbing Matthew and pulling him in for a sloppy kiss, eyes glimmering with excitement. "You're the best, Mattie! Just when I'm stumped you always know what to do~!"
Matthew laughed, pulling their faces apart.
"That's why I'm your better half."
Ludwig could feel his palms sweating as a simple chatroom appeared on the page. There were four people, including himself.
guest26323 has entered the chatroom
The chatroom prompted him to change his name, which he did.
guest26323 has changed their name to germany
biscuits: So you got the last flyer, huh?
germany: huh?
ponyparty: ahahaha don't like mind him, he's suuuuuuch a downer
germany: what do you mean the last flyer?
biscuits: That isn't important.
sunandtears: welcome everybody :DDDDD thank you for gathering here on such short notice
Ludwig tugged the collar of his shirt, quite tempted to leave the odd gathering.
germany: who are you people?
biscuits: This is supposed to be anonymous, idiot.
germany: it was only a question, don't be so defensive
ponyparty: lol
sunandtears: so, who are you all trying to save?
germany: pardon?
biscuits: Yeah, I'm a bit confused too with that question.
ponyparty: are we like... superheroes now or somethign?
ponyparty: *something
sunandtears: I assume all of you have HR'S
germany: yes
biscuits: Same here.
ponyparty: yup yup yup!
sunandtears: I need names, or there is little good I can do for you all :)
biscuits: Yao Wang
ponyparty: Toris Laurinaitis 3 3 3
germany: Feliciano Vargas
He ran his fingers through his hair and waited for any more movement in the chatroom, but the screen went black.
'YOU WILL BE CONTACTED SOON' flashed for a few seconds and then his browser closed.