A Glitch in the System
one
My eyes flickered open, the twin screens glitching worryingly before coming to life. I glanced around at the bleak gray walls that surrounded me- to test that I was still running fine- and just happened to notice that the peeling paint had spread comically along one of the usually flat surfaces, causing my full, perfectly shaped lips to pull into a lazy, half-assed smile. I gradually sat up from my flat little bed on the floor, just in time to hear my name ring out from somewhere deep inside that rather run down, broken house- just to be followed by almost scarily heavy footsteps echoing up the steps towards me.
"What now, Antony?" I hollered back in my embarrassingly sugar-sweet voice, standing up in one fluid, easy motion and peering out of my room with huge cerulean blue eyes. I was met with quite a sight.
My dear friend stood in the hallway, his light blonde haired head bowed as haphazard tears streaked down his cheeks. His hands were slicked with oil and mud, and he looked about ready to fall over and shut down at any moment. His coal black eyes were dulled and heartbroken, and I couldn't help but feel worried as he dropped to his knees like a stone, and promptly started to wail.
'They fucking took him, Koben! He ju-just started to ask if we could stop movi-moving for a bit, and then his eyes! Oh god man, his fucking eyes!” I knew that my friend had been having a very illegal relationship with our housemate, Jimar, but I never knew that seeing the man shut down would cause Antony to turn into a young child.
“Bro. Hey. C'mon Antony, calm down and think it through. You're almost to your due date, too, so you can always see him again sometime in later use..” I offered lamely- having never been good at comforting anything (literally, anything). I winced as his thin lips pulled into the widest grin I've ever seen, and I slipped back into my room.
“Get up already, we need to get some new clothes, mine are seriously falling apart.” I added in offhandedly as I rummaged through a ragged duffel bag, pulling out a torn, stained gray tee shirt and dragging it over my head. I soon slipped on a pair of faded red skinny jeans, then turned to find Antony standing really close- I mean, my-nose-was-to-his-fucking-chest type close.
“U-Uh, excuse me..” I mumbled awkwardly, shifting around him and rolling my eyes when his back, was to mine. I raised my gaze just slightly, to find the mirrored image of me staring back. My wide blue eyes were staring back at me innocently, and strands of dark hair stuck to my lips. I couldn't help but smile, reaching slender fingers up to run them through my choppy bangs before trailing down to the longer ends, twirling them around girlishly and giggling. “I'm gonna assume that you're ready to go. Lead the way.”
With a nod, Antony thundered through my room, down the hallway, and then down the stairs, causing laughter from the both of us as I roared, “Fear the Godzilla!”
--**--
Harloqiua isn't a normal town at all. You wouldn't ever find an old couple peering into the windows of an antique shop, and you'll never find an ice cream parlor sitting on the corner of a street. Harloquia is more... steampunk-ish. Random gears are strewn about all over the streets, and oil is a constant smell in the air, and everything looks worn and rather dirty. Fires poke up in little alleyways, and once in a while you might catch a glance of an ex-population wielding a tendon on a working droid.
Oh. Harloquia has weapons. If someone were to manage to find a spot where a worker droid was unable to reach them and bring them back to the factory, the shut-down mode thing would stop, and you would continue on living like nothing was wrong. But, if you are caught by an ex-population, they could take you apart while you're shut down, and take the slim, sharp metal rods that make up your forearm, and use them as weapons against anyone they wished.
Standing outside the common clothing store with the dingy windows, I watched Antony through the fogged glass as he buzzed around for clothing that'd fit his large frame. My vision wavered from my friend after a moment, just as a commotion started up behind me, causing my body to turn before my mind could utter a word of protest.
“Get the fuck down!” was all I heard, roaring from somewhere off to my right, before I hit the ground.
"What now, Antony?" I hollered back in my embarrassingly sugar-sweet voice, standing up in one fluid, easy motion and peering out of my room with huge cerulean blue eyes. I was met with quite a sight.
My dear friend stood in the hallway, his light blonde haired head bowed as haphazard tears streaked down his cheeks. His hands were slicked with oil and mud, and he looked about ready to fall over and shut down at any moment. His coal black eyes were dulled and heartbroken, and I couldn't help but feel worried as he dropped to his knees like a stone, and promptly started to wail.
'They fucking took him, Koben! He ju-just started to ask if we could stop movi-moving for a bit, and then his eyes! Oh god man, his fucking eyes!” I knew that my friend had been having a very illegal relationship with our housemate, Jimar, but I never knew that seeing the man shut down would cause Antony to turn into a young child.
“Bro. Hey. C'mon Antony, calm down and think it through. You're almost to your due date, too, so you can always see him again sometime in later use..” I offered lamely- having never been good at comforting anything (literally, anything). I winced as his thin lips pulled into the widest grin I've ever seen, and I slipped back into my room.
“Get up already, we need to get some new clothes, mine are seriously falling apart.” I added in offhandedly as I rummaged through a ragged duffel bag, pulling out a torn, stained gray tee shirt and dragging it over my head. I soon slipped on a pair of faded red skinny jeans, then turned to find Antony standing really close- I mean, my-nose-was-to-his-fucking-chest type close.
“U-Uh, excuse me..” I mumbled awkwardly, shifting around him and rolling my eyes when his back, was to mine. I raised my gaze just slightly, to find the mirrored image of me staring back. My wide blue eyes were staring back at me innocently, and strands of dark hair stuck to my lips. I couldn't help but smile, reaching slender fingers up to run them through my choppy bangs before trailing down to the longer ends, twirling them around girlishly and giggling. “I'm gonna assume that you're ready to go. Lead the way.”
With a nod, Antony thundered through my room, down the hallway, and then down the stairs, causing laughter from the both of us as I roared, “Fear the Godzilla!”
--**--
Harloqiua isn't a normal town at all. You wouldn't ever find an old couple peering into the windows of an antique shop, and you'll never find an ice cream parlor sitting on the corner of a street. Harloquia is more... steampunk-ish. Random gears are strewn about all over the streets, and oil is a constant smell in the air, and everything looks worn and rather dirty. Fires poke up in little alleyways, and once in a while you might catch a glance of an ex-population wielding a tendon on a working droid.
Oh. Harloquia has weapons. If someone were to manage to find a spot where a worker droid was unable to reach them and bring them back to the factory, the shut-down mode thing would stop, and you would continue on living like nothing was wrong. But, if you are caught by an ex-population, they could take you apart while you're shut down, and take the slim, sharp metal rods that make up your forearm, and use them as weapons against anyone they wished.
Standing outside the common clothing store with the dingy windows, I watched Antony through the fogged glass as he buzzed around for clothing that'd fit his large frame. My vision wavered from my friend after a moment, just as a commotion started up behind me, causing my body to turn before my mind could utter a word of protest.
“Get the fuck down!” was all I heard, roaring from somewhere off to my right, before I hit the ground.
♠ ♠ ♠
Ta daaa~.. c: