Ugh, thanks to fanfiction updating their site, I have no idea when to make a new chapter next. I was planning to do it every 500 hits, but now that plan has been thrown out the window, so I will attempt at doing a monthly thing. So keep reading, please, for the sake of my sanity…

Anyways, a new chapter will be coming in approximately two or three weeks after this one, since this one is well…somewhat short…

Ergo Proxy: Proxy of Life

Month ?

"Kristeva," Pino sighed for the millionth time. "When can we go find Re-L and Vincent?"

"We can't find them, Pino, they have to come back," corrected Kristeva.

Pino's face puckered and she sat down, crossing her arms and legs, staring out at the small dome intently. Why couldn't Re-L and Vincent come back now? It was much too boring to just sit here and do nothing. That's all Kristeva did, and being a grown-up was no fun, even if you were just an AutoRave.

Maybe I should go down and work on my numbers, numbers are always fun, thought Pino absentmindedly, but she quickly dismissed the thought because that's what she had always been doing, and it was time to try something different. They had been hiding in the utterly boring cave for much too long now (in actuality, it had only been 40 hours). Its walls smelled of something unfamiliar and much too disgusting for Pino's like, and they dripped of something that annoyed her brain, she decided. Barely any light radiated into the dampness, even though they didn't need it anyway.

Perhaps Kristeva had something fun that she was doing.

"Kristeva?" asked Pino, her scowl turning into a curious grin as she bounced and flounced over to where Kristeva was standing.

"What, Pino?" Kristeva answered, barely disguising the annoyance in her voice.

"What are you doing?"

"I am waiting."

"Oh…" murmured Pino, her gaze following where Kristeva's was, but she saw nothing of interest. "What else are you doing?"

"Contemplating."

"What is 'contemplating'?"

"It's a way you think." Kristeva's tone was now dipped in annoyance, for it had turned hard, and Pino's eyebrows came forward, and her lips puckered once more.

"What is fun about thinking?" Pino grumbled, her tone dipped in annoyance, for she was partly annoyed, and partly wanted to copy Kristeva because there was nothing else to do.

Kristeva did not answer, but instead said, "Pino, why don't you go and play your instrument?"

"I'm bored with my instrument," she shrugged.

"Why don't you play on the Rabbit?"

"There's nothing fun to do on the Rabbit."

"Do you need to charge?"

"No." Pino sighed, her puckered face drooping. "I need something fun to do."

"I'm afraid I cannot help you there."

Pino sighed a larger sigh than she had before, and hopped away, hoping that pretending to be a rabbit would bring some ideas. But that was the problem; Pino only knew how to be a rabbit because that's only what her mind to allowed her to be. Because she didn't know anything other than a rabbit. She didn't know how to draw anything other than what poor Timothy had showed her how to draw, and what she had thought up herself, but those had mild inspiration behind them, and now, in this utterly boring place with no inspiration, there was no inspiration to be had. She knew lots and lots of numbers, those she had been programmed with, but it seemed as though that was all she knew; she knew how to calculate distance, time, rate, but there was nothing else to do with them. She knew how to play her odd little instrument, but only one song, and she longed for another one to learn, being too afraid and preoccupied to make up another one that would suit her liking as much as the first one that she learned did.

Pino hopped along until she got to the place where the Rabbit was stationed, its slender frame tipped over on its side. How could Kristeva have suggested playing on the Rabbit when it was tipped over on its side? It was nearly next to impossible. Nevertheless, Pino gracefully leaped aboard, thinking of what she could pretend to be. She wandered through the sideways Rabbit, looking for something to catch her eye that would be of at least some interest to her childish mind. But she wasn't really looking for anything, anyway. She was too busy wracking her artificial brain for some sort of inspiration; something she'd read, something she'd seen, something she'd done, something she'd heard to cleanse her utterly boring artist's board of gray.

"Perhaps I could be a card soldier!" she exclaimed suddenly, remembering her treasured Alice in Wonderland book, and stood at attention, waiting to be ordered to do something card soldierish by her loving (or rather, not so loving) Queen of Hearts. But the Queen of Hearts never yelled at her to do something. Soon, Pino became bored once again.

"Maybe a card soldier was not the best idea," she said to herself. "I know! The Cheshire cat!" She took a comical pose on the second highest place the tipped-over Rabbit could offer, and said, "Why, everybody is mad!" and gave the widest grin she could manage. She took one gigantic leap to the highest place, and gathered her balance as best she could, trying to stand on her head like she had read in the book. She was about to deliver her next line, when her balance disappeared out from under her, and she tumbled down, landing on the ground right on her bottom.

"Hmph!" she moaned to herself, and flopped herself down in the position she had started in; the pucker-faced, cross-legged and cross-armed scowl. Why can't Re-L and Vincent come back now? she thought, now thoroughly irritated. "Ow…" She rubbed her sore bottom feverishly.

She sat like that for a few minutes, now completely undecided on what to do.

Small thumping noises came from around the edge of the Rabbit, and Pino called out warily, "W-who's there?" She realized they were footsteps, and she jumped up, screeching, "Vincent, Vincent!" but when she rounded the corner, a small girl with a dark blue coat, a red scarf and a black beret. Her black hair was in waves, falling angelically to the middle of her back (although most of it was tucked in her scarf) and it made Pino slightly…what was the word Kristeva used…jealous.

The girl blinked her chocolate brown eyes at Pino, and Pino asked softly, "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, and Pino knew this girl would not harm her, or rat her out like a tattletale, and would be her friend to keep her busy for the time being. "I am Loretta. Would you be my friend?"

"Yeah!" Pino grinned, and ran up next to Loretta.

"Tag, you're it!" yelled Loretta, and Pino followed close behind her.

. . .

Kristeva had not heard from Pino for quite a while, and she herself had gotten bored with her contemplating. Even though contemplating was just a fancy word that Pino couldn't understand. Kristeva had been exploring the depth of her new mind and heart, seeing how far she could go with her thoughts until they became staggering, and she became dizzy.

Kristeva had headed off in the direction of the Rabbit, and was now searching for the little companion AutoRave.

"Pino? Pino?" she called, lifting up boxes, and searching as best she could, scanning continuously for signs of movement.

I have gone around this damn ship seven times, where could she be!?

Kristeva had gone around the ship seven times; seven times enough that she had erased the two sets of child-sized footprints that lead out towards Desdra dome.