2038: Vincent

Pixelated

It may sound so dumb, but I was missing a fucking robot. I woke up every day to laying in a new bed instead of the nostalgic one I cared for, and cried in. Vincent was nowhere; and wouldn't ever be again, probably. My mom; someone who I thought I could trust with my whole heart, had taken me away from someone that I was close to. I didn't care if he was dangerous, because I knew how to fight because of him. I decided to make a plan to sneak out and see him again. One final time, I'd like to feel his presence, lay next to him in the snow, watch television on the old leather couch, or ride with him in the car. I craved attention from a stupid android. I got up from bed and looked around my room for stuff I could use to run off with. Self defense is important, so I stuffed my pocket knife in my belt. A few clothing items, and a water bottle. I zipped my bag up and walked out my bedroom where my mom and Levi were still asleep. Mom in her room, of course, and Levi on the couch. I unlocked the front door, careful not to make any movements at all. When I got that done, I opened the front door quietly, lucky the house made no creaks. I held my breath shutting it, then ran as fast as I could down the block until I was at the corner. I caught my breath, then continued walking down the block looking for the street to turn down. A car pulled up next to me–

A cop car.

"What are you doing out so late?" The officer asked. I paused my walking, then turned to him.

"Walking home from a friends' house." I lied. He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need a ride or anything–"

"No, sir I'm good! Thank you though." I interrupted, but then realized it might've sounded suspicious to him.

"Alrighty, be safe then..." He scoffed, then rolled his window up and drove down the rest of the block. I looked at the street I was on, and realized it was the street I needed to turn on. I started down that road, looking back and forth between the houses until I saw the correct one. I walked up to the front door, where an estate lock was on the door handle and a "for sale" sign was taped to the door. My eyebrows wrinkled in confusion, and I looked to see the headquarters. The building was no longer there, but I knew it had to be. It was just there yesterday. I convinced myself it was just pollution and clouds blocking the lights, and headed into town. There were no android restriction papers taped to any doors anymore. Some of the old pubs were gone, and replaced with alleyways. Then, I heard someone calling me from behind, followed by frantic footsteps. I turned around to see Vincent behind me, running from a huge black mist following him. I yelled for him to run, but it seemed as if he was only running in place. I tried to run to him and save him, but I looked down at my feet and they were frozen in place. The mist got larger, and came up closer behind Vincent. I screamed at it to stop, but it wouldn't listen to me at all. It got closer and closer, slowly consuming Vincent. The remains of him were his scream fading into it, then his tie flying back at me. I caught it before it flew past me, and looked at it. Words scrambled on it, trying to form a readable sentence. The whole alphabet switched on the tie, displaying a different letter every second. They slowed down more and more until some letters made words, and then those words made a sentence.

SAVE YOURSELF

I looked up, and realized the mist was right in front of me, about to consume me like Vincent. I had nothing to say; no screaming, no fighting, nothing. I stood there and waited for it to take me like it took Vincent. Debris flew into the storm right past me. Some smaller chunks of things like fence posts or street signs hit me, and instead of blood, blue and white pixels spilled out of the injury. It was sucking me in too. No matter how much I called out for anyone, the storm kept on. Pixels kept spilling into the void, making it stronger until I had nothing left to hold onto the tie, and I was completely disintegrated from the cyberlife.