Digi-Friends

The First Encounter

Oddly enough, the shack felt empty. Leafy still hadn't come back from her walk and it was already dawn. I sat on my couch as I contemplated my life. I needed to go to work soon. Would Leafy come back to an empty shack?

Why do I even care?

I held her purple pearl in my hand and watched as the lights from outside reflected on it. After Leafy ran away, I picked it up so it wasn't lost. It seemed so ordinary besides from the colour. There were no dents in its metal, a perfect sphere. It had to be around the age of Leafy which was impressive.

I tucked the pearl into my couch before grabbing my phone and turning it on. I still needed to find a place to repair her. A decent amount of technicians had sales which was better for me. I kept looking and looking until-

"90 percent off?!"

On my screen was an ad for a place called Bits and Bytes. Today was the last day of the sale. Clicking on the ad brought me to a website and I scrolled through it, finding the address and the store's hours. I'd have just enough time to get there after work. I practically choked on my saliva when I realized who the sole worker of the place was.

Loser.

Every object in Metallum knew his name. He was considered the student prodigy back when he was a teenager. Though most loved him, my throat tightened at the mere thought of him. I could only imagine his amber eyes when I blinked. I hated it.

Crash

My attention suddenly diverted to the door as Leafy stumbled into the shack. The end of her tail rapidly flashed red before she fell onto the floor with a loud thud. Her body looked to be in an even worse condition than it was before. I sat in shock wondering what happened. Getting up, I carefully dragged her body onto her charger. Her tail continued to rapidly flash before I adjusted her to the usual position she sat on it. The tail stopped flashing  and turned into the same deep blue colour as her eyes.

That should be good enough.

It felt odd that her eyes never closed. Even now, they stayed open despite the fact she said nothing. I waved my hand in front of her face; still no response.

"Hello?" I asked.

Nothing.

I hoped that she would be conscious by the time I got back from work. It would be a pain in the ass to carry her all of the way to Bits and Bytes. That would be so much work just to get her trashed. At least it would be better that way.

Would it really be better?

I sighed before walking out of the shack and closing the door. I couldn't understand why I felt conflicted against this. I never wanted to have her living with me in the first place. This would be for the better.

I made my way to work without looking back.

———

My arms stretched into the air as I finally finished getting the last box in place for the obstacle course. All of the disaster that happened last time was fixed. Golfball smiled at the small improvements that were made.

"Thanks for the help, you can go home now. Do not forget to be there when the race starts on Wednesday," muttered Golfball.

I chuckled, "Why do you still remember that?"

Golfball rolled her eyes before giving me my money outright. This was unusual and she said nothing. I took her silence as a sign to book it and began sprinting to the shack. I didn't want to risk getting to Bits and Bytes right as it was closing. Thankfully, the city didn't have many objects walking around at this time.

When I got to the shack, I could hear some faint humming. It sounded like it was Leafy. My thoughts were proven right after I went inside. She was peacefully sitting on her charger and staring at a random spot on the wall.

She's okay.

Her attention diverted to me when I entered and she smiled, "It's nice to see you."

Though she smiled, I could hear a hint of sadness within her voice. She also spoke softer.

"It's... nice to see you too. Can you walk?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it gets hard if I have to for too long."

I slowly nodded before responding, "We have to go to the technician now. If we don't leave soon it'll be closed by the time we get there."

Leafy immediately got up and quickly picked up her charger, holding it tightly. She walked out of the door which was when I noticed something. Near the top of her backside was some writing. It was hard to make out but it said L0-4. It looked like it was on a detachable panel. If anyone else noticed that they'd be quick to take her away.

I ran in front of her and led the way, keeping a close eye on her. Leafy seemed to be doing fine but was struggling to walk at a consistent pace halfway there. Her grip on her charger loosened. I stared at her for a bit before reluctantly grabbing the charger out of her hands. She looked shocked.

"I can carry this, don't worry." I whispered to her.

She nodded in reply as we continued forward. It didn't take too long to get there and we looked at the big building. Its sign was written in large yellow and blue text and it stood out by having a triangular roof. The bottom floor was made almost entirely out of windows and I peaked in. The room was dimly lit up yet mo one was there. On the door was an open sign so I begrudgingly entered with Leafy.

A bell lightly rang as we went in and Leafy stayed close to me. She bent her knees, making her appear smaller.

Is this really the right place?

Suddenly, a door opened from behind the front counter and we were approached. I immediately locked eyes with Loser. It was brief as he immediately looked towards Leafy for a bit. His eyes widened.

While greeting me, he still seemed more interested in Leafy. "Welcome, it's great to have one more customer before the day ends. You can go into the back, I'll meet you there."

Leafy took the charger from my hands and quietly stepped into the back while I followed after her.

I could only look back at the entrance.