I, Bot 404

[Lionheart]

I told myself I would not write a new story unless I finished my other ones… but I failed miserably. I had a dream and I couldn’t not write for this because I have such a long story line planned. I’ve never EVER written in the sci-fi genera with ABDL material and I honestly could not resist. I’ve been thinking of this plot line for a really long time and I had one dream that kickstarted my creative writing again. I’m so sorry for those of you who are fans of my other stories and are mad at me. I am mad with myself that I keep doing this, haha. I did write this yesterday night so I apologize if I have spelling/grammar errors. I did proofread but knowing myself I somehow miss silly mistakes each time I post. Please comment below with critisism/feedback or discussion about the storyline if you like it. When I see people commenting, it’s a big motivator for me to write more.

Without further ado, here’s chapter 1 of I, Bot 404:

Chapter 1: Bot Survival Guide

Faces are blurry. Speech is slurred. Light passes me like I’m going through the Interspace Frontier at light speed. Life goes by without memories of my past. Who am I? What am I? Where am I? I can’t think properly. I think I’m brainwashed. I’ve been brainwashed for a while.

Another day exactly the same as the last.

Pink. Surrounding me, completely. Light pink hues of light on the ceiling. Enchanting music that fills my ears. Same tunes each morning, afternoon, and night. Twil twil ting. Twil twil ting. Twil twil ting. It’s a soft noise that is barely heard by the human ears, yet I can hear it. It’s the greatest music of the entire galaxy, the only music I’ve ever known, so it must be the paramount of all music, right? The floors are fuzzy and a frosty blue that make us bots happy.

Every day is the exact same that I can’t distinguish between today and yesterday.

I am sounded awake, blinking the water from my eyes. All bots are guided to the prepping rooms in a chronological line. The smallest number bot goes first and the second smallest number bot goes after and so on. I am Bot 40486261110. I stand in the fourth place for morning prep. I am quite happy to be one of the first to prep as when I first began I was in the hundredth numbers when I was first created. I remember being the eight hundredth and fourth place which made me in awe. The prepping lines go quickly but on my first day I did not know. My memory is weak as every day feels the same but I try to stay conscious of days by the number I am in line. It has been forty-four days and many bots before me have left.

I am not sure where all of my previous bots have went but I have heard and seen them be bought at events by wealthy beings. Others that have not been bought disappear when the Bot is 46 days of age. However, as bots we are not allowed to count days or know this information. I keep record but I do not tell any of the directors. One bot was speaking of his age and the next moment he was carried out in an immediate fashion. That was day 3 and I am lucky to know the rules even though the directors do not tell us much. I do not know where the man disappeared too, but he is gone now. Rule 1: Do not speak of days.

After prepping we go to training. The training is different for each bot. We are not allowed to speak to each other about our training but I overheard one intersex bot talking about how to perform acts of sexual nature. I was confused because I had never had that during my training and would feel highly uncomfortable. This intersex bot was taken away and never seen again. Rule No. 2: Do not speak of training.

My training is quite unusual and feels weird to me. Each day of training I am given an age I must act like and am shown videos of how a baby, toddler or young child acts then I must mimic the video in some way during my playtime.

On most days I am changed into a diaper with a baby-like outfit and am told to act cute. A director places a pacifier in my mouth and will have me color on a paper or play with kids toys because my assigned age is usually under the age of 2. I do not understand when I get a spanking for walking but I found out the hard way that I cannot stand up and walk during training. I am not allowed to talk unless spoken too. If I try to leave to use the restroom outside of training I am scolded.

This training lasts four hours and then we are sent to our only meal of the day. This is the point of the day that is my most favorite. I get to converse with my fellow bots.

At the end of the meal we receive our medicine rounds to prevent us from getting sick as the directors tell us we are all allergic to oxygen. I was about to question this on my first day, but, once again, I was lucky because another first day bot asked before me and then disappeared. I am one lucky bot. Rule 3: Do not question anything suspicious to the directors.

After the medicine is injected we are sent to our sleeping chambers and the chamber is closed on us. We receive a steam of vapor to put us to sleep as if we are put to sleep by an anesthesia like propofol. Huh? A few words and numbers pop into my head. Propofol Anestesia S/I-40A. How do I know these words and numbers? Strange. Must not dwell on it too long. This gas they use is not propofol but some other type of anesthesia that I cannot put my finger on. I do not know how I know this but I do. This is the end of each day and the next day we are initiated awake and the day is the same as the last.

I wake up on Day 45 to our morning wake up sound and realize that I am coming close to my 46[SUP]th[/SUP] day which frightens me enough to make my heart race. Red lights illuminate under the skin of my wrist with a shape of a half an inch sized heart and a heart rate number I can barely read with my blurry vision. I think it says 110 BPM and is slowly going down. A director comes in the sleeping area and looks at me.

“Bot 40486261110 is there anything you would like to report?” Oh no. This is not good. I took deep breaths to keep my heart rate normal.

“No, I just woke up feeling odd.”

The director, who had bright red hair, red framed glasses and a lot of makeup on that I commonly saw with my trainings, said, “Please follow me, Bot 40486261110.” I wish I knew this directors name but we are not allowed to know any of their names.

I nodded, my palms becoming sweaty as I rubbed them on my evergreen sweat pants. I walked quickly behind the director into the meal area. We walked towards a solid wall and a sliding black glass door appeared as if it were cut into the wall. I only saw this door a few times and that is when bots disappeared.

The door opened and another woman director was holding it open. She had no expression on her face and her eyes looked irritated. The familiar director touched my back and motioned for me to walk forward. I walked straight into a long hallway that was brightly lit with white walls and floors. Both directors lead me to a door at the end of the hallway to the left. I followed timidly. I had no idea what was next and my heart rate was giving my panic away.

I walked into a room where all of the directors sat, but they were sipping coffee, eating breakfast and looked to be conversing with one another.

“Oh yeah, Brett must be having a good time training Bot 7 o’clock. That bot is a hot bot thot.” I was confused, who’s 7 o’clock? Maybe just a nickname? I knew a few bots that began with a 7. The directors laughed loudly as I walked in with the other directors. The laughing silenced immediately as what felt like hundreds of sets of eyes fell on me. I looked at my wrist shyly, a solid 125 BPM. Wonderful.

“Counsel time, ladies?” A few directors stood up and nodded for us to follow them to a room at the end of the break area.

We walked into a warmly lit room with light green walls and oak colored flooring. I was motioned to have a seat at the end of this medium-sized glass conference table. I sat down and clasped my hands, squeezing my fingers very hard. I was going to disappear. Where? I did not know.

I tasted iron on my lip. Oops, I bit it too hard. I licked the blood off quickly as the familiar director with red hair’s eyes watched me closely and looked down to her tablet in her hand. I looked quickly around the room and realized I had all of these directors in at least one training session or more. The girl with the red hair was the most familiar but the others I remembered their faces. One male director with bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, who I saw once in my trainings, sat straight across from me and seemed to be the head of the directors in this group.

He looked at me carefully and asked, “So, this meeting is quite simple. I will ask one question and I want you to answer this honestly. We will know if you lie.” He looked toward the director with red hair as she looked down to her tablet as if it were a lie detector test, “Why did your heart rate spike up this morning?” I remember this male director because once he gave me a very painful spanking on my second day in training because I stood. To say the least, I have not forgotten his face.

My eyes blurred even more than normal and I felt like I was going to cry as I was put on spot. “I-“ A tear rolled down my face as I knew I was going to disappear if I told them the truth but I could not lie because my body monitor would give it away. I said quietly, “I am close to my 46[SUP]th[/SUP] day and do not want to disappear. I would like to be sold properly at an event but tonight is the last event before my 46[SUP]th[/SUP] day and I feel as if I’m doomed to disappear.” The room was dead silent. There was no response for a minute or two as I looked at the glass table as tears fell on it in small puddles.

I looked up at the group of directors and locked eyes with the head director. His blue eyes had a humorous glimmer of something funny as he studied me with a smirk on his face. It was almost intimidating. As if I were going to get another spanking.

His eyes changed to concerned. His hand covered his mouth as he broke his glance from me and he looked as if he was making a big decision and was torn.

“You know what the protocol is, Zane.” One other male director said, sharply. So the man’s name with blue eyes is Zane? That is interesting.

Zane scratched the scruff of his beard as he looked at me again, “I tried staying away from this one for this very reason.” He said solemnly with a sigh. I was confused at what he meant. I listened intently as he seemed conflicted.

“We have to put her through termination. Bot 404 is quite intelligent and I even said we should have terminated her day one. We’ve had to use the maximum doses because she’s been too clear. Here we are, now we have to follow protocol, no emotions involved. It’s tough for us all, but she could become dangerous.” One of the dark haired women spoke up with a stern tone as if she was Zane’s mother. Bot 404? Is that my nickname? Zane looked as if he was irritated by the woman speaking and telling him what to do as if she was his mom.

I looked innocently at Zane as he crossed his arms, “Bella you just successfully lost your position. Give me your access badge and leave the Airspace immediately.” She looked dumbfounded as she looked at everyone’s faces. I was shocked myself. Bella slowly got up, embarrassed, and placed a tag in front of Zane. He said coldly, “Thank you, now let’s get back to business.” Bella hesitated as she walked out, as if she was going to say something, but then left without a word.

“Like Bot 404 said, we have an event tonight. This event has a lot of buyers who want her specialty. We are not hitting our revenue as it is and the baby bots are going to make us meet our profit margin.” Baby bots? So that’s what they call us. I’ve found out more in this one meeting than in my past 45 days.

“Okay, just so were clear: we are not terminating?” The director with the red hair asked as she looked at her tablet, typing quickly.

Zane blinked, “No.” Then his eyes met mine, “But, she’s still receiving a punishment during her training.” A smirk appeared on his face once again and humor twinkled in his eyes. Warmth traveled up to my face as I was fearful of what punishment this would be. I hope it was not another spanking.

Zane got up, “This meeting is over. I want her prepped for the event to have curly hair, a pacifier and in a short baby doll dress that shows her diaper for the event tonight.” He looked at me and winked. I was relieved, but very anxious. If I was not sold tonight, I would be terminated tomorrow.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 2: The Last Event

Our morning call sounded for our prepping lines and I was the first in line. I did not usually feel much emotion but today I felt sad, depressed even. It was sad to think about the ones that disappeared or, what I found out, terminated. I wanted those bots to have another chance like the one I received today. I felt as if I did not deserve this.

Morning prep was always very intrusive but today was far more intrusive than usual. Every event day usually guaranteed a more detailed cleaning and hair removal but this one tops all. One director is assigned to me for cleaning but today I had three people. They took me to my own room and put hair removal cream of my legs, armpits and private areas. I felt the burn of the cream as hair follicles were removed. Then I stepped into the sanitation shower and my body was drizzled with soap, as if I was in a planet Earth spaceship wash, scrubbed and rinsed off. The hair removal cream went away and I felt fresh once again.

After this the three directors split up into different tasks. One blow dried and curled my hair, the second used a laser to remove any other possible hair from my arm pits down to my legs, and the last moisturized my whole body with lotion that tingled as it was massaged in. The lotion had some type of microbeads that soothed my skin. After I touched my arm, it felt baby soft.

The directors put new light pink sweats on me and the same color t-shirt. I wonder how I looked. There were no mirrors anywhere. I have seen a reflection of myself on desks before but it has never been clear. Ever since I was initiated nothing has been clear. Everything goes by in a blur. I wondered what I was. Am I an animatronic? Or am I considered a human? Some type of amphibian? I did not know. I wish I could know, but I was not allowed to ask these questions.

I was directed to the training area and walked to my assigned room. I entered through the familiar red curtains and into the room. My feet touched the velvet lined floors and I sat on the black leather couch as instructed. I looked at the projected video on the glass coffee table in front of me as a video appeared in three dimensions. It was a human toddler crawling around and on it’s dads lap bouncing around. Dad. Every time I saw a parent or person related to these babies and toddlers in the videos I got sad. I wanted a parent. I wanted this unconditional love I watched so often on the videos.

The video stopped and I sat there patiently, as I did every morning, waiting for the director of the training. Usually each training began with being diapered or put into a pull-up. I am never given any undergarments underneath my sweats during morning prep so I was technically going commando each morning. I smiled to myself, that was a funny thought. Commando. Sometimes I made myself laugh but I had to hide it quickly because bots should not show emotion. I should not show this.

I looked up as I heard someone clear their throat as they walked in. I suppressed my smile, but his eyes caught it. Zane walked in, his eyes flashing with some type of rage. I did not understand this. Maybe it was because I was smiling? Or could it be from earlier? My mind blanked, confused why I became frightened again. Then I vaguely remembered Zane’s comment earlier, ‘But, she’s still receiving a punishment during her training.’

He set a diaper bag on the table and began rolling up his sleeves as his eyes studied me, for the second time in one day. My heart began fluttering again and my wrist monitor buzzed for palpitations and increased BPM. Warmth went up to my face.

Zane broke my glance as he looked at the wall, “No, I am going to give her an increased dose after this. Patience. She’ll be fine.” A little blue light flashed underneath the skin of the helix of his ear as he looked like he was listening to someone. I had never seen anything like that until now. Or maybe I never noticed before. Huh. That’s odd.

After a pause, he sat in the chair across the room and motioned for me to come over to him. My heart was still racing. I was about to get up and walk, but then I became frozen as I saw his eyes flicker with irritation. I quickly went onto my knees and hands and began crawling. My face becoming warm again as I crawled in embarrassment. Embarassment. That’s an odd feeling I hardly remembered ever having. My emotions have been too much today. Never had I ever had this much emotions in one day. Nor have I felt so clear. I did not understand why I felt this all today. I could pick up small sounds, such as the music and I could focus on small details such as Zane’s veins in his arms protruding and his blue eyes with a fleck of grey in his right eye. It was almost crystal clear.

I stretched my arms to Zane and he picked me up, bringing me over his lap. He pulled down my sweat pants down to my ankles. I fidgeted in his lap, anxious. Anxious? I wondered what that word meant for so long, but now I know how it feels. A few seconds passed with me fidgeting and moving to get comfortable. I realized soon after that this exercise was not to make me feel comfortable but just the opposite.

A second passed and a sharp sting radiated on my bottom as I heard a loud noise startle me. It took me a moment to connect the pain to the noise. As seconds passed, the stinging on my bottom grew and I fidgeted more. Zane’s grip adjusted to hold me in place with a pause in the spanking. Then the spanking continued until the pain became unbearable and I began wailing. This was not fun. I wanted Zane to stop but I did not want to tell him and upset him more. Tears were streaming down my face, snot was falling from my nose and my bottom was going numb. I fixated my gaze on the velvet flooring that was a few inches from my face. My fingertips brushed the soft flooring in attempt to ignore the pain. My heart rate monitor stopped going off and said I was at normal speed. Impossible. How did I go back to normal with such pain?

A minute later Zane stopped the spanking, noticing my calmness. My eyes still watered naturally and snot dripped down my face, but my composure was calm, collected. I was angry for some reason. Angry about my lack of living. My lack of happiness. Where was I? Who was I? What happened to me to get me here? Confusion, pain, anger, anxiety. Emotions became me. I did not understand anything and I was curious.

Zane allowed me to stand in front of him. I could not meet his eyes. I did not want him to have an inkling to what my thoughts were going to. I heard a scan of the barcode on my neck that I only heard for medicine injections. He took out a syringe with medicine and took my arm, I instinctively pulled back but his grip became steel-like. His eyes flashed with confusion and then irritation. He injected the medicine into my mainline vein quickly. I was angry about this. I did not want this medicine. I was sick of feeling blurry, confused. I did not want to forget everything and have short-term memory loss. Why was I so clear this morning? I did not know what happened but I wanted it to happen again.

A few minutes later, my brain became very fuzzy. I could not concentrate fully and could not remember why I was so confused or angry earlier. I looked at Zane with glassy eyes as he laid me down on the couch and slid a fresh diaper under me. He powdered my bottom and taped the diaper on. Then, like the video projection, I bounced on his lap and acted like a baby. I sucked on my thumb and tried speaking to Zane but only slurred speech and babble came out.

I saw a blue light flash underneath the skin of his ear and he spoke, “Give me a chart on who injected Bot 404 this past week. I want to see them in my office after.” He paused, “Thank you.”

In a blur, the training passed by with tickles, coloring and bouncing around on Zane’s lap. The training ended and I was escorted over to prepping for the event.

My hair was fluffed and teased. I felt some sticky substance spread on my face and the substance dried instantly. I was dressed in a light pink velvet baby doll dress with satin bows on the short sleeves. The top portion of the dress was cotton and said Daddy’s girl on it. I pulled down the bottom of the dress but it would not hide my diaper.

When I pulled it down, one of the directors slapped my hands, “Bad girl.” I blinked.

After prepping we were all grouped in certain lines for different rooms. My stomach growled as it was meal time and I hadn’t ate since the day before. The directors said we would receive a meal during the event so I waited patiently.

Events always went the same way. The directors would play videos of us, give the buyers our statistics, and each buyer would receive a look book of pictures of every bot at the event. We, bots, are not allowed to look at these look books, even when we are with buyers. We are not allowed to talk unless spoken too. We are let into the showroom after the presentations of each bot. I have been to 17 events yet I have not been bought. I wonder what is wrong with me in which no one wanted to buy but maybe it is my age or my appearance. I did not know. I have not fully seen myself. Maybe I am too tall. Or maybe I am obese. I look down at myself and see that I am small and not fat. Okay, maybe not fat but I could just be ugly. Buyers do not like ugly bots or abnormal bots. Maybe I was abnormal? Who knows.

“Do you think you will be bought tonight?” Bot 58800919002 asks me. I like Bot 58800919002. She is quite nice and always makes it seem like she cares about me.

I shrug, “I do not know. I hope so.” I say blankly. The dose Zane gave me is strong. I cannot think or feel emotionally. I feel numb. Blank.

One director starts letting bots into the showroom, “Begin smiling. Smiling makes buyers want you. Good, chin up.” The director is giving guidance as we all pass through the entryway.

Over the sound system of the room there is a director calling off bot numbers as we walk in, “Bot 900000019292, Bot 58800919002, Bot 999626278827, Bot 88901918187727, Bot 92262626717,” As I walk in I hear my number, “Bot 40486261110…” And the director continues but I cannot focus on noise anymore. It is loud and there are thousands of buyers chatting in one room. There are hundreds of bots entering the room. We are directed to walked over to our assigned seats for food. My group of bots is dressed like me. Pastel colored clothing, toddler-like appearance, rosy cheeks, some wearing diapers, others pull-ups, ones without but are dressed as small children would be.

My assigned seat is in front of some of the wealthiest buyers. This is quite common for my seating at each event. Maybe the price of myself is high because I am always put in the front areas. Some of my fellow bots in my group are assigned seats in the back areas where the less common and cheaper buyers sit. Some just come to watch. Some come to interact and look.

As I sit down I catch a few buyers eyes looking at me and talking. The faces are a blur from far away but I know they are wealthy. The front row seats are the most expensive at the event so these must be the best buyers. I forget to smile at them as I turn around. Oops. Maybe this is why I never am purchased.

I sit down and patiently await the meal commencement. It is always a few minutes before we can eat. Sometimes the buyers will come up to us and feed us or help us eat. Sometimes they will talk with us and play with us. Sometimes they will spectate. I usually am the one who has a lot of buyers near me. I still get confused why I am never bought because I have more interaction at events than the bots next to me.

“She is adorable. I have been saving for one like her for a while. Doesn’t she remind you of Greg’s baby?” I looked behind me and locked eyes with a buyer who was speaking. She waved at me as if I was a small child. I guess I was technically. I waved back shyly.

Over the sound system you can hear a robot woman speaking, “Amenities can be purchased on the screen in front of you. Bots can be purchased instantly if not on auction mode. Auction bots end at 7 PM. Interaction time frames can be purchased. Private rooms are available for special bots but are limited. Thank you for coming to Seqouia Airspace. Become a member for a discounted price today.”

An amphibian-part-human buyer walked over to me and smiled with bright yellow eyes bouncing. He kneeled in front of my table, “Hello, I’m Sid.” His hand stuck out to me and I looked at his scales as they changed colors from green to turquoise. My hand felt slimy as I shook his hand. I didn’t know what to do besides wipe it on my napkin. The napkin was shimmering afterwards. Strange.

“I thought I’d introduce myself, Tsss.” His tongue instinctively hissed, “We’ll have a room in an hour and we can get to know each other a little bit more. I’d buy you instantly, if there wasn’t a bid. Maybe you might be going home with me tonight? Tsss.” Amphibian buyers always gave me an uneasy feeling. They seemed to like me a lot but I never can understand why this is. I’ve never had a buyer say that I was for auction. This was new.

I nodded, “Why thank you.” It is important to be polite on event nights, even if the buyer makes you uncomfortable.

The bell sounded for the meal to commence. Sid was still staring at me and I felt quite awkward. Sid smelled good with some cologne that seemed to entrance me to want to like him. I guess that is one good trait of him already just in case I may be his tonight.

Sid stood up, looking down at me still, “You are quite shy, I like that, Tssss.” That gave me chills. Oh, I hope he doesn’t buy me.

As he walked away, I began eating my meal. The meal bar was bland in taste as usual but I ate it quickly; I was very hungry. I drank some water out of a sippy cup as I heard by the robot woman’s voice announcement, “Bot 40486261110 max bid reached.“ I spit out my water over my table and one drop hit a buyers pants that was in front of me.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.” The tall buyer said as he looked down on his pant leg, “We’ll deal with this issue later, won’t we?” He looked to be human as I met his light grey eyes. He was tall, about 7 feet, quite muscular, with a beard and long wavy hair. He smiled at me, which confused me. I thought I was in trouble but he seemed nice, inviting. What did he mean later? Did he max the bid out. Was that him? Oh, I hope it was not Sid.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 3: The Bipolar Telepathic Amphibian

The large man kneeled down and took a napkin. He dabbed my face with water on it and wiped the table in front of me with a sigh. Then he looked at me with a smirk and a wink. I was confused. Why would he wink? I stared back blankly.

He leaned over the table and kissed my head, “There, there, all better, hmm?” He was intimidating, yet polite. I didn’t know if I should be happy or scared.

I said, “Thank you, sir.”

His fingertips tickled the underneath of my chin, “Very polite of you, good girl.” He was treating me like a human, not a bot, which made me tingle with happiness. I was a ‘good girl’. I liked that saying.

I looked at him blankly and something flashed behind his eyes that I did not understand. He was searching my eyes for something, but it was not there, whatever he was searching for. He cleared his throat and walked back to his table.

The bot, directly to my right, elbowed me, “Do you think that’s your buyer?”

I shrugged, “I can only hope it is.” Please, please, not Sid.

A short time passed and I was taken to the private room with Sid. We sat on the couch and he had me cuddle with him on his lap. I sucked on my pacifier and played with my stuffed bunny I was given. I stared at the button on its nose because I felt, once again, uneasy with Sid.

I looked up quickly to Sid’s eyes and he was watching me. His eyes did not leave me. I could not tell his emotions; he was hard to read. I was hoping he would seem sad that he did not buy me but he did not say or refer to anything emotional.

“You know, I heard that there is a tickle monster somewhere in this room…Tsss…” My bladder was full and I had a feeling I knew where this was going, “Oh, wait, I think he’s right here!” Sid said quickly as his hands attacked my arm pits. I began laughing uncontrollably. His electric tipped fingers traveled down to my sides and feet. I felt the slimey feeling on my feet which grossed me out but I couldn’t say anything. I looked down and only saw sparkles of turquoise glitter where he tickled to me. Hm, its seems as if his excretions on his scales instantly vaporized? Quite different than anything I’ve ever seen before.

He kept relentlessly tickling me and I felt my bladder release into my diaper. Warmth went up to my face. I was embarrassed. Again.

“Awe, Tsss what’s wrong, tiny one?” His yellow eyes looked concerned, but it seemed like he already knew what happened. He was trying to make me embarrassed. I didn’t know how I knew that. I just knew.

I sucked on my pacifier and stared blankly at him. I wasn’t supposed to tell the buyer if I wet my diaper. They had to check it. Once upon a time, a bot wet theirs and throughout the night they were never changed. I had a lot of buyers who took care of me at each event so I never experienced this issue; however, I never wanted to experience this firsthand.

Sid snaked his hand down to my bottom, “Oh, no. Tsssss. It looks like someone wet herself.” More warmth spreading to the cheeks of my face. This was humiliating. I was used to being babied, but it seemed as if Sid had dark intentions as he belittled me.

He placed me on my back on the couch and I laid there, staring at the ceiling. It was unfair to me that I had no choice other than to be treated this way. The thought popped in my mind and I felt a twinge of frustration. The thought went away in a blink of an eye as I looked at Sid.

For some reason, he turned with a knowing look in his eyes as this thought went through my brain, “Is there something wrong, tiny one?” It’s as if he could read my mind. His eyes shined malevolently as he studied me, carefully. I was confused why he was giving me this look.

I shook my head, “Nuh, sir.” I said through my pacifier.

He smiled, wickedly, “Maybe the baby doesn’t need a diaper change just yet, Tssss.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Wait, how do I know such foul words?

Sid blinked for the first time since I’ve met him and his eyes constricted. Chills ran down my spine. What was wrong with this guy?

“Have you ever had a proper spanking, tiny one?” I blinked, confused why he would spank me. What was his reasoning? Could he read my mind?

I blinked, “I had one this morning, sir.” Trying my best to be polite.

“I know what you are, Tssssss. There’s no hiding that from me. Your kind is always very deceiving to people who can’t see into others like myself.” What does that mean? My kind? Bots? I sat up, confused. He wasn’t making any sense. I don’t know what to say. He just threatened me with a spanking and was making it seem like I was doing something illegal. Immoral. He seemed disgusted as he spoke.

His eyes flicked back and forth as he studied me, “You can’t act that naïve, Ra-“ He stopped, abruptly. I opened my mouth and my pacifier dropped. I wanted him to end the sentence. What was he going to say? What was he going to call me?

Sid looked concerned, “You don’t know, do you?” His eyes dilated and constricted in confusion, studying me. He answered his own question, “You don’t know anything of what happened.” He said in a grim statement.

My mind swirled in questions, completely perplexed with what Sid was saying. He acted like I knew something. Yet, I knew nothing at all. All I knew was being a bot. Prepping, training, meal bars, injections, and dreamless sleep.

For the first time since meeting him, Sid looked to have an ounce of human empathy. He was sad for a reason I could not begin to understand. My mind was still so fuzzy from the medication this morning.

Sid’s eyes grew astonished by his findings, “I believe I have said too much.”

I said quickly, “No, you have not told me anything at all, sir.” I wanted him to keep talking. I wanted to hold onto Sid’s words to think about them, but I could feel it slipping out of my grasp, quickly. There were so many mysteries since my initiation as a bot. My soul was hungry for answers to questions I’ve been wondering for what felt like years.

Sid ignored me, smiling widely, scales on his face changing colors from turquoise to dark green, “Let’s get you changed, tiny one.” I cocked my head, perplexed. He just said he wasn’t going to change me and now he’s going to? What made him change his mind? So many questions, yet no answers.

In a blink of the eye, my pacifier was plopped in my mouth by Sid. He pushed me on my back and began undoing the tapes of my diaper. He wiped my bottom and front areas and lifted my legs up to throw away the old diaper. He then slid a fresh diaper under me, sprinkling powder on me, and then taped the new diaper on me. Sid’s eyes flicked up to my face, studying me again.

No more questions, tiny one. If you want to stay safe, be quiet. They are watching you, very closely. Answers will present themselves to you in time, but that time is not now.

Words echoed in my brain. Sid’s words. I didn’t get why he said that. But, wait, he didn’t say it. No words or sounds came from his mouth. He placed thoughts in my brain that weren’t mine. I knew it was from him. And I knew I was not going crazy.

My body because stiff as a chill ran down my spine. They are watching you. Who were they? The directors? I already knew that. That was a given. Unless there were others?

The directors are the least of your worries, Bot 404.

[Szeretlek]

Re: I, Bot 404

Oooo, that’s one cliffhanger you left there. I really like how this is going, and I share the main character’s curiosity as to what’s going on. Keep it up! I’m dying to know more of this story.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Well, Szeretlek, this is your lucky day because I have two chapters I’m posting tonight. One is super short and one is quite long and may answer some of the character’s and your questions. I’ll be writing the next few days so most likely I’ll be posting a chapter tomorrow or two as well. I wrote this story so it’s a bit weird to read at first but it will pick up in plot/character development very, very soon. There’s a lot of little small details I’ve intertwining in these chapters that will have a lot of significance later on which I’m super excited to post.

Chapter 4: Darkness Becomes Me

I sat down at my table after multiple private sessions following Sid’s. Once they were over, I felt elated. I was tired of playing the role of a baby. I was already bought after all. What was the point of pleasing these other buyers? Maybe it was making Sequoia Airspace profit but what did that have to do with me? I did not have any benefits besides being sold away. Was that really a benefit? I had no freedom. I was not considered a person. Anger pulsed through me. I looked down at my heart rate monitor as my pulse increased. I took deep breaths to calm myself. I would not have another episode like this morning. This was not the time. I needed to make it out of Sequoia Airspace. I did not know why I needed to leave, but it felt the closest to freedom I could get.

“Sequoia Airspace auctions closing in 5 minutes. Please make your final purchases. Thank you for visiting Sequoia Airspace. Ever last infinity with Sequoia.” Ever last infinity. The most overused phrase at every single event. I never understood it. Quite redundant if you ask me.

My palms were sweaty. Was I going to like where I was going? What if it was worse than Sequoia Airspace? What if it was better? I’d never know, unless I left. It was time to leave, finally. I was ready. I had been ready to leave since day one of initiation. Yet, here I was, nervous to leave what I had known as comfortable. Was it really comfortable? Or was I brainwashed? I could not understand fully if I had it really good or really bad. Every day I was watched by a director. I was cleaned by strangers. I was told what not to do and what to do. I could not have one emotion expressed or else more injections and less feelings. I had no life, no fun, no words outside of normal bot small talk. Was this how life is supposed to be?

The directors began reading off bot numbers bought to be sent away, “Bot 40486261110, Bot 89019190200, Bot 678849493331…” I stood up, surprised that my number was called first. I scanned the directors faces, appreciating them for the last time. I saw the director with the red hair and red rimmed glasses and remembered the countless training sessions. I gave a small smile. I was looking for someone else, though. His blue eyes, where were they? I scanned quickly, not finding them. He was not here. Zane was not part of this. I thought for sure he would be here for my last event. However, thinking back, I had not seen him at any event. Why would this one be any different? I do not know why, but I wanted to see his face one last time. He was gone though, nowhere to be seen.

“Bot 404, you must go to the right back area of the auditorium where those black curtains are.” A director’s hand touched my back. I looked up, hoping to see him near me. I was left disappointed as an unrecognizable director looked down to me. I blinked and began walking towards the door. I shook off my disappointment. Why did it matter if I saw Zane again? I only saw him twice and both times were on bad terms. I did not know why I felt drawn to him but it did not matter. He had no significance in my time here.

As I entered the black curtains I felt a sting on my arm, and then I saw nothing but blackness and fell into a deep sleep.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 5: Clear as Hanna Skies

I woke up, from dreams that I never had before. Dreams. I had dreamt of weird things. Blue eyes with the look of pain. Raw emotion. Bursts of passion. I felt a warmth in my heart as I thought of these eyes. Why? Confusion. Pain. Strings pulled at my heart and tears fell down my face as I opened my eyes. Why did I feel so strongly? I have never had emotions like this.

I awoke in a queen sized bed with a green plaid cover on it. I was wrapped in a fluffy wool blanket that smelled like cologne underneath the plaid cover. Light scattered on my bed through dark blue curtains. I sat up, feeling nauseous. My stomach turning. My head felt like it was about to explode. I felt sick. I felt like a zombie. How long was I asleep? Where was I?

I got up, quickly, my bare feet hitting the cool oak floors. I walked around the bed, stopping to hold onto the bed covers as dizziness hit me like a brick. I must have been asleep for a while. This was not normal. I needed to leave this room to find a restroom or else my insides would meet the outside.

I went over to the door and opened it to a hallway the led to a brightly lit living room and dining area. The tall mysterious man I saw at my last event was sitting at a glass table, typing and speaking to someone. I looked around for another person in the room but there was no one else. He must have been on a call over his Helix. Helix. A hands free wireless device installed into the helix of your ear. How did I know that? Why did I not know that with Zane on my last day?

Zane. That name. That person. A familiar sensation hit me. It felt like something was on the tip of my tongue. A memory. Something about Zane. I squinted, perplexed. Why did he matter? It felt like something was important about him. What was so important? Maybe because of the dream I had of his eyes? I didn’t know.

“Well, essentially, it depends on how-“He stopped typing and looked up to me, “Good afternoon, Rayne.” His grey eyes surprised, concerned.

Rayne? I was Bot 404. Who the fuck is Rayne? Rayne like rain, bitch. Words popped into my head. The corners of my mouth raised at the thought. It felt like something I once said. I didn’t understand it though. I didn’t get the joke, yet it was hilarious to me. Bubbles of a laugh rose in my throat. And also, oh god, vomit.

I couldn’t even walk to the kitchen near the dining area before bile came from my mouth onto the hard wood floors. The shine, covered with orangey-brown vomit. Yep, there are the meal bars. I pray to the gods that I never have to eat another one of those again in my life.

“Jesus Christ, Rayne, just sit down for a second, okay?” The man said, as if he really knew me. I looked up, bewildered. My head was in pain that the lights of the room even hurt. Drool fell down my chin, onto my white lace nightgown, but I didn’t care. My head was in so much pain that nothing mattered. I still didn’t know who this tall man was with grey eyes was but he was not treating me like a small child anymore, that was for sure.

He took a wet towel and wiped my mouth and chin. He handed me a reusable water bottle, “Drink up. It’s going to be a little before you’re not hibernation hungover.” Out of many things I was feeling in the moment, I had not even felt my sandpaper tongue yet. I chugged the whole bottle of water in a minute.

The man walked away, opening cupboards and cracking a packet filled with some edible dark-brown gel. I cocked my head, “Who are you?” Bots weren’t supposed to ask questions. At this point, however, I gave no fucks. My name was supposedly Rayne and not Bot 404 so I’m beginning to think that a lot of things are bullshit at this point.

His eyes flashed with irritation, “I’m Eli.” Eli looked annoyed, but also had traces of pain in his expression. I didn’t mean to piss him off, geez.

He massaged the packet of dark brown gel and tore off one end, “Eat this. It will make you feel better. After we’ll get you cleaned up.” He frowned, looking at the floor and me. I looked at the packet, reading the label curiously. NutriSqueeze, huh. I squeezed a few drops into my mouth. Sourness filled my taste buds.

I scrunched my face and shook my head, “That tastes god awful.”

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, “Did I say at all that it would taste good?” He had an attitude about him that I caught quickly. I liked it in an entertaining way.

“No, but you could have attempted to make it seem at least a little better.” I gave him sass back.

Humor flashed across his face and he smiled, “That’s the Rayne I used to know.” I was always Bot 404. Who was this Rayne he kept referring to? Something wasn’t connecting.

“Is that the name you gave me?” I asked as I sucked the packet, deciding that a few drops at a time was going to take forever. The more I ate, the better I felt. If I sucked it, the faster I could eat it.

Eli sighed, his teeth gritted, “No, that’s the name you were given, by your parents.”

I shook my head, “Impossible. I can’t have parents. I’m a bot; we’re artificially made.” I gave him a skeptical look. A twinge of hope filling my heart. A twinge of sadness if this is true. Why aren’t my parents here if I did have real ones? So many things didn’t make sense.

“You were taken by people who brainwashed you. You’re part human, part who knows whatever-the-fuck else you are. You are anything but a bot. I can tell you that right now. You make too many mistake to be a fucking bot. My god, Rayne.” Eli’s hands rubbed his face in annoyance, “We can talk about this later. I honestly should not be telling you all of this at this point.” Red marks appeared on his face from his hands pressing on his face. I squeezed the last parts of the NutriSqueeze into my mouth. I scrunched my face for the last time.

Eli took the packet from my hand and threw it out, “Follow me, I’ll show you to the bathroom.” I got up, walking behind Eli who took off down the hallway. We got to the end and he opened the door.

“You can clean yourself on your own, right?” I scratched my head. I think I could. I nodded as I met his grey eyes.

He scratched his beard with a huff, “I’ll be in the dining area cleaning if you decide you need help. Just holler if you need me.” He said as he closed the door.

I noticed my headache was slowly going away and my stomach stopped turning. I wiped the back of my hand on my gown with the remnants of vomit. I looked around the bathroom. It had high ceilings, like the hallways. The floor had large white granite tiles, light grey walls and a double sink with a white granite countertop.

I turned to the mirror, gasping. A girl looked back at me. Raven black hair that fell on her shoulders. Bright green eyes. Long, dark lashes. Pink, puffy lips. Heart shaped face. A pale face that looked in need of sunlight. Who was she? She was me. I was her.

I am Rayne. I blinked, my hand touching my face. It was real. I was real. I did not look like a bot, but a human. Was I really human? Or was I from a different planet? Humans, otherwise known as Earthlings, we’re not the most liked between the galaxies. Many people were against the human race. I don’t know how I knew that, but, like many things, I knew it.

I took off the vomit-ruined white lace nightgown seeing a wet diaper underneath. I looked at myself in it. Cute. Did I just call myself cute? I was disgusted with myself that it was wet, but it didn’t look weird on my body. It looked normal. I wasn’t a baby. I was, what looked to be, a 20-year-old full grown girl. I don’t know how, but it didn’t seem weird to me even though it was taboo. I took off the tapes and threw it in the trash. I looked in the mirror, turning around to look at my back.

White markings went up my back. They looked like small scars near my spine. I took my hair up to look at my neck. There were white tiny lines of a barcode at the base of my neck. Disgust filled my body that caused me to tremble. I don’t know why, but the sight of this made me mad. Was I allowed to feel this way? I had no idea why, but it made me angry. Pissed off, even.

My eyesight was so clear. I could see everything. Even things I did not notice for so long. My left arm had scars the size of threads on my elbow traveling to my wrist. I looked at my left arm, no thread-like scars. Strange. I looked over my body, looking for more scars. On my left side from my hip down to my ankle the small scars wrapped around my leg. I didn’t understand what this was from. What happened to me? Did I want to know?

I heard a knock, “How’s it going in there?” Eli’s voice sounded concerned.

I said in a snap, “Fine.” My jaw clicked as I responded.

“Okay, just know I’m right down the hall still if you are having any issues.” I heard Eli walking away.

I inched closer to the mirror. Looking at the right side of my neck and shoulder, brushing my black hair to the left side. The threads of tiny scars traveled from my jaw line, down my neck, to my right shoulder. Another centimeter in length scar was over my collar bone. They were very faint scars, hardly noticeable to the human eye, but I had this slight inclination I was not fully human. My eyesight was razor sharp, the medicine blurred it for so long. Zane knew. The other directors knew. And that absolutely disgusted me.

I looked away, I didn’t want to keep staring at myself. I need to wash myself, feel clean and figure things out.

I opened the glass shower door and stared at the shower’s touch screen panel. I touched an icon that looked like the shower function. The water began to trickle out and the panel turned to a temperature icon. It read 105 degrees Fahrenheit. I felt the water and it felt incredible. I had never had hot water like this before. During prepping, it was always lukewarm. I greedily pressed the + button until it reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit and was content with the hot water droplets hitting my back. So this is how it felt to feel again. I smiled to myself, enjoying the water massaging my back.

Minutes passed by and I realized I needed to wash my hair and body. I opened my eyes and looked around for soap or hair shampoo. My eyes fell directly in front of me to motion dispensers. I put my hand under the first one and shaving cream came out. I frowned, I did not want that nor need it. My lower body had no hair and I don’t think I would ever have hair again from what the directors did.

I washed my hand with the water and put it under the second dispenser and shampoo squirted out. The shampoo smelled like coconuts and it made me smile, images of a beach played in my mind. I tried all the three dispensers and looked for soap. I turned to the wall panel and pressed a button that looked like a bar. Underneath the panel, a green stone appeared. I cocked my head in confusion. I picked it up, smelling it. It smelled like eucalyptus and soap with small beads intertwined between the stone. I massaged the stone on my skin and bubbles appeared. My skin tingled as the stone scrubbed but after my skin felt alive, rejuvenated. I washed out the shampoo from my hair and pressed the OFF icon on the panel.

I looked around for a towel as I stepped out. I opened the dark wood cabinets and drawers underneath the granite countertop. Towels were nowhere to be found.

I peeked my head outside the door of the bathroom, “Hey, Eli!” Cold air invading the bathroom and making my skin prickle. I didn’t hear any response. I had no other clothes in the bathroom. What was I supposed to do? I tried again, “Hello, Eli?” I said a bit louder.

I heard footsteps from the end of the hallway, “I thought you died in there or something. What’s wrong?” Eli’s arm pushes on the door. I back up covering my breasts with one arm and my hand over my lower regions.

His eyebrows shot up, “Oh, you’re, uh…” He trailed off, eyes scanning me from top to bottom. I blushed.

“No, there’s no towels or clothes, dude.” I said, shivering with the cold air from the hallway entering the bathroom.

“I should have given you a spanking when I had the chance.” Eli said rolling his eyes as he passed me, entering the room.

He pressed on the wall panel in the shower that I didn’t see until now. The touch-screen panel turned into a black window that rolled down and behind it sat a white fluffy towel, a hair brush, and a fuzzy, light sea blue robe.

Eli began walking out of the room and then stopped, humor pulling at the corner of his lips, “Now if you want a diaper change, I’ll do it but at a slight fee.” He winked at me as he was leaving. I squinted my eyes at him in a glare.

“No, I’m fine. Please leave.” He closed the door with a chuckle. Ugh. That was embarrassing.

I dried off my hair and body and put the robe on. I brushed my hair and left the room.

“What were you doing in there? That took a whole hour.” Now he was nagging me. I rolled my eyes.

I stepped out into the dining area and into the living room, Eli trailing behind me. I looked at the windows and saw stretches of green. I walked near the curtains, gazing in the distance. This couldn’t be real.

“Are these virtual reality windows?” I asked as I watched a bee buzz around the bush in front of the house.

“Nope, we are on planet Hanna. Beautiful isn’t it? Kind of reminds me of how Earth once looked before humans destroyed it. No offense to you, Rayne.” I cast my gaze over the trees and the driveway leading to a road that was basically gravel. The gravel stretched far away from the house.

“I really don’t take offense to that. It is what it is. My ancestors fucked up bigtime -if I am really human that is.” I paused, blinking, realizing I just cursed which was a huge no-no during training. I looked at Eli and he didn’t seem to care.

I looked around the living room, touching the curtain and feeling the satin texture under my fingertips, “By the way, how long was I asleep for?”

Eli sat on the dark brown leather couch and put his feet on the mahogany coffee table, “Approximately eight days give or take. We did a lot of traveling to get here without anyone tracing us. Also, you had a surgery to remove a few artifacts.” My mouth dropped, eight days? And I had surgery?

“Why the surgery? Is that why I have all of these scars? And who the hell is trying to ‘trace us’? What does that even mean?” I asked, bewildered.

Eli sighed, blatantly irritated with all of my questions, “Well, first of all, there’s a lot of things I can’t really tell you, yet. You’re not ready for it, Rayne. Those scars are not from us, that’s from something much different than your surgeries. You had a few trackers imbedded into your body when the Valorion took you. Do you remember your wrist monitor? That’s out now, it had tracking material so the Valorion can find you anywhere in the galaxy. Any planet. Any city. It had to go.” So he’s saying… I had a surgery on my wrist? Isn’t there usually a cast? Why am I already healed? This isn’t adding up.

“Wait, how is my wrist perfectly fine already?” I wiggled my wrist in the air, staring at it. It was healthy, no scars besides the threadlike ones. There was no pain and it functioned perfectly.

Eli’s mouth went into a frown, “I can’t tell you that information. That’s not important, Rayne.”

Now I was the one irritated, “Look, I just want fucking answers. I was asleep for eight days, I had surgery on who knows what, and I woke up on a planet that I’m unfamiliar with. I just want answers, okay?” I said with an attitude. I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to understand why things seemed off.

Eli stood up, “One answer I can give you is that we were best friends before you were taken. I loved you, in a friendly way. I thought you were dead. We all did.” We. Such as my parents? His eyes looked pained as he continued, “You are an important piece to saving millions of lives but you need to understand that some questions aren’t meant to be answered right now.”

“Unfortunately, that place you just came from, we have to go somewhere that’s a lot like it again; if you’re willing that is. You will learn a lot, but certain things I can’t tell you because you won’t be trained enough to keep that information away from others who are gifted. Lives are at stake here, Rayne. What you don’t know, will help us.” I glared at him, confused. I didn’t understand what the fuck he was talking about. I didn’t understand it at all. What did us mean? And gifted? Like Sid?

“I have one question I want answered before I am willing to help: Is selling and buying bots legal?” My mind was warped as it is, but I needed to know if I was joining a battle that was worth it.

Eli hesitated, “By the codes of the UGN, especially in your case, it is illegal. The UGN has been trying to overturn planet Valorion’s laws for many years now.” Eli closed his eyes, trying to figure out how to carefully phrase his sentences, “Valorion has done many foul, disgusting things.” Eli’s voice getting hoarse as he spoke, “Some things I don’t think you should ever know, even though you were part of a few of them.” His jaw was clenched for a moment, his body stiff, “The Sequoia Airspace is like the black market of the galaxy. It’s not technically illegal. The UG has had a long history with Sequoia Capitol, which is the government of Valorion.”

“Wait, wait… What’s UGN? Remember, you have to dumb it down here.”

Eli rolled his eyes, “I’ve had to dumb it down for many years for you, trust me on that one.” He said with humor playing on his face, I smiled in response. I wonder who I was before. I wanted so badly to know.

“UGN is the United Galactic Nations or what people also call United Galaxies, the UG. It’s the mediator between planets and galaxies alike. That’s who we-“ He stopped midsentence, clearing his throat, “I mean, I work for.” I cocked my head. Did I used to work for them? He said it almost as if it were past tense.

I wanted to clear something up, “So are there others like me? Who were taken and made to be something or someone else?”

Eli studied me for a moment, “Yes, many others.” Vile. Sickening. Everything about my last two months made me repulsed. Every face I could remember made me see red. They were all apart of it. Even the person I thought saved me from that place was only using me for profit. Everything I know, was changed in a blink of an eye. These people I once looked up too are now my worst nightmare. I felt uncomfortable for so long, but this made me think back to memories of the past two months and feel absolute disgust. My perception changed in an instant.

My mouth fell into a line, anger blurring my vision, “The only thing I care about is that people who have anything to do with this, like those directors, and Zane, are stopped.” Poison came out of my mouth as his name rolled off my tongue. Eli’s eyes flashed with something that went away too fast for me to comprehend fully as I said his name. Zane was nice in person, but malicious in theory, “That bots aren’t enslaved. That everyone, even animatronics, are given the same opportunity of freedom. I can guarantee, I will do whatever I can to help you. Even if that means that I don’t know certain things. I won’t stop, until they are completely stopped and pay for what they have done.”

Eli smiled as he looked at me in awe, “That’s the girl I remembered. I knew you were in there somewhere, Rayne.”

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 6: Leading on Zenons and My Old Playlist

I watched in awe as the Interspace Frontier S209 landed in the city of Forestor, planet Hanna. The spacecraft was mammoth in size as I gawked at it.

“It’s beautiful.” I said, quietly to myself.

The landing wheels rolled out as gravity pulled the spacecraft down to the ground. Dirt and debris scattered as the craft touched the ground, silently. You could feel the tremor in the waiting area of the United Interspace Launch terminals as the craft landed. The space craft rolled to the gates and extended the walk way to connect with the terminal gate. Quickly, people walked out of the spacecraft, down the terminal gate.

I curiously cast my gaze; my eyes wandered from the dark blue space craft to the people walking down the glass-paneled walkway. I never saw so many various skin textures, colors, creatures and clothes in my life. Antennas. Scales. Blubber. Two headed people. Tiny headed people.

A few people caught my eyes as they walked out of the gate. Purple skinned girls in a group walked that had prominences on both shoulders as if they were wearing blazers. They were dressed in neon pink and green clothes that had holes cut out at their prominent shoulders. They were reading pamphlets about planet Hanna and circling a map of tourist locations to visit on the planet.

“Those are Zenons. It’s in your best interest to look away, Rayne.” I looked at Eli, perplexed, “On their planet it’s in their culture to be lesbian and-” He looked around quickly to make sure no one way listening, “Zenons always seem to have an affinity for you.” He winked at me, chuckling to himself as if it were an inside joke. That was unheard of to me. Earthlings and Hannans were heterosexual. Homosexuality for an entire planet was an unusual concept for me.

I shook my head and glared, “You are messing with me.”

Eli sat back, crossing his arms, “I wish I was. I’d totally have a Zenon babe any day, but I’m not Rayne Griff so I will never have the opportunity.” He sighed in a sullen tone as he stared at the spacecraft in front of us.

I looked back to the girls, still curious. One caught my glance, her eyes a dark purple color that twinkled as they met mine. The girl nudged her friend and lowered her voice as she looked at me. The other three girls with her turned their heads in my direction. I blushed, looking at Eli. He was messing with me, right?

Eli looked behind his shoulder at the girls, “Every. Single. Time. What the fuck, Rayne. Please, give her my number when she asks for yours. I will so catfish her for butt pics.” Eli said as I turned my head back to the girls. The girl that caught my glance, with the dark purple eyes, was walking towards me with a smile. She was quite beautiful. Dark blue short wavy hair fluttered as she walked. Her complexion, glowing. She had large, dark-blue eyebrows that framed her face nicely. She wore a lot of makeup with a yellow-pink bronzer on her cheekbones.

She sat next to me and Eli, “Hai, I noticed you looking.” She flashed her long eyelashes at me as she made a quite blatant statement. Was she flirting? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced someone so upfront.

I didn’t know what to say back, “Uh, yea-“ I looked at Eli for help, he was ignoring me and still staring at the spacecraft letting out the last of the passengers. I was by myself on this one. Ugh. My face flushed, “I, uh, just saw how beautiful you all were, is all.” Oh god, what am I saying? Now it seems like I’m flirting back. I could see in the corner of my eye Eli shaking his head in amusement.

She giggled, flirtatiously with a blush, “You have a way with words. What’s your name?” She asked, as her eyes traveled from my eyes to my lips. What was happening? I didn’t think I liked girls. However, I didn’t know. Maybe I was lesbian before.

“Uh, Rayne Griff.” I said as I sat awkwardly.

She smiled as if I were a puppy she wanted to take home, “Well, Rayne Griff, it looks like you are leaving soon.” Eli stood up, taking our luggage, “Maybe I could give you my number and I can catch up with you later sometime?” I scratched my head, I didn’t have a number. Heck, I didn’t even have any type of cellular device.

Eli spoke up, “She doesn’t have a phone. Sorry to burst your bubble.” I stood up, grabbing my tote bag that Eli packed for me, and hearing our boarding group being called. The girl blinked, looking as if she was rejected. It was as if Eli said I didn’t have a phone to tell her I wasn’t interested.

I shook my head at him as I looked at her. Her eyes were sad and I felt bad, “I really don’t, don’t take it personally. If I do get one, I’ll try to talk to you, okay?” I said, trying to make up for Eli being as asshole and hurting the poor girl’s feelings.

She perked up from her rejected state, “My name is Izzie. I am a traveling beauty guru. You can find me on the galactic interweb at IzBeauty. Here’s my card, if you change your mind.” She handed me a glittery business card, her fingertips gliding over mine as she pulled away.

Izzie began walking away, “I hope this is not our last conversation, Rayne Griff.” She winked and turned around.

I was in a daze as we walked from the walkway onto the spacecraft. Eli was laughing as he handed out our tickets to the aircraft attendant. Eli handed the man my intergalactic passport before we boarded. The man handed it to me and I looked at it before Eli took it back and put it in his wallet. I had a quick glimpse of the picture on my intergalactic passport and saw a girl who looked like me, but felt like someone else. Her eyes, stared back at mine, with knowledge of things I did not know. Memories that were long gone.

“Hey can I see that again?” I asked Eli as I trailed behind him. I wanted to know more about this girl. The girl I once was.

“Nope, knowing you, you’d give it to those Zenons.” He snapped in response as he walked briskly down the spacecraft terminal.

I rolled my eyes, “Okay, okay. I get it, I just didn’t want to hurt her feelings. And you were no help.” I said as we entered the sliding doors of the spacecraft.

“Welcome to Interspace Frontier. Galactic travel in under hours with elite service. Please contact a flight attendant if you have more than 3 suit cases.” Words spoke over the intercom system of the spacecraft.

Eli lead me past the first class areas to an area with many rows of seven seats on each side of the space craft. In the middle of the craft, far back from where we were. There was a set of stairs that went down for more seats. We sat down in the white leather chairs to the right.

We were the first in the row and Eli looked at our tickets, “Wing 3: Seat 304A and 304B. Yep, you’re getting 304A, I hate the fucking window seat.” Eli said as he crammed our luggage in the hanging storage areas that were directly above our seats. He pressed the storage units in above us with a click. He had to duck his head from hitting the low ceiling. Fortunately, I did not have to duck at all from my petite stature.

“So what planet are you from that makes you so tall?” I asked as I looked at him.

Eli’s light grey eyes flashed with humor, “Well, my dad is from Ganakk, my mom is from Hanna. Ganakkans inherently have long extremities. If you know what I mean.” He winked at me.

I glared at him. I’ve noticed in these past few weeks he always had to slide dirty jokes in at any chance he got, “Ew, gross. Shut up. I’m throwing you off the spacecraft when we hit light speed.” I said and he laughed. I was not sexually attracted to him in any way, shape or form. He was attractive, yes, but not to me. I’ve noticed he did get many stares from women on Hanna- and even an occasional man- but I did not like him to that sense. I could see why we were best friends once, because we did not, and intimately could not, cross the line into something else. It made me shiver at the thought.

I clicked in my seat belt and looked outside the window. I took in the site of Hanna. How beautiful. The air, so fresh. The many trees swayed in the breeze. Mountains far in the distance near a picturesque lake. Wildlife was so bountiful as you could find deer pouncing around the land. Trees stretched for miles on end. Hanna had the finest trails for hiking and many people visited for the nature walks and the beauty of the land. From the Mount Joridas to the Ghados Falls, there were so many sights to behold. Many weddings took place here because of the woodsy lands.

I could tell this was Eli’s favorite place to be. He had been in vacation mode for the past few weeks as I adapted to my new surroundings. I knew he did not want to leave this planet but he had to for his job.

It took about twenty minutes to board the whole spacecraft. I looked around, hardly any rows were filled for this flight. We were headed to the Intergalactic Space Station. I guess not many people went there. I picked up the pamphlet in front of me that gave information about the flight in multiple languages. I flipped the pages, reading the information about Frontier S209. “Frontier 209 max capacity 2,646 people.” 2,646 people?! I blinked, there had to be only about a few hundred people I saw board this spacecraft. I was in awe at how many people could fit on this thing. Then again, there was three other wings besides ours.

One Reorf man sat next to Eli. The man had a business suit on with his enormous blubber green body sitting between two seats. The man’s whiskers moved every time he breathed. The air smelled greasy, as if he had Earthling McDonalds fast food with him. I felt bad for Eli that he was closer to him; however, Eli was supposed to have my seat and that was technically karma slapping Eli in the face.

An attendant came over to our row, “Um, sir, sorry to bother you but if I could see your ticket?” The Reorf man grunted, reached into his pant and pulled out his ticket.

The woman looked at it, “You’re actually row 308C and 308D. If you could move two rows back, please.”

Eli sighed in relief, a bead rolled down his face. He wiped it away as he cleared his throat as the Reorf man got up and moving his items back.

I looked at him, “Are you okay, Eli?”

Eli rolled up his black sleeves of his shirt, “Yeah, I’m just a little claustrophobic is all.” He smiled faintly at me. He didn’t seem to be comfortable ever since we got on the spacecraft.

“Hello, this is Captain Beard speaking. We will be preparing for takeoff in a few minutes. Drinks and snacks will be served once the Frontier has hit light speed. Thank you for choosing to fly with United Interspace.”

You could feel the space craft pulling in its terminal walkway and rolling away to the launch strips. I watched outside the window. The window slicked over with a dark color as you could hear the spacecraft charging its power to launch. The wheels of the spacecraft began rolling, quickly, and then a boom sounded. I was in awe as the spaceship was flying directly up, into space in a ten minute time frame. I felt my stomach tickle with the loss of gravity. My belt held me in place as we left the planets atmospheric layers. I felt like I was floating on a cloud. Another boom sounded. The floating feeling left me and I felt steady, as if we were on ground again. Weird. I looked out and lights flashed by as if we were a shooting star. This must be light speed. Duh. I looked to my side and saw Eli’s eyes closed. His veins popped from his arms as he gripped the arms of the seats tightly.

“So, uh, whatcha doing Eli?” I asked, poking him. Now, it was my turn to mess with him.

He opened his eyes and glared at me, “I swear to god, I can’t wait for the chance to spank you. You better watch yourself.” He said as his arms relaxed and he clasped his hands. I wasn’t intimidated by the slightest. He always threated that.

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I watched as a few attendants began coming down the rows with drinks and peanut packets.

Eli gave me my ear pods to listen to his music for the rest of the flight. I listened to many alternative songs across the galaxy. Some of them were old Earth songs. From FRENSHIP to Paramore I smiled to myself. I liked the beats of the music. Most of the music had an underlying melancholy feel but it was enchanting in an odd way.

“This used to be one of your favorites.” Eli said quietly.

“What’s it called?” I could hear a honey voice over the music and a man who rapped. In the end, it’s him and I. The girl sang over and over. Chills ran down my spine. I liked it.

“Him & I by G-Easy and Halsey. You had a really fucking weird and old music taste. I don’t know how you listen to this shit.” I scrunched my face at him in a glare. Asshole. I swear.

“This is your playlist I thought?” I said, confused and trying to make a point that he had as bad of music taste as me.

“No, this is your old one. I thought I’d play it for you but I’m getting sick of it to be honest.” My old playlist. That said something about me. I wanted to keep listening.

The music stopped and I ripped out my ear pods, “What the fuck, Eli?”

Eli’s eyes flashed, irritated, “Look, Rayne, we listened to that for 20 minutes and the spacecraft is going to be in the Intergalactic Space Station orbit in ten minutes.”

I gave him puppy dog eyes, “Please?”

He squinted at me, “That may work on someone else, but not me.” He sighed and shook his head, “Fine. You can have it for five more minutes.”

I smiled and took his phone, looking through the music tracks. War of Hearts, Ruelle. A sad beat played. Did that mean something? 1000 Nights by FRENSHIP? A lonely song. Jungle by Tash Sultana? Another sad song. I Don’t Know Why by Imagine Dragons? Mysterious. Then the weirder songs came on. Makeba by Jain? A song that brought a smile to my lips, I did not know why. The words and beat made me smile. Breakfast by Jaden Smith? Okay this one just seems completely different than all of the others. I quickly previewed the songs as I did not have much time. My soul, hungry to know who I once was. These songs, so sad, some happy, some mysterious. Did they have anything to do with me? Or were they just songs I liked the beats of? I didn’t understand what they meant. Most of them spoke about love. About passion. They made me feel sad. They made me feel like there was a second piece to my story. Where was it? More importantly: who was it?

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 7: What the Fuck Did I Get Myself Into?

Lights illuminated space as the Interspace Frontier came into the Intergalactic Space Station orbit. My hand pressed on the glass as my eyes gazed at the beautiful sight. It was vast. It was the size of its own continent as we approached the Interspace Frontier S209 spacecraft was only an ant in comparison. The space station was a gigantic circle, like a doughnut, and had many windows that reminded me of apartments.

The spacecraft entered the force field of the landing area in the Intergalactic Space Station. The spacecraft landed silently and extended it’s terminal walkway. Eli got up and grabbed our luggage and my tote. I pulled the tote over my shoulder, trailing behind him.

“Thank you for choosing United Frontier. Please travel with us again.” We heard as we walking out of the spacecraft into the walkway to the terminal gate.

As we exited the terminal gates, I looked at the glass windows that showed space crafts entering and exiting the space station. It was a pretty damn cool sight to be seen. I looked at the people waiting to board and they read their glass news tablets and books as if this were any every day experience. It was, but this was all new to me.

I ran behind Eli, he walked at a fast pace at all times, “Hey, wait up!” I said, trailing behind.

“I just want to get our meeting over with and relax, okay? I’m not going to wait for your ass as you gawk at everything you pass.” I glared at him and shook my head.

“Whatever.” I said as I walked quickly next to him.

We left through the aircraft terminal doors and went down escalators into a blue lit lobby area the size of a football field, “Woah.” I looked around in awe.

The ceiling was painted with clouds and yellowy-white light illuminated the whole room. A food court was on one side of the lobby and on the opposite side was a few shops selling snacks and toiletries. I said as Eli walked quickly off of the escalator and brushed passed people, walking towards the elevators located directly in the center. The elevators were completely glass and shot beyond the high ceiling of the lobby.

Eli pulled me into an elevator before it closed on me, “Jesus Christ, Rayne. Keep up, would you?” He shook his head. The elevator closed faster than expected in a whoosh. A few other people stood with us. One amphibian and two people who looked to be human. Eli pressed the number 34 on the elevator and had to scan a badge in his wallet.

The elevator shot up in a silent whoosh and my stomach dropped. The granite ground underneath us went away underneath the glass floor of the elevator. The lobby disappeared and then the next few floors was what looked to be a mall area. Glowing neon blue, orange, green and red lights flickered in between floors and shops. The elevator came to a halt, the amphibian walked out. The glowing lights disappeared as the elevator climbed up. The elevator halted at a warm colored floor with wood flooring and dark blue walls. I read a sign that said Escalade Hotel. Hotels in space? The humans with us walked out. We went many more floors up and it was our destination.

“Iris recognition required.” The elevator said as it came to a halt and the elevator became engulfed in darkness where there was no light besides the one illuminating the elevator. I looked down, the once transparent ground turned black. I looked around the circular elevator; there looked to be no floor here. I was confused.

Eli stood next to the elevator panel where red lasers appeared and he put his eye in front of it. There was a zing nose. The lasers still were scanning. Eli motioned for me to come over. I cocked my head in confusion. I put my eye in front of it and it zinged again. A click sounded and the door opened to a floor with titanium walls and grey linoleum floors. Small lights lined the floors as a group of teens walked past us. These people were dressed much alike in color scheme. Grey hoodies, dark heather-grey shirts, solid grey sweat pants. One person in the group of teens was wearing a blue shirt. There were two other, older looking people, who walked past with vests on, dress shirts and dress pants in grey and white colors. I felt as if I became color blind entering this floor. It was odd, to a sense.

I followed Eli as he walked around the elevators and towards an area that the linoleum floors change into grey wood floors. The walls are painted with a warm grey color. As we pass I read the numbers on the walls: 619, 621, 623… We walk for a few minutes and I stop counting the numbers. Eli halts and get out his badge from his wallet again and puts it up to the door lock. The door opens with a click. As we walk in the room illuminates and I see two queen size beds. There’s a bathroom near the entrance and a virtual reality wall that displays a moving sea directly in front of the beds.

Eli takes my hand and pulls me outside of the room. He says, “Come on, we’re running a bit behind. The meeting starts at 3 and it’s 2:58.”

I walk quickly behind him in almost a jog as I try to match his long strides. We continue down the long hallway of rooms and the floor inclines as if it were a hill and then levels out. We pass a small window and I take a glance. It’s a huge area inside with people running around a track together. We keep walking, Eli picking up his pace as we pass more people in grey outfits on. The flooring declines and I almost trip down it. We pass another window and inside is a gigantic pool that ends at a glass wall that looks out to space. Some people are swimming, others practicing diving. My eyes flash in wonder. It was beautiful.

I run after Eli as he is still walking quickly and he turns a corner. I follow him as we enter a circular hallway that splits into two other circular hallways. He goes the one to the right and at the end is a hallway is a door. He puts his badge to the lock and it clicks.

“I thought you guys had a spacecraft delay. At least you made it only a minute late.” A muscular man with fiery orange hair pulled back in a ponytail said.

Eli looked across the room, “My apologies, but Rayne had to stare at everything that we passed, I swear to god.” He threw me under the bus.

“Welcome back, Rayne.” The man with the fiery orange hair said. I took the open seat near where Eli sat at the black table. The chair was black leather and I felt super small in it. I adjusted myself, so I looked a bit taller.

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” I said in response as the room became quiet and the other people at the table looked at me. I looked around the room. Eight others sat. Everyone dressed in business casual suits. One amphibian woman sat at the table, her scales were transparent and showed her skin underneath. A few people looked like they were from Hanna or Earth. One other besides Eli looked to be from Ganakk. One very tan man looked to be from Ekkberen from his scuffed look and piercings. Another person I could not guess where the hell they were from.

“She doesn’t remember names, Red.” Eli said as awkwardness ensued.

“The less names she knows the better.” The Amphibian woman spoke as she looked at me, her light blue eyes dilating and constricting. I felt like my thoughts were being invaded. However, that’s the same way I felt with Sid; I just didn’t know it at the time. This woman seemed a lot more human than Sid. The scales on her body were not as prominent and I could see human looking skin as her scales were transparently covering her skin. The only thing showing her scales was the reflection of light on them and her scales would look almost silver.

“I second that.” The man from Ekkberen said.

“Well, I guess we should get this meeting over with.” Red said as he pressed a button on the remote in his hand. The rooms light dimmed and a light blue three dimensional projection showed in front of on the table above a black circular looking stone. A planet appeared in front of us, rotating on its axis. Tiny words said next to the planet. Valorion.

Red said, “You two are going to be sent to Sequoia, the capital of Valorion.” He pressed another button. The capital showed as a dot and zoomed in. A projection of a city with many lights was shown. There were many skyscraper buildings that was in front of a beach area. It reminded me of Las Vegas, Nevada on planet Earth.

“Of course, we will need you two to be in your roles.” I blinked, what was my role? Oh god, don’t tell me…

“That means Eli will take the place of your master and you will have to act as Bot 404 again. The same way you acted during trainings.” Well, fuck me, right?

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 8: They Are Watching You

I heard his low voice in my ear, “Testing, testing.”

I responded, “Unfortunately, I hear you.”

“Good girl.” I squinted my eyes and a chill ran down my back. I wanted this day to be over already. Eli was already having too much fun with this.

The plan was simple: Act like a small child. Get to know the Valorions while I’m at Eli’s side. We would mingle and collect information to take back to the UGN. We had mics on us and microscopic cameras on our clothes. We weren’t the only ones from the United Galactic Nations Force to be at this event. There were many more like us who were disguised, hidden. It was scary, but thrilling to be able to go there. Eli told me that some people have been caught by the Valorions because of the recent unity of the Amphibian and Valorion people. I asked what would happen if caught. He would not answer me.

Amphibians had gifts of telepathy. Some had the rare ability to see the past of others, like Sid and feel for intentions. Eli had been trained to hide these things from Amphibians. I, on the other hand, had not. This was what the amphibian woman explained to me days prior.

Eli sprayed cologne on himself and tucked in his dress shirt. I sat on the queen bed, flicking through channels on the wall to watch. He looked at me on the bed.

“What?” I said as I looked at him.

He cut his beard down to just stubble on his face. His grey eyes flickered with anger, “Well, the Christmas Event starts in two hours and we haven’t even left yet. You haven’t even showered today, and you’re still laying around. Do you want me to start treating you like a baby now?” I glared at him and got up. I quickly took a shower and dried myself. I put on new underwear, sweatpants and a grey shirt. He said that I’d have my dress clothes ready when we were on the spacecraft to Sequoia.

Twenty minutes later, on a privately owned spacecraft, I pulled on a satin red dress with white fuzz lining the bottom flare of the dress and white fur on the shoulder pads. It had long sleeves that flared out and white fuzzy cuffs. I picked up the diaper, frowning at it. Well, here goes a shot at putting it on I guess.

I sat down on the ground over the unfolded diaper. I placed the tapes on. Simple. Not rocket science. I came out of the bathroom and a girl named Francesca was waiting to fix my hair and apply some blush to my cheeks and mascara to my eyes. She made my hair wavy and put a red satin bow in it to hold my longer front hair back.

I looked at Eli, he was adjusting his red tie in the mirror and met my eyes. Something flashed in his eyes. It looked like he was checking me out. He looked away, trying to play it off. He pulled on his black suit jacket.

“Now we have to put your stockings on and socks. Did you want to do it? Or do you need help?” Francesca asked.

Eli walked towards us, “Here, I’ll do it for her. I have to make sure her diaper’s on right anyways.”

He raised my dress and sighed, meeting my eyes, “I had a feeling that you didn’t know how to change yourself.”

Francesca smiled as she looked at me, “You put it on backwards? Oh my god, that’s adorable.” She and Eli laughed. I blushed.

Eli led me back into the bathroom, removing my diaper, “You didn’t even use powder?”

My face was warm, “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. Just get it over with.”

He had me lay on the ground, powdering my diaper and front area and taping the diaper on snugly. He helped me into nude stockings that looked to be embedded with hundreds of diamonds.

“Here’s the shoes and socks.” Francesca pointed to them on the ground as she was looking on her phone and messgaging someone.

I pulled on both frilly socks and then slipped my feet into Velcro velvet red shoes. I sat on the couch, crossing my arms. Eli came over with a red Hello Kitty pacifier that had a clip. He clipped the pacifier on a string that hung down from the v-neck, white fuzz lined dress near my chest.

“There, now you’re properly dressed for once in your life.” He said with humor flashing on his face.

“If anything happens tonight and I never see you again, just know that I hate you.” I said as I glared at him. Eli flashed a smile in response and walked away.

The intercom over the spacecraft announced, “We’ll be arriving in approximately five minutes.” I walked over to a window seat, gazing out to the planet. We were approaching quickly. I saw a brightly lit area of Valorion and as we approached, I found that that brightly lit area was Sequoia. It was a vast city with twinkling lights near the beach. Waves crashed into the shoreline and a breeze moved the trees. There were signs for casinos and strip clubs on one side of the city. The other side had an elegant look with a dome shaped building at the center and then skyscraper buildings surrounding it.

Eli placed the pacifier in my mouth as our spacecraft landed silently near the beach at Sequoia’s landing pad. Many other space crafts were landing from other planets. I kneeled in my chair as I looked out the window at the different designs. One spacecraft was red, shaped like a car, and had fans horizontally spinning as it landed. Another was gigantic with a triangular shape and a bright orange color.

I felt a sting on the soft tissue of my buttock. I whimpered and looked back angrily.

“That’s to calm you. Sorry, baby girl. I can’t have you freaking out or doing anything to ruin tonight, or blowing our cover.” I cocked my head, why would I do anything to ruin things for us? I’m not that stupid. I didn’t understand it. My brain waves slowed and, he was right, I began to feel very relaxed and euphoric.

“Show’s on.” He said as he got up and the doors of the private spacecraft opened and a walkway locked onto the ground.

He took my hand and lead us to a limousine that was waiting on the road near the landing pad. We got in and a man with two heads looked back, “Welcome to Sequoia. Is it your first time?”

Eli shook his head, “No, I’ve been here once or twice before this. This is my baby’s first time though.”

The limousine took off down the road near the beach. One of his heads turned to look at me “She’s a cute one, how old?” I didn’t like his stare but I didn’t care either. Whatever Eli gave me was making me very lax.

“A month.” Eli said as his arm wrapped behind my back.

“Still a newborn I see. I’ve been thinking of getting one ourselves.” The head on the right said. I was disgusted. I now understand why Eli gave me meds.

“Yea, they are quite a handful.” Eli responded nonchalantly. He was good at this. Thank god I didn’t have to talk.

The limousine can to a halt at a grand hall. I looked over at the tall building in front of us and it had cream colored satin curtains that were at each side of the building. Eli got out of the car and I slid over to get out. Eli grabbed underneath my arm pits and pulled me out of the car, placing me on the ground softly. He pulled out a few dollars and handed it to the two-headed man.

“Thanks, buddy.” Eli said as he closed the door.

We walked in and Eli acknowledged a lot of people that we passed. Some people would ask about me and have small talk.

“Oh, she is just the darndest thing, Eli!”

“Aww, I’d love to just take her home and call her my own.”

“Look! See I told you we should have got one like her.”

My mind didn’t care. I just stood there, awkwardly. All of the people thought I was shy, quiet. I would cast my gaze around, looking for familiar faces like the directors I once knew. I didn’t see anyone. Eli directed me towards a table with his name on it. He had me sit down as he mingled with others.

I watched people as they chatted. I saw many people with expensive dresses on and suits. A enormous chandelier hung above everyone. The rich. The powerful. All in one room. How did these wealthy people make their money? The buying and selling of bots? Of people? Sickening. Upsetting. I stopped looking at people.

“I’m going to go to the restroom real quick, do you think you’ll be okay on your own for a second?” Eli looked down at me. I looked up and nodded, pacifier still in my mouth.

Five minutes passed and people kept coming up to me, asking where my daddy, master or babysitter was. I just told them the bathroom through my pacifier.

Ten minutes passed, I looked around the large dining hall. No Eli. Where was Eli? Did something happen? I got up, walking towards the back of the dining hall. Two sets of stairways wrapped up to where a large hallway was that led to the restrooms. I walked up the stairs and stood near the men’s bathroom, pacing.

“Ra-“ A pause, “Bot 404.” I turned my head and met awaiting blue eyes. They flashed, lovingly, as they saw my outfit. Lovingly. Zane. His eyes scanning my outfit from top to bottom as he fixed the cufflinks of his jacket. Was he about to say my real name?

Here was the man who I thought was a terrible person from what he did to me was standing before my very eyes. The things I wanted to say to him. I saw red. Anger boiling in my veins. My pacifier dropped out of my mouth. My face red, my teeth clenched.

His eyes flashed. With pain, hurt. Why? It was bewildering, the look he had. I didn’t understand it.

“Baby girl, what are you doing without your paci?” Eli left the bathroom, kneeling and placing the pacifier in my mouth.

Eli stood and his gaze went to Zane’s. Zane blinked away the look he had as he looked at Eli, “Hey, Eli. Long time, no see, old friend.” Zane came over and shook Eli’s hand. Old friend. Eli needed to explain some things. I didn’t understand any of this. We’re we really on an assignment?

Zane’s eyes fell back on mine. I tore my glance away from him and began walking away, back to where I was sitting. I did not want to be near this man.

I felt someone pull me to a halt, “Where do you think you’re going?” Eli said as I looked up at him.

I didn’t respond. I just looked at the ground, “I apologize, she’s in a mood tonight.”

Zane responded, “No, you’re fine. I understand completely how that is.” I met his eyes, confused. It’s as if they were speaking in a different language. I realized I was glaring at Zane. I tore away my gaze.

Zane cocked his head as he caught my look, “Eli, can I talk to you in private?” He said in a hoarse voice.

Eli nodded, “Go back to your table, baby girl.” Zane blinking as Eli called me baby girl. I began walking down the stairs as the two walked into the closet room near the bathrooms. I stopped and turned back around. I pressed my ear against the door.

“When are they removing the block?” I could hear Zane’s muffled voice in concern.

“The council is adamant about not removing it until a year from now.” Eli responded quickly, quietly.

“I’m tired of playing this waiting game. I want to pull the trigger on this plan. Did you see the look she gave me? What the fuck was that dude? You couldn’t have at least told her something?” Zane said with a passion I didn’t understand.

“You need to calm down, look,” I began hearing a white noise over my mic and earpiece. I was confused.

“Rayne, can you please let us know what’s going on there?” I heard a woman’s voice over my ear piece. I was confused. What was Eli doing? Blocking the mic?

I realized Eli was trying to hide something important. I said, “Sorry my mic dropped into water. Give me a second.”

I heard in a hushed voice, barely visible to the human ear, “There are snakes in the counsel of the UGN. We need numbers. This plan is going to fail in a month’s time. My helix has been tapped for the past few months and I’m not the only one, check yours.” He paused, “Aries is up their asses, literally and figuratively and that’s the main reason Rayne still has the block. I think Rayne saw something she shouldn’t have before what happened to her happened.” Who was Aries? What did this all mean? Is that why Eli hasn’t been telling me many things? So many questions but it was not the time for answers. They were watching us. Whoever they were.

Eli’s voice became loud again and the white noise left the mic, “Look, be patient. Once the block is removed she’ll be back to normal and she will probably still be a brat to you. It’s Rayne, that’s just her.” You could hear the sarcasm in his voice. Why were they talking about me? What was this block? I didn’t understand any of it.

The only thing I did understand is: I could not fully trust anyone. Not the United Galactic Nations. Not the Valorions. Nowhere was considered safe. People were watching us. I didn’t know why, but I was going to find out.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 9: Apparently I Was Dead

The door opened and I fell on my back. Ouch.

“What are you doing here?” Eli said as he looked down in surprise. Did he not hear me over the mic saving his ass?

Zane held out his hand and I took it, standing up. He straightened out my dress for me with a smile but his eyes were sad. I met his eyes, he looked away, irritated. I didn’t understand why he was suddenly angry. Was it what Eli said?

“It was nice seeing you two, but I must go.” Zane said with a nod of his head to Eli and I. His eyes met Eli’s but he didn’t look at me. Zane was hot and cold. I didn’t get what the emotional change was all about.

The rest of the night went by in a blur. I didn’t understand the words that were exchanged between Eli and Zane. A block. What was this block? Is that why I couldn’t remember my past? Was it a memory block? ‘… that’s the main reason Rayne still has the block. I think Rayne saw something she shouldn’t have before what happened to her happened.’ If I had a memory block, then who put in? The Valorions? The United Galactic Nations? The directors? And, hypothetically, if I had a block, what did I see before my memory was lost? What was so important that someone didn’t want me to know?

Something was dire. There were lives on the line. Whatever I had saw, must have been important. If it were so important, why am I not dead? Why I am still alive? So many things didn’t add up.

On the spacecraft home, my eyes got drowsy as I sucked on my pacifier.

“You know you can take that out now, right? We’re done roleplaying unless you needed me to baby you a little longer?” Eli said as he took off his tie. I spit out the pacifier, glaring at him.

We were back at the Intergalactic Space Station in our room, “Thank god that’s over.” Eli said as he threw his jacket on the dresser. I was about to sit down, until I heard a knock on the door.

Eli gave a confused look as he approached the door, “Hello?”

A muffled voice responded as Eli looked through the peephole, “Eli. You’re being called to the conference room to talk with the UGN counsel.” Eli’s eyes flashed with apprehension. I never saw him this shaken since we launched from Forestor on planet Hanna in the Interspace Frontier.

He looked at me, words playing at his lips but he didn’t speak. He silently left the room without question.

I went to my bed and took off the stupid frilly socks. Panic seeping into my pores. Where did Eli go? Would he be coming back? Why was he gone?

I took off the stockings and tried to preoccupy myself with television shows.

An hour passed by, still no Eli. I paced the room, crossing my arms. Should I leave the room? I can’t sit here forever. I tried drifting my thoughts to something else but it kept going back to Eli. He was the only person I trusted. The only person who has been consistently honest. Tonight he said things that weren’t made for my ears but it made sense. He wasn’t lying to me and that’s what mattered the most.

Twenty more minutes passed. What was taking so long? If it were really only a ‘talk’ then it shouldn’t take this long.

I can’t sit any longer. Fuck this. I don’t care if I get into trouble. I need to know what’s going on.

I slid on sweats and took off my dress and slid a dark-grey hoodie on that had a UGNF logo on it. I walked out of the room, closing the door quietly. I walked briskly down the hallway, towards the gym track and pool where Eli took me a few days ago. It was late at night and no one was in the pool. I passed the pool and turned the corner. The hallway was quiet. I walked up to the door and heard nothing. I opened the door and looked inside. Nothing. No one. I walked to the main circular hallway again, confused. Where was anyone? I paced back and forth, scratching my head.

“Rayne?” I turned around and a Zenon girl was looking at me as if she knew me. My eyes flashed, thinking of Izzie. However, this was not Izzie.

“Hi, uh, who are you?” The girl was tall, probably about 5 foot 9. She had long dark purple hair with light purple highlights and a septum piercing, nose piercing, and eyebrow piercing all filled with diamonds twinkling on her face. She looked like a model, with a perfect complexion and sharp contours on her face. She had a sleeveless black shirt on and grey shorts. Her eyes were dark purple with flickers of magenta.

She frowned, “I’m Gemini, but you can call me Gem, Gemmy or Gemma.” She blinked, coming closer, “So it’s really true…All the rumors I heard and I haven’t seen you in so long.” She was staring at me as if I was a ghost, “They really did take you, didn’t they?”

I shrugged, “I guess someone did take me. I just can’t figure out who and why.”

She shook her head in awe, as if I were not real, “I missed you, Rayne. Like, a lot. I thought you were gone. We had a freaking wake for you and talked about you like you were dead.” She said as she touched my arm, her eyes getting watery.

I looked down at my arm, confused of her sudden proximity. Zenons always seem to have an affinity for you. Eli’s words repeated in my head. Was this girl, from my past, the reason he said that? I didn’t get it. And a wake? Did I die? What happened that everyone thought I was dead?

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 10: The Wall’s Midlife Crisis

“Do you know where a conference would take place besides here?” I asked Gemini.

She blinked away her watery eyes, her long lashes fluttering, “Yeah, why?”

I responded, “Well, my friend, Eli, supposedly had a conference with the UGN and I’ve been trying to find him.”

She rose her eyebrows, “Eli’s here?! No way. I haven’t seen him, Jay or Zane in what feels like a year.” Gemini said happily as if she were close friends with them. Him, Jay or Zane. Who was Jay? I knew 4 out of 5 but this all confused me.

“But, you said with the UGN? At this time?” She looked to not believe me. I nodded, she began walking, “Well, any conference with them would be at the restricted floor that we don’t have access too unless were called up there.” She crossed her arms.

“So, basically, I just have to wait.” I said as I sighed and began walking back to my room. I had no badge so I was locked out but I could at least stand there.

“Hey, where are you going?” She asked as she walked behind me.

I shrugged, “I’m probably just going to walk around since I’m locked out of my room anyways.”

“I mean, I’ll walk with you.” She came near my side as we walked up the incline of the hallway, “I have so many questions, Rayne. Like, what happened?”

I shook my head, “I have no idea. No one will tell me. I don’t remember my past. Nothing up until I was initiated as a bot.” I shrugged.

“WOAH WOAH WOAH. What?!” Gemini stopped, pissed, “Don’t even tell me that. There’s no way. So that’s where you went. You literally were-“ She stopped speaking as her ear lit up, blue. On her ear was a Helix. Oh fuck. All of them had Helix’s. Did I? I wanted her to tell me what happened, but she halted midsentence.

She spoke as she looked straight, “She deserves to know what happened.” She paused, “That’s bullshit.” She gritted her teeth, her eyes looking at me as she shook her head.

I began walking straight, I wanted to punch a wall. I was pissed. All of these lies. All of these secrets. I kicked the wall in frustration. My hand stretched out and I felt a force of energy travel from my hand to the wall. The wall concaved and the steel behind it made a popping noise. My mouth gaped as I looked at my hands. What just happened? Was that me or the wall going through a midlife crisis?

Gemini was standing behind me, her face shocked, “Please, tell me I’m not going crazy. Did you really not touch that and that happened?” I scratched my head.

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never done that before, I swear.” I said, disoriented. What was that? Was I gifted? What did this all mean?

“I’m just going to ignore that that just happened.” Gemini said as she began walking, “Fuck. They want to have a conference with me now too.” She rolled her eyes.

I walked with her towards the elevators. We walked in silence. She seemed absurdly quiet from how talkative she just was. Gemini was fuming, pissed. I was perplexed on what I did to the wall, confused.

As we went down the hallway, we went down the incline and turned into the long hallway of rooms. I blinked, Eli was standing near someone who had their back turned. Eli looked perfectly fine. The man next to him looked familiar from behind. Dirty blonde hair, sweat pants, and a hoodie on. He turned to me, smiling warmly.

“ZANEY!” Gemini yelled down the hall, “Oh my god, its like old times! Zaney and Rayney back together at last!!” Zaney and Rayney? What did that mean?

“Shhhh. Shut up, Gemma. There’s people sleeping.” Eli said in a hiss. Gemma? Maybe that’s what she preferred being called.

Gemma rolled her eyes, “Ugh, I was hoping time would change you’re assholic self, but, it looks like you aren’t that lucky.” She burned him, and I laughed.

Eli squinted at her, “Assholic isn’t even a word.” Gemini ignored him as her Helix lit up again.

“Well, I’d love to hang like old times with you all, but I’m being summoned to hell. BRB, guys.” She said as she stormed off toward the elevators. I liked her, she was very funny and nice.

Zane opened his door with his badge, “Well, I’ll see you guys in the morning.” He had a badge? As far as I knew, last month he was the enemy who worked for Sequoia Airspace. What happened? This was the first time I had seen Zane without a pacifier in my mouth and acting like a baby. I had questions I wanted answered.

“Wait, can I talk with you?” I asked as he held his door open. His tired eyes looked up curiously.

Eli answered, “Rayne, I think we all need some sleep. It’s been a long day and tomorrow we all have to wake up early for a conference.”

“No, Eli, you’ve pissed me off enough. I want to talk to Rayne, without you.” Zane said as he motioned for me to come in.

Eli rolled his eyes, “Whatever, Rayne the room number is 809. Just knock and I’ll let you in.”

Then me and Zane were alone in his room. He sat on his bed, clasping his hands and looking at me. Humor playing on his face as his eyes danced.

“Why are you here?” I asked, flatly.

He cocked his head, confused with my sudden attitude, “I’m here because of you.”

I shook my head, squinting at him. I was puzzled, “Why though? I just don’t understand.” Zane looked blankly at me.

Zane stretched and yawned, “You’ll find out everything soon. Just go to sleep, Rayne.” I stared at him.

My jaw shifted, Zane’s eyes traced it with his eyes, “Fine.” I left the room to Eli’s.

I tossed and turned until I finally fell asleep.

Everything would change the next day. Everything.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 11: Awakened

I saw the door open to the conference room on the restricted floor 29 as Zane and Eli walked in.

At the front of the room, many officials of the United Galactic Nations sat. Red and the amphibian woman with transparent scales looked to be the heads of it. They were having their monthly conference about issues relating to the galaxy. Multiple officials from across the planets sat at the table. Officials from Reorf, Tereet, Hanna, Earth, Aquari, Zenon, Manta, the Moon Station, Orion’s Belt Airspace, and the list went on. The only officials not present were from Valorion.

I sat outside with Gemma waiting patiently as an hour passed.I was supposed to wait outside in case I was needed as a witness.

Eli left the room, “Well, Zane just dropped a bunch of articles of proof in there and Vix and few others are being arrested as we speak.”

Gemma responded, “Whaaaaaaat?”

I was confused, “Who is Vix?”

“She’s that amphibian bitch who wrote me up last night for telling you ‘too much information’. Thank. God. She’s. Gone.” Gemma said as she stood up.

“Why is she being arrested?” I asked.

“Well, I guess she was sending information from the Helix database to the Valorion. Also, she’s suspected of attempted murder along with a few other officials.” Eli said grimly as he glanced at me.

Officials left the room as we all sat there, waiting for Zane.

Someone was calling my name, “Rayne Griff, please follow me.” I looked over and saw Red motioning for me to follow him and a few others. I looked at Eli and Gemmy and they nodded to follow him.

I followed him into the elevators and it shot up. There were higher floors? I thought this was the last one.

Ten minutes later I was laying on a bed, being prepped for a brain surgery to remove the memory block in my brain. They told me it was a fairly quick surgery and that I’d be awake in 30 minutes. As the anesthesiologist was injecting the sleeping medication, Zane walks in. His eyes, anxious. I was confused as the sleep medicine reached my brain. I felt someone kiss the top of my head, and squeezed my hand before my mind blacked out.

---

I heard voices.

“Are you sure you want to be in here? She may start yelling.”

“Well, it’s Rayne, so that’s a given.” I heard a familiar voice say. One I’ve known. One who I could listen to for hours on end and never get tired of.

I missed his closeness. His lips traveling up my neck. His fingertips traveling down my back. His eyes flashing with humor. I wanted him. His warmth. His love.

My eyes opened, bright light assaulting my vision. The things I saw, the horrible, traumatizing things, rushed to my brain. Things I wish I never saw. Things I regret getting myself into. Images playing in my mind. I tried to shut it off. I couldn’t. I could never forget what I saw that day. I thought being a bot was bad, but nothing, no nothing, compared to what I saw two months ago.

“Rayne-” Zane’s eyes met mine, dancing happily that I was awake. Those eyes. How I missed them.

“I need something to throw up in.” I closed my eyes, feeling sick from what I knew, what I saw.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 12: Rayne Griff

2 years ago. Zane.

I was looking over the incoming trainee’s charts with the other officials. They would arrive today. At least three of them would quit the first week and go with an easier job in the Galactic Forces, such as administrators, cleaning crews or cooks. The job of an officer was not to be taken lightly. Some would last a month. Some would leave the first few days, breaking a legal contract with the UGNF (United Galactic Nations Forces).

We liked to bet on which student would leave first and which student would be the top in their class. It was a fun game we played.

“There’s a Zenon girl this year, boys.” Mathias said as he looked at the charts and the picture. I shook my head. Zenon girls were hot, but I didn’t care for them. Most of them were lesbian, anyways.

I didn’t really care for girls anymore. I’ve had a record of hooking up in my youth. In the past three years, I’ve found myself tired of trying. No girl peaked my interests anymore. Most girls were the same, no matter what planet they were from. They were very predictable. Many bored me. I tried the whole relationship thing once or twice; it failed miserably and now I have two psychotic ex-girlfriends. One tried making me seem like I was a pervert. One made fun of me for having special interests. That’s a story for another day.

Ever since I became an officer with the United Galactic Nations, I am not allowed to have sexual relationships with trainees. I never have hooked up with a trainee and never planned too. That’s what I told myself, at least. Little did I know, I’d break that rule this year.

“I forecast this one to leave first.” Erik said as he pulled out a girl’s chart and picture. I looked at her image. Messy raven black hair. Glowing, sun-touched skin. Beautifully long lashes. Adorable. Sexy, in a subtle way. My mind mused. She’d look cute in a diaper. I brushed off the thought, quickly.

I blinked and looking down at my own charts, “Why her?”

Erik read off her chart, “Well, her chart says she’s 5’2, weighing 115 pounds, which we haven’t had someone that small since -if anyone remembers the last time I won a few years back- that Veronica girl dropping out. And, not to mention, she’s human.” He said as he looked up from his glasses.

I raised my eyebrows, “She’s human? She looks Hannan or Terethian.” I said as I grabbed the chart from him. The training camp was on planet Hannan after all. It was a great possibility she was Hannan. Hannan’s were a bit different that humans. They cared a lot about their planet. They were naturally very tan, toned, and skinny since they spent most of their time outdoors.

Hannans and humans were both homosapiens, yet humans had more anomalies in their blood lines that lead to things like cancer or degenerative disorders. Scientists later found that this was because of the pollution and diets of Earthlings.

She looked fit, toned and well-kept, nothing like a human. I couldn’t put my finger on it but there was something that interested me about this new trainee.

I flipped through the pages to read the DNA test, “Hey, where’s the DNA swab?”

Frank rose his eyebrows, “Are you sure it’s not mixed in another chart? We have to have it.
After all, we can’t accept trainees without them.” I searched and only saw a written ancestry in her chart. Impossible.

Erik laughed, “I knew it. She’d be the first to go. I’ll give the call now.” Oh, how much Erik pissed me off with his country accent.

Jay spoke up, “We can’t terminate her training the day of, idiot. We’ll just have to do a swab test when she arrives. Simple.” I laughed in relief. I was curious. Where was she from? I wanted to know about this new girl.

Hours passed and the buses rolled in. Frank and Erik checked to see if all trainees had arrived by calling names. I scanned over the new faces. One towering Ganakk guy that everyone bet would be the top of the class stood in the center. The model-like Zenon girl stood next to him. A few humans stood in a group together. A few Hannans sprinkled the group. My eyes scanned for someone who was missing. That girl. Where was she?

The girl brushed past me and Jay appeared by my side. That’s where she was, getting her DNA swab with Jay. My eyes watched the way she walked to the group. Her raven black hair falling off her shoulders and moving in the Hannan breeze softly. Her tiny grey tank top showing her back and black crisscross strappy sports bra. The way her ripped jean shorts complemented her perky bottom. Oh, the things I would do to that girl. I had to look away. I met the Ganakk guy’s eyes as he caught me checking her out. Well, were all guys right?

I crossed my arms as she turned around. I tried my best to look anywhere else, but it was as if I was a compass and my eyes were always pointing North. And she was North. As Erik and Frank spoke, and she looked at them, I looked at her. She had pink, pouty lips. Cute. Flushed cheeks. Bright, green eyes that were quick. They caught mine. Her eyes were stunning, breathtaking. I blinked as I looked at the other trainees, making it seem like I was scanning all of their faces, not just hers.

The trainees settled into their bunks. I sat at my desk and Jay came in, “Zane, you need to be the first one to see this.” He said as he slapped a few papers on my desk. Light shined on my desk as I looked at the words, momentarily confused. Oh, the DNA test of the girl. I read, curiously.

GRIFF, RAYNE

41% Hannan
28% Human(Earthling)
17% Nefareon
8% Terethian
6% Other(mixed)

My eyes flashed, oh no. This was not good. Nefareon. I’ve only heard rumors of what the Valorion have done to Nefareons. I’ve never met a Nefareon girl before.

I looked at Jay, “We need to edit this, stat.”

Jay scratched his head, “Isn’t that, like, illegal, Zane?”

“Not if no one knows besides me and you.” I said in a snap. He eyed me carefully.

Jay shook his head, “Why is it that important to you?”

“Think, Jay, that recent story of the missing family in Hanna? Who do you think took them? Why do you think they were taken? You’ve heard the rumors.” Did he not understand how important this was? As far as I knew, anyone of Nefareon descent were in hiding. She needed to be hidden.

Jay looked at me, studying me, “You like this girl, don’t you?”

I crossed my arms, “Just change it. Please.”

You didn’t know it at the time, Rayne Griff, but this was the first time I saved your life. And trust me, it would not be the last.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 13: Whatever-the-fuck I am

Rayne.

We arrived at the training base of the United Galactic Nations Forces, or otherwise known as the Galactic Forces. As the bus rolled in, it was a sight to be seen as one space craft was landing and another was taking off. I had only been through intergalactic travel a few times and that was to visit Earth to work for nature preserving. I spent three summers on Earth when I was young. Each summer, I would help plant trees, discard waste, fertilize soil, plant flowers, and water plants.

Earth was a dying planet. Many of the wealthy Earthlings moved to the Moon Station as Earth became overpopulated and polluted. People told me it was a waste of time, but, if they saw the animals that were still alive on planet Earth, they would understand why I helped. I had not traveled anywhere besides the lands of Hanna since the age of 7. I longed to travel the galaxy again. Hanna was beautiful, but I felt a growing curiosity to explore the planets. It was on my bucket list to travel to every single planet. I dreamed of being part of the Galactic Forces for so long. The traveling that they did was only in dreams. There were secrets of the universe that only the Galactic Forces knew. I wanted to be in on those secrets. My childhood was filled of them. I was hungry for answers. Curiosity would kill the cat, but I was no cat.

As far as my story goes, my parents left when I was the age of 7. I never found out why or how. They disappeared in a blink of an eye. I had memories of going camping with my parents, David and Val, and countless memories of hiking up the Joridas Mountains on Hanna. My dad taught me how to ride a bike, how to play soccer, and even how to start a fire from lint and twigs.

My mother was, what you would call, a green thumb. She showed me how to give back to the planet in the little time we shared together. We would go on whole summer expeditions to visit Earth to clean up fields and tame the pollution. When my mom tended to the plants, it was like watching magic. No, it was magic.

Once, when I was 5, we visited Earth. We planted many seeds in a field. I cut my finger as I was planting. I sucked on the blood and spit it out.

“Rayne, don’t spit on the soil.” She said angrily at me.

“Sorry, I just have a boo boo, momma.” I showed her my cut. She placed a few seeds in holes of soil and placed more dirt in. She watered the area and turned to me. My mom took off her glove and fished through her pocket. She kissed it and put a band aid on my finger.

I looked at the soil that my mother just watered, a green stalk sprouted out, slowly. My mom blinked, looking down. It was if we were watching a movie in slow motion. More plant stalks sprouted out of the soil. Green buds appeared on the stalks. The buds blossomed into many flowers. Lilacs. Daisies. Tulips. Dahlias. I thought I was dreaming. It was breathtaking.

This was the moment I knew my mother was not human nor Hannan. I looked at her and she walked away. I knew what she was. She was one of the fae, like in the tales of the Nefareon. This was the day I began believing. Believing that my childhood stories were true. That my mom was gifted.

The second time I saw this gift was when I became seven, my childhood dog, Rex, was ran over by a car. I heard a whimper as I was watering my parents’ plants in the front of our house. I looked behind me and all I saw was blood. At first, I didn’t connect it to Rex. All I saw was fur and a goopy mass of a dog. I didn’t understand. I screamed for my mom. A few neighbors peaked their head’s out their doors and one neighbor walked out onto his front porch.

I ran over to Rex, his leg twitching, my eyes watering. A tear rolled down my face, falling on Rex’s body. His neck was snapped, his eyes staring blankly. This couldn’t be. Tears fell as I picked him up and ran into my house with a lifeless animal in my arms.

My mom turned around, apron on, and with a knife in hand from cutting vegetables for dinner that night. She set her knife down as her eyes were in shock as I placed him gently on the table.

“He’s dead, momma, he’s dead.” I was crying, uncontrollably.

My mom came over to Rex and she touched him, snapping his neck back in place. Rex whimpered, light coming back to his eyes. My mom brought him back to life. But, how?

Rex rolled on his feet and was wagging his tail like nothing happened, yet he was a bloody mess. The wound on his stomach was closing. I looked at my mom in awe. For two years, I thought that the time where I watched her bring plants to life before my very eyes was just my young brain making things up. This made the thoughts in my head real. My mom had a gift. To bring others back to life. To create life with a touch of her fingers.

That night, my parents argued, “We’re not leaving her, Val. God damnit, listen to me.” My dad said, in an angry, hushed voice.

I pressed my ear to my bedroom door, “We can’t stay in Hanna. And she can’t come with us. If she stays on this planet, she’ll be safe. We need to leave; it’s becoming too obvious as the years go by.” My mother said anxiously, “You know I don’t want to leave her either. But it’s not about us anymore. We can’t be selfish. Period. No more discussion.” My mom said. I fell asleep that night, not knowing that the next day my life would change completely.

The next morning, my parents were gone. I moved five hundred miles to Petri, Hanna, where Fern and George lived. They were my parent’s good friends and would raise me until I was the age of 18.

Life became a lot stricter. I was not allowed to travel outside of the galaxy. I had a curfew. I had to tell them where I went or was at all times. My grades had to be excellent. I met all of their expectations throughout my childhood; however, they never told me why my parents left or where they went. They would tell me that they were in a better place. As if they were dead. I never understood. My mom was gifted. I had a feeling that they left because of her and her gift. Having special abilities like my mother was dangerous. People would kill to have what she had. That’s my theory on why she left. No other explanation would make as much sense to me.

Fern and George were pissed when they found out I was accepted into the United Galactic Nations Forces Academy. Fern tried hiding my acceptance letter from me, but my eyes caught the UGNF symbol on the letter she had in her hand.

“Can I see that?” I asked her.

She shook her head, “Why would you apply, Rayne? I thought you applied to college at Greenberg State. What happened?” She crossed her arms, fuming. Whoops. I guess I forgot to mention that I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to be something important. I wanted my life to have meaning. I wanted to learn the secrets of the galaxies.

“I’m tired of Hanna. I want to adventure and be something. Can’t you see that?” I said to Fern. She never listened to me. She only heard what she wanted to hear.

“Well, you could have done traveling medical sales like we talked about. You could travel that way. There’s so many other avenues than the Galactic Forces. You’re signing yourself up to a contract that you can’t leave for four years. Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?” She said, flabbergasted at my decision.

“I already signed the contract. Do you really think I was visiting campuses last week?” I asked, rolling my eyes. I visited the government center in Kirkland, Hanna the week before to cement my new life.

Fern thought I was stupid, and she was still mad at me. I gave Fern and George hugs before I left this morning as George said, “Be careful out there, kiddo. I’m proud of you-“ He lowered his voice as Fern went inside, “even though Fern is pissed. But she’ll get over it.” He said with a wink. George was a nice guy, and so was Fern. She wanted to protect me from the world, I get it, but I was not meant to be protected.

I thought of this all as I picked up my backpack and walked out of the bus. A guy with square glasses came up to me as I walked out, “Rayne Griff?” He asked with dark brown eyes. I nodded, confused.

“Come with me. We have to get your DNA test done before we can check you in.” The guy said. He was nerdy in a way. A subtle awkwardness followed him as he walked. I dropped my backpack and trailed behind him.

“Here, just scrape this on the inside of your cheek and place it in the tube.” He ripped open a plastic packaging that had a swab and tube in it and handed it to me. DNA test? Oops, I forgot to do that. I guess I was so distracted trying to hide the fact that I applied for the academy that I forgot to send in my DNA test.

I handed him back the sealed tube with my saliva swab in it. He put it in a slot on his computer and got up, taking me back to where all the new recruits were.

I brushed past the officials standing in a group, checking in all the trainees.

“Gemini Xara.” A Zenon girl rose her hand as I joined the trainees. I never saw a Zenon before. She was beautiful. Radiating skin and long, wavy dark purple hair with piercings in her face. She caught my glance and smiled at me.

I looked away, realizing I was staring as I turned around to face the officials. One of the older guys spoke, “I’m Erik, and this is Frank. We’ll be taking you on a tour through the camp.” Frank had grey and black hair and was fit for his age of my guess, 50 years old? Erik looked to be about 40 and had slicked back hair and light blue eyes as he looked at all of us.

He had a country accent as he spoke, “Look around you. These are your new friends. One day you may call them family. You will spend every day together so learn to get along fast or you can fight and us officials will bet on who wins.” Erik said as he eyed all of us. Some of the other officials laughed to themselves. I looked around to my fellow trainees. There were about forty of us. Things could either go really well or really bad. I guess we would find out.

My eyes scanned the other officials. Most of them were middle aged. Except the young man who gave me the DNA test and the few officials he stood next to. One with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes I caught looking at me. His eyes flicked off of me, with a blink, scanning over the other trainees. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, maybe early thirties. He was handsome. Veins showing faintly as he crossed his toned arms.

I looked away. I was not here for boys. I was here to make myself into something. This was a new beginning and I was not going to start it with a guy who would make me into another one of his one-night stands.

The other officials dispersed as we were shown around the training base. Erik and Frank lead us to the sleeping cabins. There were three cabins, all designed the exact same. Each one that we passed were large wooded rooms with bunk beds along the walls and had an oak table in the center with chairs.

Frank spoke, “Now this is our favorite part. You see these bunks in each cabin? You have five minutes to claim yours. Go.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Three girls that spoke on the bus the whole way here ran into the first cabin, going for the corner wall bunks. I rolled my eyes.

Some guys looked at each other and ran to claim bunks at the third cabin and most of the men followed which left the middle cabin to the cast-aways, like myself. I walked over to the middle cabin and found a bunk that was directly in front of a window in the middle of the room. I swung my backpack over the bottom bunk.

So this is where I’d be spending my next twelve weeks? I couldn’t wait. I grew up as an only child with a room to myself my whole life; now I was going to share a room with 12 other people. This would be a change of pace for me. Maybe this was what Fern was trying to warn me about.

“I call dibs on bottom.” A girl said behind me in a velvet-soft voice. I turned around, wondering who said that. The Zenon girl looked at me and winked. I squinted and sighed, grabbing my backpack and tossing it on the top bunk. I guess I would need to sacrifice the bottom bunk to make friends here.

“Thanks. All of the other bottom bunks were taken in the other cabins, and I thought since you were small you wouldn’t mind.” She said as she opened the bottom drawers of her bunk, squeezing her bright colored clothes in them and toiletries.

I shook my head, “It’s fine. I’ll get over it in a week.” I said, flashing a smile, attempting to make a joke. Her dark purple eyes with flecks of magenta in them looked at me.

She laughed, “I’m Gemini, by the way. People call me Gem or Gemmy.” Her eyes looked to my lips and then back to my eyes.

I said, “I’m Rayne. People just call me Rayne.” I shrugged. She laughed, with a snort. I was a bit uncomfortable. Was she flirting?

The tall Ganakk guy threw his tote on the top of the bed near the window bunks with a huff, “Of course, the guy who’s 7 feet tall gets a top bunkbed. Fuck me, right?” He said to himself, pissed. The guy underneath his bunk ignored him.

He stood near Gemini and I climbed up on the top bunk bed and opened my drawer. I placed my items inside and looked up, catching the Ganakk guy’s eyes.

“Can I help you?” I asked as he crossed his arms.

“Are you human or Hannan or what?” He asked as his eyes studied me.

Humor played on my lips, “I’m whatever-the-fuck I want to be.”

The Ganakk guy stared at me with his light grey eyes. A moment passed and I couldn’t tell if he understood my humor or was royally pissed off.

He smiled underneath his beard, “I like your humor. I’m Eliot but I go by Eli. What was your name again?” He asked as if they said it when they checked everyone in. They never said it.

“Rayne.” I said with a smile. So these were the people that I’d be with the next twelve weeks. I guess it’s not too bad.

[Szeretlek]

Re: I, Bot 404

Lucky day? This feels like a jackpot! Just finished reading them, and I love how you’re weaving the story. Looking forward for next chapter. Best regards

[kerry]

Re: I, Bot 404

This is indeed an excellent story so far. I like abdl genre stories, and it’s rare to come across science fiction done really well. You are creating your world(s) well and your characters are interesting; I hope this keeps growing as the story does. My two quibbles at this point? First, the abdl part seems rather arbitrary. After being apparently central to the plot at the start, it turns out to have been something for which there really is little need or explanation. Second, you keep saying that Zenons have an “infinity” for her. The word you’re looking for is “affinity.” “Infinity” is something infinitely different.

Keep those chapters coming!

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

[QUOTE=kerry;71340]This is indeed an excellent story so far. I like abdl genre stories, and it’s rare to come across science fiction done really well. You are creating your world(s) well and your characters are interesting; I hope this keeps growing as the story does. My two quibbles at this point? First, the abdl part seems rather arbitrary. After being apparently central to the plot at the start, it turns out to have been something for which there really is little need or explanation. Second, you keep saying that Zenons have an “infinity” for her. The word you’re looking for is “affinity.” “Infinity” is something infinitely different.

Keep those chapters coming![/QUOTE]

Oh my, thank you so much kerry for pointing that out! I apologize, I make mistakes on silly things like that. When I originally posted the story, in one of the paragraphs I put ‘site’ instead of ‘sight’ and I changed it quickly as I reread the story. I usually have to scan through it like multiple times before I post and then I still miss obvious things like that so I do apologize.

As far as the ABDL parts, this story is written somewhat backwards, for a reason. The story begins at the midpoint of an important plot line that is unknown to the main character. Now, we are going back in time, to two years prior to where many of the ABDL explanations will be revealed, as the story unfolds. If you read it back -after I post the story’s important pieces-, things might start making sense and clicking. However, I do not want to give away anything but I like that you are questioning why I threw ABDL elements in and it makes no sense. At this point of the story, it shouldn’t make sense. Believe it or not, I did that on purpose, haha.

I guess I should have mentioned that this was a sci-fi story, intertwined with ABDL elements, not an ABDL story, intertwined with sci-fi elements. It’s still in the ABDL genre too, but also part sci-fi -if that makes any sense.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

@kerry;71340

“Infinity” is something infinitely different.

And I literally LOL at this. I like what you did there. I didn’t notice it until I was about to post another chapter.

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 14: First Impressions are my Forte

We had rest of the day to settle in and explore our surroundings. There was a dining hall, the bathrooms, the officer’s cabins, and the gymnasium. Near us were other training base camps for other specialties in the Galactic Forces. Our base camp was the closest to the pilots base camp. You could feel the ground tremble as space ships landed and a quiet boom as they left the base.

Eli, Gemmy and I watched the pilot training base as space crafts practiced launching. We weren’t allowed to cross into the pilot training base but it was a sight to behold. Eli walked away, bored, leaving Gemini and I to watch as a space craft began rolling down the launching strips in the far distance. You could hear it charging for the launch, red and orange light glowing underneath the craft. The sun was setting and the sky was painted orange, pink and light blue with fluffy pink clouds scattered across the skies.

“So, Rayne,” Gemini began as she looked at me and then the blue space craft with a UGNF symbol on it, “are you single?” She asked as she looked at me under her long eyelashes. I watched as the space craft charged down the strips, dark blue wings extending, and leaving the ground in a boom.

I blinked, that was pretty upfront, “I am.” Was she coming onto me?

She inched closer, brushing my wavy hair behind my ear, “Are you interested in girls?” Fuck. I didn’t know. I never had dated much in my past, so I honestly didn’t know. I guess I considered myself bicurious, but I wasn’t ready to explore that avenue at this point in my life.

I blinked, “Uh, I’m not sure.” I said, wanting to decrease our proximity as soon as possible. I was hardly prepared for what we were about to endure the next twelve weeks training for the Galactic Forces; I was even less prepared for a lesbian fling.

“Not to get in between whatever-the-fuck you two are doing, but were all being called to the dining hall for our meal.” Eli said as he walked back to us. Gemini’s hand lingering on my arm as we looked at him.

I broke Gemini’s look and walked away. I looked at Eli, mouthing ‘Thank you’. Humor twinkled in his eyes. Gemini trailed behind me as we walked to dinner.

There was already lines for food as we walked in. Most of the tables were taken and we were late. I grabbed a tray and got in line. I filled my tray with fruit, broccoli, rice and dry-looking chicken pieces. There were not many options for food. No dairy. No sweets. Hardly any flavored food. There were protein shakes or bars. Nothing that was appetizing. I heard about the Galactic Forces diets before but I wasn’t emotionally prepared for it. I would be missing fried food very, very soon.

“Well, I guess we can sit at the end of the table with the officials.” Eli said, scanning the hall for a seat. There were one or two seats at tables with people none of us knew yet. There were seats near the officials, but it looked like no one wanted to sit there.

I sighed, walking past the older officials at one end of the table and sitting near some of the younger ones at the other end. Gemini sat at the end seat and Eli sat on the other end side of the large wooden square table.

I stabbed my food, eating quickly. I did not want to be in the dining hall for long, I wasn’t the best at socializing and this was fucking awkward. Especially being at a table with people who didn’t seem to want us there.

I felt someone’s gaze cast to me as I ate. As I stuck rice and chicken in my mouth, I met the eyes looking at me. The guy with the bright blue eyes was looking at me, curiously.

I chewed and swallowed my food as I said, “What? Is there something on my face?” His eyes flashed with humor and then something serious.

He looked caught off guard, “I was just wondering why you three are sitting over here. This table is for officers only.” He snapped back. He had a tone of authority about him. I wasn’t expecting that.

“Well, I guess today that rule changes.” I said in response with an attitude. His eyes flashed, angrily.

The table went silent.

The guy crossed his arms, “I guess so.” Did he just agree with me? He paused, “But you three are cleaning up the hall later for having an attitude with an officer.” He had a smirk on his face, humor playing at the corners of his mouth. This motherfucker got me.

You could hear Erik’s voice across the hall, “That’s a boy, Zane. Put those newbies in their place.” His country accent chopping the sentence. So his name was Zane. Interesting. I couldn’t tell if I would like him or hate him yet.

“Look, I just met her, please don’t associate us with her.” Eli said as he threw me under the bus. He said it as a joke and I rolled my eyes in response.

Zane paused, thinking, “You’re right, she can clean by herself.” I glared at Eli, fucking asshole.

Gemini said quickly, “I’ll stay and clean with her, I don’t mind.” Oh god, being alone with Gemini again was probably not a good idea.

The officer with the blue eyes shook his head, staring at me, “No, only her.” Warmth traveled up to my face, as I realized officers were turning their heads to us. Did I just get into it with an officer on my first day?

Everyone left the hall slowly until I was alone, with only the cooks left. Zane showed me the cleaning supplies and where the sinks were in the kitchen, “The floor needs to be mopped too. I want everything spotless before you’re done. I’ll be back in an hour.” I was beginning to dislike him. He was trying to poke me until I was going to say something again. I could tell.

I attacked cleaning the trays first. One of the cooks, Jean, looked at me with a frown, “Oh, honey, you should have known not to speak back to an officer.” She began helping me rinse the trays and dry them after I scrubbed each one.

I said a half an hour later, “Thanks for the help. You didn’t have to.”

Jean shook her head, “This is your one free favor from me. If it happens again, I’m not helping you.” She shrugged, “I’m getting paid for the extra hour anyways. If anything, you’re helping me.” I smiled in response as I took a rag.

Jean turned off the stoves and took off her apron, hanging it up, “I’m going home. Just turn off the lights before you leave.” She said as she grabbed her keys.

I wiped off the tables, setting the chairs upside down on them and began mopping. Sweat sticking on my face. I wiped it off.

I was almost done mopping when I heard a voice, “You’re not mopping correctly. And you missed a spot.” I looked behind me and Zane’s eyes were traveling down my body. He was checking me out.

I glared at him for a moment, and then changed my facial expression, “It would have been nice if you told me how you wanted it done originally.” I snapped back.

He rose his eyebrows, “Oh, is that so?” Humor danced in his eyes as he walked over. Was he playing a game with me? I looked away, squeezing the dirty mop water into the bucket.

His proximity increased and my breathing hitched, my nose catching his scent. He smelled enticing. An intoxicating sweet musk mixed with a woodsy scent. My eyes glanced to his long sleeve black t-shirt to his broad shoulders and trailed up to his eyes. He was hot. My heart fluttered. My palms became sweaty. I tried brushing off the thought. I was not going to be distracted.

He grabbed the mop from behind me. One inch between our bodies. A chill went down my spine. I could almost feel his warmth. He took it, placing it in water and draining it. He then made a figure eight motion with the mop as I watched.

“The way you were doing it, you were just dragging dirt back and forth.” He held out the mop for me. I grabbed it and he said, “I want you to go over the floor a second time.”

I blinked, irritated, “Really? A second time? This took me thirty minutes.” My voice razor sharp. He was incredibly attractive, but I was not going to let that change the fact that he was being absurdly strict and nit-picky for no reason.

“Do you want to do it three times?” He asked, he’s eyes twinkling playfully. He was enjoying this, thoroughly. Why was he doing this to me? I didn’t understand. He was already playing mind games and I was perplexed. He was hot, then cold.

I huffed and shook my head. I grabbed the bucket and took it to the sink in the kitchen. I emptied it and threw another soap packet in the bucket, filling it with hot water.

I came back out and Zane took a chair down and was sitting at a middle table, reading on his phone. I rolled my eyes; was he going to watch me this time? I did the figure eight motion he showed me.

He was right. It did work well, but the floor didn’t look any different as I went over it; it was unnecessary to me to clean it a second time. It felt like just a power move to me to make me do it again for having an ‘attitude’. There was no reason for it but I wasn’t going to question it again. I didn’t want to do this a third time. My arms were getting sore and this was beginning to feel like a workout.

“So why did you decide to apply to the UGNF?” He asked as he looked up from his phone. I was mopping an area near the table he sat at. My jaw tightened, he already pissed me off.

I drained the mop into the bucket and put it in the bucket. I looked at him, “Why do you care?”

Zane cocked his head at me, his fingers brushing his lips. His eyes studied me, carefully, “You are really testing my patience, aren’t you?” He was almost intimidating, in a way, as he looked at me. He looked like a lion that was about to pounce.

A moment passed as I mopped the floor, sighing, “I want to be significant to something bigger than myself.” I said as my jaw shifted, looking at the water trails on the wood floor, “I’m tired of being something I’m not. Being in Hanna, I like it here, but it just doesn’t feel right, you know? I’m not quiet. I’m not normal in the slightest. My soul is hungry for adventure, for answers, for new friends and experiences outside of this galaxy. I want to live while I’m alive and not walk around like a zombie anymore. For the past eleven years, I’ve felt trapped.” I paused, blinking up to him, “I want to be a part of a battle that’s worth fighting for. I just don’t know what that is, yet, but I’m going to find it.“

Did I really just say that? For the past eleven years I kept a sturdy wall built up. I’d stay away from important things by joking or deflecting, yet here I was, telling this person I just met things I hadn’t told anyone. Zane was hot and cold; I don’t know why I felt comfortable telling him these things the first day I met him.

Zane’s eyes looked at me, thoughtfully. There was silence. He crossed his arms and sat back, his face pensive.

“What?” I asked as I looked at him.

Zane shook his head, “Nothing, I just was expecting a simple answer and, instead, I got an essay.” He said, a playful spark in his eyes. I glared at him and finished my mopping. I shook my head, embarrassed that I said too much. Why would he care? He seemed to brush off what I said with a joke. I was embarrassed with myself that I opened up to him like that. He was my superior, not a friend. I don’t know what made me think that I could treat him like an equal.

Zane inspected the floors and nodded, “Good work, you’re dismissed.”

I looked at him, expecting him to tell me to clean something else, “Really?” I asked, surprised.

He looked at me, humor playing on his expression, “Leave before I change my mind.”

[Lionheart]

Re: I, Bot 404

Chapter 15: The Law of Attraction

Zane.

I checked in on her in the dining hall as she pushed the mop back and forth, “You’re not mopping correctly. And you missed a spot.” I couldn’t help but stand and watch her. My eyes traveled from her legs to her hips. Her body was tempting. She turned around, her eyes catching mine traveling up her body. I blinked, acting like that didn’t just happen.

She glared at me, “It would have been nice if you told me how you wanted it done originally.” The attitude on this girl kept surprising me. Did she understand that I was an officer? I never heard any trainee talk to an officer like she was talking to me.

I rose my eyebrows, “Oh, is that so?” I inched closer to her as I could tell she was becoming timid, quiet. I think she was beginning to get nervous around me. It was adorable.

I had to stop myself before I pressed myself to her back as I went to grab the mop. I felt a gravitational attraction to be close to her, to touch her back. Natural instinct was taking over and I had to remind myself that I was an officer. I couldn’t act like this. I grabbed the mop and showed her how mopping was done properly, taking a mental note to keep my distance next time.

“The way you were doing it, you were just dragging dirt back and forth.” I held out the mop to her. She grabbed it and I said, “I want you to go over the floor a second time.”

“Really? A second time? This took me thirty minutes.” Her attitude flared in her tone, and I wasn’t having any of it.

“Do you want to do it three times?” If she wanted to play games, I needed her to know that I would win. She huffed and walked away to refill the bucket.

I was expecting her to lazily clean the floor the second time, but I was wrong. She did the figure eight motion and I smiled as I watched her. It amused me how defiant she was yet she would comply to what I asked her to do. She was a mystery. An enigma. I didn’t understand her thought process but I wanted to know more.

“So why did you decide to apply to the UGNF?” I asked, curiously. I wondered why she chose this path. It wasn’t a clean-cut career. We were the secret service of the galaxies. Many officials have been killed, abducted and tortured. Did she know what she was getting herself into? Most of these recruits didn’t. Heck, I know I didn’t when I applied. I followed in my brother’s footsteps, thinking that if he could do it, I could too.

She looked at me, anger flashing in her green eyes, “Why do you care?” This attitude would not fly for long. Girls like her deserved spankings. I brushed my fingertips over my lips. Oh, how I would spank her for an attitude like that if she were mine.

I had to be careful of what I said, or what I did next, “You are really testing my patience, aren’t you?” Her facial expression changed to pensive, ignoring what I just said. I was relieved that she changed her tone with her next words, I was close to the edge of pulling her over my lap. I don’t know why I felt so strongly, but her change in attitudes made me feel uncontainable.

She mopped the floor, sighing, “I want to be significant to something bigger than myself.” My eyes traced her face, her pink lips, “I’m tired of being something I’m not. Being in Hanna, I like it here, but it just doesn’t feel right, you know? I’m not quiet. I’m not normal in the slightest.” That was quite apparent. Far from quiet, far from normal.

“My soul is hungry for adventure, for answers, for new friends and experiences outside of this galaxy. I want to live while I’m alive and not walk around like a zombie anymore. For the past eleven years, I’ve felt trapped.” She paused and her forest-green eyes met mine, “I want to be a part of a battle that’s worth fighting for. I just don’t know what that is, yet, but I’m going to find it.“

It was at that moment that I knew I was dealing with someone who was dangerous to become attached to, but it made me want her even more. I should have walked away and detached myself while I still had a chance. I couldn’t though, even if I tried. I was slowly growing a crush on this girl. I hardly even knew her but that night I couldn’t stop thinking of her.

I laid in my room staring at the ceiling. Jay was still up on his laptop, typing in the darkness, “So what happened with that Rayne girl tonight?”

I stretched my arms behind my head, “Nothing, nothing at all.”

Jay rose his eyebrows at me, “Did you get to first base? Second?”

I laughed, “No, of course not. She’s too young for me and if anything happened I’d probably lose my job for sexual harassment.” I shook my head.

“Pshhh. Come on, if Red found out he’d give you a pat on the back. You know, as well as I do, you’re his favorite. You could kill someone and he’d be cheering you on.”

Jay shook his head, closing his laptop, “I thought you were going to sleep early. Why are you still up?”

I shrugged, “I can’t stop thinking about that girl. She’s going to be trouble; I swear to god.” I rubbed my temples.

Jay gave me a look, “Then you should probably stay away.”

I sighed, he was right.

Jay’s lamp light was still on, “Are you going to tell her?”

I looked at Jay, “Tell her what?” That I was developing feelings for her?

“Tell her that we changed her DNA chart.” I blinked, I forgot about that.

I gritted my teeth, “I’ll think about it.”

Jay said, seriously, “She may want to know. Just in case.” He shrugged.

“How could someone find out?” I asked, thoughtfully. I couldn’t guess how someone would know. You’re first DNA test in the Galactic Forces is your only DNA test for, basically, the rest of your life. There’s no possible way anyone else would know.

“What if she’s gifted, Zane?” He blinked at me, irritated, “Then me and you both lose our jobs. Our futures, in the drain.” Jay was being overdramatic. They wouldn’t terminate our positions for helping a girl, would they? They’d have to have a hearing before that day came.

I shook my head, “I highly doubt that she’s gifted. When was the last time you came across someone with abilities?” I said, rolling my eyes.

Jay responded quickly, “Never. But let me ask you this: when was the last time you came across someone who has Nefareon blood?”

Again, he had a point. I shook my head, “Calm down, she’s 17% Nefareon, I highly highly doubt she’s gifted.” I paused, thinking, “Let her get acclimated to this place first. If she stays here, I’ll tell her, eventually.” Would I actually tell her? I didn’t know. Maybe she wasn’t ready to know yet. I’d tell her one day, but that day wasn’t tomorrow or the next day.