Digi-Friends

Pathetic Racer

The present day...

This isn't what I wanted, but damn do I need it.

The area was a disaster thanks to me. The race track with obstacles like pylons, rock walls, and hurdles was completely burnt. I could still make out the race track but I wasn't anywhere near it. Anger built up in my orange flame body as I sat with my legs crossed on a large rock. My eyes were fixed on Golf Ball, my boss. She paced back and forth going on a lecture, her face full of fury.

"Jeez Firey! All that work gone all because you couldn't LISTEN! Do you even care for this job?" she grumbled.

Of course she brings up my job. I guess it was a pretty big mess.

I deeply sighed before looking down and responding, "I can work overtime to fix the race track. And before you complain even more, you don't have to pay me overtime. Though, that would be very much appreciated."

Looking back at Golf Ball, her expression changed. She was still very upset about the situation, but her eyes softened. If Golf Ball had hands, she would be rubbing her eyebrows.

"I'll be sure to pay you. It'd be immoral of me if I didn't. You live in a dump anyways. Just-PLEASE be more careful next time. You're lucky this track doesn't need to be used until next month. Overtime will start next week, you can get going now," softly said Golf Ball.

I quickly stormed away so nothing else would get burnt. My job was probably one of the better places with very few robots littered around. Not like you could use them much while testing race tracks made for living beings.

Golf Ball should get more credit for managing this; sometimes she'll let me compete in actual races.

As I walked towards my house, more and more of the ground became concrete with the buildings getting larger and grey. The streets were usually empty with robots doing meaningless tasks. Picking up litter, sweeping the sidewalk, and taking down posters were some of the few things they did. Anything colourful and natural was outside of Metallum, the City of Lux. Most of the objects here worked your average 9-5 in a office for five days a week.

Honestly, that seemed so boring. Doing the same thing everyday was the last thing I wanted. The only benefit was the money which I was in desperate need of.

After what seemed like hours, I approached the area more familiar to me. It didn't have an official name but everyone referred to it as the poor area. A lot of the garbage was dumped here if there wasn't anywhere else to put it. It didn't take long to find my house.

House may not even be the right word.

There was nothing more than a small, wooden shack surrounded by two box shaped buildings nobody entered. That shack happened to be where I lived. The door didn't close properly so I pushed it open and walked in. One small room was what I was greeted to everytime. A brown couch made of leather was against the back wall with a wooden, square table beside it. A plugged in kettle and phone charger sat on that table.

The most interesting thing was a cardboard box in the corner with all sorts of things in it. Mostly food, but there was the occasional robot part that would sell for good money. Walking over to the box, I looked for anything that seemed edible. Two chip bags and a package of noodles.

I'll eat later. That shouldn't kill me.

I took a giant leap towards my couch and landed on it with a thump. Laying down, my arm covered my eyes as I tried to fall asleep.

...

I'd almost fallen asleep when I heard some jittering coming from my box. I immediately got up and glared towards it to see... nothing. The sound was still there so I got up and see what the hell it was. To my surprise, there was a mouse chewing into one of the chip bags. When I tried to grab it, the mouse took off running with the chip bag.

"Get back here!" I shouted, speeding towards the mouse.

It ran into an alleyway next to my house where I lost sight it. I searched frantically as those chips were some of the better food I'd found.

Please let me find it! Why did this day have to be so hard?!

I kept searching the sames spots over and over until I finally gave up. It was all meaningless. The world was already cruel enough. Tears started to form in my eyes as I curled up into a ball. It hurt, it really did. I quickly wiped my eyes to avoid any more physical pain when I noticed something.

There was a rectangular shaped, metal box and emitted a faint blue glow. Its metal was grey but had a lot of rusting. I'd been in this alleyway several times, but I doubt that box was there before. It must've been moved. From what I could tell, no one else was around me.

Some stress relief will be helpful. Maybe even make my day better.

I approached the box and then kicked it as hard as I possibly could. It slammed against my house and then fell over on its side. My foot felt sore afterwards, but I was calmer.

Out of nowhere, a figure crawled out of the box and stood up. It was green and leaf shaped. I froze in shock as I could only stare into its dark blue eyes. My life flashed before my eyes as it opened its mouth to speak.

———

[Edited: the title changed]