Rainbow Over Lightoria Bay: a Spark the Electric Jester oneshot

Ch. 1: View Over the Bay; Movie Night Memory

(Author's note: Art is not mine.)

Many years into the future, the moon of the planet called Earth would have a terraforming ring around it, causing the little moon to flourish with life and inhabitants, both short humanoid creatures called Formies and the robotic GPAs. 

In one section of that moon called Lightoria Bay, a colorful seaside amusement park called Loho Land was erected, providing entertainment for the whole family, GPAs and Formies alike. 

However today, the park was closed, and it's recently rehired GPA mascot floated onwards to the beach. The mascot wore a white hoodie with red and blue spots, the hood sporting two jester strands with red pompoms at the ends. The mascot also wore red and white shoes, and his hands, wearing red and gold gloves, floated around him. His LED face, with red eyes, slight blushes and childlike innocence, now wore a somber, anguished expression, contrasting greatly with the otherwise joyful appearance. He also carried a small black instrument case.

Romalo floated onwards through a set of trees and over a bit of brush, until he was standing on a grassy mound that jutted into the beach, not otherwise seen by beachgoers, had any been there that day. 

On the mound was a bench, facing outwards to the ocean, and a few feet away was a freshly dug burial mound and a head stone:

"Here lies Astra: 'She was Clarity's Agent, but she was nice to me' - Romalo"

Romalo let out an electronic sigh as he sat on the bench, placing the small case beside him.

Suddenly, his system beeped a notification: a message from a friend of his, Dr. Armstrong:

Hello, Romalo! I trust that you are doing well. A few people and I are starting a group to help combat the next threat that I had accidentally created. There's someone on their way to talk to you about it now with some vital information that I'm sure you'll find interesting. 

Hope you have a fantastic day!

Dr. Stewart Armstrong

Romalo pondered this for a few moments. What kind of vital info? No doubt this person will want to 'talk business' with me when they arrive. He turns back to the matter at hand: the tombstone in his midst. 

He flipped open one latch on the instrument case. His RAM called up a memory... 

________________________________________________________________________________

"Come on, Astra!" Romalo gently pushed the woman to sit on his couch. "It'll be fun! Plus, not only is it a musical, this movie is also a staple in old culture cinema history!"

Astra laughed, a ringing laugh that was music to Romalo's ears. "Okay." She settled more comfortably on the couch. "Let's see if it's just as good as you say." 

Romalo sat down next to her and slid the cd into the drive. The drive's cable wound up into the depths of his hoodie, where it plugged in somewhere into his chest. Romalo then shot his holographic nanomachines, which projected a holographic screen before them in the dark room. 

They watched the movie in comfortable silence. The quality wasn't that good, although the pallet switched from black & white to color and back on purpose, which was a first in old culture history, according to Romalo. 

At the end, the movie's most famous song came on:

"Somewhere, over the rainbow,

way up high,

there's a land that I've heard of,

once, in a lullaby..."

"I really like that final song," Romalo said at the end of the movie. "It's so beautiful and comforting." 

Astra seemed thoughtful. "Indeed. It seems that our main character has found out that although Oz is a wonderful place, so is her home in Kansas."  

As Romalo slept and charged that night, Astra did something she had never done before: she pretended to fall asleep and waited until the presence in her mind left. Clarity always left her mind when she was asleep for the night, but this was the first time Astra had exploited it. She then finished her thoughts and realized that she had something in common with Dorothy, the main character: deep inside, Astra wanted nothing to do with her position, especially now that Clarity was becoming more and more of a... what's the phrase? An unfair executioner. 

As Astra expressed to Romalo later on, she was scared about what her employer would do. She obeyed orders without questioning before, but that movie... changed everything. She wanted to protect, especially the young mascot in her midst... she became, or rather, she had been emotionally self aware: Romalo and that movie, that song had been the key to that realization. 

She CARED about Romalo. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Romalo smiled a bit at the memory. The waves crashed onto the shore, and alien gulls screeched at each other, fighting for their decent share of fish. 

That movie had been the first time he'd heard that song. And soon after, he would hear Astra's lovely voice singing it to his tune. 

He flipped the other latch on the case, and his RAM again called up a memory...