Kylie stared at the ceiling above her, painted with the blues and whites of the perfect sunny day.
Or so she had been told.
The only place she could see the sky, which was almost always gray and awful, was through the tiny window above her bed. The one that never let in any heat from the sun, nor drafts from the winter cold. She'd never been outside. In her world, where technology and her home are all she knows, she was only able to run through the screens projected in the gym, simulating the outside world's forests, pavements, rivers. Only the library kept her company. She was completely alone, and always had been, without even the voice of another human. The only reason she was alive was an intercom that taught her to read, to write, to speak. Kylie knew how to kill someone with her bare hands in seconds, if she wanted. A trained assassin. But she could also heal someone back to their previous health or better, find her way out of a room guarded by the masses of an army, and survive in the desert for years without anyone. She knew and understood real-world geography, and could tell exactly where she was just by looking at the plants and tasting the wind. She was said to have the IQ of a pure genius. But there was one thing she didn't know, or, if she knew it, didn't understand. Why? Why did she know this? Why was she locked in a huge house by herself? She stood, planning to go to the library. She understood the concept of love and the way it interacts with others, but not why. She knew she existed, but not why. She knew her hair was the darkest of blacks, but not why. Her eyes were the color of the last rays of the sun hitting the water as it sets on the ocean, but she didn't know why. Well, she knew why, the answer was genetics, but she didn't understand why that specific color. She paced along the hallway, disregarding all thought to go to her sanctuary within the pages of her favorite books. She felt her heart race, her blood boil beneath her porcelain skin. That one word mocked her. Why?
"Computer!" She called, her heart racing faster and faster as the moments passed.
"We are here, Kylie." Kylie hated that mechanic, emotionless voice.
"Why am I stuck here, Computer? Why am I forbidden to go into the real world?"
"Everything you need is here, Kylie. There is no need to go outside. You are better than the others." Kylie scoffed at the idea of being "better" than someone else. Her blood ran like fire through her veins, but it didn't burn. It felt so good to be angry.
"How can you properly determine whether I am better than another when I have never encountered another being, Computer?"
"We know many things, Kylie." That stupid word the Computer used when referring to itself. "We". Were there more than one? Because, as far as Kylie knew, there had only every been one Computer. Her skin darkened more, having turned from porcelain to a yellow to a burnt gold.
"Computer, why do you refer to yourself as 'we'? Why do you never say 'I'? It would seem more appropriate, as there is only one of you." The Computer was silent for a moment, most likely processing her question.
"We are not sure how to answer your question, Kylie." She closed her eyes, embracing the rapid pounding on her ribcage, her heart begging to be released from its confines. Her skin darkened again, turning the color of burning embers. It consumed her being. She had always brought it back down, stored it within her. But she didn't want to anymore. She wanted to be released from her confines, to be free. She wanted to burn.
"Kylie," The Computer called, driving a mechanic knife into her fiery state of mind, "You must calm down. You're body temperature is exceeding that of normal levels." Kylie allowed the fire to become her, ignoring the Computer's plea. She felt time slow around her. As if across a great distance, she heard the Computer say "Firing sedative." Kylie opened her eyes, which were now the color of fire itself, dancing and flickering from her mind.
"No." She turned as the sedative needle was fired and deflected it with a simple flick of her hand, causing it to crash into the wall and shatter onto the floor. She turned to the Computer, which had managed to take the form of an actual holographic computer. "No." With just one word, all else was lost. She threw back her head and screamed as the inferno was released from deep within her. She opened her eyes and watched the ceiling begin to melt away. Turning slightly, she watched as the concrete walls melted, leaving a red mix on the ground. The Computer ran through every program as it overheated, and slowly melted to the ground. As everything around her melted, she fell to her knees. And there she stayed, unmoving, for a few moments. When she stood, she found herself in the middle of a green grass field, mountains in the distance. She looked up into the night sky. Even the window had been a lie; it had told her it was at least nine o'clock in the morning. She looked up at the sky, stars sparkling like glitter under florescent lights. She smiled for the first time in a long time, breathing in the cool, crisp air. She had found freedom at last.
